Matthew 1:1-16

When I think about Matthew the man, I see a despised tax collector who would have probably lived his life scoffing at the criticisms from his fellow man. He would have needed to walk down the street with no fear at all of the people around him. He probably had as much contempt for them as they had for him. He did have a lot of associates in his field of tax collecting because he holds a great banquet for them as we’ll see when we get to Luke 5:27 to 29.

Maybe the population around him were even downright scared of him because he would have needed to be quite a ruthless man to hold down this especially hated job and continue to survive. It would be easy for me to imagine little kids running for cover when he walked nearby. I see this man as one tough cookie as well as a very well educated, highly intelligent man who had very little, if any, respect for the religious leadership of the day.

Then something happened deep down inside him that gave him the incredible insight and the complete change of heart to be one of the most dedicated disciples of our Lord. He met Jesus, he heard Jesus, he put together the words Jesus spoke with what he already very well knew about his Jewish heritage, then he believed Jesus. Then, when Jesus asked Matthew to follow Him then he just got up and followed Jesus.

He became one of the unbreakable links in a long chain of souls who knew that their encounter with Jesus was greater than anything this world could possibly offer.

We’ve said that Matthew originally wrote his gospel in Hebrew, and it was then translated into Greek. There are some scholars who say there’s no concrete evidence for this because there’s never been a discovery of an early Hebrew manuscript of Matthew.

Whether he wrote in Hebrew or not The Jewishness of Matthew’s gospel is evident and its remarkable. It’s intensely concerned with issues related to the Jewish nation. This is plainly seen even in the opening genealogy, which Matthew traces back as far as Abraham as opposed to Luke’s Gospel which shows Christ as the Redeemer of humanity and goes all the way back to Adam. Matthew’s purpose is to demonstrate that Christ is the King and Messiah of Israel. This gospel quotes more than 60 times from Old Testament prophecies, showing how Christ is the fulfillment of all those promises. Matthew tells the story about Jesus’s miraculous conception and birth; the importance of liturgy, which is church service, law, discipleship, and teaching; and shows us Jesus’s life and death.

The Gospel of Matthew has long been considered the most important of the four Gospels.

The genealogy which opens the Gospel of Matthew, and the New Testament is in many respects the most important document in the Scriptures.

We should always remember one of the key verses in our Why God study which is 2 Timothy 3:16,

All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness.

The genealogy in Matthew fits into this description of “All Scripture” therefore, even though we might see it as boring list of hard to pronounce names, it’s there to instruct us.

The entire Word of God and His truthfulness and greatness rest on the accuracy of this genealogy because if God couldn’t get this right what else couldn’t He get right. God displays His supernatural might and power in the incredible accuracy of this genealogy that gives us the bloodline of the Lord Jesus Christ, The One Who the entire collection of the 66 books of the Bible is about.

You and I may find the genealogy and the “begats” boring but if we see through the meticulous giving of the names to the purpose it was given we get a much greater appreciation of why God took such great pains to bring it to us. That purpose is purely and simply to show us, you and me, the incredible power of God that made all of these people traceable and to make it crystal clear that every link was perfectly placed to bring Jesus, Who is the Jewish Messiah, The Christ, The Saviour into our world.

Notice that this genealogy has three divisions:

1. The genealogy from Abraham to David in verses 1 to 6.
2. The genealogy from Solomon to the Babylonian captivity in verses 7 to 11.
3. The genealogy from the Babylonian captivity to Joseph, the carpenter in verses 12 to 17.

We saw in our journey through Genesis that it was a book about families and the genealogies there are very important, because it’s here, in Matthew at the start of the New Testament, that we see the purpose for them unfold.

Now, it’s true that at a first glance this genealogy looks a bit boring.

If you just threw someone a copy of the New Testament without any explanation to go with it, they’d begin here in the Gospel of Matthew with this genealogy consisting of a long list of names who begat so and so who then begat another so and so.

Truly, they’re not going to get very far into it, and we can’t blame them.

We need to use a bit of wisdom in what literature we give out to people. The average person should start first in any one of the other three Gospels, preferably Mark, rather than the Gospel of Matthew. But that in no way lessens the importance of this genealogy.

As we’ve said, the entire New Testament rests upon the accuracy of this genealogy because it establishes the fact that the Lord Jesus Christ is of the line of Abraham and of the line of David. Both are very important. The line of Abraham places Him in the nation, and the line of David puts Him on the throne. He’s in that royal line. Of course, the genealogies also show us how God’s promises to Abraham, Issac and Jacob and to King David were fulfilled to the letter.

The genealogies were very important to the nation Israel, and through them it could be established whether a person had a legitimate claim to a particular line and to a particular tribe. For example, when Israel returned from the Babylonian captivity, we find in the Book of Ezra in Ezra 2 verse 26,

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. 

