As we move into chapter 1, we are going to find Matthew beginning to connect his gospel with the story of the TaNaK (the Old Testament).  Matthew is going to demonstrate how familial progression in Israel’s history has ultimately led up to the birth of Jesus Christ.  However, to the casual reader, Matthew’s introduction is very odd.  We usually want to open with a zinger or some kind of hook to bring our audience in.  Matthew, however, opens with a genealogy.  To the Westerner, we shrug our shoulders as that isn’t much of a hook to get your audience interested in your content.  Sure we recognize some familiar names and can appreciate Matthew connecting Christ to David and Abraham, but outside of that, we often just breeze through it to get to the real content of the book.  Yet, to the Jewish audience, as they read (and certainly as Matthew writes), this is very much a hook for their eyes and ears.  Genealogies are very important to Jewish lineages and seeing a genealogy wouldn’t be out of bounds, however, what Matthew does in the genealogy supplies some information that will give the Jewish reader pause and ultimately connect the Jewish reader’s mind back to his/her text – the TaNak.

Matthew 1:1 The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham. 1:2 Abraham begat Isaac; and Isaac begat Jacob; and Jacob begat Judas and his brethren; 1:3 And Judas begat Phares and Zara of Thamar; and Phares begat Esrom; and Esrom begat Aram; 1:4 And Aram begat Aminadab; and Aminadab begat Naasson; and Naasson begat Salmon; 1:5 And Salmon begat Booz of Rachab; and Booz begat Obed of Ruth; and Obed begat Jesse; 1:6 And Jesse begat David the king; and David the king begat Solomon of her that had been the wife of Urias; 1:7 And Solomon begat Roboam; and Roboam begat Abia; and Abia begat Asa; 1:8 And Asa begat Josaphat; and Josaphat begat Joram; and Joram begat Ozias; 1:9 And Ozias begat Joatham; and Joatham begat Achaz; and Achaz begat Ezekias; 1:10 And Ezekias begat Manasses; and Manasses begat Amon; and Amon begat Josias; 1:11 And Josias begat Jechonias and his brethren, about the time they were carried away to Babylon: 1:12 And after they were brought to Babylon, Jechonias begat Salathiel; and Salathiel begat Zorobabel; 1:13 And Zorobabel begat Abiud; and Abiud begat Eliakim; and Eliakim begat Azor; 1:14 And Azor begat Sadoc; and Sadoc begat Achim; and Achim begat Eliud; 1:15 And Eliud begat Eleazar; and Eleazar begat Matthan; and Matthan begat Jacob; 1:16 And Jacob begat Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ. 1:17 So all the generations from Abraham to David are fourteen generations; and from David until the carrying away into Babylon are fourteen generations; and from the carrying away into Babylon unto Christ are fourteen generations.

As we discussed in our introduction (The Gospel of Matthew, an Introduction), the Eastern teacher wants to lead you on a journey of truth discovery, not simply spoon feed the student with all of the necessary bullet points.  To that end, the Eastern teacher is going to bury truth for the student to find.  This is why you find literary patterns and poetic artistry to draw you into discovering truth.  Within this, often names and numbers play an important role and as Matthew opens his gospel, we’ll see that his genealogy is no different.  We should also point out that sometimes the point of the truth discovery is the journey itself, meaning, where we see learning as having a start and an ultimate finish line, it isn’t uncommon for the Eastern teacher to see the “finish line” as the race itself.  The purpose then isn’t to arrive at some terminal conclusion down the road, but the conclusion is what you learned and experienced along the road.  The finished product is what the journey did in you, not necessarily that each point of the journey is being woven into an ultimate punchline.  As a reminder, when it comes to the usage of numeric patterns, it isn’t because we are to be looking for a secret Bible code that brings the reader to some mystical meaning that ultimately leaves the actual words irrelevant.  I can’t vouch for everything out there in internet land, however, do some searching on numeric patters in Genesis 1 – it is very fascinating how much numeric artistry exists there behind the account of God’s creation.  But, for our time in this post, we need to return our attention back to Matthew’s genealogy with insight in mind.

