“All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: that the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.” 2 Timothy 3:16-17
“Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation. For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost. But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction.” 2 Peter 1:20 – 2:1
Verse 1 The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.
The Greek word translated as “book” is “biblos” and it means a written book, a roll, or a scroll. Matthew was writing a book about the LORD Jesus Christ, as opposed to an epistle or letter like those written by the Apostle Paul. As such, this book or gospel book as it is often referred to is for anyone to read. Just as any book in a library can be checked out and read by any person, so this book was and is meant for the reading public. A person does not have to be a believer to read and understand this book. An epistle, however, is a letter that was written to believers and not to the general, reading public. So there is a distinct difference between the four gospel books (Matthew, Mark, Luke and John) and the epistles.
Notice that Jesus is called the son of both David and Abraham. As noted in the Old Testament study of Genesis, a person was referred to as the son of their ancestors, not just their biological father. Hence, Matthew establishes in this first verse that Jesus is descended directly from Abraham, who was the father of the Hebrew nation as well as many of the Arab nations. He is also establishing that Jesus is the promised Messiah who was to be descended from the royal line of David. King David was promised that his descendant would always be on the throne. However, Israel’s monarchy ended when taken into Babylonian captivity. So the promise of a continual successor became understood to mean that the coming Messiah would take the throne of Israel and rule and reign.
Verses 2-3 Abraham begat Isaac; and Isaac begat Jacob; and Jacob begat Judas and his brethren; 3 And Judas begat Phares and Zara of Thamar; and Phares begat Esrom; and Esrom begat Aram;
Because the New Testament is written in Greek and not in Hebrew, the names of the people in this genealogy are a bit different to how they are spelled and pronounced in the Old Testament record. The Judas listed above is Judah, the fourth son of Jacob.
Verses 4-5 And Aram begat Aminadab; and Aminadab begat Naasson; and Naasson begat Salmon; 5 And Salmon begat Booz of Rachab; and Booz begat Obed of Ruth; and Obed begat Jesse;
All the men listed above are descendants of Jacob’s son, Judah. The Ruth listed above is the woman in the Old Testament that the book of Ruth tells about. She was from the nation of Moab and was therefore not Hebrew. This writer has consistently mentioned that the Hebrew people who came out of the captivity of Egypt were a mixed multitude of people and not all direct descendants of Abraham. The Hebrews continued to intermarry with other people from pagan nations and Ruth is an example of this. The book of Ruth is only four chapters long should you, the reader, want to read it at this time. The last chapter lists the genealogy beginning with Jacob’s son Pharez down to King David and so can be compared with this one written by Matthew.
Verses 6-16 And Jesse begat David the king; and David the king begat Solomon of her that had been the wife of Urias; 7 And Solomon begat Roboam; and Roboam begat Abia; and Abia begat Asa; 8 And Asa begat Josaphat; and Josaphat begat Joram; and Joram begat Ozias; 9 And Ozias begat Joatham; and Joatham begat Achaz; and Achaz begat Ezekias; 10 And Ezekias begat Manasses; and Manasses begat Amon; and Amon begat Josias; 11 And Josias begat Jechonias and his brethren, about the time they were carried away to Babylon: 12 And after they were brought to Babylon, Jechonias begat Salathiel; and Salathiel begat Zorobabel; 13 And Zorobabel begat Abiud; and Abiud begat Eliakim; and Eliakim begat Azor; 14 And Azor begat Sadoc; and Sadoc begat Achim; and Achim begat Eliud; 15 And Eliud begat Eleazar; and Eleazar begat Matthan; and Matthan begat Jacob; 16 And Jacob begat Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ.
So how did Matthew know all names of the descendants of Judah encompassing 42 generations? God told him what to write and there should have been records stored in the temple where all the births were recorded by the Jews. The first temple was built by King Solomon and then destroyed by King Nebuchadnezzar (957-586 BC). The second temple was destroyed by the Romans (515BC-70AD) and was referred to as Herod’s temple as he enlarged it during his reign. This was the Jew’s hall of records and it is possible that Matthew checked on these records. It is also possible that Matthew just read the Old Testament scrolls and found the same list of people such as those recorded in the book of Ruth. But more than likely, the Holy Ghost/Spirit simply told him what to write.
Verse 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.
What is the mathematical chance that fourteen generations would be between these important junctures in Jewish history? God is a god of order and design.