You see, it was possible in Ezra’s day to check the register of the tribe of Levi and remove those who made a false claim.

Evidently these genealogies were kept by the government and were accessible to the public.

They were more than likely kept in the temple because Israel was a theocracy which means a state where God and the government are one. The ultimate marriage of church and state if you like to put it that way.

This genealogy was obviously on display and could have been copied from the public records until the temple was destroyed with the rest of Jerusalem in A.D. 70.

The enemies of Jesus could have checked these records at any time, and they definitely would have.

Now, this is interesting and important because the religious rulers challenged every move of the Lord Jesus, and they even offered excuses and explanations for the Resurrection, which incidentally were quite silly, but they never questioned His genealogy.

They never accused Him of not being of the line of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and then from the line of King David. Why? Because they checked it out against the written records that were freely available, and they found that it was accurate.

This is incredibly important because it puts Jesus in a very unique position. You remember that He said the Shepherd of the sheep enters in by the door, but the thief and the robber climb up some other way to get into the sheepfold? We see that in the Gospel of John chapter 10 and verses 1-2. Well, that “fold” He’s talking about is the nation Israel.

He didn’t climb into the fold over a fence in the back, and He didn’t come in through the alley way. He came in through the front door. He was born in the line of David and in the line of Abraham. This is exactly what this genealogy in Matthew’s showing us. He’s the fulfillment of everything that had been mentioned in the Old Testament, right down to the tiniest detail. In fact, I’ve got a list of just 351 of these fulfilled prophesies with the verse of the prophecy in the Old Testament, the prophecy itself and the verses that show its fulfilment. You can see this list below the Notes and Outlines tab below this list of broadcasts.

So, the enemies of Christ never could challenge Him in regard to His genealogy. They had to find other ways to challenge Him, and, of course, they did.

Some people deny that Jesus claimed to be God. But anyone who says this simply hasn’t read the Bible. His claim to be God was the very reason they crucified Him. The Jewish religious leaders knew full well of His claims that He was God and accused Him of blasphemy and put Him to death. The issue is not whether Jesus claimed to be God, he certainly did, the issue is were His claims valid? The eternal destiny of each one of us hinges on our answer to that question.

We’ve often said during our Bible studies so far that God ‘s gone to great lengths to include only those things that are relevant to Jesus and His redemption. If that’s true then why do so many of us disregard the genealogy of Matthew or treat it very lightly or as if it’s just not necessary for it to be there?

Well, if God gave this much valuable space to it then it must to be vitally important don’t you think?

Let’s at least agree that the simple fact that this genealogy exists in the Bible at all makes it very important indeed.

So then, this is the genealogy of the Lord Jesus on Joseph’s side. We’ll have another one when we get over to Luke, and that’ll be from Mary’s side.

So, let’s start at the beginning, Matthew Chapter 1 verse 1,

The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the Son of David, the Son of Abraham: 

 

“The book of the genealogy ” or as the King James version has it “The book of the generation ” is a phrase which is a unique expression found in the New Testament only here in Matthew.

We don’t find it anywhere else in the New Testament. But, if we start going back through the Old Testament, in fact all the way back to Genesis chapter 5 verse 5, we find that expression again,

This is the book of the genealogy of Adam…

There’re two books: the book of the generations of Adam and the book of the generation of Jesus Christ.

All of us without exception got into the family of Adam by birth. We personally had nothing to do with it, but that’s the way you and I got into the family of Adam, by birth.

The trouble is Romans chapter 5 verse 12 tells us something very frightening, and we’ll read from the NLT version where it’s as plain and pointed as it’s possible to be,

When Adam sinned, sin entered the world. Adam’s sin brought death, so death spread to everyone, for everyone sinned. 

Adam’s book is, in effect, a book of death.

Then there is the other book, the book of the generation of Jesus Christ. How do we get into that family and into that genealogy?

Well, we also get into that book by birth, the new birth. The Lord Jesus says in John chapter 3 verse 3 tells us that and I quote His Words,

“Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” We must be reborn spiritually, in that deep part of us that’s the real us, the spirit.

That puts us in to the genealogy of the Lamb’s Book of Life, The Lamb being none other than Jesus, The Christ, and we get there by trusting Christ, by believing that what we read here in this Bible is truth. When we believe, our birth into the genealogy, the family of Jesus Christ is as sure and certain as our living body that’s walking around today is in the genealogy, the family of our ancestor Adam.  We’re all in the first book, the book of the generations of Adam, and I trust that you, my friend, are also in the Lamb’s Book of Life.

 

Matthew says in this first verse that Jesus is “the son of David, the son of Abraham.” Didn’t Matthew know that Abraham came before David? Of course, he did because he makes that clear in the rest of the genealogy. Then why did he put it this way, in this order?

