Matthew 1

Notes from BSF

GENEALOGY OF JESUS (Matthew 1:1-17)

Important women are listed in the genealogy

Tamar — Genesis 38
Tamar was the wife of Er, Judah’s firstborn. When Er passed away, Judah promised Tamar that she would be given to his younger son, Shelah to continue his line. She faithfully waited for Judah to fulfill his promise. However, Judah forgot about this promise. Tamar had to disguise herself as a prostitute to remind Judah of his promise. 

Rahab — Joshua 2; 6:17
Rahab was a prostitute who became a believer. She helped the spies sent by Joshua escape. She faithfully helped the men of God in accomplishing the Will of God. Rahab was also Boaz’s mother. Boaz was a great man, a kinsman redeemer, detailed in the Book of Ruth – a book that teaches us the relationship between Jesus, Israel, and the Church.

Ruth — Ruth 1; 4:13-17
Ruth became the wife of Boaz. In the book of Ruth, she represented the Church. She was introduced to Boaz, the kinsman redeemer, by Naomi. (Just as how the Church was pointed to Jesus through Israel.) She faithfully followed the instructions of Naomi and followed the guidance of Boaz. The significance of this story is that we learn of the great respectful love of Boaz for Ruth – this is the picture of the great love of Jesus for us, His Church.

“Wife of Uriah” — 2 Samuel 11; 12:15, 18, 24
The Wife of Uriah was Bethsheba. David fell in love with her, even though she was Uriah’s wife. To claim her for himself, David sent Uriah, a warrior loyal to David, to the front line and had him murdered. For this great sin, the first born of David and Bethsheba was taken from them.

Mary — Luke 1:26-56
Mary was the mother of Jesus, who gave virgin birth to Jesus. She faithfully gave birth to Jesus and followed the instructions of God, even when people ridiculed her for becoming pregnant before marriage.

Each of these woman carried the bloodline of Christ, from Abraham down to Jesus Christ.

Jesus is the son of David, the son of Abraham
God promised Abraham that he would be the father of nations, that his people would be God’s people (Genesis 22:16-18). And to David, God promised that the Messiah will be of the line of David and will rule from the throne of David (Luke 1:31-33).

Christ’s genealogy proves God fulfills His promises. Not all prophecies have been fulfilled: For example, Jesus has yet to reign from the Throne of David. However, because God has shown us how He is faithful, we can know for sure that one day, Jesus will reign from the Throne of David!

Blood Curse on Jeconiah (Jeremiah 22:24-30)
After David, there were all kinds of bad kings, declining and getting worse spiritually and into idolatry. In Jechoniah (aka, Coniah, Jechoiachin), we see the end.

Jeremiah 22:30
This is what the LORD says: “Record this man as if childless, a man who will not prosper in his lifetime, for none of his offspring will prosper, none will sit on the throne of David or rule anymore in Judah.”

This blood curse suggests the Davidic line ended with Jeconiah, that the dynasty ended before the Messiah could be born. But ah, let us not forget the virgin birth!

God pronounced upon Jechoniah a blood curse and said none of his seed would rule any more in Judah. The genealogy in Matthew begins with “the first Jew”: Abraham. Luke begins his with Adam (“Son of God” vs. ourselves, sons of Adam). The next 10 names are familiar from Genesis 5, and from Abraham to David, the two lists are identical.

As the list continues in Matthew, we note that Matthew took the royal line, all the way down to Joseph. Jesus is thus the legal heir of the Davidic covenant through Joseph. Did Jesus also inherit the blood curse? No! Because Jesus is not the blood son of Joseph!

Luke’s account, however, took the genealogy through Nathan, not the royal line, down to Mary. Jesus is the blood son of Mary.

God promised David that the Messiah, Jesus, would be the heir of the House and Lineage of David – And in Jesus’ case, we see that the two are not always synonymous. The legal lineage (House) was through Joseph; the blood lineage was through Mary!

Daughters of Zelophehad
There was a Torah exception on rules of inheritance—requested of Moses (Numbers 27:1-11) and granted by Joshua (Joshua 17:3-6). This was the result of a petition by the daughters of Zelophehad, which provided for inheritance through the daughter, if no sons were available, and if she married within her tribe. The husband would be adopted as a son by father of the bride (Ezra 2:61; Nehemiah 7:63; Numbers 32:41; 1 Chronicle 2:21-23, 34-35) and therefore receive the inheritance. This exception anticipated the lineage of Christ: Joseph was the son-in-law of Heli (Luke 3:23), who received inheritance of Heli by his marriage to Mary. As mentioned above, both Joseph and Mary were of the line of David. Joseph came through David’s son, Solomon (and so did Jeconiah), whereas Mary came through David’s other son, Nathan. Hence, the virgin birth of Christ circumvented the blood curse of Jeconiah and allowed Christ to be of the line of David by blood through Mary and by law through Joseph! Every detail—even in the regulations of the Torah—are there by deliberate design and always point to Christ!