Application: From the founding of a nation that was to represent the righteousness of God beginning with Abraham, to the first king of Israel was 14 generations. Then from this first king the nation descended into unrighteousness and then into captivity in Babylon and that took 14 generations. Then it took 14 generations for the people to return to their land and rebuild and then have another and final king appear, the LORD Jesus Christ. This sequencing of time is no longer, as the nation of Israel was destroyed by the Romans in 70AD and the people scattered. When the temple was destroyed by fire, the records were destroyed also so that the genealogies were lost forever except for those listed in the Scripture.
Verse 18 Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise: When as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Ghost.
To be espoused means to be promised in marriage or betrothed. In today’s vernacular, Joseph and Mary would be considered engaged. However, in the Jewish culture, this engagement was binding and it could not be broken except by divorce. Under Jewish law, a woman who is suspected of adultery was to be stoned. So Mary’s pregnancy looked to the people in her community as being the product of a sexual relationship outside of her binding commitment to Joseph.
Verse 19 Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not willing to make her a publick example, was minded to put her away privily.
Jewish weddings were boisterous affairs so everyone in the community where Joseph and Mary lived would know if a marriage had occurred. Unlike today’s society, sexual behavior was not acceptable during engagement, but only after marriage. Joseph’s character shines through in this verse as he was willing to protect Mary from punishment. The Greek word for “just” used here is “dikaios” and it means righteous, upright, or virtuous. Joseph wanted to keep the situation secret so that Mary would not be shamed or worse, judged and perhaps stoned. But how should he accomplish this? He could divorce her, but she would still experience shame. Deuteronomy chapter 22 discusses sexual sin and God’s rules for the nation Israel.
Verse 20 But while he thought on these things, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost.
Note that Joseph is called, “thou son of David.” The angel was confirming the lineage of Joseph going back to the first king of Israel. As stated before is this study, when the Scripture uses “the angel of the LORD”, it is usually referring to Jesus manifesting before coming to Earth as a baby. When it states, “an angel of the LORD”, it is usually referring to one of the good angelic beings that God uses as messengers to His people.
Application: The Greek word translated as “conceived” is “gennao” and it means begat, bear, bring forth, be delivered, or to be born. This writer has heard pastors preach that Joseph was not the biological father of Jesus, a very true statement as can be verified by the gospel accounts, but that Mary was the biological mother because Jesus was both human and God at the same time so He needed to have at least one human parent. So, according to this teaching, Mary ovulated and the Holy Ghost fertilized the egg. Hmm. What the verse above says is that “that” which was to be born, to be brought forth, to be delivered was of the Holy Ghost. It did not say that “that” which was to be born was of Mary and the Holy Ghost. Mary, like everyone that has ever lived since Adam and Eve sinned, was a sinner. “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God” Romans 3:23 As such, any child she would have biologically would have a sin nature. Jesus was without sin. So He could not have an earthly, biological parent of any kind. Seem too miraculous? It was. But remember, who made man in the first place without the benefit of the reproductive process? Yes, Jesus was fully man and fully God. But he was not born of a woman in the sense that He had her DNA.
Verse 21 And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins.
Application: Joseph was given instructions to call this son Jesus. The name Jesus is the same as the name Joshua in the Old Testament and it means “salvation“. Today in some “Christian” and religious circles there is a debate going on as to the name of God and of Jesus. Some people advocate only using the name Jehovah. Some advocate using the name Yahweh. In the English Bible word for word translation, the English name is Jesus, plain and simple. The translated name may be different in Arabic or French or Japanese, but it English, it is Jesus. Why is this important? Because it is in Jesus’ name that healings occur, devils are cast out, the dead are raised, and prayers are answered. His name describes why He came to Earth in the first place. It was to save people from their sins so that they could have eternal life. It was to destroy the works of the Devil. It was to provide salvation.
Verses 22-25 Now all this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, 23 Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us. 24 Then Joseph being raised from sleep did as the angel of the Lord had bidden him, and took unto him his wife: 25 And knew her not till she had brought forth her firstborn son: and he called his name JESUS.
The Old Testament prophesies had to be fullfilled to prove the Word of God true and to prove that Jesus was and is the promised Messiah. Matthew is meticulous throughout his book in quoting the Old Testament Scripture and showing the fulfillment of it in the coming of Jesus, in His ministry, and in His death, resurrection and ascension into Heaven. Notice that Isaiah 7:14 is quoted here and notice that the name, Emmanuel, was not what Joseph was told to call the baby. The term, Emmanuel, is the title applied to the Messiah that was to come and be born of a virgin because it describes the fact that God was to be united with man and dwell with man. Jesus was God and at the same time human. Amazing when one really takes the time to think about it.