Well, He’s presenting the Lord Jesus as the Messiah, the One who is the King, the One who’s going to establish the Kingdom of Heaven on earth. And that comes first. He must be in the line of David in fulfillment of the prophecies that God made to David. He’s the Son of David.

He’s also the Son of Abraham and it’s very important that He be the Son of Abraham because God had made a promise to Abraham in Genesis chapter 22 verse 18 and we read the words of that promise with the knowledge that Our God simply cannot lie,

“In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed…”.

And then, in Galatians 3 verse 16 Paul explains who that “seed” is, and we read,

“Now to Abraham and his Seed were the promises made. He does not say, “And to seeds,” as of many, but as of one, “AND TO YOUR SEED,” who is Christ.”

So, Jesus Christ is the Son of Abraham as well as a son of David.

 

Now let’s see verses 2 to 6,

Abraham begot Isaac, Isaac begot Jacob, and Jacob begot Judah and his brothers. 

Judah begot Perez and Zerah by Tamar, Perez begot Hezron, and Hezron begot Ram. 

Ram begot Amminadab, Amminadab begot Nahshon, and Nahshon begot Salmon. 

Salmon begot Boaz by Rahab, Boaz begot Obed by Ruth, Obed begot Jesse, and Jesse begot David the king. David the king begot Solomon by her who had been the wife of Uriah. 

 

As we’ve just come from the Book of Genesis many of these names should be familiar to our ears.

A careful look at the genealogy that follows is not only interesting; it is actually thrilling when we see it for what it really is, the revealing of Jesus Christ, God in the flesh, through the human line.

Four names stand out like neon lights because we wouldn’t expect to find them included in the genealogy of Christ. First, they’re the names of women and second, they’re the names of Gentiles.

 

It wasn’t in the custom of the day for the names of women to appear in Hebrew genealogies. It’s similar today in the sense that we have the same thing in marriage. In a marriage the name that the couple takes is mostly the name of the man. They don’t take the name of the woman because her line ends whereas his goes on. That’s the way we do it today, and that’s the way they did it then.

Our custom is to take the name of the man, and it is the man’s genealogy that’s given.

In Jesus’ day it was very unusual to find a woman’s name in a genealogy, and yet here we have four woman’s names. But, they’re not only four women; they’re four Gentiles.

As you know, God in the Law said that His people were not to intermarry with tribes that were heathen and pagan.

Even Abraham was instructed by God to send back to his people to get a bride for his son Isaac. Also, the same thing was done by Isaac for his son Jacob. It was God’s arrangement that monotheism, in other words One Living and True God and no other, should be the belief of those who were in the line leading down to the Lord Jesus Christ.

Yet in His genealogy are the names of four gentile women. Two of them were Canaanites, one was a Moabite, and the fourth was a Hittite! You would naturally ask the question, “How did they get into the genealogy of Christ?”

“Thamar” is the first one, and she’s mentioned in verse three. Her story is in Genesis 38, and there she’s called Tamar. That chapter is one of the worst in the Bible. Thamar got into the genealogy because Tamar as she’s called in Genesis was the wife of Judah’s son and that son was wicked, so God put him to death. History kept repeating and Tamar was doubtful she would get a child because Judah wouldn’t give his youngest son to her, which was the custom of the day. So, what did Tamar do? She disguised herself as a prostitute and waited for Judah to come by. Judah falls for the plot, has sex with her and Tamar gets pregnant. She gives birth to Perez and Zerah. Perez is the one through whom Jesus comes.

“Rachab” is the next one mentioned in verse five. She’s not a very pretty character in her story back in Joshua chapter 2 where she’s called Rahab, the harlot. But she did become a wonderful person after she came to a knowledge of the living and true God.

Hebrews 11:31 tells us,

“By faith the harlot Rahab did not perish with those who did not believe, when she had received the spies with peace.” 

You see, she got into the genealogy of Christ for the simple reason that she believed. She had faith. Notice the progression here. Come as a sinner, and then reach out the hand of faith to which God in turn extends His mercy and grace.

“Ruth” is the next one mentioned in verse five and she’s a truly lovely person, and we won’t find anything wrong with her, in fact the story of Ruth is one of the great love stories of history and when we see the picture it paints of our Lord it is the greatest love story ever written. But at Ruth’s time there was the Law which shut her out of the nation of Israel because the Law in Deuteronomy 23 verse 3 said,

“An Ammonite or Moabite shall not enter the assembly of the LORD; even to the tenth generation none of his descendants shall enter the assembly of the LORD forever, 

Although the Law kept her out, there was a man by the name of Boaz who came into his field one day and saw her. Boaz loved Ruth at first sight, and he extended grace to her by putting his mantle around her and bringing her, a Gentile, into the congregation of Israel. It’s exactly like the Lord. Boaz pictures Jesus Christ and Ruth pictures us, the Church, the gentile Bride of Christ.

