Matthew 1 - The Genealogy of Jesus the Messiah

 Happy New Year! 

This year's blog will be a little different. I am going to take 2-3 verses from each chapter each day, which I think are most important, and then make some comments.. I will be using the New International Version again this year. I like this version because it is easy to read, and an biblically accurate translation of the Greek language. 

I will include a link to the chapter, which you can either read or listen to the audio. For instance today's is:

Matthew 1 - NIV

I will also include a link to the Enduring Word Commentary, which is primarily written by David Guzik, a conservative, evangelical scholar. He will also cite other excellent commentators, theologians and pastors like Charles Spurgeon, F.F. Bruce, D.A. Carson and others. 

Enduring Word Commentary - Matthew 1

Introduction to Matthew: Matthew is the first gospel and the first book of the New Testament. It is written around 70-80 A.D., which about 40 years after Jesus' life, death, and resurrection. Matthew's audience is primarily Jewish Christians, and you will see many him cite many Old Testament passages. This is to show the Jewish Christians how Jesus is the Messiah as was foretold in the Old Testament in many places. We begin with Jesus' genealogy. It is reminder that Jesus is a historical figure. Matthew is writing a gospel, which is literally recounting the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. 

Key Verses for Today:

17 Thus there were fourteen generations in all from Abraham to David, fourteen from David to the exile to Babylon, and fourteen from the exile to the Messiah.

Matthew starts his genealogy with Abraham, the father of Judaism. God made a covenant with Abraham that his descendants would be as many as the stars in the sky. As you probably know Abram and Sarah were at a ripe old age when the child of the promise (Issac) was born. This is why Abraham was called "the Father of Faith". God blessed him and promised all nations would be blessed through His faith in God. This would include the Gentiles, or everyone who was not Jewish. 

Abram, who later became Abraham, lived roughly around 1,800 B.C.E.  B.C.E. stands for "before common era". To give you another important historical marker, the Israelites were delivered through the Red Sea by Moses around 1,200 B.C.E. Moses was also a major figure in Jewish history, as he delivered the Israelites from being in slavery to the Egypt. Through Moses, God revealed the Ten Commandments and the Pentateuch (also called the Torah) to the Israelites in the wilderness.  

The next major figure in Israel's history is King David, who was said to be a "man  after God's own heart". David was the second king in Israel after King Saul. He lived around 1,000 B.C.E. This puts David about 800 years after Moses. If you divide 800 by 14 generations it puts each generation around 70 years in length. So you can see the math works, once again proving the historical reliability of the bible. One of the greatest proofs of the authenticity of the bible is it is historically accurate in many ways as we will see throughout this year. 

As an example of fulfilled prophecy, Matthew quotes Isaiah 7:14 when he says, "The Virgin with give birth and he will give him the name "Immanuel, which means God is with us." 

This was due to Israelites unfaithfulness to the covenant God had made with them.  God established the "Davidic Covenant" through David which is also called the "royal covenant". One of the aspects of this covenant is that it is through David's line that Jesus, the Messiah, would be born. The term Messiah also means "king, or anointed one". The difference is Jesus would be a king forever, and his kingdom would be eternal. 

The final 14 years goes from King David to the Babylonian exile, which occurs in 586 B.C.E. This is due to Israelites unfaithfulness to the covenant God had made with them. Matthew's birth narrative focuses on the faithfulness of Joseph to take Mary as his wife as a teenage virgin. Matthew's lineage goes back to Father Abraham. 

So you can see Matthew's prime objective in Matthew 1 is to link Jesus birth through a genealogy that goes through the Abrahamic and Davidic covenant. 

The author is persuaded that Matthew records the genealogical record of Joseph, and Luke the record of Mary; but this is not accepted without dispute by some. “Few would guess simply by reading Luke that he is giving Mary’s genealogy. The theory stems, not from the text of Luke, but from the need to harmonize the two genealogies. On the face of it, both Matthew and Luke aim to give Joseph’s genealogy.” (Carson)

Question for Reflection:

Jesus was a king like no other. His kingdom was not of this world, or else he would have established his kingdom on this earth. The next promise in the bible is that Jesus will return to usher in his 1,000 year kingdom. We who believe in him will reign with him. 

Is Jesus your King? Is He your Messiah? If Jesus is your king, are you living under his reign? Is He your Lord and does your every day like reflect that in the words, thoughts, and actions.