The story of the birth of Jesus Christ has been told for centuries.
The account usually begins with the annunciation to Mary
or the appearance of the angel to the shepherds,
yet Matthew begins his Nativity story with the genealogy of Jesus.
The long list of names intermingled with almost 40 "begats"
can cause us to skim or even skip this portion completely.
But Matthew appears to be teaching us a powerful message
about the Messiah by recording His lineage.
Let’s see if we can discover some of these lessons.
Matthew divides the genealogy into three main sections of fourteen names each.
The first section lists the patriarchs, the second lists kings,
and the third lists names of people mostly unknown to us.
The genealogy begins with Matthew stating,
"The book of the generation of Jesus Christ,
the son of David, the son of Abraham."
This first section recounts the names of the great patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
These were each men of great faith who with their wives left us great examples of righteousness.
Right from the start, Matthew appears to be giving us a key to understanding his message,
that of the promises made to Abraham, the great Patriarchal prophet.
Each of these men were promised that through their seed
all the nations of the earth would be blessed,
a blessing that would be fully realized
only through the birth and coming of the Messiah.
The second section includes a list of Judah’s kings from David to the Babylonian captivity,
emphasizing the importance of the dynasty of King David.
David was seen by the Jews as one of their greatest kings.
Through him the nation of Israel was united.
Under his command, the temple was built by his son Solomon.
Through his seed the nation was ruled by the line of the kings.
Only two of the fourteen kings mentioned though were considered righteous—
very few of the kings actually sought to guide their people to the Lord.
The true King of Kings in David’s royal line
would only be fulfilled through Christ, the anointed one.
The last section lists names of those that are otherwise mostly unknown in the Bible.
Matthew shows us the critical role these unknown helpers played in the birth of our Savior.
We can easily view ourselves as nothing special
when compared to great spiritual and political leaders
like the prophets and kings in the previous two sections.
But just like the unnamed widow who offered her two mites, our contribution—
no matter how small—is acceptable before the Lord.
From these divisions we can see that God is able to work through the spiritually powerful,
the politically powerful, and the commoners that appear to be powerless.
It teaches us that each of us can play a critical role in helping to build the kingdom of God.
Another intriguing aspect of Matthew’s genealogy is the inclusion of five particular women.
Women are rarely mentioned in genealogies in the Bible (or anciently)
except to teach a message or connect a name to a particular story.
Thus, it would again seem that Matthew is trying to teach us something by including their names.
Four of these women could be considered to have questionable or suspect backgrounds:
Tamar, Rahab, Ruth, and Bathsheba.
The first woman, Tamar, dressed as a harlot so that Judah, her father-in-law,
would give her a descendent because of the Levirate law of marriage, which was her legal right.
Rahab, often called a harlot, though possibly just an innkeeper,
was a Canaanite woman who lived in Jericho
and helped hide the Israelite spies before they prepared to conquer the city.
Ruth, though a faithful and incredible woman,
was a Moabite and not of Israel making her a foreigner.
Bathsheba, perhaps a Hittite like her husband,
was seduced by David and likely always seen as tainted by this act committed against her.
Because of their backgrounds,
each of these women were likely looked down upon at some point in their lives.
Yet Matthew reminds us of their great contribution as heroes of the Bible.
The last woman mentioned is Mary.
Like the other four women, she too had a suspect background
because of the miraculous yet misunderstood way she conceived the Christ child.
Perhaps Matthew was trying to teach his audience that if you question Mary’s story,
remember that many of the greatest prophets and rulers
came from women who might have been questioned by society.
As we read the genealogy of Jesus Christ and consider the people mentioned in His lineage,
we learn from this long list that different types of people were used
so that God’s Beloved Son could come to earth.
Whether a righteous prophet, an imperfect leader, an unknown helper,
or someone with a questionable background or reputation, all are known to the Lord.
No matter our status, background, or station in life,
we too can have our name added to the long beautiful list of those who play a critical role
in gathering Israel in preparation for Christ’s second coming to earth.