I like the way Matthew starts his book. Most editors and publishers will say a first line can either sell or sink your story. Matthew states, first thing, Jesus Christ is the son of David and the son of Abraham. The mention of these men, two of the most prominent figures in the history of the Jewish nation, was no accident. The royal line came through King David, and the chosen line began with Father Abraham. From the line, or the genes if you will, of these two men God promised to bring the Messiah. Matthew was clearly saying, with his first sentence, Jesus was the chosen King of the Jews, the Christ, Messiah.
At my son Jesse’s church, Solid Rock, in Portland, Oregon, I have heard the pastoral staff refer to Christ as “Jesus Messiah.” Christ is not Jesus’ last name. Like Messiah, it is His title. I like that term—Jesus Messiah. Perhaps it is because of my Catholic roots that the word Christ generates a picture of Jesus as the perpetually suffering person on the cross, while the word Messiah paints the picture of the triumphant Jesus riding into Jerusalem, clearing the moneychangers out of the temple and resurrecting from the dead. Jesus was certainly our suffering Savior, and thank God for that, but He was also the triumphant Redeemer and King. What picture do you have of Jesus? Does the phrase Jesus Messiah change the way you view our LORD?
The Gospel According to Matthew begins with the genealogy of Jesus through Joseph. Perhaps you think genealogies are not so interesting, and you are going to cruise through this list of names to reach the good stuff around verse 18. I urge you to not be hasty. Take a close look at some of these names, you will find interesting substance in the genealogy.
Besides the biggies, King David, Father Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, note the name of one of the twelve sons of Jacob—Judah. This same Judah was instrumental in selling his younger brother Joseph to the Midianite traders (Genesis 37:26-28). Later, when the family was reunited in Egypt and their father Jacob died, Joseph said to his brothers, “As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today,” (Genesis 50:20). God did not allow the conniving ways of Judah, along with the mistakes of Joseph's brothers, to stop HIS eternal purposes in realizing the preservation of Israel, providing eternal salvation, and paying for the sin of mankind. Jesus Messiah, offered Himself as the ultimate sacrifice for sin, once and for all, and He did not act alone. He acted upon the Father’s will, as part of the Father’s plan and because of the Father’s love for humanity (John 3:16-17).
Five women are also mentioned in the genealogy of Matthew chapter one. They are Tamar (vs 3), Rahab and Ruth (vs 5), the wife of Uriah, which we know is Bathsheba (vs 6), and Mary, the mother of Jesus (vs 16). Why were these women mentionable? Culturally speaking, in the time of Jesus, women were considered part of the lower class. Women had no rights apart from what their husbands or fathers allowed. Women did not hold office or vote. Even a Jewish man’s morning prayers indicated the undesirable status of women, as in daily prayers men repeated the morning blessings, “I thank You, Oh Lord my God, Creator of the Universe, that you have not made me a gentile…a woman…or a slave.” In place of the word slave, some versions use the word ignoramus, uneducated person, or other versions use dog. Women were less than inconsequential, yet Matthew mentioned them in the lineage of the Messiah. Why?
I believe, after three years of living with, and observing the behavior of Jesus, Matthew (an all the disciples) acquired a more elevated perspective of women than what was the norm for his culture. Jesus was a respecter of women. He valued them. Throughout the Gospels there are accounts of His singling them out, speaking with them (the Samaritan woman at the well), comforting them (Martha and Mary at the death of Lazarus) and even defending them (the woman caught in the act of adultery). At the end of His life, while still on the cross, Jesus used His last amounts of breath to charge John with the care of Mary, His mother. Jesus was not a neglectful son. He honored His father and mother, just as was commanded by God the Father in the law. I believe Matthew mirrored this honoring of women with his inclusions in the genealogy.
Another interesting thought about the genealogy and these women is they all had very different stories. Tamar was a widow, then a rejected woman who posed as a prostitute to insure her inheritance, (Gen 38:6-30). Rahab was a harlot in Jericho (Joshua 2:1-21), Ruth was a foreigner, destitute, a gentile from Moab (Ruth 1-4). Bathsheba suffered the consequences of an affair with King David, (2 Samuel 11-12:26) and Mary was misjudged, almost divorced by her betrothed for being an unwed mother, (Matthew 1:18-25). Any normal historian, wanting to make a legitimate case for someone as Messiah, might not have mentioned these women and their checkered situations. The substance of their stories and the fact that Matthew did mention them, lends all the more credulity to the genealogy's reliability as legitimate.
The apostle Paul, who was also dramatically transformed by his encounter with Jesus, was undoubtedly familiar with the morning blessings. After time and experience as a believer, he wrote to the Galatians what could be considered a counter to the thoughts of the morning blessings. “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.” (See Galatians 3:25-28 ESV)
The writers of the New Testament did not just sit around brainstorming and invent all these stories to publish in this book we call the Bible. They had a wealth of real-life information to convey that came straight from Jesus, including His words, His actions and how He lived. When Matthew and the other disciples observed how Jesus cared for women, they could not help but have a cultural mind shift, which manifested itself in their writings, and undoubtedly, in the way they conducted the rest of their lives on earth.
Today, the battle for women's rights continues in our culture. There are arguments about women serving in the military, contraception, abortion, position and power. Some women want recognition, equality with men, while others desire to maintain more traditional roles. Living in Japan, I observe men and women everyday, and it appears they hold to the more traditional roles in their culture. However, for me, as a Christian, the question is not about what the norm is in the national culture, but rather what is the standard in God's culture?
I do not condone exploitation, oppression or the subjugation of anyone, be it men, women or children. Women in the west are shouting about personal control over their own procreative rights, but shouldn't it be considered equally important to speak-up for the millions of voiceless children who are killed through abortion, whether they are male or female, simply because God says killing is wrong? In our world, children are exploited, women are oppressed, men are conscripted, governments determine the size and incomes of families, and entire races or sects are obliterated by the powerful. We live in a world filled with injustice and sin, where people groups are affected by evil everyday. But as a believer in Christ, my culture shapers should not come from western or eastern thinking. My culture shapers should originate in God, through His word and in the person of Jesus Messiah. He alone is righteous and just. He alone acted on behalf of all, and continues by making intercession for all. (Hebrews 7:22-25/Isaiah 53:12).
If we explore our own genealogies, we are bound to find some sketchy characters in our family line, which we may not desire to acknowledge. Be they shady or not, our ancestors are part of us. They are the substance of who we are and we cannot escape that lineage.
King David's prayer recorded in Psalm 139 provides a wonderful perspective of how God views us:
"For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb. I praise You for I am fearfully and wonderfully made…My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them…Search me, O God and know my heart...see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting."
The substance of any human being seems too complicated to be taken lightly. Only God can truly and completely understand each one of us individually and continue to be willing to interact with us and give us the opportunity for relationship with HIM for now and for eternity.
Jesus Messiah is that opportunity. He is the gift of God, the way God has provided for each one of us to know HIM…and Matthew starts his telling of the Jesus story by showing us, it is all in the genealogy.
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ASSIGNMENT Optional
In the Gospel According to Matthew, find connections made with the words “as spoken by the prophets.” (see example below) Compile your own list of prophecies fulfilled by Jesus Messiah and His remarkable coming to earth, life, death and resurrection. It’s amazing! Happy Reading!
*1. Matthew 1:23 – cited from Isaiah 7:14, 8:8,10
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