Matthew is the first book of the New Testament in our Bibles. For a long time it was considered to be the first gospel written, though most scholars now consider Mark to be the first one.
The early church thought it was written first in Hebrew or Aramaic. You will still see that argument pop up on social media today by those who want to attack the accuracy of the Bible. This comes from a statement written by Papias around 135 A.D., which is difficult to interpret. However, there are no ancient manuscripts of Matthew in Hebrew. Most scholars today believe it was written first in Greek.
Since Matthew was a tax collector for the Roman government, he would have been able to read and write Greek, which was the language of commerce. Galileans also lived in close proximity to Greeks and had dealings with them. The fact that Matthew often quotes the Old Testament from the Septuagint (LXX), the Greek translation, shows he knew Greek.
He would also be adept at making and keeping records. Given these abilities, and his being one of the Twelve, he was uniquely qualified to write about the life of Jesus with accuracy.
Matthew’s gospel was accepted and the most highly revered in the first three centuries of the church. It was regarded as Scripture. It was the most quoted by the early non-canonical writers, such as Ignatius. He quoted Matthew in a letter written around 110 A.D. Ignatius was the bishop of Antioch at the time he wrote the letter.
Matthew and the other gospel writers, the Evangelists, sought to provide historical information. But each one had their own viewpoint and goals. Matthew had more than one goal, but one of his goals was clearly to show that Jesus is the Messiah the Old Testament promised and for whom the Jews were anxiously waiting. Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of David, the Son of God, the Son of Man, and the promised Immanuel.
Matthew also shows us that the Jewish leaders and many Jews, did not understand this or chose to reject it. Matthew also shows that the messianic kingdom has come, inaugurated by the life, death, resurrection, and exaltation of Jesus at his ascension.
Matthew also shows that the community of those who believe, both Jew and Gentile, are the people of God. They participate in the New Covenant, receiving forgiveness from sins, and membership in the kingdom.
The Genealogy of Jesus
1:1-17
This section begins a larger section that goes through 2:23 that we might title as “a record of the origins of Jesus Christ”.
The first verse gives us titles for Jesus. First is his given name, Jesus. It is “Yeshua” in Hebrew. It means “Yahweh saves”. We see this in verse 21, where the angel tells Joseph to call the baby Jesus “for he will save his people from their sins”.
Second is the title “Christ”. It means “anointed” and is the Greek equivalent of Messiah. By the time of Jesus, it referred to the one who would bring in the promised future, righteous, king who would reign over God’s people.
Other titles are “son of David” and “son of Abraham”. Although Abraham preceded David in time, Matthew mentions David first. The title “Son of David” is mentioned many times in this gospel. The reason is the importance of God’s covenant with David, including God’s promise that David’s descendant would occupy the throne forever. (2 Samuel 7:12-16)
The Jews saw this as a promise of the coming anointed one who would deliver Israel from the Romans and restore their kingdom. They considered themselves still in exile. Although they were in their homeland, they did not rule it. They were not a sovereign nation. They were an unwilling vassal of Rome, which was in a long line of foreign nations ruling Israel. They needed a king to rescue them. So, Matthew began his gospel with this genealogy to proclaim that God’s royal line will be consummated in the coming of Jesus Christ.
Isaiah’s prophecy further developed the picture of this Son in Isaiah 9:6-7. He said:
For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given;
and the government shall be upon his shoulder,
and his name shall be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be be no end,
on the throne of David and over is kingdom,
to establish it and to uphold it.
So, the title “son of David” was seen by many to be messianic.
Jesus is also “son of Abraham”. This is a given if he is son of David. So, why does Matthew mention it?
God also made a covenant with Abraham. God promised that through Abraham’s offspring (or seed) all nations would be blessed. (Genesis 22:18) And, later, Matthew will connect this as he records Jesus commissioning his followers to make disciples of all nations. (Matthew 28:19) Matthew sends a clear signal that the Messiah is not just for the Jews, but also for the nations, the Gentiles.
Matthew is claiming at the very beginning of his gospel that Jesus is the Messiah\Christ that has come in fulfillment of the promises to David and to Abraham. Jesus is the one who will bring blessings to all nations.
Continuing the thought of “all nations”, look at the women mentioned in the genealogy. Ruth and Rahab, and possibly Tamar, were Gentiles, not Jews. Bathsheba, who was a Jew, was married to a Hittite and was likely regarded as one because of that. (See Ruth 1, Joshua 6, Genesis 38:6, 2 Samuel 11:3)
Most genealogies of the time only listed men. So, Matthew signals a new role for women in the New Covenant. Paul would later write “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” (Galatians 3:28)
Matthew divided the genealogy of Jesus into three periods:
- Abraham to David;
- David to Babylonian exile; and
- Babylonian exile to Jesus.
Verse 17 divides the genealogy into three sections of 14. There are names left out to get that. So the number 14 here must have symbolic, rather than literal meaning. Since a major point of the genealogy is to show that Jesus is a descendant (son) of David, it appears the grouping of 14 may also point to David.
The Jews, and other ancient people, used a form of symbolism called Gematria. It ascribes number values to letters. Hebrew originally did not have vowels, only consonants. David has two Ds and one W. His name in Hebrew has a W instead of the English version of V.
D had a value of 4. W had a value of 6. The two Ds plus W equals 14.
The genealogy also shows us God is faithful. He continued to work with his people even though they were not always faithful. Some had epic failures, such as David, with whom God made a covenant. Yet God kept his covenant promises.
We see that Jesus is the point of the genealogy as he is the point of the Bible.
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