Mat 1:1-25 - THE GENEALOGY AND BIRTH OF JESUS CHRIST
A. The place of the Gospel of Matthew in the New Testament.
1. Matthew: The first gospel for a reason.
a. Matthew was seen as a prestigious gospel in the early church, because it had some significant portions of Jesus teaching not included in other gospels, such as a fuller version of the Sermon on the Mount. In addition, it was the only one of the synoptic gospels (Matthew, Mark, and Luke) to have an apostolic author.
b. Additionally, the Jewish flavor of the Gospel of Matthew makes for a logical transition between the Old and New Testaments. For these reasons, the early church placed it first in order among the four gospel accounts.
c. The author is Matthew (also known as Levi), who was a former tax collector before he followed Jesus as a disciple.
i. Critical theories that attempt to assign Matthew to two authors - one who presented teachings of Jesus, the other who presented the actions of Jesus - are popular among some scholars. But this is an unfounded and highly speculative criticism.
ii. Some early church commentators and modern scholars say that Matthew originally wrote his gospel in Hebrew, and it was then translated into Greek. But there is really no concrete evidence for this theory, such as the discovery of a Hebrew manuscript of Matthew.
2. The theme of the gospel of Matthew: Jesus as King and Messiah.
a. The key phrase this was to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet occurs some 16 times in this Gospel. Matthew shows Jesus as the rightful Messiah of Israel, fulfilling prophecy.
B. The genealogy of Jesus Christ.
1. ( Mat 1:1) Matthew shows his theme in the first verse: Jesus as the fulfillment of prophecy and of Israel s expectation.
The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the Son of David, the Son of Abraham:
a. : Jesus is the kingly Messiah promised from David s royal line ( 2Sa 7:12-16).
b. : Jesus is the Seed of Abraham in Whom all nations would be blessed ( Gen 12:3).
2. ( Mat 1:2-16) Jesus genealogy through Joseph.
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. Solomon begot Rehoboam, Rehoboam begot Abijah, and Abijah begot Asa. Asa begot Jehoshaphat, Jehoshaphat begot Joram, and Joram begot Uzziah. Uzziah begot Jotham, Jotham begot Ahaz, and Ahaz begot Hezekiah. 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. And after they were brought to Babylon, Jeconiah begot Shealtiel, and Shealtiel begot Zerubbabel. Zerubbabel begot Abiud, Abiud begot Eliakim, and Eliakim begot Azor. Azor begot Zadok, Zadok begot Achim, and Achim begot Eliud. Eliud begot Eleazar, Eleazar begot Matthan, and Matthan begot Jacob. And Jacob begot Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus who is called Christ.
a. This genealogy establishes Jesus claim to the throne of David through his adoptive father Joseph. This is not His blood lineage through Mary, but His legal lineage through Joseph. The Gospel of Luke provides Jesus blood lineage through Mary.
b. : In this genealogy is the unusual presence of four women. Women were rarely mentioned in ancient genealogies, and the four mentioned here are worthy of special note as examples of God s grace. They show how God can take unlikely people and use them in great ways.
i. ( Mat 1:3): She sold herself as a prostitute to her father in-law Judah to bring forth Perez and Zerah.
ii. ( Mat 1:5): She was a Gentile prostitute, for whom God took extraordinary measures to save from judgment and her lifestyle of prostitution.
iii. ( Mat 1:5): She was from Moab, a Gentile.
iv. : Bathsheba (mentioned by implication in Mat 1:6) was an adulteress, infamous for her sin with David.
c. Why are these four women listed in the genealogy of Jesus?
i. To demonstrate that Jesus Christ was not some kind of blue blood in the sense that He did not come from a pure aristocratic background.
ii. To demonstrate that Jesus identifies with sinners in His genealogy, even as He will in His birth, baptism, life, and His death on the cross.
iii. To show that there is a new place for women under the New Covenant. In both the pagan and the Jewish culture of that day, men often had little regard for women. In that era, Jewish men prayed every morning, thanking God that they were not Gentiles, slaves, or women. And women were regarded more highly among the Jews than among the pagans!
