Matthew: The Gospel of Identity (eBook)

Matthew 1

THE MESSIAH’S PEDIGREE

1:1-17 The genealogy of Jesus.

A DREAM COME TRUE

1:18-25 The nativity.

The Messiah’s Pedigree

1The historical record of Jesus Christ, the Son of David, the Son of Abraham:

2Abraham fathered Isaac,

Isaac fathered Jacob,

Jacob fathered Judah and his brothers,

3Judah fathered Perez and Zerah by Tamar,

Perez fathered Hezron,

Hezron fathered Aram,

4Aram fathered Amminadab,

Amminadab fathered Nahshon,

Nahshon fathered Salmon,

5Salmon fathered Boaz by Rahab,

Boaz fathered Obed by Ruth,

Obed fathered Jesse,

6and Jesse fathered King David.

Then David fathered Solomon by Uriah’s wife,

7Solomon fathered Rehoboam,

Rehoboam fathered Abijah,

Abijah fathered Asa,

8Asa fathered Jehoshaphat,

Jehoshaphat fathered Joram,

Joram fathered Uzziah,

9Uzziah fathered Jotham,

Jotham fathered Ahaz,

Ahaz fathered Hezekiah,

10Hezekiah fathered Manasseh,

Manasseh fathered Amon,

Amon fathered Josiah,

11and Josiah fathered Jechoniah and his brothers

at the time of the exile to Babylon.

12Then after the exile to Babylon

Jechoniah fathered Shealtiel,

Shealtiel fathered Zerubbabel,

13Zerubbabel fathered Abiud,

Abiud fathered Eliakim,

Eliakim fathered Azor,

14Azor fathered Zadok,

Zadok fathered Achim,

Achim fathered Eliud,

15Eliud fathered Eleazar,

Eleazar fathered Matthan,

Matthan fathered Jacob,

16and Jacob fathered Joseph the husband of Mary,

who gave birth to Jesus who is called the Messiah.

17So all the generations from Abraham to David were 14 generations; and from David until the exile to Babylon, 14 generations; and from the exile to Babylon until the Messiah, 14 generations.

The “book of the origin of Jesus Christ” is a more literal translation of the opening phrase of the Gospel of Matthew. The phrase contains a precise echo of Genesis, the original book of origins. In fact, the ancient Greek translation of Genesis 2:4 contains those exact words, only in reference to the “book of the origins” of the heavens and the earth.

Unlike Luke, who tucks his genealogy in chapter 3 of his Gospel, after the baptism of Jesus, the author of Matthew opens his book with the genealogy, a record of the pedigree of Jesus. To the first hearers of the Gospel, it would have been both reassuring and alarming.

Genealogies were nothing new. The Old Testament is filled with them (Gen 5:1-32; 10:1-32; 11:10-32; 25:12-18; 36:1-43; 46:8-27; Ex 6:14-25; 1 Chron 1–9). The first hearers of Matthew would have nodded, name by name, when the list of Jesus’ descendants were read to them in the synagogue. Many of the names would have been familiar, since much of the list contains a roll call of famous men: Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the founding fathers of the Jewish people; David, the great king; his wise son, Solomon; Uzziah, the great reformer; and even Coniah, the king who was cursed (Jer 22:24-30).

Four of those named in the genealogy would have caused a momentary distraction, not simply because there are references to women, who were normally not listed in genealogical records, but primarily because of who these women were. Tamar (Mt 1:3) deceived her father-in-law, Judah, who, thinking she was a prostitute, slept with her (Gen 38:11-18). Rahab (Mt 1:5), though she helped Joshua’s spies in Jericho, actually was a prostitute (Josh 2:1-24). Ruth (Mt 1:5) was the Moabite who married the kind and elderly Boaz. And though she is only referred to in the genealogy as “Uriah’s wife” (Mt 1:6), Bathsheba was the beautiful Hittite whom David seduced.

Often the commentaries try to make the case that these four women were somehow infamous and their presence in the pedigree of Jesus demonstrates his association with sinners. But certainly Ruth is presented as a paradigm in the Old Testament book named for her, and Rahab helped the Israelite spies. Though Tamar tricked Judah, he was the person who approached her and instigated their illicit affair. And was it not Bathsheba who was victimized by David?

