Have you ever endeavored to trace your family’s roots? Have you ever yearned to know who your ancestors were? Who do you suppose you would find? Famous doctors, scientists, explorers, members of royalty? On the other hand, might you have found that among your family’s ancestors were criminals, scoundrels, and villains? It is all possible, you know.
In recent years, the desire to trace one’s ancestry was sparked mainly by the work of one man, Alex Haley, who wrote the phenomenal book of his own family’s story: Roots. Haley, an African-American, was able to trace his story all the way back to Africa in the eighteenth century, where his ancestor, Kunta Kinte, a young man at the time, was captured, imprisoned, thrown on a ship, where he was treated like cargo, brought to America, and sold to a plantation owner, with whom he spent the rest of his life as a slave.
Why would anyone want to trace their history? Mere curiosity about one’s heritage? Maybe. In the hope of finding a famous person, to glean bragging rights? Maybe. To gain a sense of unity–a sense of belonging–of actually being a part of history yourself? Could be. To offer proof that you are who you say you are?
Jesus had no need to trace His roots. From an early age, Jesus knew who He was (Luke 2:49). However, knowing one’s roots was a requirement for entry into the temple, in the Israel of the first century. The Israelites were very interested in genealogy, and considered it most important to establish one’s place in the hierarchy of the community. To validate the stories they would tell, the authors of the gospels had to establish Jesus’ connection to Israel’s history.
John told of the preexistence of Jesus–that Jesus not only was present at, but was the power behind the creation of the world. Matthew now offers Jesus’ human credentials, as being from the royal line of Israel.
Like Luke, Matthew was a learned man–expert at keeping accurate records and paying attention to details. Matthew was a tax collector. Because he was a tax collector, Matthew would also have been hated by the community. Tax collectors were considered evil collaborators and traitors to their people. The Romans would levy taxes on the people. It was the job of the Jewish tax collectors to get the taxes from their own people. To get paid for their work, the tax collectors charged a fee to the people, over and above the tax due. Some gouged the people, who had no way to retaliate, since they were required to pay the taxes. Because of those who took advantage, all tax collectors were presumed to be guilty of the same crimes, and as a group, they all were despised by the larger community.
Yet, while Luke and John apparently never met Jesus, Matthew was personally called by Jesus to be a disciple. Though Matthew was considered a criminal and had been reviled by his neighbors, still Jesus called him to become part of His inner circle, called him to become a close companion and confidant.
The genealogy of the line of Jesus the Messiah, whose ancestor was David, whose ancestor was Abraham: (Matt. 1:1)
Matthew’s first claim is that Jesus was “the anointed One” (in Greek Christos). That title has many connotations in scriptural literature, including the idea that Jesus was the promised Savior of the Jewish people. (Contrary to popular thought, Jesus’ last name was not Christ. He would have been called Jesus bar-Joseph, Jesus, son of Joseph.) By the way, nowhere in Scripture does Jesus ever refer to Himself as Messiah, using instead, titles such as Son (sic) of God, and Son (sic) of Humanity.
Second, Jesus is a direct descendant of King David. In the eleventh chapter of Isaiah, he speaks of “A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse…” (Isaiah 11:1), who would bring peace, joy and righteousness to the people. Jesse was the father of David (Ruth 4:22). Isaiah 9:6 & 7, identifies the descendant as being one who would be called, “…Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Parent, Bringer of Peace…(who) will reign on David’s throne and over David’s kingdom…” Though Jesus never claimed the title for Himself, Matthew ties in Jesus’ right to the title, Messiah, with the Messianic prophesies of the Jewish Scriptures. Repeatedly in Matthew, Jesus is addressed by the people as Son of David.
Third, Jesus is a direct descendant of Abraham. The covenant between God and the Jewish people had first been made through Abraham. Jesus, the Messiah, would fulfill the promises God made both to Abraham and to David.
Abraham begot Isaac, and Isaac Jacob, and Jacob Judah and his brothers; and Judah Perez and Zerah, whose mother was Tamar, and Perez Hezron, and Hezron Ram, (Matt. 1:2, 3)
Who are these people? While at first it might seem that this long list of names would provide no special significance to the modern reader and might readily be skipped over, some names deserve special consideration.
Abraham’s beloved son, Isaac, had two sons, Jacob and Esau. However, Esau sold his birthright to his brother for a bowl of soup, so the line of succession went through Jacob. Jacob had twelve sons, from whom came those who came to be designated the “twelve tribes of Israel.” (Jacob’s name had been changed to Israel by an angel with whom Jacob had wrestled. (Gen. 32:28)). One of Jacob’s sons was Judah, from whom Jesus would descend.