GENEALOGICAL OBSERVATIONS – A KING’s ELIGIBILITY 

As mentioned, genealogies are very important to a Jewish audience because it is the infrastructure and highway of their lineage.  Not only this, but there are certain things that the Torah requires that would force Israel to be able to prove lineage.  For example,

Deuteronomy 17:14 When thou art come unto the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee, and shalt possess it, and shalt dwell therein, and shalt say, I will set a king over me, like as all the nations that are about me; 17:15 Thou shalt in any wise set him king over thee, whom the LORD thy God shall choose: one from among thy brethren shalt thou set king over thee: thou mayest not set a stranger over thee, which is not thy brother. 17:16 But he shall not multiply horses to himself, nor cause the people to return to Egypt, to the end that he should multiply horses: forasmuch as the LORD hath said unto you, Ye shall henceforth return no more that way. 17:17 Neither shall he multiply wives to himself, that his heart turn not away: neither shall he greatly multiply to himself silver and gold. 

This is an interesting passage as I think there is often a misconception that Israel wasn’t to have a king, yet, here we find details about how kings were to be identified and some things they weren’t to do (note especially verses 16 and 17 then think about King Solomon).  But, in verse 15, we find that kings over Israel were not to be a stranger – a Gentile/non-Israelite.  The king over Israel was to be of their kin because this kingdom (that a king would reign over) would have familial connections to the king himself.  In other words, the king wasn’t to be a puppet for an oppressor or an autonomous individual that the nation simply desired to rule over them, but the king was to be of their own family and allow that familial reality to permeate his kingship–this ethics with his people.  Therefore, if only an Israelite is permitted to reign as king, then a genealogy is vitally important to prove kinship.  We mentioned in the Post-Exilic Judaism posts that Herod the Great, king of Idumea-Nabatea, was installed over Judea by Rome as “king of the Jews.”  Matthew’s genealogy is knocking it out of the park immediately – the true King of Israel is Jesus Christ, not Herod.  But, it goes a step further.  In 2Samuel 7, we find a promise made to David that the King would ultimately come from his lineage and sit upon his throne and be established forever.  The King couldn’t simply be a child of Abraham, but likewise needed to be directly from the line of David.  It should be noted that Matthew’s purpose is to bring from Abraham to David to Babylon to Christ and in so doing, Matthew skips generations a time or two.  This shouldn’t cause us any heartburn with the text – again, it doesn’t harm anything so long as the generation skipping is inter-generational and not jumping to another line.  His genealogy shows Christ as a rightful claim, by lineage, to be their King.

GENEALOGICAL OBSERVATIONS – THE NEW MOSES

Matthew goes out of his way to break up his genealogy into 14 generations (which we’ll talk more about later in this post).  We see 14 generations from Abraham to David.  14 Generations from David to the Exile in Babylon.  14 Generations from the Return from Exile to Jesus Christ.  Why is Matthew concerned with the Babylon experience?  Why not simply jump from David to Christ?  As we mentioned in our introductory post, Matthew is constructing his gospel to present Jesus as the New Moses to Israel.  Yes, Israel was allowed to go back to their land, but yet they still lived in oppression from the Persians.  Eventually, Hellenism, as a social construct, rules over them ultimately paving the way for Rome’s colonial boot.  However, practically speaking, they were still in exile – still not truly delivered from their enemies and more importantly, not truly delivered from their sins.  (Leviticus 26:40-43)  As the New Moses, Jesus Christ would come to lead His people to true shalom (peace) in a Kingdom that is governed by the Prince of Peace, not the oppressive lust of the empires of this world.  Israel’s history fell from David and stumbled down the hill into the pit of Exile and Christ is here to set Israel back on the Rock and be Israel’s fortress and refuge and deliverance from Exile.