More to the point, what these four women have in common is their non-Jewish descent and the fact that they all married Jewish men. The presence of these women, the only female names that appear in the list, hints at a theme that will appear throughout this Gospel. Though Matthew is the most Jewish of the Gospels, the writer is still aware that there is a place for the Gentiles in the future God has planned for his people. They have a part in the future because, according to the genealogy, they had a part in the past.

The genealogy has been shaped by the author. He has been selective in listing Jesus’ ancestors in three specific groups of fourteen generations (Mt 1:17). The first group begins with Abraham, whose son Isaac he was willing to sacrifice. The second group begins with David, the great king whose throne and name are connected with Jesus, the “Son of David” (Mt 9:27; 12:23; 15:22; 20:30; 21:9, 15). The final group is not connected to a person, but to an event: the Babylonian exile. What was done in the exile will ultimately be undone in Jesus. He will establish a new kingdom, fulfilling a promise made to David of an eternal throne (1 Kings 2:45; 9:5; Is 9:7; see also Lk 1:32-33). Abraham was promised innumerable descendants, David an eternal throne. Jesus will perfectly fulfill these promises within Matthew’s major theme of the kingdom.

A Dream Come True

18The birth of Jesus Christ came about this way: After His mother Mary had been engaged to Joseph, it was discovered before they came together that she was pregnant by the Holy Spirit. 19So her husband Joseph, being a right­eous man, and not wanting to disgrace her publicly, decided to divorce her secretly.

20But after he had considered these things, an angel of the Lord suddenly appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, don’t be afraid to take Mary as your wife, because what has been conceived in her is by the Holy Spirit. 21She will give birth to a son, and you are to name Him Jesus, because He will save His people from their sins.”

22Now all this took place to fulfill what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet:

23See, the virgin will become pregnant and give birth to a son,and they will name Him Immanuel,

which is translated “God is with us.”

24When Joseph got up from sleeping, he did as the Lord’s angel had commanded him. He married her 25but did not know her intimately until she gave birth to a son. And he named Him Jesus.

The birth of Jesus comes to us from Joseph’s point of view. Mary does not open her mouth. In fact, she appears only in verse 11, and this is a fleeting appearance. (Luke gives us the story from Mary’s point of view.) We are told the couple was engaged to be married. In Judaism, an engagement was binding and required a divorce (get) to break. The violation of an engagement was literally a matter of life and death (Deut 22:23-29).

The Gospels tell us virtually nothing about Joseph. We know that he was a builder (Mt 13:55). He was a descendent of David (Lk 2:4). Though Joseph is present in Luke 2:41-52, when the twelve-year-old Jesus is lost and found in the temple, he does not utter a word. He is as silent in Luke as Mary is in Matthew. The vast majority of what we see of and know about Joseph we learn from the Gospel of Matthew.

Like his Old Testament namesake, Joseph was a dreamer (see Gen 37:5; 40:8-16; 41:15-17, 25). In Luke’s Gospel, Mary is communicated to by means of direct angelic messengers. Somehow Joseph was the sort of person who could more easily believe a dream than a real-life encounter with an angel.9 In Matthew 1:20-21, the angel of the Lord, referring to Joseph as “son of David,” communicates the impossible to him. His virgin fiancée is pregnant through the Holy Spirit. The baby’s name will be Jesus (Yesua). The angel provides an etymology of the name: “He will save His people from their sins.” Yesua literally means “Yahweh saves.”

In Matthew 1:22 we have the first example of what is referred to as a “fulfillment formula” in Matthew’s Gospel. Again and again, the author of Matthew will return to the Old Testament to show how the coming of Jesus of Nazareth has perfectly fulfilled something that was spoken long ago in the Old Testament Scriptures.

When Joseph awakes, he immediately obeys the angelic message. There is no hint of internal emotional struggle on his part. He takes Mary to his home but denies himself the privileges of a husband by not having union with her until Jesus is born. The actual birth takes place offstage in the Gospel. The next time we see Jesus, he is a toddler living in a house.

We know so little of Joseph, yet as the Scripture always does, we are told everything we need to know about him. The most important information comes to us from Matthew 1:19. Joseph is described as a...