Matt 1:1-17
SS Lesson for 12/17/2023
Devotional Scriptures: Luke 3:23-38
Biblical genealogies are not necessarily lists of ancestors in exhaustive detail. Differences within two accounts of the same family tree are born not out of error but instead of the writer’s intention. We need only consider that Luke’s genealogy of Jesus (Luke 3:23-38) contains 56 generations between Abraham and Jesus compared to Matthew’s 42 generations (see Matthew 1:2-17, below) to understand that something other than precise family history is intended in these lists. The chronology of the two (in reverse order of one another) further affirms that each writer had priorities beyond mere recitation of family facts. Differences between Matthew and Luke’s genealogies of Jesus could be explored. But we will remain focused on Matthew’s genealogy, keeping in mind that Matthew had valid reasons for organizing Jesus’ genealogy as he did. Considering who is included in Matthew’s genealogy prepares the careful reader for important themes that recur throughout that Gospel (see commentary on Matthew 1:1-2, 6, below). The curious inclusion of four women (plus Mary; see 1:3, 5-6, 16, below) introduces two other themes that will be found in Matthew’s Gospel (examples: 9:18-25; 15:21-28; 28:16-20). Furthermore, the episodes associated with these women (and others) highlight God’s continued willingness to work through sinful people and imperfect circumstances (examples: 4:18-22; 16:13-23; 26:69-75; 28:16-20).
The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the Son of David, the Son of Abraham
(Scriptural Text from the New King James Version; cross-references from the NIV)
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.
1 Now the Lord was gracious to Sarah as he had said, and the Lord did for Sarah what he had promised. 2 Sarah became pregnant and bore a son to Abraham in his old age, at the very time God had promised him. 3 Abraham gave the name Isaac to the son Sarah bore him.
28 Then the man said, "Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel, because you have struggled with God and with men and have overcome."
35 She conceived again, and when she gave birth to a son she said, "This time I will praise the Lord." So she named him Judah. Then she stopped having children.
10 The scepter will not depart from Judah, nor the ruler's staff from between his feet, until he comes to whom it belongs and the obedience of the nations is his.
23 The sons of Leah: Reuben the firstborn of Jacob, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar and Zebulun.
24 About three months later Judah was told, "Your daughter-in-law Tamar is guilty of prostitution, and as a result she is now pregnant." Judah said, "Bring her out and have her burned to death!" 25 As she was being brought out, she sent a message to her father-in-law. "I am pregnant by the man who owns these," she said. And she added, "See if you recognize whose seal and cord and staff these are." 26 Judah recognized them and said, "She is more righteous than I, since I wouldn't give her to my son Shelah." And he did not sleep with her again.27 When the time came for her to give birth, there were twin boys in her womb.
26 Judah recognized them and said, "She is more righteous than I, since I wouldn't give her to my son Shelah." And he did not sleep with her again. 27 When the time came for her to give birth, there were twin boys in her womb. 28 As she was giving birth, one of them put out his hand; so the midwife took a scarlet thread and tied it on his wrist and said, "This one came out first." 29 But when he drew back his hand, his brother came out, and she said, "So this is how you have broken out!" And he was named Perez. 30 Then his brother, who had the scarlet thread on his wrist, came out and he was given the name Zerah.
19 Hezron the father of Ram, Ram the father of Amminadab, 20 Amminadab the father of Nahshon, Nahshon the father of Salmon,
10 Ram was the father of Amminadab, and Amminadab the father of Nahshon, the leader of the people of Judah.11 Nahshon was the father of Salmon, Salmon the father of Boaz, 12 Boaz the father of Obed and Obed the father of Jesse.
21 Salmon the father of Boaz, Boaz the father of Obed, 22 Obed the father of Jesse, and Jesse the father of David.
24 Then David comforted his wife Bathsheba, and he went to her and lay with her. She gave birth to a son, and they named him Solomon. The Lord loved him;
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.
14 He [Rehoboam] followed the advice of the young men and said, "My father made your yoke heavy; I will make it even heavier. My father scourged you with whips; I will scourge you with scorpions." 15 So the king did not listen to the people, for this turn of events was from the Lord, to fulfill the word the Lord had spoken to Jeroboam son of Nebat through Ahijah the Shilonite. 16 When all Israel saw that the king refused to listen to them, they answered the king: "What share do we have in David, what part in Jesse's son? To your tents, O Israel! Look after your own house, O David!" So the Israelites went home.
