Son of Abraham

When Matthew proclaims Jesus as "the son of Abraham" in his opening verse, he is not simply asserting that Jesus is a son of Abraham (like Zacchaeus, Luke 19:9). Jesus is not just one of the many sons of Abraham. He is "the son of Abraham." While the offspring of Abraham would be innumerable ("'Look toward heaven, and number the stars, if you are able to number them'...'So shall your offspring be,'" Gen 15:5), there was a single son of Abraham who would fulfill the covenant promises God made with him: "Now the promises were made to Abraham and to his offspring. It does not say, ‘And to offsprings,’ referring to many, but referring to one, ‘And to your offspring,’ who is Christ" (Gal 3:16 citing Genesis 12:7). To say that Jesus is the son of Abraham is to proclaim him as the unique, one and only, son God promised would come from Abraham's line. The whole  redemption story rests on this one son.

Certainly Isaac is spoken of as Abraham's "only son" (Hebrews 11:17, the same Greek word we find in John 3:16 describing Jesus as God's "only son"), not because he was an only child (Abraham sired Ishmael with Hagar before Isaac was born, Gen 16:15; Abraham also had other sons with his concubines, Gen 25:1-6; 1 Chron 1:32-33), but because Isaac was the only son through whom the baton of God's promises would be handed down, generation after generation, until those promises culminated in the Christ (Gen 21:12; Heb 11:18).

So what promise would this solitary son of Abraham, the Christ, fulfill? Among other things, he would bring the blessing of the gospel to all of the nations. Before Abraham, there was only one nation with one language on earth ("Now the whole earth had one language and the same words," Gen 11:1). Humans were refusing God's mandate to "be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth [with worshipers of God]" (Gen 1:28; 9:1). The prevailing philosophy of the day was to to directly defy God by saying, "let us make a name for ourselves lest we be dispersed over the face of the whole earth" (Gen 11:4b). In response, God confused their language and scattered people groups "over the face of all the earth" (Gen 11:8). The Tower of Babel is where the world is first divided into distinct nation states (listed in Genesis 10). Nations (America, too) were formed because of rebellion. They would be gathered under one ruler through redemption.

The juxtaposition of Babel in Genesis eleven with God's promises to Abram [later Abraham] in the next chapter is noteworthy.

Now the LORD said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father's house to the land that I will show you. And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed"
(Gen 12:1-3).

Even after the flood had previously destroyed all but eight people because of pervasive depravity, all of the families of the earth continued to live in willful rebellion against God. Sin still seeps into every possible nook and cranny. Only the gospel can deliver us from our thoroughly fallen condition. And make no mistake about it, God preached the gospel to Abraham in Genesis, a gospel to be preached to all of the nations on earth.  The Apostle Paul, personifying scripture as the preacher, interprets Genesis 12:3 for us, "And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, 'In you shall all the nations be blessed'" (Galatians 3:8).

Abraham himself was a man from the "nations," from the nation of Ur, an idolater like his kinsman (Josh 24:2). He needed the gospel! Furthermore, while Abraham would be the father of the Jews ("I will make of you a great nation," Gen 12:2), he would also be the father of "a multitude of nations" (hence his name change, Gen 17:5, 6). So too would Abraham's son Isaac (25:23); his grandson Jacob (35:11); and his great, great grandson Ephraim (48:19) father many "nations." Much more than just facts about a family's proliferation, these passages rehearse covenant blessings that will one day culminate in the nations of the earth—the Gentiles—being justified by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Our gospel has deep roots!

Father Abraham not only sired many physical descendants but his real legacy is in his spiritual family who likewise believe on God's promises about Jesus. Christ is the son of Abraham. We who believe are the many sons of Abraham who have been blessed in and through the Lord Jesus Christ. "Know then that it is those of faith who are the sons of Abraham....So then, those who are of faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith" (Gal 3:7, 9).

As "far as the curse is found" (Isaac Watts, Joy to the World), the blessing of Christ will spread through the message of the gospel. Our backyards are the uttermost parts of the earth filled with Gentile sinners just like us. Like Abraham, we were once named among the idolaters yet we were called out of our country to a heavenly city by God's grace in Christ. And Christ has given us a mission to carry the baton of blessing...to people next door. And if God so burdens, calls, and sends, we must go or we must send laborers to a nation far off. Yes, we need church planters and evangelists overseas but not before going next door. Faithfulness looks out your windows to the world. And prays. Then goes. Then calls people to faith in Jesus!

How can we possibly keep this good news to ourselves? Let’s make sons of Abraham by teaching people about the son of Abraham!