Matthew 1:1-17 The gift of fulfilled promise revealed through Genealogy.
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There is some debate as to who actually wrote the book of Matthew. One of the many reasons for this is that the Gospel author of Matthew used or relied on Mark’s Gospel which raises some questions like “Why would an eye witness of Christ rely on someone else’s work if he was there? Although, the author maybe anonymous ancient church tradition supports Matthew wrote it.
In the New Testament narratives, Matthew (Μαθθαιος, Maththaios) is primarily known as a former tax collector who, as a disciple, hosted a banquet for Jesus, tax collectors, and sinners in his house (Matt 9:10; compare Mark 2:15). Matthew was also known as Levi son of Alphaeus (Luke 5:29). He was called by Jesus in Matt 9:9, and he is listed as one of the 12 disciples in Matt 10:3, Mark 3:18, Luke 6:15, and Acts 1:13.
Matthew wrote to Jewish believers 20 to 30 years after the death and resurrection of Christ. Some of these Jewish believers were still practicing OT Judaism, and some had broken away from it - there were probably a small amount of Christian Gentiles present too. One of the many purposes that the Gospel was written was Matthew was building a case for Jesus of Nazareth who was the One who fulfilled the OT Messianic promise to Abraham and the covenant of David.
1:1-2 Genealogy of Jesus by way of David and Abraham.
1:1-2 Genealogy of Jesus by way of David and Abraham.
The record of the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah, the son of David, the son of Abraham: The Greek word for genealogy is genesis, ghen´-es-is; and describes source, origin, lineage and even birth. The cross reference Genesis 2:4 gives a good example of how the phrase “the record of the genealogy” is used.
Genesis 2:4
This is the account of the heavens and the earth when they were created, in the day that the Lord God made earth and heaven.
So this is an actual hand written record on the account of the birth lineage of Jesus. Why do you think this is important for Matthew’s audience to know? Jews living in the time that this Gospel was written would have found it to be more than important because of the promise God made to Abraham regarding blessing (earthly and spiritual through his seed) and the covenant He made to David regarding raising a king from the seed of David and making Him rule and reign over His everlasting kingdom. From the end of the Old Testament to the New Testament much had happened to Jews [Israel], and enhanced their anticipation of the coming Messiah; the Savior.
What is kinda neat is the meaning of Jesus’ names here in the first verse. Jesus in Hebrew is Yeshua, meaning The Lord saves; and Messiah which is a title - in Greek Christos means Anointed One. If you can remember from Jonah, Yahweh is definitely the ultimate deliver and savior, and He has done that by and through Jesus the one that will save all believing sinners from the wrath of God, and Christ is also the anointed King. In the Old Testament God had directly appointed or had Samuel anoint David as king. Why is the mention of David important? Because God told David He would establish a king through David’s Son “the anointed one” who would establish an eternal kingdom.
2 Samuel 7:12-16
“When your days are complete and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your descendant after you, who will come forth from you, and I will establish his kingdom. “He shall build a house for My name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. “I will be a father to him and he will be a son to Me; when he commits iniquity, I will correct him with the rod of men and the strokes of the sons of men, but My lovingkindness shall not depart from him, as I took it away from Saul, whom I removed from before you. “Your house and your kingdom shall endure before Me forever; your throne shall be established forever.” ’ ”
In addition to King David, Matthew goes further back in his record to Abraham in order to prove that Christ is who he said He was. And Matthew does this by referring to Abraham which would have reminded Jews about God’s promise of the promised seed of Abraham.
Genesis 22:18
“In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice.”
Jews reading this record would have found it to be important because it traced their ancestry through the covenants made by God with Israel - they would have automatically been reminded about these promises, and prophecies about the Messiah . So let us begin in verse 2.
Matthew 1:2-6
Abraham was the father of Isaac, Isaac the father of Jacob, and Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers. Judah was the father of Perez and Zerah by Tamar, Perez was the father of Hezron, and Hezron the father of Ram. Ram was the father of Amminadab, Amminadab the father of Nahshon, and Nahshon the father of Salmon. Salmon was the father of Boaz by Rahab, Boaz was the father of Obed by Ruth, and Obed the father of Jesse. Jesse was the father of David the king. David was the father of Solomon by Bathsheba who had been the wife of Uriah.
1:3-6 Tamar, Rahab, Ruth, and Bathsheba.