GOD COMFORTS JOSEPH ABOUT THE VIRGIN BIRTH OF JESUS (Matthew 1:18-25)

Mary conceived Jesus through the Holy Spirit. This was a wonderful miracle but a difficult burden to bear. To the world, Mary was pregnant prior to marriage, and that was a grave disgrace. Joseph didn't understand the situation either (who would!), until an angel appeared to him and explained to him the wonderful miracle that had taken place.

Jesus is our savior, our deliverer! Flesh gives birth to flesh; spirit gives birth to flesh (John 3:6). This is why Jesus could not be born of the flesh – because he would have also inherited the sins of Adam and Eve. Instead, he was born of the Spirit, born innocent and lived a perfect life. If he had been born of man, he would be born of sin, as we all are. Yet, he was conceived of the Holy Spirit, perfect and pure. And because Jesus was perfect and pure, His blood is the only blood that can wash away our sins once and for all.

Jesus means “Deliverer” or “Savior”

Matthew 1:21 
She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.

Immanuel means “God with us”

Matthew 1:23
“The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” (which means “God with us”).

Jesus saves
John 3:17
John 8:24
John 10:14-16
Acts 4:12
Romans 10:9
Ephesians 2:5, 8

We are saved not because we deserve it. On the contrary, we have done nothing to deserve God’s love. We are thus saved by Grace, God’s Grace. We are saved because God loves us. That’s it.

Prophecies about Jesus (Luke 1:26-38)
- Jesus will be conceived through the Holy Spirit
- Jesus will be called Jesus
- Jesus will be great and be the Son of the Most High
- Jesus will be given the throne of David
- Jesus will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever

Mary exhibited great faith
Mary may not have understood how she could be pregnant when she was a virgin, but she simply placed her trust in God and allowed God to lead her through. Given the social pressures, this was not an easy road to walk -- and yet, Mary followed God despite the difficulties because she was faithful.

We may not always understand what is happening in our lives. However, we should always remember that “in all things God works for the good of those who love him (Romans 8:28). 

Like Mary, we need to learn to trust God, even when we don’t understand what is happening. We may have questions, we may even be confused, but one thing we should not do is to start questioning God’s Will. When we start thinking we know better than God, that we know what is better for us than God, that is when we start falling and failing. If we truly know what is best for us, Adam and Eve would not have sinned, and we would not be a fallen race. Every time we think we know better, history has shown us that we know not.

Jesus' birth fulfills biblical prophecies

Genesis 3:15 
Enmity is between Satan and the woman, because the woman would bore Jesus, who would ultimately defeat Satan.

It is important to note that Satan is not even close to being Jesus' equal. Satan is a created being. Jesus was, is, and always will be the creator. Satan is a powerful angel, a fallen angel, but as powerful as he is, he is still beneath Jesus.

Genesis 49:8–12
Jesus is of the Tribe of Judah, and with his birth, Jesus took over the Scepter of Judah.

Psalm 2:7
Jesus is the Son of God.

Isaiah 7:14
Jesus was born of a virgin.

Isaiah 9:6–7
Jesus is a child born of a virgin, a son given to us by God. He is a Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

Joseph accepted Mary and Jesus by his faith in God
Joseph was about to divorce Mary, because she became pregnant before they got married. However, an angel explained the situation to Joseph, and the next day, Joseph followed the angel’s directions. Like Mary, Joseph may not have understood what was happening, but he didn’t let doubt get in the way of obeying God’s Will.


SEEK THE APPROVAL OF GOD, NOT MAN

Galatians 1:10, NKJV
Do I seek to please men? For if I still pleased men, I would not be a bond servant of Christ.

When we live by faith, we put aside insecurities about ourselves. We understand the only will that matters is God's will, not our own, nor those of other people. And when we live our lives completely given over to God, then as we stand in front of Him, we will be able to hear from Him, “Job well done, my good and faithful servants.” This will be the best compliment, best award any one of us can receive!