GENEALOGICAL OBSERVATIONS – THE PEOPLE

Within a genealogy, we expect to find a list of fathers, as their society was patriarchal.  And, in the genealogy of a king – especially the King – even the generations selected would have been scrutinized by the one building the genealogy.  Yet, Matthew does almost the unthinkable with his genealogy and it seems that as Matthew understood his own history, as an outsider to his kinsmen because of this tax collecting for Rome, he in turn draws on this outsider theme for his genealogy.  Notice these names (in bold):

Matthew 1:1 The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham. 1:2 Abraham begat Isaac; and Isaac begat Jacob; and Jacob begat Judas and his brethren; 1:3 And Judas begat Phares and Zara of Thamar; and Phares begat Esrom; and Esrom begat Aram; 1:4 And Aram begat Aminadab; and Aminadab begat Naasson; and Naasson begat Salmon; 1:5 And Salmon begat Booz of Rachab; and Booz begat Obed of Ruth; and Obed begat Jesse; 1:6 And Jesse begat David the king; and David the king begat Solomon of her that had been the wife of Urias; 1:7 And Solomon begat Roboam; and Roboam begat Abia; and Abia begat Asa; 1:8 And Asa begat Josaphat; and Josaphat begat Joram; and Joram begat Ozias; 1:9 And Ozias begat Joatham; and Joatham begat Achaz; and Achaz begat Ezekias; 1:10 And Ezekias begat Manasses; and Manasses begat Amon; and Amon begat Josias; 1:11 And Josias begat Jechonias and his brethren, about the time they were carried away to Babylon: 1:12 And after they were brought to Babylon, Jechonias begat Salathiel; and Salathiel begat Zorobabel; 1:13 And Zorobabel begat Abiud; and Abiud begat Eliakim; and Eliakim begat Azor; 1:14 And Azor begat Sadoc; and Sadoc begat Achim; and Achim begat Eliud; 1:15 And Eliud begat Eleazar; and Eleazar begat Matthan; and Matthan begat Jacob; 1:16 And Jacob begat Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ. 1:17 So all the generations from Abraham to David are fourteen generations; and from David until the carrying away into Babylon are fourteen generations; and from the carrying away into Babylon unto Christ are fourteen generations.

Not only do we find the inclusion of women in his genealogy, but Gentile women at that.  In Genesis 38 we have the account of Tamar and Judah where Tamar is the daughter-in-law of Judah and entices him to have relations with her, thus producing Phares and Zara.  In Joshua 2 and 6, we find the story of Rahab the harlot who was delivered from the siege of Jericho because of her faith (Hebrews 11:30-31; James 2:25).  Ruth is a woman of Moab, not Israel.  The Moabites are the product of incest from Lot and his daughters.  Then we have Bathsheba (2Samuel 11-12; 1Kings 1-2; Psalm 51), who Matthew doesn’t name but refers to her as the wife of Urias.  Bathsheba was married to Uriah who was a Hittite, not an Israelite.  It is obvious that Matthew isn’t opposed to naming women and doesn’t feel forced to refer to them cryptic means.  So, why doesn’t he just use her name?  Many may argue that Bathsheba never repented of the adultery and therefore she just doesn’t get named anymore.  But, if that is the standard for having one’s name mentioned, then we have a Bible full of names that after the fact shouldn’t be mentioned anymore.  It seems Matthew wants us to be reminded not only of Bathsheba but also of the fallout that ensued from the adultery – Uriah was killed in battle by David’s decision to put him on the front lines.  So, not only do we have an adulterous scenario with David and a Gentile (pagan) women, but we also have David making the decision to essentially send Uriah to his grave.  Matthew is inviting us to not simply see a record of lineage but to see that the lineage of the Son of God, King Jesus Christ, not only contains outsiders, but is not pure and contains plenty of noticeable black marks on the record.  This is the point!  Jesus Christ hasn’t come to simply hang out with those who are perfect and righteous – He’s come to draw the outsider into His Kingdom.  The sick indeed have need of a physician, as Matthew learned in Matthew 9.  This isn’t just a list of names because Matthew couldn’t figure out how to open his book – this is a message to all who would read Matthew about the inclusive nature of Jesus Christ’s Kingdom and even when you and I sit in the mire of our own black-marked histories, Jesus still smiles and says, “Follow me.”

