Swindoll's Living Insights Commentary Matthew 1a - Flipbook - Page 25
The Genesis of Jesus | Matthew 1:1-17
in monarchies, political power isn’t conferred by vote or achieved by
victory . . . it’s inherited by birth.
So it is in the opening verses of the Gospel of Matthew. Remember,
the overarching purpose in this account of the life of Christ is to demonstrate that Jesus is the King, Israel’s l ong-awaited Messiah. It makes
perfect sense, then, that Matthew would begin with documented proof
that Jesus was not only the legal heir of the royal line of David but also
the heir of the covenant blessing of Abraham.
Anyone who makes the decision to read through the New Testament
in order for the first time immediately encounters a daunting challenge.
Right out of the gate, the reader has to wade through a long list of
names. To make matters worse, most of the names are unfamiliar, and
some are even difficult to pronounce! The first reaction of someone who
has no clue about the value and purpose of genealogies in Scripture is
to think something like, Why in the world does the very first book in the
New Testament start like this?
However, what appears to us to be of little interest and, frankly,
rather boring information is, in fact, the most fundamental starting
point for a Jewish reader. To a Jewish audience, if a man were to claim
that he was the Messiah but didn’t have the royal pedigree, it would
all be over. One commentator writes it this way: “It is important not to
think that this is a waste of time. For many cultures ancient and modern, and certainly in the Jewish world of Matthew’s day, this genealogy
was the equivalent of a roll of drums, a fanfare of trumpets, and a town
crier calling for attention. Any f irst-century Jew would find this family
tree both impressive and compelling.”2
For these opening verses, put yourself in the place of a f irst-century
Jewish skeptic—arms folded, eyes narrowed in suspicion, doubt written
on your face. You want to see for yourself whether this Jesus of Nazareth
is even worth considering as a candidate for the Messiah. You want to
see documented proof.
— 1:1 —
The first verse of the Gospel of Matthew begins, literally, “The book of
the genesis of Jesus the Messiah.” To qualify as the l ong-awaited Messiah, or anointed king, a person would have to be an heir of the promise
of Abraham and a legal descendant of King David. If Jesus of Nazareth
had been from some other race of people—for instance, a Roman—or if
He had been from a tribe and family different from the tribe of Judah and
the family of David, He would have been automatically disqualified.
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