December 18, 2023

Matthew 1:1-17 (HCSB)
The Genealogy of Jesus Christ
1 The historical record of Jesus Christ, the Son of David, the Son of Abraham: From Abraham to David 2 Abraham fathered Isaac, Isaac fathered Jacob, Jacob fathered Judah and his brothers, 3 Judah fathered Perez and Zerah by Tamar, Perez fathered Hezron, Hezron fathered Aram, 4 Aram fathered Amminadab, Amminadab fathered Nahshon, Nahshon fathered Salmon, 5 Salmon fathered Boaz by Rahab, Boaz fathered Obed by Ruth, Obed fathered Jesse, 6 and Jesse fathered King David. From David to the Babylonian Exile Then David fathered Solomon by Uriah’s wife, 7 Solomon fathered Rehoboam, Rehoboam fathered Abijah, Abijah fathered Asa, 8 Asa fathered Jehoshaphat, Jehoshaphat fathered Joram, Joram fathered Uzziah, 9 Uzziah fathered Jotham, Jotham fathered Ahaz, Ahaz fathered Hezekiah, 10 Hezekiah fathered Manasseh, Manasseh fathered Amon, Amon fathered Josiah, 11 and Josiah fathered Jechoniah and his brothers at the time of the exile to Babylon.
From the Exile to the Messiah
12 Then after the exile to Babylon Jechoniah fathered Shealtiel, Shealtiel fathered Zerubbabel, 13 Zerubbabel fathered Abiud, Abiud fathered Eliakim, Eliakim fathered Azor, 14 Azor fathered Zadok, Zadok fathered Achim, Achim fathered Eliud, 15 Eliud fathered Eleazar, Eleazar fathered Matthan, Matthan fathered Jacob, 16 and Jacob fathered Joseph the husband of Mary, who gave birth to Jesus who is called the Messiah. 17 So all the generations from Abraham to David were 14 generations; and from David until the exile to Babylon, 14 generations; and from the exile to Babylon until the Messiah, 14 generations.

Jason Ricciardi
I absolutely LOVE the opening genealogy of Matthew. It’s not because I like mapping out the names of biblical history but because the author did something that just wasn’t done back then –he included women. It’s nothing earth-shattering today but then it was quite the statement. There is something Matthew wanted to draw out by including Tamar, Rahab, Ruth, Bathsheba, and Mary. All those women came from difficult circumstances –one was a mistreated widow. Another was a former prostitute. A destitute foreign widow, a wife of a murdered husband, and a teenage mom round out their stories. That’s not exactly the name-dropping you would do to mythologize a man condemned to die on a cross...unless it’s true! What exactly is Matthew trying to do by including them? I think part of the reason is to show that God is in the business of making beauty out of brokenness! He takes the destitute and brings about the “desire of all nations,” (Haggai 2:7). We sell ourselves into the slavery of sin but our Savior has bought us back!