1 In the eighteenth year of the reign of Jeroboam son of Nebat, Abijah became king of Judah, 2 and he reigned in Jerusalem three years. His mother's name was Maacah daughter of Abishalom. 3 He committed all the sins his father had done before him; his heart was not fully devoted to the Lord his God, as the heart of David his forefather had been.
8 And Abijah rested with his fathers and was buried in the City of David. And Asa his son succeeded him as king. 9 In the twentieth year of Jeroboam king of Israel, Asa became king of Judah, 10 and he reigned in Jerusalem forty-one years. His grandmother's name was Maacah daughter of Abishalom. 11 Asa did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, as his father David had done.
1 Jehoshaphat his son succeeded him as king and strengthened himself against Israel. 2 He stationed troops in all the fortified cities of Judah and put garrisons in Judah and in the towns of Ephraim that his father Asa had captured. 3 The Lord was with Jehoshaphat because in his early years he walked in the ways his father David had followed. He did not consult the Baals 4 but sought the God of his father and followed his commands rather than the practices of Israel.
1 Joram son of Ahab became king of Israel in Samaria in the eighteenth year of Jehoshaphat king of Judah, and he reigned twelve years. 2 He did evil in the eyes of the Lord, but not as his father and mother had done. He got rid of the sacred stone of Baal that his father had made.
3 Uzziah was sixteen years old when he became king, and he reigned fifty-two years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Jecholiah of Jerusalem. 4 And he did what was right in the sight of the Lord, according to all that his father Amaziah had done.
20 In those days Hezekiah became ill and was at the point of death. The prophet Isaiah son of Amoz went to him and said, "This is what the Lord says: Put your house in order, because you are going to die; you will not recover." 2 Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the Lord, 3 "Remember, O Lord, how I have walked before you faithfully and with wholehearted devotion and have done what is good in your eyes." And Hezekiah wept bitterly. 4 Before Isaiah had left the middle court, the word of the Lord came to him: 5 "Go back and tell Hezekiah, the leader of my people, 'This is what the Lord, the God of your father David, says: I have heard your prayer and seen your tears; I will heal you. On the third day from now you will go up to the temple of the Lord. 6 I will add fifteen years to your life. And I will deliver you and this city from the hand of the king of Assyria. I will defend this city for my sake and for the sake of my servant David.'"
1 Manasseh was twelve years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem fifty-five years. His mother's name was Hephzibah. 2 He did evil in the eyes of the Lord, following the detestable practices of the nations the Lord had driven out before the Israelites.
19 Amon was twenty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem two years. His mother's name was Meshullemeth daughter of Haruz; she was from Jotbah. 20 He did evil in the eyes of the Lord, as his father Manasseh had done.
22 Josiah was eight years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem thirty-one years. His mother's name was Jedidah daughter of Adaiah; she was from Bozkath. 2 He did what was right in the eyes of the Lord and walked in all the ways of his father David, not turning aside to the right or to the left.
13 As the Lord had declared, Nebuchadnezzar removed all the treasures from the temple of the Lord and from the royal palace, and took away all the gold articles that Solomon king of Israel had made for the temple of the Lord. 14 He carried into exile all Jerusalem: all the officers and fighting men, and all the craftsmen and artisans, a total of ten thousand. Only the poorest people of the land were left.
28 This is the number of the people Nebuchadnezzar carried into exile: in the seventh year, 3,023 Jews; 29 in Nebuchadnezzar's eighteenth year, 832 people from Jerusalem; 30 in his twenty-third year, 745 Jews taken into exile by Nebuzaradan the commander of the imperial guard.
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.
3 When the seventh month came and the Israelites had settled in their towns, the people assembled as one man in Jerusalem. 2 Then Jeshua son of Jozadak and his fellow priests and Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel and his associates began to build the altar of the God of Israel to sacrifice burnt offerings on it, in accordance with what is written in the Law of Moses the man of God.