3. ( Mat 1:17) Matthew s organization of the genealogy.
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.
a. : Matthew points out that this genealogy is not complete. There were not actually 14 generations between the landmarks he indicates, but Matthew edited the list down to make it easy to remember and memorize.
b. The practice of skipping generations at times was common in the listing of ancient genealogies. Matthew did nothing unusual by leaving some generations out.
C. The Birth of Jesus Christ.
1. ( Mat 1:18) Mary, while engaged to Joseph, is found to be with child as a result of a miraculous conception by the Holy Spirit.
Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows: After His mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Spirit.
a. : Matthew plainly (without Luke s detail) presents the virginal conception and birth of Jesus. However, the virgin birth was difficult for people to believe back then, even as it is also doubted now by some.
b. The enemies of Jesus knew there were suspicious circumstances surrounding His parentage, and make reference to it in passages like Joh 8:19; Joh 8:41. Lies spread that Mary had become pregnant from a Roman soldier. Here, Matthew sets the story straight - both then and now.
2. ( Mat 1:19) Joseph seeks a quiet divorce.
Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not wanting to make her a public example, was minded to put her away secretly.
a. : Considering it impossible to go through with marriage to someone who has been unfaithful to him, Joseph makes a logical decision to seek a quiet divorce.
b. : This refers to breaking an engagement by divorce. Remember that betrothal (engagement) was binding in Jewish culture, and one needed a divorce to break an engagement. shows that even though they were not formally married, Joseph was still considered Mary s by engagement.
3. ( Mat 1:20-21) An angel speaks to Joseph in a dream, convincing him not to divorce Mary.
But while he thought about these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take to you Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name JESUS, for He will save His people from their sins.
a. : This was not the angel of the Lord, but simply . Perhaps it was Gabriel, who is prominent in the announcements made to Mary and Zacharias ( Luk 1:19; Luk 1:26). Yet those were actual angelic visitations, this was presented to Joseph .
b. : The address should have alerted Joseph that something was significant here. It is a reference to his legal lineage to the throne of David.
c. : It seems that Mary had not told Joseph that she was pregnant by the Holy Spirit. This shouldn t surprise us; how could she (or anyone except God) explain such a thing?
d. : The name ( the salvation of Yahweh ) was fairly common in that day, but supremely blessed in our day. As it is said, there is no other name under heaven by which men must be saved ( Act 4:12).
e. : Save them from what? . Jesus meets us in our sin, but His purpose is to save us from them. First from the penalty of sin, then from the power of sin, and finally from the presence of sin.
4. ( Mat 1:22-23) The virgin birth as the fulfillment of prophecy.
So all this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying: Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel, which is translated, God with us.
a. This is the first use of , which will become a familiar theme throughout Matthew.
b. : There has been some measure of controversy regarding this quote from Isa 7:14, primarily because the Hebrew word Almah can be translated as either or young woman.
i. But the issue is ridiculous to argue. In this context, clearly Almah indicates a virgin, because the Old Testament never uses the word in a context other than virgin and because the Septuagint translates it categorically virgin.
c. : This title of Jesus refers to both His deity () and His identification and nearness to man ().
5. ( Mat 1:24-25) Joseph marries Mary after the angelic announcement.
Then Joseph, being aroused from sleep, did as the angel of the Lord commanded him and took to him his wife, and did not know her till she had brought forth her firstborn Son. And he called His name JESUS.
a. : The words imply that Joseph and Mary had normal marital relations after Jesus birth. This denies the Roman Catholic dogma of the perpetual virginity of Mary.
i. This is an unbiblical, doctrine, which did not appear earlier than the fifth century after Jesus. It should be placed with the dogmas of Mary s Immaculate Conception, assumption into heaven, and present role as a mediator for believers. Each one of these is man s invention, meant to exalt Mary in an unbiblical manner.
b. : The simple obedience of Mary and Joseph in naming the baby is worthy of notice. Such simple obedience should never be lost in the Christian life.