The Gospel of the King

Four Gospels

People sometimes wonder why there are four Gospels.

Some might naively reason that since the four Gospels tell one story, there is need of only one Gospel.

Some might ignorantly reason that differences in the Gospels undermine their credibility. Historians disagree, believing that the differences, however minor, add to the credibility by demonstrating separate authorship.

Some just don’t know, while others just don’t care.

But it is an interesting and valid question: why four Gospels? Truthfully, we the Bible does not specifically tell us why. But we do have a couple hints that provide something of an answer.

Inspiration

God the Holy Spirit inspired and superintended human authors to write. He chose four authors to provide four accounts. As Peter says,

2 Peter 1:20–21 NKJV

20 knowing this first, that no prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation, 21 for prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.

The same Holy Spirit preserved these four accounts and guide the church as it recognized them as scripture including them in the Canon of scripture.

Impact

There is also an undeniable impact made by four different authors writing from four different perspectives, suited to reach four different, major audiences.

John, a disciple of Jesus, presents Jesus as the Son of God and appeals to a universal audience

John, a Disciple and Jesus’ closest human friend probably wrote last—toward the end of the first century—presenting Jesus as the Son of God appealing to a universal audience in an evangelistic style that is also cherished by deep Christian thinkers.

Luke, a companion of Paul, presents Jesus as the perfect Son of man and appeals to a Greek audience

Luke, a companion of Paul, a doctor, and a historian, presented Jesus as the perfect Son of man appealing to a Greek and Greek-influenced audience who loved beauty, humanity, cultural style, and literary excellence.

Mark, a companion of Peter, presents Jesus as the Servant of God and appeals to a Roman audience

Mark, a companion of Peter wrote what has sometimes been called the Gospel of Peter, presented Jesus as the Servant of God appealing to a Roman audience who liked action more than thought and thus more miracles, less parables, and no genealogy.

Matthew, a disciple of Jesus, presents Jesus as the King of the Jews and appeals to a Jewish audience

Matthew, a Disciple who who was both Jewish and accustomed to keeping detailed records, presented Jesus as the King of the Jews appealing to a Jewish audience using numerous quotations from the Old Testament (the Jewish Scriptures) and having a generally semitic tone.

The Gospel of Mathew

Order

Until the advent of the modern era with its modern criticism, Matthew was believed to have been written first. There are plenty of reasons to continue this belief, not the least of which are the facts that the earliest believers were all Jewish and the fact that Matthew forms a bridge from Malachi into the world of the New Testament.

Date

Matthew probably posted the first edition of his gospel in the year AD 45—a scant 15 years after Jesus’ resurrection—adding content, editing and publishing the final edition as we have it probably ten years later, in AD 55.

Audience

As a Jew writing to a Jewish audience, Matthew presents Jesus as their promised Messiah, ensuring they see Him fulfilling all that was promised.

The Gospel of the King

Matthew began where an introduction of a king must: with His genealogy, Matthew 1:1-17.

The Biblical Expositor, Volume 3: Matthew–Revelation The Gospels (F. F. Bruce)

For Matthew’s first chapter begins with a genealogical tree whose roots go down deep into Old Testament history, showing how Jesus is the descendant of Abraham and the heir to King Davids throne.

Exalting Jesus in Matthew The Gospel of the Kingdom (Matthew 1:1–17)

Once we see some of these pieces put together, it should be clear that Matthew’s genealogy should not be skipped over in order to get to the “good stuff.” These opening verses help clue us in to the purpose of Matthew’s Gospel.

Matthew 1:1–17 NKJV

1 The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the Son of David, the Son of Abraham: 2 Abraham begot Isaac, Isaac begot Jacob, and Jacob begot Judah and his brothers. 3 Judah begot Perez and Zerah by Tamar, Perez begot Hezron, and Hezron begot Ram. 4 Ram begot Amminadab, Amminadab begot Nahshon, and Nahshon begot Salmon. 5 Salmon begot Boaz by Rahab, Boaz begot Obed by Ruth, Obed begot Jesse, 6 and Jesse begot David the king. David the king begot Solomon by her who had been the wife of Uriah. 7 Solomon begot Rehoboam, Rehoboam begot Abijah, and Abijah begot Asa. 8 Asa begot Jehoshaphat, Jehoshaphat begot Joram, and Joram begot Uzziah. 9 Uzziah begot Jotham, Jotham begot Ahaz, and Ahaz begot Hezekiah. 10 Hezekiah begot Manasseh, Manasseh begot Amon, and Amon begot Josiah. 11 Josiah begot Jeconiah and his brothers about the time they were carried away to Babylon. 12 And after they were brought to Babylon, Jeconiah begot Shealtiel, and Shealtiel begot Zerubbabel. 13 Zerubbabel begot Abiud, Abiud begot Eliakim, and Eliakim begot Azor. 14 Azor begot Zadok, Zadok begot Achim, and Achim begot Eliud. 15 Eliud begot Eleazar, Eleazar begot Matthan, and Matthan begot Jacob. 16 And Jacob begot Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus who is called Christ. 17 So 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.