23 Now Jesus himself was about thirty years old when he began his ministry. He was the son, so it was thought, of Joseph, the son of Heli, 24 the son of Matthat, the son of Levi, the son of Melki, the son of Jannai, the son of Joseph
19 Because Joseph her husband was a righteous man and 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 be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel"—which means, "God with us." 24 When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife.
The format for this portion of the lesson will be in the form of observations and conclusions. I will begin by making an observation from the genealogy in verses 1-17, and then I will attempt to draw some conclusions from this observation.
Observation one: Matthew begins, “This is the record of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham” (Matthew 1:1). The expression, “the record of the genealogy” in the Greek text reads, somewhat literally, “the book of the genesis of Jesus Christ.” It is nearly identical with the Greek translations of Genesis 2:4 and 5:1:7
This is the account of the heavens and the earth when they were created—when the Lord God made the earth and heavens (Genesis 2:4).
(More literally from the Greek: “This is the book of the genesis of the heavens and the earth … .”)
This is the record of the family line of Adam. When God created mankind, he made them in the likeness of God (Genesis 5:1).
(More literally from the Greek: “This is the book of the genesis/generations of mankind/Adam … .”)
Conclusion: I find these similarities just a little too “coincidental.” This seems very similar to John’s introduction to his Gospel in the first verse of chapter 1: “In the beginning was the Word… .” Surely John is linking the beginning of his Gospel (and, more importantly, our Lord) with Genesis 1 and the creation. Here in our text, Matthew’s words appear to point us to the first genealogy in the Bible which is recorded in Genesis 5. In Genesis 5, Adam has just sinned. God warned Adam that if he (they) ate of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil he (they) would die (Genesis 2:17). One purpose of the first genealogy, then, is to dramatically underscore the truthfulness of God’s Word. Everyone in Adam’s genealogy died, just as God said. Now, in almost identical words, Matthew introduces his Gospel with the first genealogy of the New Testament. Not only are we reminded that all in this genealogy died; Matthew’s words seem to hint that in Jesus there begins a whole new race of people who will never die. Genealogies almost always contain the record of those who have died. Our Lord’s genealogy is that, but it begins a new line, the line of all who are “in Christ” by faith, who thereby possess the gift of eternal life. Here is an exciting genealogy indeed! Who would not want to be included in our Lord’s lineage?
Observation two: Many of the names in this genealogy are names that we recognize. These are the names of real people, people who lived many years ago, but real people nevertheless.
Conclusion: Jesus was a human being (as well as divine), a real person, born of a line of real people. The fact of our Lord’s humanity is essential. It separates those who hold to the truth from those who are heretics:
1 Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to determine if they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. 2 By this you know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses Jesus as the Christ who has come in the flesh is from God (1 John 4:1-2, emphasis mine).
Observation three: All those listed in Matthew’s Gospel were sinners, and some were just plain skunks! Here is one of the problems with genealogies – they inform us that some of our forefathers were not such fine people. You and I may find some skeletons in our genealogical closets. Even the best of those listed in this genealogy were far from perfect. We only need to remind ourselves of the lives of these folks. David and Solomon were great men, but they also failed miserably. Wittingly or not, some of these people actually worked to oppose God’s promises and purposes. Abraham first sought to convince God that the son of one of his servants must be his heir (Genesis 15:1-3). He and Sarah then sought to produce an heir through Hagar, the Egyptian slave (Genesis 16). Even after God told Abraham (technically Abram at this point in time) that the promised seed would be the offspring of both he and Sarai/Sarah (Genesis 17:19), Abraham passed off his wife as his sister, making her available for marriage. He did this not only with Pharaoh (Genesis 12:10-20), but also with Abimelech (Genesis 20). And when Abimelech rebuked Abraham for his actions, he told Abimelech that he and Sarah did this wherever they went (Genesis 20:13). Isaac, Abraham’s son, did the same thing with his wife, Rebekah (Genesis 26:7). There are many skeletons in this genealogical closet!