1:3-6 Tamar, Rahab, Ruth, and Bathsheba.
Most Old Testament genealogies did not normally include woman. How many women are included in verses 3 through 6? Four women are included; Tamar, Rahab, Ruth and Bathsheba. What do we know about these women? Tamar deceived Judah to sleep with her, because he did not give her his son as a husband, and his son was to keep the Judah’s bloodline going (Genesis 38); Rahab was a gentile and a prostitute who helped 2 Israel spies (Joshua 2:1) and Ruth was a gentile Moabite [hated by Jews] widow (she was married to Jew) who honored God by staying, and being in subject to her mother-in-law who was Jewish, and Bathsheba was an adulterer with king David and she was married to Uriah at the time (2 Samuel 11-12). We should not that David is given the title of king within the genealogy. No one else but Jesus and David have a title in this passage.
These women are mentioned for a few purposes. The first, their use by Matthew implies his Gospel will reveal counter cultural teaching about women within Matthew’s Gospel. Since women were not highly regarded, and seen as inferior to men. Second, these women were all involved in some form of a scandal, which mimics the outward appearance of Mary’s virgin birth “scandal”, that we will talk about next Sunday. Third, the situations that these women were in illustrates that God used them to push the nation of Israel forward and that the blood line of sinful people was used to bring the Messiah into to the world. And fourth, it clearly indicates the inclusion of Gentiles in redemptive salvation history which was and is good news for non-Jews. Picking up in verse 7.
1:7-11 Jeconiah and the deportation to Babylon.
1:7-11 Jeconiah and the deportation to Babylon.
Matthew 1:7-11
Solomon was the father of Rehoboam, Rehoboam the father of Abijah, and Abijah the father of Asa. Asa was the father of Jehoshaphat, Jehoshaphat the father of Joram, and Joram the father of Uzziah. Uzziah was the father of Jotham, Jotham the father of Ahaz, and Ahaz the father of Hezekiah. Hezekiah was the father of Manasseh, Manasseh the father of Amon, and Amon the father of Josiah. Josiah became the father of Jeconiah and his brothers, at the time of the deportation to Babylon.
Jeconiah is Joseph’s ancestor in the line of David through Solomon. In 2 Samuel 7:12-17 the unconditional promise that the eternal Davidic kingdom through Solomon is recorded. But, Jeconiah was one of the worst kings of Judah. Jeconiah was exiled to Babylon in part because he was so evil. He was so evil that God cursed him, and his bloodline; having not appointing any of Jeconiah’s children as king.
Jeremiah 22:30
“Thus says the Lord, ‘Write this man down childless, A man who will not prosper in his days; For no man of his descendants will prosper Sitting on the throne of David Or ruling again in Judah.’ ”
You might be thinking “Why is this such a big deal?” It is a big deal because it implies that Christ would not be the along awaited Messiah that God had promised Abraham, and that would also come from David. You see Joseph the husband of Mary comes from the Abrahamic, and Davidic bloodline along with Jeconiah, and if God cursed Jeconiah’s descendants/children/generations by not permitting any to be a king and rule the kingdom of Judah how can the promise of an eternal messianic kingdom be fulfilled, and how can God’s curse of Jeconiah be fulfilled? God still has to make good on His promise to Abraham and His covenant to David, and His curse to Jeconiah. The answer is through the virgin birth. Although, Mary was of Jewish descent, she did not belong to the bloodline that Yahweh had indicated the Messiah, the Anointed King would come and physically and eternally reign. However, Joseph was legally apart of the bloodline through David and Solomon, and even Jeconiah. And Jesus is not a physical son of Joseph. Joseph was Jesus’ legal, adoptive father. And as a result the curse is dodged and the legal requirement of being a son of David is fulfilled. Jesus, through Joseph, is in the legal line to David and Solomon without being under the physical curse, and in essence secures his kingship. How crazy is that?! Let’s continue through the genealogy.
1:12-16 After Deportation from Babylon.
1:12-16 After Deportation from Babylon.
Matthew 1:12-17
After the deportation to Babylon: Jeconiah became the father of Shealtiel, and Shealtiel the father of Zerubbabel. Zerubbabel was the father of Abihud, Abihud the father of Eliakim, and Eliakim the father of Azor. Azor was the father of Zadok, Zadok the father of Achim, and Achim the father of Eliud. Eliud was the father of Eleazar, Eleazar the father of Matthan, and Matthan the father of Jacob. Jacob was the father of Joseph the husband of Mary, by whom Jesus was born, who is called the Messiah. So all the generations from Abraham to David are fourteen generations; from David to the deportation to Babylon, fourteen generations; and from the deportation to Babylon to the Messiah, fourteen generations.
