Jesus' Family Tree

INTRO

We’ve just finished our study of the Pentateuch (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy) which was written by Moses, and we’re now beginning our study of the Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John). We’re going to keep doing that—moving from the Old Testament to the New Testament—over a two-year period. The word “gospel” literally means “good news.” Throughout the Gospels, we’re going to be talking about the good news. All of us have the bad news of sin and death, but praise the Lord, we have the good news of Jesus Christ our Lord. Remember that in the Old Testament, we gave one word for each of the books we studied, such as Seed for the book of Genesis. Through the seed of Abraham, we can see how it ultimately points to the Seed, Jesus Christ. The one word for Matthew that talks about Jesus, is King. In the book of Mark, Jesus is the Servant. In the book of Luke, the emphasis is on the Son of Man, and in John, the emphasis is on the Son of God. In Matthew, we’ll focus on Jesus as King. The word “King” is used 22 times in the book of Matthew and “kingdom” is used 32 times. The author, Matthew was one of the 12 disciples. He was also known as Levi and was a former tax collector who left everything behind to follow Yeshua. His audience was mostly Jewish Christians.

In Matthew 1, we’ll walk through Jesus’ family tree. Several things are unique to the book of Matthew: the genealogy of Jesus, Joseph’s dreams, the visitation of the wise men, the flight to Egypt, Herod’s threat to kill all the male children under two years of age, Judas’ repentance, Pilate’s wife's dream about John the Baptist, the bribery of the soldiers, and the Great Commission. Studying Matthew 1 is like studying the Pentateuch again because it provides historical records from the Old Testament.

TEACHING

Matthew 1:1-6a: Verse 1 gives the historical record of Jesus’ lineage. The genealogy itself is divided into three sections of 14 generations each for a total of 42 generations. The name of Jesus was common in the first century, and His last name was not “Christ.” It is also a common name today in the Hispanic and Latino cultures with a different pronunciation. Matthew first identified Jesus as the Son of David. Second Samuel 7:12 provides the importance of this identification: “When your time comes and you rest with your fathers, I will raise up after you your descendant, who will come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom.” When Matthew’s readers read Jesus’ genealogy, it immediately connected them to the Davidic covenant, passing through David’s son Solomon and down to Jesus.

Nelson’s commentary gave three reasons why Jesus’ genealogy was so important for Matthew: (1) it verified that Jesus was an Israelite and a Jew, (2) it identified that Jesus was connected to the tribe of Judah, and (3) it showed that He was qualified for certain religious duties.¹This means that proving someone’s genealogy allowed him to walk in his calling. Genesis 12 talks about the Seed that will rule forever.

In verse 2, His lineage begins with Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Judah. The first 14 generations go from Abraham to David. Within Jesus’ lineage, five women are listed, including Tamar (who had sexual relations with her father-in-law), Rahab (a prostitute that protected the Israelite spies), and Ruth (a foreigner and a worshipper of idols). Tom Constable gives several reasons why the women were included: (1) to show that Jesus came for sinners, (2) to show that Jesus came for everyone, regardless of gender or race, (3) to prepare his readers for the role of Mary as a part of Jesus’ lineage, (4) to show that there were “irregular marital unions” in Jesus’ lineage, and (5) to show how God used Gentiles to show “extraordinary faith in contrast to Jews.”²The section of genealogy ends with the first mention of a king–King David (v. 6). These show that God can use anybody at any given time, regardless of the mistakes in their lives.

Matthew 1:6b-11: In verse 6b, Matthew recorded that “David fathered Solomon by Uriah’s wife.” Matthew does not name Bathsheba because he is tying her to a Hittite, he is showing us that God can also use foreigners. The second set of 14 generations go from David to the Babylonian exile when the Israelites were taken away as slaves. This section is full of people whose names are not well-known, which shows again that God can use anyone, redeem them, and use them to point to the Messiah. John 1:14 gives the significance of His coming: “The Word became flesh and took up residence among us.” Notice that Matthew didn’t include everyone in the genealogy, but that doesn’t impact the background of Jesus or His lineage.

John MacArthur, The MacArthur Bible Commentary (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2005), 1120.

Matthew 1:12-16: The third set of 14 generations go from the end of the Babylonian exile to the Messiah. Matthew began the genealogy in verse 1 with Jesus, and he ended it with Jesus. In verse 16, Matthew tied Jesus’ lineage to Joseph. MacArthur describes how this is important, even though Joseph was not Jesus’ biological father: “The genealogy, nonetheless, establishes His claim to the throne of David as Joseph’s legal heir.”³

Matthew 1:17: Verse 17 summarizes the breakdown of the 42 generations of Jesus. After establishing Jesus’ family lineage, Matthew moved on to give the details of Jesus’ birth. The rest of the book of Matthew is about the life of Jesus.

Matthew 1:18-25: In the first century, engagement was seen as binding as a legal marriage. In verse 18, Joseph “discovered before they came together that she (Mary) was pregnant by the Holy Spirit.” Joseph was described as a righteous man who didn’t want to disgrace Mary and was going to divorce her secretly (v. 19). However, before Joseph could do these things, an angel appeared to him (v. 20). The angel acknowledged Joseph’s lineage (son of David) and explained that God had orchestrated Mary’s pregnancy through the Holy Spirit. In verse 21, Joseph was given the name of the child, “Jesus, because He will save His people from their sins.”

CLOSING

We are the beneficiaries of the stubbornness of the Jews, of what they went through in rebellion against God, and it’s our job to minister and give back to them in any way we can.