Conclusion: The blessings of God on His people had nothing to do with the good works of men, but can only be explained in terms of the mercy and grace of God. God’s blessings would be poured out on sinful men, in spite of their deeds, based upon the grace of God in Jesus Christ. The genealogy of our Lord underscores the doctrine of the depravity of man. I like the way Frederick Bruner summarizes this:
One gets the impression that Matthew pored over his Old Testament records until he could find the most questionable ancestors of Jesus available in order, in turn, to insert them into his record and so, it seems, to preach the gospel – the gospel, that is, that God can overcome and forgive sin, and can use soiled but repentant persons for his great purposes in history (for Judah’s repentance, cf. Gen 38:26; for David’s, 2 Sam 12:13 and traditionally, Ps 51).8
Observation four: Matthew includes four women in his genealogy. This is indeed a rare thing, especially for a Jewish genealogy. One would be more likely to expect women to be included in Luke’s genealogy, knowing that Luke is much more likely to put a woman in the spotlight. But it is in Matthew’s much more Jewish Gospel that we find these four women. These women would not generally be regarded as the most noble women of the Old Testament. Three of them were Gentiles by birth, and the fourth – Bathsheba – was a virtual Gentile by her marriage to Uriah the Hittite (Matthew 1:6; 2 Samuel 11:3). All of these women might not have been considered “pure as the driven snow” by some self-righteous Jews.9
Conclusion: God’s promise of salvation through the Messiah was for unworthy sinners, including Gentiles.
The four model matriarchs of Jewish history were Sarah, Rebekah, Rachel, and Leah, the wives, respectively, of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. These four women are conspicuous by their absence here. Their husbands are all here, and so there was opportunity for Matthew to include the good wives. But Matthew gives the church four new matriarchs, and all of them preach the gospel of the deep and wide mercy of God.
These four scandals in their way preach the gospel of divine mercy, which is Matthew’s whole mission to proclaim. Matthew will later teach us that Jesus came ‘not for the righteous, but for sinners’ (Matt 9:13); but already in his genealogy Matthew is teaching us that Jesus came not only for, but through, sinners. God did not begin to stoop into our sordid human story at Christmas only; he was stooping all the way through the Old Testament. The mercy of God is the deepest fact Matthew finds in his Hebrew Scriptures and in Jesus (cf. 9:13; 12:7), and so through the four women he highlights this mercy in the first line of his genealogy.
But this first genealogy in the New Testament has the surprising office of teaching us that the line that led from Abraham to Jesus, the Son of David, was intersected again and again by gentile blood. King David himself had a Canaanite great-great-great-grandmother, a Jerichoite great-great-grandmother, a Moabite great-grandmother, and a Hittite ‘wife.’ Matthew wants the church to know that from the start, and not just from the Council of Jerusalem (Acts 15), God’s work has been interracial, and that God is no narrow nationalist or racist.10
Observation five: Matthew is careful to show that our Lord’s lineage makes Him both a “son of David,” and a “son of Abraham”:
This is the record of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham (Matthew 1:1, emphasis mine).
Abraham and David are the two Old Testament men with whom God made the most important covenants of all time, so far as the coming Messiah was concerned.
1 Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go out from your country, your relatives, and your father’s household to the land that I will show you. 2 Then I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you, and I will make your name great, in order that you might be a prime example of divine blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, but the one who treats you lightly I must curse, and all the families of the earth will pronounce blessings on one another using your name” (Genesis 12:1-3).
The Lord declares to you that he himself will build a house for you. 12 When the time comes for you to die, I will raise up your descendant, one of your own sons, to succeed you, and I will establish his kingdom. 13 He [Solomon] will build a house for my name, and I will make his dynasty permanent. 14 I will become his father and he will become my son. When he sins, I will correct him with the rod of men and with wounds inflicted by human beings. 15 But my loyal love will not be removed from him as I removed it from Saul, whom I removed from before you (2 Samuel 7:11b-15).
In the first of these covenants, the Abrahamic Covenant, God promises the then childless Abram a son. Through the seed of Abraham, God promised to make a great nation. And through this “seed” God covenants not only to bless Abraham, but also the nations. This promised “seed,” the source of all blessings, is ultimately our Lord Jesus Christ:
15 Brothers and sisters, I offer an example from everyday life: When a covenant has been ratified, even though it is only a human contract, no one can set it aside or add anything to it. 16 Now the promises were spoken to Abraham and to his descendant. Scripture does not say, “and to the descendants,” referring to many, but “and to your descendant,” referring to one, who is Christ (Galatians 3:15-16).
