🙏🏻 Heavenly Father – We come to You to read Your Word. The first Gospel in the New Testament, recorded by Matthew – a tax collector, shunned by his fellow Jewish countrymen, but not by You. Let your Spirit guide us and shape us as we read these chapters. Show us more about Your character. Encourage us and strengthen our faith. We ask this in the name of Jesus. Amen.
The Genealogy of Jesus the Messiah
1 This is the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah the son of David, the son of Abraham:
2 Abraham was the father of Isaac,
Isaac the father of Jacob,
Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers,
3 Judah the father of Perez and Zerah, whose mother was Tamar,
Perez the father of Hezron,
Hezron the father of Ram,
4 Ram the father of Amminadab,
Amminadab the father of Nahshon,
Nahshon the father of Salmon,
5 Salmon the father of Boaz, whose mother was Rahab,
Boaz the father of Obed, whose mother was Ruth,
Obed the father of Jesse,
6 and Jesse the father of King David.
David was the father of Solomon, whose mother had been Uriah’s wife,
7 Solomon the father of Rehoboam,
Rehoboam the father of Abijah,
Abijah the father of Asa,
8 Asa the father of Jehoshaphat,
Jehoshaphat the father of Jehoram,
Jehoram the father of Uzziah,
9 Uzziah the father of Jotham,
Jotham the father of Ahaz,
Ahaz the father of Hezekiah,
10 Hezekiah the father of Manasseh,
Manasseh the father of Amon,
Amon the father of Josiah,
11 and Josiah the father of Jeconiah and his brothers at the time of the exile to Babylon.
12 After the exile to Babylon:
Jeconiah was the father of Shealtiel,
Shealtiel the father of Zerubbabel,
13 Zerubbabel the father of Abihud,
Abihud the father of Eliakim,
Eliakim the father of Azor,
14 Azor the father of Zadok,
Zadok the father of Akim,
Akim the father of Elihud,
15 Elihud the father of Eleazar,
Eleazar the father of Matthan,
Matthan the father of Jacob,
16 and Jacob the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary, and Mary was the mother of Jesus who is called the Messiah.
17 Thus there were fourteen generations in all from Abraham to David, fourteen from David to the exile to Babylon, and fourteen from the exile to the Messiah.
Points to Ponder: Matthew tells us right up front, who Jesus is. Jesus the Messiah from the line of David and the line of Abraham. I’ve often heard that genealogies are boring, but only when talking about the genealogies in the Bible. (Considering that the estimated market value of Ancestry.com in 2017 was more than $3 billion… I think rolling your eyes at this section is more a reflection on today’s reader, not the author.)
The first readers of this Gospel had no new testament, but they grew up with the stories of the Old Testament. They knew their history… even the messy parts. Matthew does a brilliant job of walking us through all of Israel’s history simply by naming the names. The first 6 verses take us from Genesis to Joshua to Judges to Ruth to Samuel. The next grouping takes us through Kings, repeated in Chronicles, and enhanced with the prophetic writings. In the last grouping we see some names of those that returned from the exile in the books of Ezra and Nehemiah.
It is interesting that in Jeremiah 22:28-30, there is a prophecy regarding Jeconiah, aka Jehoiachin, the last of the kings of Judah that NONE of his offspring would sit on the throne of David! (This makes Mary’s husband, Joseph, disqualified to have a son to sit on the throne… making Jesus’ birth by Mary, conceived by the Holy Spirit, that much more fascinating.)
Matthew highlights 3 distinct sets of 14 generations representing the key milestones of Israel’s history. The best explanation for the significance of the number 14 that I heard was from Sinclair Ferguson who explained that with Hebrew letters, which were also used to represent numbers… the letters that formed the sounds for D and V corresponded to 4 and 6, respectively… so Matthew could be pointing us to the fulfillment of the prophecy to King David… D+V+D = 4+6+4 = 14. Thus, emphasizing Jesus’ kingly role as the Son of David.
We must not leave here without recognizing the inclusion of the 5 women in the genealogy. Tamar, Rahab, Ruth, Uriah’s wife aka Bathsheba, and Mary. We’ve got incest [Genesis 38:15-16], prostitution [Joshua 2:1], Israel’s enemy [Numbers 25:1-3, Ruth 1:4], adultery [2 Samuel 11:4-5] and Mary – whose bloodline is traced in Luke’s genealogy for Jesus. [Luke 3:23] This bloodline differs at King David because it is Mary’s. (It may say Joseph’s, but the two are married, so the two become one… one of the bloodlines is Joseph’s; one is Mary’s. Both are in King David’s line, but one family line is ineligible to have a king sit on the throne of Israel.)
Scripture honors these women by including their names AND their stories. Tamar probably gave birth to those twins about 1700 BC. 3700 years later we still know her story… her vulnerability, her heartbreak, her betrayal, her decision, the risks involved… Families can be messy. We all know that, so does God. And He can work all things for the good of those who love Him. He will even use the broken, less-than-perfect people to fulfill His plan to redeem humanity from the sinful mess we live in. If you still doubt that possibility… read the history of these people!