Jacob was the father of Joseph the husband of Mary, by whom Jesus was born, who is called the Messiah. Matthew now introduces Mary into the genealogy which brings the total of women that are mentioned to five, preparing us for the next passage - Conception and Birth of Jesus. Verse sixteen ends the very interesting genealogy of Jesus with Jesus who is called the Messiah.
1:17 The gift of Affirmation that Jesus is the promised Messiah.
1:17 The gift of Affirmation that Jesus is the promised Messiah.
Notice the three separate time frames Matthew recorded from Abraham to David - monarchy; then from the divided monarchy which started with Solomon’s son, and goes through to the Babylonian exile, and destruction of the Jerusalem temple, and then the time after the Babylonian exile when Jews were permitted back into their land, and were permitted to rebuild the temple into the new age where Jesus is born, and the promise and covenant to Abraham and David unfolds. This lineage fulfills and affirms that Jesus is the Messiah that was promised through the lineage of Abraham and David.
Application.
Application.
What an interesting lineage that Jesus has! One of the many things that stood out to me is the fact that God used sinful people like you and me to accomplish His purpose in bringing about the Messiah. What attribute or character of God did you see in this passage? God’s providence. What does providence mean? Divine guidance or care; God is conceived as the power sustaining and guiding human destiny. Out of mercy God navigated salvation history to bring about the birth of Jesus for all who believe. Who are included in “all who believe”? Is it just Jews? How do you know that?
The next thing that stood out to me is that God is a God of keeping promises. We just briefly read that God kept His promise to Abraham and David, and He kept His promised curse to Jeconiah. If God did not keep His promises what would that show us? But, because He keeps His promises how should that effect our life? I would like you to think about what God did with Israel - each patriarch did something sinful, Israel the nation was sinful even after God freed them from the slavery of Pharoah, and even in the wilderness, and after the receiving of the Ten Commandments, through Judges, and starting with David the adultery king, and then the rest of the kings of Israel and Judah. Even after all the sinful, gross, disobedient things Israel did He still went along with His plan. It is kinda mind blowing. When I read this passage and realized all that God has done it influenced guilt in me. Because of my own sin. God has done so much and yet I can’t keep from sinning. And even during this Christmas season - it has dramatically transitioned from the celebration of the birth of the promised Messiah who will save believers from their sin AND God’s Judgement, into a billion dollar industry of sales, the purchase, and focus of material things that don’t point to Jesus’ birth.
But, praise His name - because Yahweh saves! and He gave us Jesus, and the Holy Spirit. There are a number of truths about God from this passage - I would like to call them gifts that are wrapped up in Christ.
He honors His name.
Ezekiel 20:44
“Then you will know that I am the Lord when I have dealt with you for My name’s sake, not according to your evil ways or according to your corrupt deeds, O house of Israel,” declares the Lord God.’ ”
He is sovereign.
Matthew 1:1-17
We can read the genealogy and see that He exercised His will in choosing who to use to bring about Christ.
He show’s mercy to the repentant and He included gentiles in the Salvation plan.
Matthew 1:3-6
Judah was the father of Perez and Zerah by Tamar, Perez was the father of Hezron, and Hezron the father of Ram. Ram was the father of Amminadab, Amminadab the father of Nahshon, and Nahshon the father of Salmon. Salmon was the father of Boaz by Rahab, Boaz was the father of Obed by Ruth, and Obed the father of Jesse. Jesse was the father of David the king. David was the father of Solomon by Bathsheba who had been the wife of Uriah.
He provided the only way to be in a relationship with Him.
Romans 5:1-2
Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have obtained our introduction by faith into this grace in which we stand; and we exult in hope of the glory of God.
He provided the only way man can be restored to Him.
1 Peter 5:10
After you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who called you to His eternal glory in Christ, will Himself perfect, confirm, strengthen and establish you.
After learning about God’s hand in the advent of Jesus is there something that you learned that will change the way you think or live in your own life? If so what? Is there an attitude or perspective that you need to change or guard against? Is there something that you can share with others? Is there some form of encouragement that you can share with others based off this passage?