One of the very first things that Matthew does in his account of the life of Jesus is to trace his heritage back to Abraham, through a listing of the line, or genealogy, of Jesus. And while many simply skim these verses, or skip them all together, there are some critical elements here that can help us understand the gospel of Matthew much more clearly.
Two of the four Gospels contain genealogies, Luke and Matthew. Luke 3:23-38 was written for Gentiles, and goes all the way back to Adam. Matthew is writing to a Jewish audience, and Jewish history begins with Abraham. Some see this as contradictory, but it is not; the two lists were written for completely different purposes and completely different audiences. And typically, genealogies are focused on the first name of the list. Matthew reverses that trend and makes the focus the last name, the name of Jesus Christ.
He begins with Abraham. God had promised Abraham that through his seed all the world would be blessed in Genesis 22:18: “In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice.”
So Matthew begins with Abraham and traces the lineage of Jesus down through the ages, naming some of the greatest of the ancestors of Jesus, Abraham and David. Both of these important people had received promises from God that the Messiah would be their descendant. This may or may not be a complete listing of the lineage of Jesus. Some generations may have been skipped or condensed in order to fit a pattern, or to summarize a series of generations. Either way, Matthew gives forty-two generations in three groups of fourteen each. They cover 2000 years: the first group covers 1000 years; the second covers 400 years; and the third group covers 600 years of time.
Matthew seems to count David twice, first as a patriarch, and second as one of the kings. It could be argued that David could fit into either category, and Matthew inserts him into both, as sort of a bridge between the two, and as recognition of David’s critical importance as part of Israel’s history.
Having established a basic understanding of the overall picture here, there are a few names on this list that bear some closer inspection.
Judah, the father of Perez and Zerah – These were the twin sons of Tamar, the incestuous daughter-in-law of Judah (Genesis 38:24-30). She is the first of three women who are named in this list, Tamar, Rahab and Ruth. These were all Gentile women, and all three have a remarkable role in Israel’s history. Two of these women carried some stains upon their character, Tamar (Genesis 38:11-30) and Rahab (Joshua 2:1), but Ruth is one of the sweetest and purest women to be found in the Bible.
The mother of Solomon – Another woman is mention in this genealogy, but not by name. This is Bathsheba, and she is only listed as the wife of Uriah. Uriah was a Hittite, and his wife may have been one as well. She was complicit with David in his greatest failure and sin (2 Samuel 11:3-5).
Rehoboam – A wise but sinful king Solomon fathered a foolish king, and it was during Rehoboam’s reign that the kingdom was divided (1 Kings 11-12).
Joram – Joram was the father of Ahaziah who fathered Joash, who fathered Amaziah. These three are found in 1 Chronicles 3:11-12. They were probably omitted to equalize the three-fold division of fourteen generations in Matthew’s genealogy.
Uzziah – Also known as Azariah, Uzziah lived during the time of Isaiah the prophet. He was a good king, but was struck with leprosy for trying to perform in the role of the priesthood without God’s approval (2 Kings 15; 2 Chronicles 26).
Jeconiah and his brothers – As far as we know, Jeconiah had no literal brothers, so this phrase must mean something else. It probably is a reference to his royal family, perhaps his father Jehoiakim, and his uncle Jehoahaz and Zedekiah, the three sons of Josiah. Jeconiah lived during the time of the deportation to Babylon, as the nation of Judah is carried away into exile for seventy years.
Zerubbabel – Zerubbabel was the governor of Jerusalem who rebuilt the temple as the Jewish people were returning to their homeland. He is referred to in Ezra, Haggai and Zechariah (see Ezra 3:2).
Jacob, the father of Joseph – Matthew’s genealogy is the lineage of Joseph. This shows that Jesus was the legal heir to the promises given Abraham and David. Luke’s genealogy gives Mary’s line showing Jesus’ biological descent from David. This is often a source of confusion for many, since the two lists are different in many aspects. Mary’s genealogy, in accordance with Jewish custom, was in her husband’s name, listing Joseph as the “son of Eli” (Luke 3:23), when actually he was the son-in-law of Eli. Jacob was Joseph’s father according to Matthew’s list (verse 16).
These genealogies are given more fully in 1 Chronicles 1-9 and form the backbone of Old Testament history. They contain a family line through which a promise was transmitted over 4000 years, which is culminated in Jesus.
And this is where Matthew turns next, to the birth of the Messiah, born to Mary through a miraculous conception, and a virgin birth. It’s the story of Christmas, but it’s also the story of all history, as the genealogies display clearly.
This Jesus, the promised descendant of Abraham, the heir of King David, is the one who saves us from our sins. He is the Messiah!
Question: How do you view the genealogical records in Matthew and Luke? Do you avoid them,all together or at best skim them lightly? Or do you see the fulfillment of all of history in them? You can leave a comment by clicking here.