I know, it's a list of names ... many of which we have a hard time pronouncing ... most of which are not in our current "popular baby names" lists. This reading at first glance may seem like an exercise in futility ... or one that is pointless ... but I encourage you to read it anyway. After you read, come back here and I will share a couple of observations with you.
Welcome back. Now, what in the world is the point? Why would Matthew begin a book with a list like this? We would not! He did so because there was nothing more important in the Jewish mind of that day than heredity. Which tribe ... what lineage. In fact, when many of the Jews returned to Jerusalem from Babylonian captivity (they had been there 70 years) they had to prove their heredity. One group of men were among the priests. However, Ezra tells us in Ezra 2:62 "These searched for their family records, but they could not find them and so were excluded from the priesthood as unclean." That's how important it was.
It has been 400 years since God last spoke to His people through prophets. The Old Testament closes with the prophecy of Malachi. And God has been silent. Four hundred years is a long time! I wonder if faithful Jews had become discouraged? I wonder if they had given up? I wonder if they thought that God had abandoned them? I wonder if they decided that they had misunderstood His words through those prophets? We tend to give up much sooner than 400 years! But this silence from God is being broken in the person of Jesus. Matthew is writing to prove beyond any doubt that Jesus was the promised Messiah. Therefore, heredity was of utmost importance. Through this "list", Matthew shows Jesus to have direct lineage with Abraham and King David.
Matthew organized this heredity in three groups of fourteen generations. That made it much easier to remember. In our older translations, the word "begat" is used. That word is used to show direct descent, not necessarily immediate parentage. The groupings of names are indicative of Jewish history ...
Group 1: verses 2 - 6
from Abraham to David
from nomad existence to greatness
the rise of Israel as a people to her greatest king and world prominence
Group 2: verses 7 - 11
from Solomon to the Exile in Babylon
from greatness to disgrace
the fall from world prominence to exiled slaves
Group 3: verses 12 - 16
from disgrace and exile to redemption
from foreign land to home
Do you recognize your own personal history?
Born for greatness ... created in the image of God, Himself ... created to care for the earth, having dominion over her ... born to walk in fellowship with God.
But we went from greatness to disgrace. We found ourselves slaves and exiles to sin.
And yet ... allowed redemption from disgrace back into fellowship and union with God through Jesus. Back home.
This is our story as well.
This "list of names" links Jesus with Abraham through King David. It proves Jesus to be "born of a woman" ... "the seed of Abraham" ... "of the tribe of Judah" ... "a descendant of David". Yes, Matthew tells us through this list, this Jesus is the promised Messiah of old. He has the right pedigree ... the right lineage.
Father, we honor Jesus today ... we bow before Him ... knowing that He is, indeed, the King ... sent from You at the perfect time. Thank you for providing a way for us to come "home".
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