In the second covenant, the Davidic Covenant, God promises David that his dynasty will be eternal. It is through David’s “seed” that Messiah’s reign will be forever. And so it is that our Lord is referred to as the “son of David” (Matthew 9:27; 12:23; 15:22; 20:30, 31; 21:9, 15; see also 22:42-46).
Conclusions: (1) Jesus is both the “son of Abraham” and the “son of David.” Jesus is the fulfillment of both the Abrahamic (see Galatians 3:15-16) and the Davidic (see Matthew 22:42-46) covenants. Jesus is the legitimate heir to the throne of David; He is the king of Israel.11 (2) When we see that the covenant promises to Abraham and David were fully and finally fulfilled in the person of Jesus Christ, we are once again assured by God’s Word that God always keeps His promises. What He says, He will do. On the cross of Calvary our Lord cried out, “It is finished” (John 19:30). God always finishes what He starts (Philippians 1:6).
Observation six:12
1. Malachi, the last book of the Old Testament, ends with a prophecy which looks ahead to the coming of Jesus Christ and His forerunner, John the Baptist:
5 Look, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and terrible day of the Lord comes. 6 He will encourage fathers and their children to return to me, so that I will not come and strike the earth with judgment” (Malachi 4:5-6).
2. Matthew, the first book of the New Testament, begins by looking back to the Old Testament by means of a genealogy.
3. Matthew’s genealogy begins with Abraham and ends with Jesus Christ.
4. Matthew’s genealogy covers the entire history of Israel, from Abraham to Christ.
5. Matthew’s Gospel, more than any other, emphasizes the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecies:
Matthew contains at least forty formal quotations from the Old Testament, and the formal introductory formula ‘all this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying…’ occurs no less than sixteen times.13
Conclusion: Matthew’s genealogy goes beyond the author’s claims elsewhere in this Gospel that Jesus’ incarnation and ministry fulfills individual Old Testament prophecies and even the Abrahamic and Davidic covenants. This genealogy informs us that Jesus Christ is the fulfillment of the entire Old Testament. No matter where we turn in the Old Testament, Christ is there.
1 For I do not want you to be unaware, brothers and sisters, that our fathers were all under the cloud and all passed through the sea, 2 and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, 3 and all ate the same spiritual food, 4 and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they were all drinking from the spiritual rock that followed them, and the rock was Christ (1 Corinthians 10:1-4, emphasis mine).
16 Therefore do not let anyone judge you with respect to food or drink, or in the matter of a feast, new moon, or Sabbath days 17 that are only the shadow of the things to come, but the reality is Christ (Colossians 2:16-17).
What an amazing way to start a Gospel – with a great long list of names! But for the Jew that was not surprising at all, as we shall see. It sets Jesus of Nazareth in the context of what God had been doing for his people from the earliest days. It ushers in the theme of fulfilment which is so prominent in this Gospel. The climax of God’s work for mankind throughout the centuries is – Jesus.14
… All such critical considerations apart, however, is it not clear as noonday that Matthew properly leads our four Gospels? As none of the others, he links the New with the Old, showing our Lord’s fulfilling of the Hebrew Scriptures. He has more Old Testament quotations and allusions than Mark and Luke together. Moreover, since Matthew (and only he) writes primarily for the Jews, is he not the true leader-in of the New, as well as the obvious link-back with the Old? – for even the New is ‘to the Jew first.’ Forgive us, therefore, if we keep Matthew first and stay out of fashion!15
It is well known that Matthew loves to show how Jesus fulfilled the Old Testament; Matthew often writes: ‘this happened so that what the Lord said through the prophet might be fulfilled’ (see especially chapters 1 and 2 of the Gospel). In his genealogy, however, Matthew shows fulfillment not only of particular passages in the Old Testament but of the Old Testament as a whole. Jesus is the fulfillment of the whole Old Testament story and of all its events taken together in their totality.16
Observation seven: Matthew’s genealogy has been carefully crafted, with a very precise order and arrangement:
17 So all the generations from Abraham to David are fourteen generations, and from David to the deportation to Babylon, fourteen generations, and from the deportation to Babylon to Christ, fourteen generations (Matthew 1:17).
