An Earthly Beginning
The record of the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah, the son of David, the son of Abraham. Matt. 1:1, NASB.
What a way to begin a book. For a twentieth-century author to start a biography with a long list of names would guarantee the manuscript ending up in the editor's scrap heap.
To a Jew, however, commencing the story of a person's life with his or her genealogy was the most natural and interesting way. When Josephus, the first-century Jewish historian, wrote his autobiography, he began it with his genealogy, which he most likely found in the public records kept by the Sanhedrin.
The Jews placed great store on the purity of one's lineage. A priest who could not demonstrate his pedigree back to Aaron could not function in the priesthood (see Ezra 2:62).
A first-century Jew would not only find a genealogy at the beginning of a biography to be natural and interesting, but would consider it essential. That would especially be true for a book claiming that its subject was the Christ (the Greek word for the Hebrew "Messiah"). And Matthew makes that claim in his first verse: "A record of the genealogy of Jesus Christ the Messiah, the son of David, the son of Abraham." If Matthew could not prove the purity of Jesus' ancestry, he might as well not write the rest of his Gospel, because no Jew would read it.
Matthew's task was not only to demonstrate Jesus' racial purity, but also that He had particular ancestors. First, the Messiah would have to come from the line of David. "Your house and your kingdom," God had told David through Nathan the prophet, "will endure forever before me; your throne will be established forever" (2 Sam. 7:16, NIV). The Jews widely held that promise to be pointing to the coming Messiah. As a result, the New Testament repeatedly asserts that Jesus was a descendant of David.
It is also important to Matthew that he prove that Jesus was a son of Abraham. Not only is Abraham the father of the Jewish race, but God promised that He would bless all the people of the earth through him (Gen. 12:1-3).
Because Jesus is of the lineage of both David and Abraham, He qualifies for the role of Messiah.
One lesson of Matthew's genealogy is that God meets people where they are. When the divine Christ became the incarnate Jesus, He did so in a particular time and place. And just as He met the first-century Jews in their context, so He ministers to us today in our time and place.
The record of the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah, the son of David, the son of Abraham. Matt. 1:1, NASB.
What a way to begin a book. For a twentieth-century author to start a biography with a long list of names would guarantee the manuscript ending up in the editor's scrap heap.
To a Jew, however, commencing the story of a person's life with his or her genealogy was the most natural and interesting way. When Josephus, the first-century Jewish historian, wrote his autobiography, he began it with his genealogy, which he most likely found in the public records kept by the Sanhedrin.
The Jews placed great store on the purity of one's lineage. A priest who could not demonstrate his pedigree back to Aaron could not function in the priesthood (see Ezra 2:62).
A first-century Jew would not only find a genealogy at the beginning of a biography to be natural and interesting, but would consider it essential. That would especially be true for a book claiming that its subject was the Christ (the Greek word for the Hebrew "Messiah"). And Matthew makes that claim in his first verse: "A record of the genealogy of Jesus Christ the Messiah, the son of David, the son of Abraham." If Matthew could not prove the purity of Jesus' ancestry, he might as well not write the rest of his Gospel, because no Jew would read it.
Matthew's task was not only to demonstrate Jesus' racial purity, but also that He had particular ancestors. First, the Messiah would have to come from the line of David. "Your house and your kingdom," God had told David through Nathan the prophet, "will endure forever before me; your throne will be established forever" (2 Sam. 7:16, NIV). The Jews widely held that promise to be pointing to the coming Messiah. As a result, the New Testament repeatedly asserts that Jesus was a descendant of David.
It is also important to Matthew that he prove that Jesus was a son of Abraham. Not only is Abraham the father of the Jewish race, but God promised that He would bless all the people of the earth through him (Gen. 12:1-3).
Because Jesus is of the lineage of both David and Abraham, He qualifies for the role of Messiah.
One lesson of Matthew's genealogy is that God meets people where they are. When the divine Christ became the incarnate Jesus, He did so in a particular time and place. And just as He met the first-century Jews in their context, so He ministers to us today in our time and place.
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