GENEALOGICAL OBSERVATIONS – IT’S IN THE TEXT

Remember that after the Jews came out of Babylon, they were never again going to not know the text and the way of God (Jeremiah 6:16 being the theme of their resolve).  Something we are going to continue to remind ourselves through this study in Matthew is that there are things mentioned that should draw a mind in tune with the TaNaK back to the text.  When we get into the Sermon on the Mount and start exploring the parables, we will examine elements of how a Jewish teacher taught with reference to the text.  But, for now, let’s just start getting into our minds that when we run into something that seems plain or even seems odd, we should stop and consider that there is probably something in the text that would give greater insight into what the author/speaker is getting at.  I mentioned above that numbers stand out to a Jewish mind as numbers are used throughout their scriptures to paint pictures.  Matthew, being a Jewish author, is no different.  This genealogy is deliberately broken up into 3 generation groups of 14.  Again, not that Matthew needs to list every generation, but he is purposefully constructing it in this fashion.  Why 3 groups of 14?  IT’S IN THE TEXT!  When Jesus is baptized, recall that John the Baptist refers to Christ in a very specific and theological way: John 1:29 The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.  Recall that when Israel was on the verge of deliverance from Egypt, God instituted the Passover – a meal that would serve as a commemoration and rememberance of their deliverance.  The Passover Lamb would be prepared as a meal and the blood thereof was put upon the door of the house.   So, what does this have to do with Matthew’s genealogy and the number 14?

Leviticus 23:4 These are the feasts of the LORD, even holy convocations, which ye shall proclaim in their seasons. 23:5 In the fourteenth day of the first month at even is the LORD’S passover. 

A Jew is going to know the significance of 14, as it relates to the Passover and to see a genealogy of Jesus Christ being grouped into 14.  Could it be that Matthew wants his audience to make the connection between Jesus Christ and the Passover Lamb?  Is Christ the Passover Lamb?  1Corinthians 5:7 Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us: 5:8 Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. 

It is also interesting that in the book of Proverbs, for example, the phrase “fear of the Lord” exists 14 times.  With a genealogy of Jesus Christ, what would understanding the fear of the Lord teach us/prepare us for?  Here are the references – go read them and read their context.  Study the fear of the Lord, then come back to Matthew and try to answer the question as to why his genealogy of Christ would have a numeric connection with Proverbs’ treatment of the phrase fear of the Lord.  (Proverbs 1:7, Proverbs 1:20-33, Proverbs 2:5, Proverbs 8:13, Proverbs 9:10, Proverbs 10:27, Proverbs 14:26, Proverbs 14:27, Proverbs 15:16, Proverbs 15:33, Proverbs 16:6, Proverbs 19:23, Proverbs 22:4, Proverbs 23:17).  What else has a 14 connection?  What about the years Jacob serves Laban for Leah and Rachel?  Is there anything in their story that Matthew is likewise connecting to?  Maybe, but maybe not.  If you go back and study the life of Jacob and conclude there probably isn’t a connection, that’s just as wonderful as if you did find a connection.  Why?  Because you spent time studying the text all the same!

Interesting stuff nonetheless!  And, let’s not mention that 14 is a multiple of 7.  What do we know about 7 in the Bible?  –that’s for us to continue to study out!

A BIRTH ANNOUNCEMENT

Matthew 1:18 Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise: When as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Ghost. 1:19 Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not willing to make her a publick example, was minded to put her away privily. 1:20 But while he thought on these things, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost. 1:21 And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins. 1:22 Now all this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, 1:23 Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us. 1:24 Then Joseph being raised from sleep did as the angel of the Lord had bidden him, and took unto him his wife: 1:25 And knew her not till she had brought forth her firstborn son: and he called his name JESUS. 

Leaving the genealogy, we find Matthew recounting the announcement to Joseph and Mary about the birth of Christ.  Mary was espoused to Joseph.  In their culture, an espousal was a legal marriage.  It was much stronger than our modern “engagements.”  Engagements can simply be called off in our culture with little repercussions (from a legal perspective anyway), but with an espousal, the only way you could end that espousal was through divorce.  Notice in verses 20 and 24 that it says that Joseph wasn’t to fear to take Mary HIS WIFE.  We often read this as Joseph taking Mary AS his wife (because of our cultural bias to wedding engagements), but it doesn’t say that.  Mary was already every much his wife.  Torah doesn’t teach that an espoused couple, having relations is wrong.  There was still a cultural and familial shame that would come from it, but legally speaking, it wasn’t forbidden.  However, Joseph knows the baby isn’t his (which suggests they have walked uprightly in their espousal).  In fact, in verse 25, we see Joseph didn’t know his wife unto after she gave birth to Christ.  Torah teaches that a husband reserves the right to put his wife away (divorce her) should he find some uncleanness in her (like adultery, Deuteronomy 24:1-4).  Not only this, but should a husband find his wife not faithful to the espousal, the Torah had a pretty severe outlook on this,