While we could deep dive into all of the persons listed, that might be more timing-consuming that profitable in this moment (though such a study done rightly would yield much produce).

What we will notice today are two interesting elements: what is missing from this genealogy and what is included in this genealogy.

What Is Missing

You would not have to study the genealogies of Ezra 3 and Luke 3 for very long to see that there are some marked differences, and Matthew seems to have left out quite a few people.

This is one of those “inconsistencies” that cause people problems. But since we believe in the inerrancy of Scripture, we cannot believe this is an error. So what do we do with it?

Concede our own ignorance

Matthew wrote 2,000 years ago and we simple do not know everything that Matthew knew. It may be that there is a clear explanation that we just don’t know or haven’t found.

Contemplate the worth of who is missing

There are no shortage of people mentioned—and even detailed—in the Old Testament whose lives sharply contrasted God’s plan and certainly were at odds with the godly virtues manifested in God’s King. Perhaps those not mentioned failed to warrant mention?

Consider the clue Matthew provided

This might be related to our ignorance, but Matthew said he was specifically counting in groups of 14 generations. It was not his stated desire to give us a comprehensive genealogy.

Exalting Jesus in Matthew The Gospel of the Kingdom (Matthew 1:1–17)

The Hebrews recognized something called

Gematria, like the slightly more familiar study of numerology, is as much an art as it is a science, and your results will definitely vary. It is definitely a mystical element of Judaism.

Continuum Glossary of Religious Terms Gematria

It has become part of the KABBALAH tradition.

While what is missing is significant, it tends to be curious in an academic kind of way that most people won’t find particularly interesting. What’s included is more interesting.

What Is Included

A list of noble names is expected in a King’s genealogy. It helps to establish his pedigree. Matthew, however, included a few surprises inclusions:

Tamar (Matthew 1:3, Genesis 38)

Rahab (Matthew 1:5, Joshua 2)

Ruth (Matthew 1:5, Ruth 1-4)

Bathsheba (Matthew 1:6, 2 Samuel 11-12, 1 Kings 1-2)

What do all four of those people have in common? They were women. Most unusual. Even more unusual is that all of these women entered the genealogy under sub-optimal terms.

Tamar, Genesis 38

Matthew merely tells us that “Judah begot Perez and Zerah by Tamar.” His original audience would have known and remembered that Tamar was actually Judah’s Daughter-in-law and the story of how she came to bear Judah a son is salatious.

Rahab, Joshua 2

Speaking of salacious…In Joshua 2, Joshua sends out 2 unnamed men to spy out the city of Jericho. Joshua records what happened next this way, “So they went, and came to the house of a harlot named Rahab, and lodged there.”

God overthrew Jericho and Israel defeated the city, but Rahab and her family were saved. And she found her way into Jesus genealogy.

Ruth, Ruth 1-4

Ruth was from Moab and was married to a man named Mahlon who had moved from Bethlehem to Moab to get away from a famine. Mahlon died but Ruth proved herself an exemplary woman and devoted daughter-in-law. She eventually moved to Bethlehem where she met and married Boaz, King David’s great grandfather.

Bathsheba, 2 Samuel 11-12, 1 Kings 1-2

Another salacious entry here, Bathsheba had an affair with King David and got pregnant. David subsequently had her husband killed so he could take her as his wife. This was no one’s finest hour…except Uriah, and he was killed for having too much character.

A Different Kind of King

All of these women and the stories of how the ended up in Jesus’ genealogy are interesting reading. Why Matthew included them in his genealogy make for interesting study and contemplation. If nothing else, they provide the clue that this King will be different than we might expect Him to be.

Equal Value, Different Roles

One thing is clear: our world has always been a battleground for dominance of one gender over the other. With rare exception, men have won that war. As complimentarians, we view men and women as having equal value but different roles. At the very least, we find Matthew—and the Holy Spirit who inspired him—to value women enough to include them despite writing within a patriarchal culture.

Conclusion

We talked last week about the importance of having an informed faith. Informed faith is curious admitting that there is always more to learn, and even acknowledging that there are some things beyond our ability to know, at least currently.

Every genealogy in your Bible holds a few surprises. If we skip them in our reading and studying, we may just miss out on some interesting lessons that God would have us know.

Even though the Gospel of the King begins with a genealogy, we could also say that it kind of begins with a bang!

Questions for Further Reflection (courtesy of Logos AI)

What is the significance of having different authors for each Gospel?

How does the sermon explain the role of the Holy Spirit in the writing of the Gospels?

What are some perspectives each Gospel author brings to their portrayal of Jesus?

Why does the speaker suggest that Matthew's genealogy should not be overlooked in the Gospel?