In Ruth 2 verse 10 we hear Ruth asking Boaz,

“Why have I found favor in your eyes, that you should take notice of me, since I am a foreigner?” 

You and I can ask that same question of God regarding His grace to us.

 

Again, we see the sequence. We come as sinners and hold out the hand of faith, and He, by His marvellous grace, saves us.

 

“Bathsheba” is not mentioned by name but in verse 6 we see her very clearly as she’s spoken of as quote, “her who had been the wife of Uriah.”

 

Her name isn’t mentioned because it wasn’t her sin. It was David’s sin, and David was the one that really had to pay for that sin. And boy did he did pay for it.

Bathsheba got into the genealogy of Christ because God doesn’t throw one of His children who sins overboard.

A sheep can get out of the fold and become a lost sheep, but we have a Shepherd who goes after those sheep and always brings them back into the fold. He certainly brought David back. So, this is the whole story of salvation right here in this genealogy.

 

Now there are some other interesting things about this genealogy. If we compare this genealogy here in Matthew with the one in 1 Chronicles 3, even though some of the names are spelled differently, we’ll find that in verse eight of Matthew, the names of Ahaziah, Joash, and Amaziah are left out.

This shows us that genealogies are used to give us a view of a certain line of descendants and that every individual is not necessarily named in every genealogy of the Bible.

We should remember this in the genealogies given to us in Genesis before the Flood. They’re not necessarily complete genealogies, but they’re given to trace a certain line for us to see.

 

Verses 10 to 11,

Hezekiah begot Manasseh, Manasseh begot Amon, and Amon begot Josiah. 

Josiah begot Jeconiah and his brothers about the time they were carried away to Babylon. 

 

In verse 11, we find that Matthew skips Jehoiakim but includes Jechonia. Now we should pay special attention to this chap Jechonia because God had said that none of his seed would sit on the throne.

Let’s see that in Jeremiah 22:24,

“As I live,” says the LORD, “though Coniah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, were the signet on My right hand, yet I would pluck you off.”

Wow, these are the strongest possible words that the Lord Himself could have uttered. This chap was destined to be King, quote, “the signet on God’s right hand”, but God removed him.

It gets worse. The Lord calls this man Coniah. His name is Jeconiah, but God took the Je off his name because it’s the prefix for Jehovah, and this man was extremely wicked so God will not have His name associated with this man. Nor will he have him anywhere in the line to Jesus.

Then the LORD says of this man in Jeremiah 22:30,

‘Write this man down as childless, A man who shall not prosper in his days; For none of his descendants shall prosper, Sitting on the throne of David, And ruling anymore in Judah.‘

Because of the sin of this man Jechonia, neither he nor anyone from his line could ever sit on the throne of David.

 

Joseph, Jesus’ earthly father is in this line, but Joseph’s not the natural father of Jesus. This is one of the most remarkable facts in the Scriptures, and Matthew’s trying to make it clear to us.

Joseph gave the title, the legal title, to the throne of David to Jesus because Joseph was the husband of Mary who was the one who bore Jesus.

Jesus Christ is not the seed of Joseph, nor is He the seed of Jeconiah. But both Joseph and Mary had to be from the line of David, and they were, but through two different lines from two different sons of David.

We’ll find when we get to Luke that Mary’s line comes from David through his son Nathan, while Joseph’s line comes through the royal line through Solomon. So, Joseph and Mary both had to go to Bethlehem to be enrolled for taxation because they were both from the line of David.

You see how fascinating, and all important these genealogies are and why they’re worth our study.

Now the genealogy finishes with verse 16,

And Jacob begot Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus who is called Christ. 

You see how this breaks the pattern which began as far back as verse 2 where it says that Abraham begat Isaac. From then on it was just a whole lot of “begetting,” and then verse 16 begins by saying, “And Jacob begat Joseph.” You would expect it to continue by saying that Joseph begat Jesus, but it doesn’t say that. Instead, it says, “Jacob begot Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ.”

Obviously, Matthew’s making it clear that Joseph’s not the father of Jesus. Although he’s the husband of Mary, he’s not the father of Jesus.

What is the explanation of this? Well, Matthew in the rest of this chapter will give us the explanation and will show us exactly how it fulfills Old Testament prophecy.

 

So, this ends our first steps into the Gospel according to Matthew.

Next time we’ll come to what has to be the greatest miracle and the most momentous event that’s ever taken place, the virgin birth of the Lord Jesus Christ. The day God clothed Himself with flesh and became a man.

Until then my friends may God strengthen and bless you as you learn more about Him.