Deuteronomy 22:23 If a damsel that is a virgin be betrothed unto an husband, and a man find her in the city, and lie with her; 22:24 Then ye shall bring them both out unto the gate of that city, and ye shall stone them with stones that they die; the damsel, because she cried not, being in the city; and the man, because he hath humbled his neighbour’s wife: so thou shalt put away evil from among you. 

Joseph learns of Mary being pregnant is considering his options.  He knows what Torah says, but being a just man, his compassion trumped this thoughts of exacting punishment.  In other words, Joseph was yielding to the spirit of the Law, rather than the letter of the Law.  (This will come back again when we get to the Sermon on the Mount).  Joseph has every right to put Mary away (divorce her).  Joseph, through the angel speaking to him in his dreams, comes to understand what is going on.  By the way, do you notice any connections here?  Matthew hasn’t named the characters of his gospel, obviously, however, very interesting that there is this guy named Joseph who has a lot of dreams and will end up in Egypt and will provide the means necessary to bless His family (Christ through His redemption).  Now, where have we heard this before about a dreamer named Joseph, being in Egypt and providing deliverance (from famine) to his family?

Let’s not finish our discussion without mentioning verses 21 through 23.  The angel tells Joseph that he is to call the baby’s name, Jesus.  That name means, Yahweh Saves.  It is the same letter combinations (in Hebrew) as Joshua – Yeshua.  I’ll not spend a lot of time on this here, but what did Joshua do for Israel?  Did he not lead Israel across Jordan into the promised land – the land of rest?  Not only is Jesus a New Moses in that He will lead Israel out of the bondage of their sins (and Rome), but as a New Joshua, Jesus will seal their fate in His Rest by leading them out of bondage into the realm of His grace.  (Note Deuteronomy 6:23)  In all of this, Matthew records that this fulfills the words of the prophet (which is Isaiah).  We often view prophets as fortune tellers and prophecies as predictions of the future, yet, if you go and study the prophets, telling a predictive future is not the primary message they bring.  This isn’t to say it isn’t there, but it is to say that they aren’t obsessed with it like we want them to be.  We have a “Left Behind” culture where everything is about future prophecies coming to pass and that requires us to largely obliterate the often-used poetic artistry that the prophets are making use of as they confront Israel with the state of their existence before God.  Prophets are primarily covenant watch-dogs, confronting Israel when they violate the terms of the covenant and that they need to repent in order to avoid God’s judgment.  This also allows us to not have to say that the things written during the time of the prophets were merely a cover for our generation today – meaning, they didn’t really mean anything to the immediate generation it was written to, but was written so sign-hunters of today would have something to profit (no pun intended) from.  The fact is, when the prophets wrote, they wrote to a real audience at a real time and place and culture.  When Isaiah writes, in chapter 7, he is writing concerning king Ahaz.  And he tells Ahaz that a virgin shall conceive and bear a son.  What would Ahaz have understood about this?  We rarely, if never, actually ask that question.  Matthew says that the prophet’s words were fulfilled, not because Isaiah had no real message for Ahaz (since Ahaz would be dead before this would happen), but Matthew sees in Christ the days of Isaiah’s words to Ahaz.  In other words, Matthew recognizes FROM THE TEXT something about the days of Isaiah and sees it immediately personified in Jesus Christ.  The Lord gave them a sign of what Immanuel – God with us – would look like.  Matthew knows his text and jumps all over it.

Our next stop is Chapter 2, which deals with some turmoil from King Herod as it relates to this one who is born King of the Jews.  Some “wise men” from the East come at the beckoning of a Star.  Something has rent the universe and caused a shaking in the heavens and these wise men are carrying out an investigation.  What will we learn from this?

Our story continues…