OCTOBER 19
Matthew's account has no formal
introduction, but rather begins with a genealogy tracing the descent of Jesus
from his ancestor, Abraham, through the royal lineage of David the King.
Matthew lists 42 of the known generations and divides these into three groups
of 14 each. The genealogy is traced through Jesus' legal father, Joseph, as the
husband of the virgin Mary, to whom Jesus was born.
Matthew's
genealogy contains several happy surprises. Back in Jesus' early roots are not
only such notable righteous men as Abraham and David, but also several who
stand out in history as being particularly unrighteous, including wicked King
Manasseh. Not only are there Jews, as would be expected, but also Gentiles,
including a Canaanite and a Moabite, whose respective countrymen have been
notorious enemies of God's people. Also somewhat surprising, in view of their
social status at this time, is the listing of women as well as men.
Furthermore, at least two of the women are known best for sins which they had
committed.
A
record of the genealogy of Jesus Christ the son of David, the son of Abraham:
Abraham
was the father of Isaac,
Isaac
the father of Jacob,
Jacob
the father of Judah and his brothers,
Judah
the father of Perez and Zerah, whose mother was Tamar, .
Perez
the father of Hezron,
Hezron
the father of Ram,
Ram the
father of Amminadab,
Amminadab
the father of Nahshon,
Nahshon the father of Salmon,
Salmon
the father of Boaz, whose mother was Rahab,
Boaz
the father of Obed, whose mother was Ruth,
Obed the father of Jesse, and Jesse the father of King David.
David was the father of Solomon, whose mother had been Uriah's wife,
Solomon
the father of Rehoboam,
'Rehoboam
the father of Abijah,
Abijah the father of Asa,
Asa the
father of Jehoshaphat,
Jehoshaphat
the father of Jehoram,
Jehoram the father of Uzziah,
Uzziah
the father of Jotham,
Jotham
the father of Ahaz,
Ahaz
the father of Hezekiah,
Hezekiah
the father of Manasseh,
Manasseh
the father of Amon,
Amon the father of Josiah,
and Josiah the father of Jeconiah'' and his brothers at the time of the exile to Babylon.
After
the exile to Babylon:
Jeconiah
was the father of Shealtiel,
Shealtiel
the father of Zerubbabel,
Zerubbabel
the father of Abiud,
Abiud
the father of Eliakim,
Eliakim
the father of Azor,
Azor
the father of Zadok,
Zadok the father of Akim,
Akim
the father of Eliud,
Eliud
the father of Eleazar,
Eleazar the father of Matthan,
Matthan the father of Jacob,
and
Jacob the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus, who is
called Christ.
Thus there were fourteen generations in all from Abraham to David, fourteen from David to the exile to Babylon, and fourteen from the exile to the Christ.'
Luke also provides a genealogy of Jesus, but his account traces the lineage directly through Jesus' mother, Mary. This explains the difference in ancestors from Heli (assumed to be the father-in-law of Mary's husband, Joseph) to David. Luke's genealogy also goes beyond Abraham, all the way back through Noah, Enoch, Seth, and Adam to God himself, who created the human race.
He was
the son, so it was thought, of Joseph,
the son
of Heli,
the son
of Matthat,
the son
of Levi,
the son
of Melki,
the son
of Jannai,
the son
of Joseph,
the son
of Mattathias,
the son
of Amos,
the son
of Nahum,
the son
of Esli,
the son
of Naggai,
the son
of Maath,
the son
of Mattathias,
the son
of Semein,
the son
ofJosech,
the son
of Joda,
the son
of Joanan,
the son
of Rhesa,
the son
of Zerubbabel,
the son
of Shealtiel,
the son
of Neri,
the son
of Melki,
the son
of Addi,
the son
of Cosam,
the son
of Elmadam,
the son
of Er,
the son
of Joshua,
the son
of Eliezer,
the son
of Jorim,
the son
of Matthat,
the son
of Levi,
the son
of Simeon,
the son
of Judah,
the son
of Joseph,
the son
of Jonam,
the son
of Eliakim,
the son
of Melea,
the son
of Menna,
the son
of Maitatha,
the son
of Nathan,
the son
of David,
the son
of Jesse,
the son
of Obed,
the son
of Boaz,
the son
of Salmon,'
the son
of Nahshon,
the son of Amminadab, the son of Ram,
the son of Hezron, the son of Perez,
the son of Judah, the son of Jacob,
the son of Isaac, the son of Abraham,
the son of Terah, the son of Nahor,
the son of Serug, the son of Reu,
the son of Peleg, the son of Eber,
the son of Shelah, the son of Cainan,
the son of Arphaxad, the son of Shem,
the son of Noah, the son of Lamech,
the son of Methuselah, the son of Enoch, '
the son of Jared, the son of Mahalalel,
the son of Kenan, the son of Enosh,
the son of Seth, the son of Adam,
the son of God,
Perhaps the most significant aspect of these genealogies is the connection between Jesus and his ancestor, King David. The prophets of old had repeatedly foretold that the Messiah would be of the house of David, and a branch of Jesse, David's father. Therefore, from the Jews' perspective, Jesus is of the royal lineage and worthy to be king of Israel. While this brings comfort to many, it brings confusion to others, who are expecting the Messiah to be the same kind of political king as those who reigned before him.