The Gospel of Matthew | The Genealogy of Jesus | Mat 1:1-17

Our reading: Matthew 1:1-17

The first 17 verses of Matthew answer a couple of very important questions: Who is Jesus Christ and where did He come from? They also hold a valuable truth about to whom He came.

The Book of Matthew starts with 3 titles that immediately identify our Lord as the Messiah, or "the promised one." Jesus Christ—it is 2 words: Jesus (Savior), Christ (Messiah). His second title, "the Son of Abraham," is reaching back to the promise made to Abraham concerning his Son (Genesis 17:6-7: "And I will make thee exceeding fruitful, and I will make nations of thee, and kings shall come out of thee. And I will establish my covenant between me and thee and thy seed after thee in their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a God unto thee, and to thy seed after thee."). His third title, "Son of David," is reaching back to the promise made to David concerning a Son (2 Samuel 7:12-13: "And when thy days be fulfilled, and thou shalt sleep with thy fathers, I will set up thy seed after thee, which shall proceed out of thy bowels, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build an house for my name, and I will stablish the throne of his kingdom for ever."). No Jew who opened this book would be confused about what was meant by these titles. Matthew is, from the opening lines, proclaiming Jesus as the Saviour who had been promised to their nation.

Simply making these claims would not be sufficient, so he goes on to list out the details of the lineage of Jesus Christ. This list is a rather unusual list and brings to mind the words of Isaiah, who said that Christ would be a "root out of dry ground." There are a few noteworthy names, such as Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Judah, David—but many more unknown, unrecognized names. Then there are the scandalous names that are mentioned: Tamar, Rahab, Ruth, and Bathsheba. It was unusual to have women mentioned in a genealogy in the first place, but the sorts of ladies is very surprising. Tamar had sold herself as a prostitute. Rahab was a Gentile prostitute from Jericho. Ruth was a Moabitess idolater. And Bathsheba was David's scandalous paramour. In this genealogy lies a truth: that Christ did indeed come for all classes of people.

He came from a line of great people, common people, and even scandalous people. No wonder this was the family that he came from, because it is a mirror of the family he came to. Jesus came to save the great men of the earth, the common men of the earth, and even the class of people closest to the curse. I am reminded of Hebrews 2:16-17: "For verily he took not on him the nature of angels; but he took on him the seed of Abraham. Wherefore in all things it behoved him to be made like unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people." He took on our experience, our temptations. He came into the mess of this world and its people, and now there is hope for every person no matter how debauched a life they may live, or how great they may be, or how common they might be. Jesus' genealogy is a mirror of the kinds of people he came for…all kinds.