Matthew 1:1-17

Matthew 1:1: “The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.”

For the record, this is the genealogy of Christ through Joseph. The other one in Luke 3 is the genealogy through Mary.

Matthew 1:2: “Abraham begat Isaac; and Isaac begat Jacob; and Jacob begat Judas and his brethren;”

As we can see, Matthew skips a great many generations. He focuses on the Jewish lineage of Christ, starting with Abraham and working on from there. His focus is on Jesus as a Jew.

Matthew 1:3: “And Judas begat Phares and Zara of Thamar; and Phares begat Esrom; and Esrom begat Aram;”

Notice “of Thamar”, referring to the Old Testament story about Judah and Tamar. Judah impregnated his own daughter-in-law because he thought she was a prostitute. It’s a complicated story. Yet it is mentioned here, because Christ is in that lineage.

Matthew 1:6: “And Jesse begat David the king; and David the king begat Solomon of her that had been the wife of Urias;”

Here is something else that is perhaps unexpected: while she is not named, there can be no doubt that this is talking about Bathsheba. By calling her “her that had been the wife of Urias” the author is reminding everyone exactly how David had acquired her as his wife. The fact that one of their children were included in the lineage of Christ is quite extraordinary.

Matthew 1:11: “And Josias begat Jechonias and his brethren, about the time they were carried away to Babylon:”

This is why some Jews believe that there can be no Messiah, because the line of Jechonias was cursed, and God said that none of his offspring would sit on the throne.

The answer to this puzzle is that Christ was the adopted son of Joseph. Since He was adopted into this line, and not born into it, the curse does not apply to Him. On top of that, Mary – His real mother, not adopted like His father – was also of the line of David, through Nathan. That is why Isaiah says “unto us a child is born / unto us a son is given”. Christ was born through Mary, and given/adopted through Joseph.

Matthew 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.”

Some have said that in order to get this a few people were skipped. I do not know if that is the case or not, and I’m also not sure if it actually matters. What we can see is that Christ is a Jew, the son of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, of the tribe of Judah, and of the offspring of David – just as the prophecies foretold.