Matthew’s genealogy is divided into three sections, each consisting of 14 names.17 In order for Matthew to achieve this order, he had to omit some of the names. This poses no problem because the Greek term (rendered “the son of”) refers to one’s descendants, who might therefore be sons, grandsons, great-grandsons, etc. The point I wish to make here is that Matthew wanted us to view his genealogy as very neat and orderly.
I find Bruner’s comments on the structure and organization of this genealogy very insightful:
We will understand this three-times-fourteen formation best if we picture a kind of leaning capital N, an N in which the first fourteen generations head upward from Father Abraham to King David like this (/), the second fourteen generations plummet downward from King Solomon to the Babylonian Exile (), and then finally the last fourteen generations move upward again from exile to the Christ (/).18
Bruner suggests that the first section, from Abraham to David, is an upwardly ascending order. Things just seem to get better and better. David, followed by his son Solomon, are as good as it gets in this genealogical sequence. And thus Bruner (p. 5) believes that this section portrays the grace and mercy of God. We see this, for example, in the inclusion of the Gentile women in the genealogy.
The second section plummets from the kingdom at its best (under David and Solomon) to the very depths – Israel’s Babylonian captivity. After Solomon the United Kingdom is divided. The northern kings are consistently evil, and the kings of Judah are a mixture of good and bad. The Babylonian captivity is the consequence of Judah’s persistent rebellion. From a human point of view it looks as if Israel’s hopes for the fulfillment of God’s Old Testament covenants have been dashed on the rocks of reality.
The third section is once again ascending. God delivers His people from Babylon and brings a remnant back to the land of Israel. There are dangers and disappointments, but Israel has good cause for hope.
Conclusions: The Sovereign God is in complete control of history, assuring that His purposes and promises will be fulfilled. When I read through the Old Testament, I find myself in awe that as messed up as men are God’s promises are always kept. Even the best of the bunch are miserable sinners, who fall far short of God’s standards. David and Solomon were great kings, but their lives were a mess. Their sins caused much trouble for Israel. If the fulfillment of God’s purposes and promises depended upon their faithfulness, we of all men would be most miserable.
When I read through the Bible, I remember those passages which remind us that the angels are watching what is going on (1 Corinthians 11:10; Ephesians 3:10; 1 Peter 1:10-12). The angels must have been breathless as they watched Abraham pass off his wife as his sister, and then give her to Pharaoh for a wife (Genesis 12:10-20), and then do the same thing with Abimelech later on, just after God had told Abraham that the promised child would be his child through Sarah (Genesis 17:15-21; 20:1-18). Judah was the one through whom the Messiah would come (Genesis 49:8-12), and yet Judah nearly had no heir, due to his own sin (Genesis 38). Over and over again the angels must have been breathless, wondering if God’s covenant promises would ever be fulfilled. From a human point of view, it was pure chaos.
By the way Matthew structures this genealogy, everything appears to be neat and tidy, precise and orderly. There are three sections, each with 14 generations. Does this not convey to the reader a picture of a calm, precise, and orderly administration? Things may have looked chaotic when viewed from a human perspective, but the outcome was certain. God is in complete control. His purposes and promises are always fulfilled.
For Matthew this three times fourteen said order, harmony, and meaning. When Matthew looks back over the history of the old people of God and sees fourteen generations between key periods in the people’s history – between Abraham, David, Exile, and the Christ – he is impressed, in a word, with the sovereignty of God. Behind, under, above, and through all the chaos, sin, and rebellion of Israel’s up-and-down history, God was working his purpose out as year succeeds to year. To the human participants in this history, things didn’t look too orderly. But when one looks back on Old Testament history through the lens that the history of Jesus Christ offers, one sees that God’s hand was steady and sure, … Three times fourteen means the sovereignty of God.19
Observation eight: Matthew’s genealogy does not always follow the normal pattern one might expect. For example, the genealogical line flows from Isaac to Jacob, and then to Judah (Matthew 1:2). Normally, the genealogical line would pass on to the next generation through the oldest son. We know that Esau was the first-born son of Isaac, and not Jacob. Nevertheless, the genealogical line was carried on through Jacob. The way that this happened is not a pretty story, but it fulfills the promise of God:
21 Isaac prayed to the Lord on behalf of his wife, because she was childless. The Lord answered his prayer and his wife Rebekah became pregnant. 22 But the children struggled inside her, and she said, “If it is going to be like this, I’m not so sure I want to be pregnant!” So she asked the Lord 23 and the Lord said to her, “Two nations are in your womb, and two peoples will be separated from within you. One people will be stronger than the other, and the older will serve the younger” (Genesis 25:21-23).
