The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David the son of Abaham... (Matthew 1:1)

The Beauty of the Promise: 

The single most important factor for the success of Holywood is in its skilful creation of movie hero characters. Hollywood won't file for bankruptcy as long as it continues to invent and reinvent new messiah like figures for their sequels or new movie releases. Hollywood as industry will continue to flourish as long as they continue to pull the strings on the primal hopes instilled in each of us for a messianic like figure, we pin our hopes on to resolve our lives' issues and problems.  

For us as Christians, Jesus is the messiah of all messiahs.  The greatness of Jesus as the chief messiah is in the fact that the hope for His coming spaned over decades, centuries and millennia.  The greatest promise which spanned over very long period of time was matched by the great messiah and the great messianic work He achieved.  

You see no one can live without hope.  All humanity is drawn to the irresistible power of hope.  Hope is in our DNA.  It is squarely placed on the fatal fault of human fallen nature and inward longing for transformation and salvation.

The Challenge of the Promise:   

Abraham was the father of Isaac, and Isaac the father of Jacob, and Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers, and Judah the father of Perez and Zerah by Tamar, and Perez the father of Hezron, and Hezron the father of Ram... and Jacob the father of Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom Jesus was born, WHO IS CALLED CHRIST." (1:2-16)

Fathering of children until the arrival of the messiah took long time.  While it's true that we are drawn to the hope by the same token we are challenged by the grinding of time of the same hope.  Paul speaks of hope which produces patience within those who stick with it no matter what.  However, it's undeniable fact, the hope into the messiah of all messiahs was a grinding hope. By the same token, it's equally grinding hope to patiently wait for the glorious appearing of Jesus for the second time.

The Beauty of The Promise:

The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham. (1:1)

Jesus is the son of Abraham and the son of David.  He has a pedigree.  Everyone expects a messianic figure, a hero to be extraordinary.  We hopeleslly feel inadequate within our present identity.  I as I am, am not enough.  There is something inadequate about me.  I don't measure up on many levels; physically, morally, mentally, spiritually.  There is only few who achieve the lofty heights of a hero in; sport, career, acting, music, writing...  A hero we 'idolise' has what it takes.  A hero has to be extraordinary.  Jesus is our extraordinary hero.  He has what it takes.  He has a pedigree.  

The Challenge of the Promise:

... and Judah the father of Perez and Zerah by Tamar... and Salmon the father of Boaz by Rahab... and Boaz the father of Obed by Ruth... David was the father of Solomon by the wife of Uriah... and Jacob the father of Joseph the husband of Mary of whom Jesus was born, who is called Christ.(1:5.6.16) 

However, in His ancestry are people with the stigma of shame.  It's with purpose that the gospel writer Matthew places non-Jewish ancestry of the Messiah.  These non-Jews are women and each one of them has negative sexual association. Even Mary, the mother of Jesus would have to carry the stigma of conceiving Jesus out of wedlock.  Later on Jesus would be labelled as 'friend of sinners'.  As Christians we deeply appreciate that Jesus was the friend of sinners. 

The Beauty of the Promise: 

The beauty of His origin is not only in the fact that He is the son of Abraham and the son of David but also that He is the Son of God. Biblically speaking, being 'son of' also means 'having a nature of'.  Jesus has a divine nature, and this is overwhelmingly confirmed by gospel writers.  No other human being can boast of this.  The messiah of all messiahs is one of us but also is not one of us.  He is divine.  He is God and human at the same time.  This gives Jesus a unique position to be our hero, our Saviour.  As mere human He can't rise to the lofty role of the ultimate messianic figure.  As fully God, He cannot take our sin upon Himself and take us to ultimate freedom from it.  It had to be Jesus, fully human and fully divine who would do this. And He did it.  He is our hero worthy of our adoration and our faithful commitment and following.