It was very unusual for women to be included in a genealogy, but Matthew includes four in this list. The first is Tamar. She first had been wife to Judah’s son, Er, but he died. As was Jewish custom, she next married Onan, another of Judah’s sons, who also died. Out of fear of losing his third son, Judah deceived Tamar, and sent her packing back to her father. The problem for Tamar was that she had no sons, the Jewish version of Social Security in those days. When she realized Judah’s deceit she disguised herself as a prostitute, caught his attention, and they had sexual relations. Judah didn’t realize he had been with Tamar until it was revealed she was pregnant. He ordered she be put to death until she produced evidence that the child was Judah’s, who then confessed his own deceit and proclaimed her more righteous than himself. Women may have had no political or social power in that culture, but a wise woman could find ways to accomplish what she needed. Perez and Zerah were twins of that union.
and Ram begat Amminadab, Amminadab Nahshon, Nahshon Salmon, Salmon Boaz whose mother was Rahab, Boaz was the father of Obed, whose mother was Ruth, Obed the father of Jesse, (Matt. 1:4, 5)
Nahshon was a leader of the tribe of Judah in Moses’ time. Scholars disagree on whether there was more than one Rahab recorded in scripture, because some wish to distance Jesus from the Rahab of the book of Joshua (chapter two, and 6:22-25). First, Rahab was a Gentile, and second, she was a prostitute. However, she also was a heroine. Joshua, following God’s instructions, prepared to take over Jericho, and sent spies into the city. Rahab provided housing for the spies. When the king of Jericho found out about the spies, he called on Rahab to turn them over. Instead, risking her own life and that of her family, she misdirected the king’s men and helped the spies to escape. When Jericho was destroyed by Joshua, Rahab and her family were spared.
What does this tell us about this genealogical list, and about Jesus? Because it presents the pertinent people, both those who are socially acceptable and those who are not, warts and all, this gives the list an air of truth to it. It also removes social barriers between people. Jesus had both Jews and Gentiles for ancestors, both saints and sinners, and the list is unusual in that it names women as well as men.
Rahab was the mother of Boaz, who was a wealthy landowner whose claim to fame was that he married Ruth. Not only was Ruth a Gentile, she was from Moab. Deuteronomy 23:3 reads: “No Ammonite or Moabite shall enter the assembly of God; even to the tenth generation none belonging to them shall enter the assembly of God forever.”
Ruth may not have been welcome in the Temple; yet God chose her to be an ancestor of Jesus. Perhaps even more notable is the fact that Ruth came to reside in Bethlehem in Israel because of her love for another woman (Naomi), and her refusal to be separated from her. (Ruth 1:16, 17) The women of Bethlehem recognized Obed as the son of both Naomi and Ruth (Ruth 4:17).
and Jesse begot David the King. David begot Solomon by the widow of Uriah, (Matt. 1:6)
David’s name means “beloved of God.” Great King David, the slayer of Goliath, the singer of psalms, the hero of countless battles, even while he was the beloved of God, even while he was blessed by God over and over again, yet he committed a heinous act. He took another man’s wife, Bathsheba, impregnated her, and tried to cover up her pregnancy by bringing her husband Uriah home. When Uriah refused to go home, David had him killed. In spite of David’s wrongdoing, he never lost God’s love, something we all would do well to remember.
Solomon became a very rich and powerful king of Israel, known for his wisdom in meting out justice to the people. It was Solomon who built the first Temple in Jerusalem.
Solomon had Rehoboam, Rehoboam Abizah, Abizah Asa, Asa had Jehoshaphat, and Jehoshaphat Jehoram, Jehoram Uzziah, Uzziah Jotham, Jotham Ahaz, Ahaz Hezekiah, Hezekiah Manasseh, Manasseh Amon, Amon Josiah, Josiah Jechoniah and his brothers at about the time of the exile to Babylon. And after the time of the exile to Babylon Jochoniah begot Shealtiel, Shealtiel Zerubbabel, Zerubbabel Abiud, Abiud, Eliakim, Eliakim Azor, Azor Zadok, Zadok Achim, Achim Eliud, Eliud Eleazar, Eleazar Matthan, Matthan Jacob, Jacob Joseph, the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus, who is called the Christ. (Matt. 1:7-16)
The list now presents a series of leaders, some good, some evil, all leading to Joseph, the husband of Mary. Notice especially that Joseph is not identified as the one who begot Jesus, but only as the husband of Mary, the mother of Jesus. Some might make the argument that since Jesus was not the natural child of Joseph, this genealogy is not His. Scholars make the point that while Jesus was not the natural child of Joseph, He would have been Joseph’s legal (adoptive) child, and thus heir to Joseph’s lineage.
So the generations from Abraham to David are fourteen generations, and from David until the exile to Babylon are fourteen generations, and from the exile to Babylon until the Messiah are fourteen generations. (Matt. 1:7-17)
In actuality, there were more than fourteen generations between Abraham and David, between David and the exile, and from the exile until Messiah. However, Matthew chose to use these as a mnemonic device. There were very few books in the first century since printing had not yet been invented, and all had to be written by hand. Histories were spread by word of mouth, and people had to rely on their memories. Matthew used the device of the “fourteens” to help people to remember. Some minor ancestors were eliminated to keep the list in the way it was set up.
This ends today’s study.
Life Application