Conclusion: Matthew’s genealogy testifies to the doctrine of divine election. Even though Joseph was the favorite son of Jacob (and he gave him the double portion of the first-born through adopting his two sons – Genesis 48), it was Judah through whom the messianic line would pass. Judah was not the first-born; Reuben was, followed by Simeon. Reuben lost his place when he sought to possess the concubine of his father (Genesis 29:3-4). Simeon and Levi violently killed the people of Shechem (Genesis 34), and thus the line would not pass through Simeon (Genesis 49:5-7). As Paul points out in Romans 9, the genealogical line of promise is evidence of divine election:
6 It is not as though the word of God had failed. For not all those who are descended from Israel are truly Israel, 7 nor are all the children Abraham’s true descendants; rather “through Isaac will your descendants be traced.” 8 This means it is not the children of the flesh who are the children of God; rather, the children of promise are counted as descendants. 9 For this is what the promise declared: “About a year from now I will return and Sarah will have a son.” 10 Not only that, but when Rebekah had conceived children by one man, our ancestor Isaac— 11 even before they were born or had done anything good or bad (so that God’s purpose in election would stand, not by works but by his calling)— 12 it was said to her, “The older will serve the younger,” 13 just as it is written: “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated” (Romans 9:6-13, emphasis mine).
Although Jacob was always striving, both with God and with men (see Genesis 32:28), he finally came to see that it was God who elevated men and put one above another. He indicates this in his dying days:
12 So Joseph moved them from Israel’s knees and bowed down with his face to the ground. 13 Joseph positioned them; he put Ephraim on his right hand across from Israel’s left hand, and Manasseh on his left hand across from Israel’s right hand. Then Joseph brought them closer to his father. 14 Israel stretched out his right hand and placed it on Ephraim’s head, although he was the younger. Crossing his hands, he put his left hand on Manasseh’s head, for Manasseh was the firstborn. 15 Then he blessed Joseph and said, “May the God before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac walked— the God who has been my shepherd all my life long to this day— 16 the Angel who has protected me from all harm— bless these boys. May my name be named in them, and the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac. May they grow into a multitude on the earth.” 17 When Joseph saw that his father placed his right hand on Ephraim’s head, it displeased him. So he took his father’s hand to move it from Ephraim’s head to Manasseh’s head. 18 Joseph said to his father, “Not so, my father, for this is the firstborn. Put your right hand on his head.” 19 But his father refused and said, “I know, my son, I know. He too will become a nation and he too will become great. In spite of this, his younger brother will be even greater and his descendants will become a multitude of nations.” 20 So he blessed them that day, saying, “By you will Israel bless, saying, ‘May God make you like Ephraim and Manasseh.’” So he put Ephraim before Manasseh (Genesis 48:12-20).
Joseph was perturbed that his father was seemingly confused about which of his sons was the oldest, and thus the one to be given preeminence. He tried to place his father’s hands in such a way as to give the greater blessing to the oldest, but Jacob would have none of it. He knew exactly what he was doing, and in reversing his hands he was, I believe, giving testimony to the fact that God sovereignly chooses (elects) one above another. It is His doing, because He is a sovereign God. The genealogy of Matthew testifies to divine election.
(Adapted from URL:https://bible.org/seriespage/1-origins-jesus-christ-matthew-11-25)
Some of us learn very early, others later on, that it is challenging, sometimes heartbreaking, to belong in a family. For all of us, being reminded of the mix of righteous people (like David) along with those who famously fell in sin (also like David) in Jesus’ own family line is a word of comfort: no matter who we come from, we can look for God’s hand at work in our families. More than this, Jesus’ genealogy is a word of comfort because it is a word about our Lord Jesus Christ. In him, God fulfilled promises he made (by Matthew’s count) as early as 42 generations prior! The lineage of Jesus shows how God moved beyond people’s sin and selfishness to use them in his plan for his Messiah. This genealogy is the first evidence Matthew presents of Jesus’ Messiahship, and certainly not the last (example: Matthew 16:16).