2 “Abraham was the father of Isaac, and Isaac the father of Jacob, and Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers, 3 and Judah the father of Perez and Zerah by Tamar, and Perez the father of Hezron, and Hezron the father of Aram, 4 and Aram the father of Aminadab, and Aminadab the father of Nahshon, and Nahshon the father of Salmon, 5 and Salmon the father of Boaz by Rahab, and Boaz the father of Obed by Ruth, and Obed the father of Jesse, 6 and Jesse the father of King David.
And David was the father of Solomon by the wife of Uriah, 7 and Solomon the father of Rehoboam, and Rehoboam the father of Abijah, and Abijah the father of Asaph, 8 and Asaph the father of Jehoshaphat, and Jehoshaphat the father of Joram, and Joram the father of Uzziah, 9 and Uzziah the father of Jotham, and Jotham the father of Ahaz, and Ahaz the father of Hezekiah, 10 and Hezekiah the father of Manasseh, and Manasseh the father of Amos, and Amos the father of Josiah, 11 and Josiah the father of Jechoniah and his brothers, at the time of the deportation to Babylon.
12 And after the deportation to Babylon: Jechoniah was the father of Salathiel, and Salathiel the father of Zerubbabel, 13 and Zerubbabel the father of Abiud, and Abiud the father of Eliakim, and Eliakim the father of Azor, 14 and Azor the father of Zadok, and Zadok the father of Achim, and Achim the father of Eliud, 15 and Eliud the father of Eleazar, and Eleazar the father of Matthan, and Matthan the father of Jacob, 16 and Jacob the father of Joseph the husband of Mary, who bore Jesus, who is called the Messiah.
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 the Messiah, fourteen generations”
Matthew 1:2-17.
Of all the names in this genealogy, David’s is the one that Matthew especially highlights. David is the only person other than Jesus who is honored with a title in this genealogy: David is introduced as “the king” in verse 6, while Jesus is called “the Messiah” in verse 16. And David’s name, which is mentioned four times in the genealogy, appears more than any other name listed in Jesus’ family tree (four times in verses 6 & 17). Finally, the focus on David can be seen in 1:17, where Matthew outlines the three periods of Israel’s story from Abraham to David, from David to the exile, and from the exile to Christ. Here, Matthew goes out of the way to tell us that each of these periods consists of fourteen generations in the genealogy of Jesus.
Beginning Jesus’ genealogy with Abraham takes us back to the beginning of Israel’s story, when God called Abraham to the land of Canaan and promised that his descendants would one day become a great nation. God promised Abraham that all the nations would find blessing through his family and that kings would come from his descendants. After mentioning Abraham’s name, Matthew traces the descendants of Abraham. One break in the father-son pattern of the genealogy is found in the reference to Perez’s mother, Tamar. Women were not typically listed in Jewish genealogies, which traced lineage from father to son. Tamar is the first of four Old Testament women mentioned in this genealogy; soon after we read of Rahab (1:5), Ruth (1:5), and “the wife of Uriah” (Bathsheba) (1:6).
Why did Matthew include these women? The one thing these women have in common is that they are all non-Israelites who joined the family of Israel. Tamar, Rahab, and Ruth were foreigners brought into the chosen people through marriage and Bathsheba, being married to a Hittite, was also likely from non-Israelite descent. Jewish tradition went on to magnify the Gentile character of the first three of these women, celebrating their being joined to the people of Israel. So Matthew selects three of the most prominent Gentile women in the ancestral line of David along with the most famous of David’s wives to highlight how Gentile blood flowed into the royal line of David. This draws attention, does it not, of God’s concern for Gentiles, demonstrating that he brought them into the story of Israel even in the Old Testament.
Verse 6 presents a joyful note in the genealogy, for here are the names of the two great founding kings of King David’s dynasty: David and Solomon. These names recall the glory days of Israel. Despite their shortcomings, these were the royal heroes who brought Israel to the highest point in its history.
Then begins a downward turn in the genealogy, since Solomon later became a wicked king (see 1 Kings 9–11). The genealogy mentions in verses 7–10 the evil kings such as Rehoboam, Abijah, Joram, Ahaz, Manasseh, and Amos (referring to king Amon), and this trend continues with a very sad note coming in verse 11: the reference to the time of the Babylonian Exile (see 2 Kings 24–25). This reminds us not only of a particular date (586 BC) but also of the horrors of the Babylonian invasion of Jerusalem, the destruction of the Temple, and the people being carried off into exile. This event brought a halt to King David's monarchy. The king was taken into exile in Babylon, and no son of David ruled over the Jews from this point until the time of Jesus.
The final section of the genealogy sounds a note of hope, demonstrating that God continued to protect the royal line of David even though it was lying dormant in exile. Jechoniah and Shealtiel were two of David's heirs who lived during the Babylonian captivity, and Zerubbabel helped lead the first wave of Jews who returned to Jerusalem from Babylonian exile. But the most exciting part of this genealogy is the remaining eleven generations that were not known in the Old Testament. These names demonstrate the continuation of David’s line through centuries of Jewish suffering and oppression amid hope for a new son of David who would restore the kingdom. Here, the tempo picks up again with each new name: Abiud, Azor, Zadok, Achim, Eliud, Eleazar, Matthan, Jacob. We enters into the ancient Jewish hope for a new King David who might come at the end of the line. [1:16–17] Finally, with its proclamation of the new King we arrive at the genealogy’s climax. After guiding us from Abraham and David through the fall of the kingdom and the exile, Matthew at long last reaches the royal child to whom all of Israel’s history was directed: Jesus. In a triumphant chorus, Matthew does not simply present the child’s name; he also emphasizes his royal title. This Jesus is the one who is called the Messiah—the long awaited king who would deliver the Jewish people from their sufferings and restore King David’s kingdom (1:16).
Dear friends, the story of Jesus’ genealogy in Matthew’s Gospel encourages us to lean on the side of hope in these difficult moments. From a merely human point of view Israel’s history might have seemed to be a disaster: a story initially full of expectation (Abraham, David, Solomon, and the promises of a great kingdom) ends in tragedy (wicked rulers, exile, foreign oppressors, and a dynasty seemingly abandoned by God). But the genealogy helps us to view that story from the divine perspective, for it makes clear that God remained present to his people through Israel’s ordeals as he continued to work out his plan of salvation from one generation to the next, bringing good from evil. Even in the face of great sin, devastation, and suffering, God accomplished his plan.
So in your prayer today I invite you to consider the fact that God remains present in your life. Give your life to him today, no matter how many days and hours remain. Remember, even in your moments of great sin, God wishes to accomplish His plan in your life. Open your heart today to the presence and plan of God for you.
Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the Living God, have mercy on me a sinner.
From the Bible:
“For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope” Jeremiah 29:11.
“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you” Jeremiah 1:5.
“r we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them” Ephesians 2:10.
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