Site Search Engine

Introduction and
Genealogy of the Messiah

Matthew chapter 1: 1-17

After a silence of four centuries since Malachi, the last book of the Old Testament, we have this book of Matthew, the first of the New Testament, which is the first of four testimonies of the good news (gospel) of the birth, life, death and resurrection of the promised Messiah, the anointed of God (Christ in the Greek language). The Messiah is mentioned in the last sentences of Malachi, He was eagerly awaited by the nation of Israel, and appears in the first verse of this book.

The author of this gospel was originally a tax collector in the region of Galilee called Levi, son of Alpheus (Mark 2:14, Luke 5:27). One day, the Lord Jesus passed by the tax office and said, "Follow me", so Levi obediently arose and followed Him. Jesus and His disciples dined in Levi's house: there tax collectors and sinners sat together with Jesus (chapter 9: 9-12). There were many, and they followed Him. 

We know little more about Matthew beyond this Gospel, in which he records his experiences and other facts he learned about the life of the Lord Jesus. He was chosen by Jesus to be one of His witnesses and messenger (apostle). As a Levite and tax collector, he was uniquely suited to identify Jesus as a descendant of King David, and this book therefore tends to give prominence to His royal character.

In his report, Matthew presents Jesus as the rightful King of Israel, starting immediately by informing His genealogy through His father Joseph. Although Joseph was not His biological father, the legal paternity conferred to his Son the inheritance to the throne of Israel by right, because He was a direct descendant of David through Solomon and his lineage through the kings of the Kingdom of Judah, who succeeded him.

At the beginning of the Old Testament, we have the "book of the generations of Adam". In the entire Bible, we do not find any more references to a “book of generations”, but here, at the beginning of the New Testament, we have the "book of the generation of Jesus Christ".

The "book of the generations of Adam" reminds us that all of us are part of humanity's descent from Adam, and we inherited from him a nature dominated by sin. We enter the book at birth, without being first consulted. In Adam all die (Romans 5:12), therefore this is a book of death.

Now the "book of the generation of Jesus Christ" reminds us of the "the Lamb's book of life", dealt with in the book of Revelation (13: 8, 21:27). The inscription of the name of each one in this book is also at birth, but this is a voluntary birth (John 3:3). The record is made when we place our faith in the redeeming work of Christ, and receive Him as our only and perfect Lord and Saviour.

This genealogy, which gives the beginning to Matthew’s book and to the New Testament, is in some ways one of the most important documents of the entire Bible.

Genealogies were very important for the nation of Israel because they were evidence of the legitimacy of the claim of every citizen to the rights pertaining to his lineage, including rights of inheritance of properties.

The birth records were therefore made very carefully by scribes and stored permanently, possibly even inside the temple. See for example, in the book of Ezra, though himself a scribe of high position, “These sought their listing among those who were registered by genealogy, but they were not found; therefore they were excluded from the priesthood as defiled.” (Ezra 2: 62).

Ezra lived when the people returned from captivity in Babylon, but still did not have the record of genealogies, and it was possible to deny rights to those who did not have their names registered.

At the time when Christ was born, every Jew was required by the emperor to present himself in his city to enlist (and pay the tax) and Joseph and Mary went to the city of David, Bethlehem, knowing that they were both of his lineage according to the genealogical record held by the authorities.

The legitimacy of the Lord Jesus as the Messiah promised by God is also proven by it, as countless prophecies of the Old Testament claim that the Messiah would come of the seed of David, thus having the right to his throne, which he will come to occupy.

The enemies of Jesus Christ could have checked his lineage, and probably did so, because they endeavoured in every way to obtain evidence that He could not be the Messiah, as he stated. It is to be noted that although they rejected Him for personal reasons, even inventing an explanation for His resurrection, they could not give as the reason His lineage, thus confirming its legitimacy.

Matthew begins the genealogy from Abraham, whom God took away from his land and his relatives to make of him the forerunner of a great nation, Israel, and in whose posterity all the nations of the Earth would be blessed (Genesis 22:18). It is not the case of many "posterities", but only one, Jesus Christ (Galatians 3:16). This is proven in this genealogy, because it ends in the person of his last descendant in this genealogy, "Jesus Christ, son of David, son of Abraham".

Matthew points out the curious and quite significant fact  that the genealogy that he transcribed contains three distinct periods, each starting and ending in a landmark event in the history of Israel, and each being one of fourteen generations (twice the number seven, perfection): from Abraham to David, Solomon until the captivity in Babylon and after the exile to Jesus the Messiah.

In the first period, we observe the names of four women. Their being included in the genealogy of Christ is amazing for it was not customary to put mother’s names in genealogies, even at the time of the Lord Jesus. There must have been a special reason for them to be included here by inspiration of the Holy Spirit.

All of them had in common the fact that they were Gentile women: two Canaanites, one Moabite, and one Hittite. This is extraordinary, because in the law of Moses Israelites were forbidden to take to themselves wives among the pagan Gentiles that surrounded them. Let us see what the Bible says about them:

1. Tamar was a protagonist in a disgusting episode told in Genesis 38. This woman was wronged, nevertheless was sinful.

2. Rahab was possibly the woman mentioned in Joshua. She did not have a good character until she put her faith in the true God, the Lord of Israel, and demonstrated it by endangering her own life to save two Israelites (Hebrews 11:31).

3. Ruth had a good character; she was loyal to her mother-in-law and adopted her God. The Moabites and Ammonites could not enter into the congregation of the LORD yet a man named Boaz, a relative of her late husband, loved her and rescued her by marrying her. She asked him, “Why have I found favour in your eyes...?" (Ruth 2:10). She reached grace.

4. Bathsheba, who had been Uriah's wife, is not mentioned by name in this genealogy, but is identified as the mother of Solomon. She was a victim of the libidinous desire of King David, who then virtually murdered her husband (2 Samuel 11.12). The King repented, but still had to pay for his SIN. She was considered innocent and therefore protected by God.

Putting the words in bold side by side, we see a progression giving us the history of salvation, the reason for the coming of Christ to the world: the sinner through faith is saved by the grace of God and is protected against conviction.

In the Gospel according to Luke we find another genealogy of the Lord Jesus, this time from Mary. She also was a descendant of David, but through his son Nathan instead of Solomon. Thus Jesus Christ was not a natural descendant of King Jehoiachin, according to the word of the LORD to him, due to his wickedness (Jeremiah 22:24,30).

 

R David Jones

Next

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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.

Matthew chapter 1, verses 1 to 17