“The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David,
the son of Abraham.” Matthew 1:1
by Dennis Baker, Brotherhood President
Matthew’s gospel is a bridge between the Old Testament and the New Testament. The Old Testament is a book
of promise and the New Testament is a book of fulfillment. Genesis 3:15, “And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.” Matthew 1:21, “And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins.” The Old Testament provides the sad history of Adam’s family and how
sin entered the world and man became a sinner in God’s eyes. The Old Testament illustrates the truth that the wages of sin is death. In contrast, the New Testament emphasizes eternal life through Jesus Christ. Romans 6:23, “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ
our Lord.” Through no choice of our own each of us were born into the generation of Adam. However, by faith we can be born into the generation of Jesus Christ, and become the children of God!
Matthew’s genealogy of Jesus points out that Joseph did not “beget” Jesus Christ. Joseph was the “husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ.” Jesus was born of an earthly mother without the need of an earthly father. This is known as the doctrine of the virgin birth. Every child born into the world is a totally new earthly creature. But Jesus Christ, being eternal God, existed before Mary and Joseph or any of His earthly ancestors. If Jesus were conceived and born just as any other baby, then He could not be God. By a miracle of the Holy Spirit, Jesus was conceived in the womb of Mary, a virgin. Luke 1:26-38.
The genealogy of Jesus shows that Jesus Christ is a part of history and that Jewish history prepared the way for the birth of Jesus Christ. God, in His providence, ruled and overruled to accomplish His great purpose in bringing His Son into the world. Both Mary and Joseph belonged to the house of David. The Old Testament prophecies indicate that the Messiah would be born of a woman, of the seed of Abraham, through
the tribe of Judah, and of the family of David.
The genealogy of Jesus illustrates God’s wonderful grace. Rarely are the names of women found in Jewish genealogies. Matthew listed four women from Old Testament history. Tamar, Rahab, Ruth, and Bethsheba the wife of Uriah. Rahab and Ruth were not born Jews. Rahab was a harlot. The ancestral history of Jesus was made up of sinners who needed a Savior. God’s wonderful grace is that, Jesus took on the likeness of sinful flesh so that He could condemn sin. Romans 8:3, “For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through
the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh:”
The genealogy of “Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham” has been wonderfully designed and fulfilled. He is called Jesus because, “He shall save his people from their sins.” He is called Messiah because, “He was the anointed one.” He is called Emmanuel because, He is “God with us.”