Joseph Accepts Jesus as His Son
18 This is how the birth of Jesus the Messiah came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit. 19 Because Joseph her husband was faithful to the law, and yet did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly.
20 But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 21 She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.”
22 All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: 23 “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” (which means “God with us”). [Isaiah 7:14]
24 When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. 25 But he did not consummate their marriage until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus.
Points to Ponder: When Father’s Day comes around, I want to honor and acknowledge this man. 💖 Before he heard from the angel, he was still considering how to deal with a difficult situation while being kind to Mary. They are already considered husband and wife… they haven’t married, just pledged to be married… and they haven’t slept together yet. (In Genesis 38:24, when he finds out about the pregnancy, Judah was about to burn Tamar to death before he found out that he himself was the father 🤦🏻♀️. Joseph has a different, kinder, more compassionate reaction towards Mary’s pregnancy.)
It takes direct contact from God to convince Joseph. Joseph wanted to be faithful to the law to honor God and now God tells him not to be afraid… Joseph is a man of great character – willing to raise this baby who will grow up to SAVE HIS PEOPLE FROM THEIR SINS. This angel reveals God’s plans to Joseph adding a detail that had not been part of Isaiah’s prophecy. Joseph is obedient and with humble respect, he takes on a unique and historical act of service. He takes Mary as his wife, but while her womb is the tabernacle – filled with the actual presence of God – Joseph will not consummate their marriage.
The Magi Visit the Messiah
2 After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem 2 and asked, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.”
3 When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him. 4 When he had called together all the people’s chief priests and teachers of the law, he asked them where the Messiah was to be born. 5 “In Bethlehem in Judea,” they replied, “for this is what the prophet has written:
6 “‘But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,
are by no means least among the rulers of Judah;
for out of you will come a ruler
who will shepherd my people Israel.’ [Micah 5:2,4]”
7 Then Herod called the Magi secretly and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared. 8 He sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and search carefully for the child. As soon as you find him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship him.”
9 After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen when it rose went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. 10 When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. 11 On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. 12 And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route.
Points to Ponder: And here we come to the first question in the New Testament – ‘Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews?’ Fascinating! The first question comes from these mysterious outsiders and THEY call Him, ‘King’.
Also note that the Magi or Wise Men bring 3 gifts, but we are not told how many of them traveled. We can also note that Jesus is not in a manger anymore nor is he a baby infant. He is now a child in a house. These magi journeyed a long time to meet and worship this King Jesus and once they did, they left differently.
The Escape to Egypt
13 When they had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. “Get up,” he said, “take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him.”
14 So he got up, took the child and his mother during the night and left for Egypt, 15 where he stayed until the death of Herod. And so was fulfilled what the Lord had said through the prophet: “Out of Egypt I called my son.”[Hosea 11:1]
16 When Herod realized that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was furious, and he gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under, in accordance with the time he had learned from the Magi. 17 Then what was said through the prophet Jeremiah was fulfilled:
18 “A voice is heard in Ramah,
weeping and great mourning,
Rachel weeping for her children
and refusing to be comforted,
because they are no more.” [Jeremiah 31:15]
Points to Ponder: In this section we have the clue to how long the Magi traveled and how old Jesus may have been when they worshipped Him – 2 years. We see the self-sacrificial, obedient character of Joseph again here. (Of course, he was chosen to raise Jesus!) 💖
The Return to Nazareth
19 After Herod died, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt 20 and said, “Get up, take the child and his mother and go to the land of Israel, for those who were trying to take the child’s life are dead.”
21 So he got up, took the child and his mother and went to the land of Israel. 22 But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning in Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. Having been warned in a dream, he withdrew to the district of Galilee, 23 and he went and lived in a town called Nazareth. So was fulfilled what was said through the prophets, that he would be called a Nazarene.
Points to Ponder: Matthew, through the Holy Spirit, does such an incredible job with using the genealogy and the prophecies as a way to remind a reader… here’s where we left off. It’s been roughly 400 years since the ministry of Malachi – the last book in the Old Testament. Matthew, a Jew, clearly connects this Gospel with the Old Testament… this is not a NEW story. He is telling the reader, the story continues!
Summary: We see in the genealogy and the Magi that God’s grace extends beyond the Israelites to the gentiles. He can overcome sin and shame to work out His purposes and fulfill His promises, in ways we could never anticipate.
🙏🏻 Heavenly Father – We thank you for Your Word. Never has there been such an amazing story so full of hope and wonder. Like Joseph, let our hearts and whole lives be humbly submitted to you as we study this Gospel and take the lessons you reveal to us out into the world each day. Your Word is alive and has the power to save. If we have questions, help us. If we are stumbling, stable us. We ask this in the mighty name of our King, Jesus! Amen.
Thank you for including the back stories on this blog of the women mentioned in the geneology. Although I knew their stories, you made it easy to navigate and understand the important role each of them played in Jesus’ geneology. Also, interesting fact regarding Ancestery.com. It was endearing to read about the character of Joseph.