How Is Jesus the Son of David?

Last week we looked at verses 1-17, the genealogy of Jesus Christ. By beginning with this genealogy Matthew was showing that God has guided the whole of Israel's history so that it might climax in the birth of Jesus, the Messiah, the Son of David and the Son of Abraham. In this opening genealogy we see the perfect but often surprising plan of God. And one lesson from this genealogy is that you accept God's perfect but often surprising way of working His purposes.
Today as we look at verses 18-25, we see that Matthew is doing more than just telling the miraculous story of the Jesus' birth. Matthew is answering the question, how can Jesus be considered the Son of David, when it is clear that Joseph is not his biological father, and Mary is not said to be of the line of David? The answer is given in these verses as we see Joseph obeying the message given to him by the Lord, to take Mary as his wife, and to give Jesus His name. Jesus is legitimately the Son of David because Joseph son of David adopts Him into his line.
This morning we will look at verses 18-25 in three parts.

1. Verses 18-21: The Command of the Lord to Joseph
2. Verses 24-25: Joseph's Careful and Costly Obedience