Matthew 1

The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the Son of David, the Son of Abraham:

·         Christ is the Greek word for ‘anointed.’ The Hebrew word is ‘Messiah.’ The three Old Testament offices that were anointed were prophet, priest, and King.

·         Jesus is first and foremost identified as the Son of David, because the promise of eternal sonship and divine rule was given to David in 2 Samuel 9. It’s confirmed by Jeremiah 23:5 and Ps 132:10-11

·         Jesus is secondarily identified as the son of Abraham, the one of old to whom the promise was given. Gen 12:3 has the promise to him, which was really about Christ as explained in Gal 3.

·         Just as Genesis begins largely with Genealogies, so too does Matthew, however, Matthew has a truncated list, and moves forward from Abraham to Christ, showing He is the fulfillment of all the waiting.

·         This list is trustworthy and true, having withstood the critical eye of the Jews for centuries, it stands resolute as proof that Jesus is the promised one.

2Abraham begot Isaac,

·         According to the promise given, Isaac was born, Gen 21:1-6

Isaac begot Jacob,

·         Gen 25:23-25 has the record, and goes on to tell the story of how Esau sells, scorns, then loses his birthright as the eldest because he cared nothing for God.

and Jacob begot Judah and his brothers.

·         Driven away into Haran lest he die (Gen 27:42-43), Jacob takes two wives, and has twelve children. The oldest, Reuben, sleeps with his fathers concubine Bilhah (Gen 35:22), trying to seize the blessing. Simon and Levi were out because they murdered a village in rage (Gen 34:25) then looted it for plunder. See also Gen 49:3-7)

·         Judah, fourth born, therefore inherits the blessing of the Messianic line. Gen 49:10

3Judah begot Perez and Zerah by Tamar,

·         While Joseph was in slavery, Judah went among the Canaanites and fathered sons, then took Tamar to marry the oldest, but the line was killed by their wickedness. Rather than lose his third son, (Gen 38:11) Judah instead casts her out, she dresses as a cult prostitute, and becomes pregnant by Judah instead. See Gen 38.

·         It’s this reason that God moves the people into Egypt, a xenophobic people who would not intermarry with others.

Perez begot Hezron,
Hezron begot Ram.
4Ram begot Amminadab,
Amminadab begot Nahshon,
Nahshon begot Salmon.
 

5Salmon begot Boaz by Rahab,

·         The narrative moves ahead over a big gap here, some 400 years and just says Boaz, Obed, Jesse, David to show the importance of the Bible books lining up with Christ.

·         Rahab was the same brothel mistress/ prostitute from Jericho.

Boaz begot Obed by Ruth,

·         Ruth was the book of the Bible that covers this time frame. She was a stranger from Moab.

Obed begot Jesse,
 

6and Jesse begot David the king.

·         David stands as an important division in the Scriptures, alongside Abraham as central pillars in the promise of Christ. We are now in 1 & 2 Samuel

David the king begot Solomon by her [B]who had been the wife of Uriah.

·         Bathsheeba is not even named, but belonging to Uriah even after his death is so called. This story is in 2 Samuel 11.

·         Solomon was to come from this line, from adultery between David and this woman.

7Solomon begot Rehoboam,

·         1 & 2 Kings and Chronicles

Rehoboam begot Abijah,
and Abijah begot Asa.
 

8Asa begot Jehoshaphat,
Jehoshaphat begot Joram,
Joram begot Uzziah.

·         Matthew skips the kings Ahaziah, Joash, and Amaziah.

·         Ahaziah was son to the dreadfully evil Athaliah, he walked in her ways and renounced God for idols.

·         Joash was the boy hidden in the temple until he was proclaimed, (2 Kings 11) but his heart was evil, for when the priest who saved him died, he turned to idols. As a result his servants killed him.

·         Amaziah was the king who conquered the Edomites, then took their gods and began to worship them. 2 Chron 25:14. Perhaps it is for these reasons that they are omitted.

9Uzziah begot Jotham,
 Jotham begot Ahaz,
Ahaz begot Hezekiah.
 

10Hezekiah begot Manasseh,

·         This is more marvelous than the prostitutes, Manasseh was the most horrid and dreadful king Israel had, and yet he was shown grace to be in this line.

Manasseh begot Amon,
Amon begot Josiah.
 

 11Josiah begot Jeconiah and his brothers about the time they were carried away to Babylon.

·         The list here ends with an interesting twist. The genealogy skips a generation, but includes Jeconiah who was cursed that his descendents would not sit on the throne (Jer 22:30). That’s why this list is a legal right to rule, and Jesus was not of the line except by adoption.

12And after they were brought to Babylon,
Jeconiah begot Shealtiel,
Shealtiel begot Zerubbabel.

·         Zerubbabel was the same guy who led Israel out of captivity in Babylon that we have been studying in Ezra. He was also adopted by his uncle Shealtiel (1 Cor 3:17-19) to rule, because his birth father was Pedaiah.

13Zerubbabel begot Abiud,
Abiud begot Eliakim,
Eliakim begot Azor.
 

14Azor begot Zadok,
Zadok begot Achim,
Achim begot Eliud.
 

15Eliud begot Eleazar,
Eleazar begot Matthan,
Matthan begot Jacob.
 

16And Jacob begot Joseph
the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus who is called Christ.

·         Matthew did not use “begot”, which is very telling. Christ was born of the woman only, just as God said to Eve in the garden so long ago.

·         This finishes the legal claim to the throne of David, and the promise to Abraham

17So all the generations from Abraham to David are fourteen generations, from David until the captivity in Babylon are fourteen generations, and from the captivity in Babylon until the Christ are fourteen generations.

·         It’s likely this grouping is to help remember the genealogy

18Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows: After His mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Spirit.

·         Betrothal is akin to our ‘engagement’ where they were pledged to be faithful to each other, as if they were married, and it took a divorce to annul it, yet they did not consummate the marriage.

19Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not wanting to make her a public example, was minded to put her away secretly. 20But while he thought about these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take to you Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit.

·         The law permitted divorce, and Joseph was going to do it quietly, not calling for a death penalty. See Deut 21:23-24. That means that he was not going to specify a cause when drawing up the bill of divorce

·         He actually fell asleep thinking what he should do.

21And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.”

·         This looks forward to the cross, but it also looks back to the OT imagery of a priest.

·         See Isaiah 53:11 “He will bear their sins”

22So all this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying: 23“Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,” which is translated, “God with us.”

·         The quote comes from Is 7:14. In context King Ahaz (Same one as father of Hezekiah seen in the genealogies here) was being attacked by Israel and Syria. He asks for no sign that he would be delivered from his enemies and God in response tells him that prophecy.

·         Matthew underscores the name Immanuel in a big way, meaning that God with us is not just going to be with the nation, but that it was a literal fulfillment in Christ.

24Then Joseph, being aroused from sleep, did as the angel of the Lord commanded him and took to him his wife, 25and [J]did not know her till she had brought forth her [K]firstborn Son. And he called His name Jesus.

·         So Jesus had other brothers and sisters, and Mary is not a perpetual virgin, and Jesus was raised by a loving a devout set of parents.