Matthew 1:1-17

The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ,

the son of David, the son of Abraham.

Abraham became the father of Isaac,

Isaac the father of Jacob,

Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers. 

Judah became the father of Perez and Zerah,

whose mother was Tamar. 

Perez became the father of Hezron,

Hezron the father of Ram,

Ram the father of Amminadab. 

Amminadab became the father of Nahshon,

Nahshon the father of Salmon,

Salmon the father of Boaz,

whose mother was Rahab. 

Boaz became the father of Obed,

whose mother was Ruth. 

Obed became the father of Jesse,

Jesse the father of David the king.

David became the father of Solomon,

whose mother had been the wife of Uriah. 

Solomon became the father of Rehoboam,

Rehoboam the father of Abijah,

Abijah the father of Asaph. 

Asaph became the father of Jehoshaphat,

Jehoshaphat the father of Joram,

Joram the father of Uzziah. 

Uzziah became the father of Jotham,

Jotham the father of Ahaz,

Ahaz the father of Hezekiah. 

Hezekiah became the father of Manasseh,

Manasseh the father of Amos,

Amos the father of Josiah.

Josiah became the father of Jechoniah and his brothers

at the time of the Babylonian exile.

After the Babylonian exile,

Jechoniah became the father of Shealtiel,

Shealtiel the father of Zerubbabel,

Zerubbabel the father of Abiud. 

Abiud became the father of Eliakim,

Eliakim the father of Azor,

Azor the father of Zadok. 

Zadok became the father of Achim,

Achim the father of Eliud,

Eliud the father of Eleazar. 

Eleazar became the father of Matthan,

Matthan the father of Jacob,

Jacob the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary. 

Of her was born Jesus who is called the Christ.

Thus the total number of generations

from Abraham to David

is fourteen generations;

from David to the Babylonian exile, fourteen generations;

from the Babylonian exile to the Christ,

fourteen generations.

Opening Prayer: Lord God, you are always faithful and never waver in your commitment to humanity. Although we have sinned against you, you do not give up on us. You have not given up on me and welcome me back with open arms when I repent, with your grace, from my sin.

Encountering the Word of God

1. The Kingdom Promised: Today, we begin to read the Infancy Narratives in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke. Matthew opens his Gospel with the Book of the Genealogy of Jesus Christ and identifies him as the “son of David” and “son of Abraham.” Matthew organizes the list of names into three sets of fourteen. In doing so, he emphasizes Jesus’ royal pedigree. David’s name in Hebrew is spelled D-V-D. The Hebrew letter “dalet” has the numerical value of 4; the letter “vav” has the numerical value of 6. Added together, the three letters in David’s name total 14. By organizing the genealogy of Jesus in three sets of 14, Matthew indicates that Jesus is the “thrice-David” or the New David par excellence. In the first set, from Abraham to King David, it is shown that Jesus’ ancestry is from Judah. This recalls the prophecy in Genesis 49, that the scepter shall never depart from Judah’s line. Earlier, in Genesis 17, Abraham was promised a royal line of descendants: “I will make nations of you; kings will stem from you” (Genesis 17:6). The books of the Bible from Genesis to Samuel largely contain the story of how that royal promise to Abraham came to be initially fulfilled in his descendant, King David.

2. The Kingdom Occupied and Destroyed: The second set of 14 generations goes from King David to King Jeconiah. In this way, the genealogy of Jesus recalls the stories of the fourteen kings after David. Of the fifteen names, only three stand out as good kings: David, Hezekiah, and Josiah. The three kings were good, but not perfect. The other twelve were wicked to some degree. Solomon, for example, started out as a good king, but was swayed to evil by his pagan wives in his old age. Despite the infidelity of the majority of David’s royal sons, the Lord God remained faithful to his covenant oath that David’s Kingdom would last forever. When the Kingdom of Judah was defeated, Jerusalem was destroyed, and the Judeans were exiled to Babylon, it was challenging to see how God’s oath to David would be fulfilled. Matthew’s genealogy shows how God is eternally faithful to his promises! The third set of fourteen generations goes from the Babylonian exile to Jesus, the Son of Mary. Although the list of names can seem boring and repetitive, it is a record of God’s faithful and merciful salvation despite his children’s infidelity. God is always faithful and ready to welcome us when we turn from our sin and embrace his mercy.

3. The Kingdom Fulfilled: The Kingdom of David was likened by the prophet Isaiah to an olive tree reduced to a stump. This prophecy came to pass with the Babylonian Exile. “For hundreds of years, the Jews were a nation without control over their own land and a people without their own king, a son of David, sitting on the throne. The end of the kingdom [of David] was not simply a political disaster or military defeat. For a long time, God’s prophets had been reminding the people that Israel’s strength depended not on military might, economic wealth, or political maneuvering but on covenant faithfulness to the one true God. Israel’s law taught them that if they broke their covenant relationship with Yahweh, they would suffer the curse of exile, in which even their king would be carried away by a foreign nation and God would no longer be with them (cf. Deut 28:32-36; 31:16-18). This is exactly what happened at the time of the deportation to Babylon (cf. 2 Kings 24)” (Sri, God with Us, 14). God did not abandon his people and offered them hope during this period of suffering and exile. The Lord God sent prophets to tell the people how a new Davidic king would one day be raised up. This royal Messiah would restore the kingdom and bring about the New Covenant era in which there would be forgiveness of sins and blessing for the whole world. “Most first-century Jews reading Matthew’s genealogy would be longing for these promises to be fulfilled” (Sri, God with Us, 15). Isaiah prophesied that from the fallen stump of the kingdom, a branch of David’s line would arise. This Davidic branch is Jesus, who proclaimed the Kingdom of Heaven and gave royal and sacramental power to his disciples to proclaim his Kingdom throughout the entire world.

Conversing with Christ: Lord Jesus, as I reflect on the stories of your ancestors, I am confronted with both good and evil. Even the great ones, like Abraham, Jacob, and David, were not perfect. This comforts me as I fight the good fight and strive to finish the race. Empower me with your grace that I may be holy as your heavenly Father is holy.

Living the Word of God: As I hear the genealogy of Jesus, do I find myself a little indifferent to the history of salvation narrated in the Old Testament? If so, why? Is it boring or unintelligible? Do I need to ask God to enkindle in my heart a burning desire to encounter him in his revealed Word? Can I make time this upcoming year to read the Bible, read a good book about the Old Testament, or listen to The Bible in a Year podcast?