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THE GENEALOGY OF CHRIST. Comparing the two gospel accounts.
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Comparing the two gospel accounts • Matthew begins with Abraham and moves down to Jesus. Luke begins with Jesus and moves back through Abraham to Adam. Matthew deliberately arranges his genealogy into three groups of 14 generations each (Matt. 1:17), with a total of 41 names.
(He may do this because the numeric value of the name “David” in Hebrew is 14.) Luke has 77 names, apparently arranged in 11 groups of seven, although he never calls attention to this. At the part where the two genealogies overlap, Matthew has 41 names and Luke has 57. Matthew traces the genealogy through David’s son, Solomon, whereas Luke goes through David’s son, Nathan.
1. The Promise to Abraham is fulfilled • Gen. 12:3, “And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed. ” • Isa. 11:1, “And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots.”
2) A Pattern of sinners is given • Every person on the list, but Christ, are SINNERS! • Observe how many godly parents in this catalogue had wicked and ungodly sons. The names of Rehoboam, and Joram, and Amon, and Jechoniah, should teach us humbling lessons. They had all pious fathers. But they were all wicked men.
Five women are mentioned in Matthew’s genealogy: Tamar (1:3), Rahab (1:5), Ruth (1:5), Bathsheba (1:6, Uriah’s wife), and Mary (1:16).
It should be noted that three of the five women mentioned were Gentiles (Tamar, Rahab, Ruth). • Three of these women were guilty of sexual sins (Bathsheba, adultery, Rahab a prostitute, and Tamar, incest).
Women were often excluded in ancient genealogies. He did not include the four matriarchs (Sarah, Rebekah, Leah, and Rachel) because a major theme of Matthew’s gospel was the inclusion of the Gentiles into the Kingdom of God.
3) The power of providence • Matt. 1:17, “So all the generations from Abraham to David are fourteen generations; and from David until the carrying away into Babylon are fourteen generations; and from the carrying away into Babylon unto Christ are fourteen generations.”
NOTE THE DIVISION • The first begins with the call of Abraham, and ends with the call of David (1Sam. 16:13). The second begins with David (emphasis on the building of the Temple), and ends with the Babylonian captivity (destruction of the temple). The third begins with the nation under the power of Babylon, and ends with it under the power of Rome (the first and fourth of the world-powers of Daniel 2).
All the Bible genealogies do several things: (1) Confirm the historical reliability of the Bible, (2) Unveils who could serve in certain roles. These included only Levites working in the tabernacle and temple, as well as descendants of Aaron who were to serve as high priest, and (3) Confirms Bible prophecies.
What is important about the lord’s genealogy? • 1) The Throne: The requirement for the throne of Judah was Davidic descendancy. No one was allowed to sit on David’s throne unless he was a member of the house of David.
So when there was a conspiracy to do away with the house of David (Isaiah 7:5-6), God warned that any such conspiracy was doomed to failure (Isaiah 8:9-15).
2) The Father • Matthew’s genealogy also breaks with tradition in that he skips names. He traces the line of Joseph, the step-father of Jesus, by going back into history and working toward his own time. He starts tracing the line with Abraham (verse 2) and continues to David (verse 6).
Out of David’s many sons, Solomon is chosen (verse 6), and the line is then traced to King Jeconiah (verse 11), one of the last kings before the Babylonian captivity. From Jeconiah (verse 12), the line is traced to Joseph (verse 16). Joseph was a direct descendant of David through Solomon, but also through Jeconiah. The “Jeconiah link” is significant in Matthew’s genealogy because of the special curse pronounced on Jeconiah in Jeremiah 22:24-30.
“For no man of his descendants will prosperSitting on the throne of David, Or ruling again in Judah” (Jer. 22:30). • If Joseph was the real father of Jesus, He would have been rejected. Why? Because no descendent of Jeconiah could sit on the throne!
Throughout the genealogy it says, “such and such BEGAT.” This is not so with Joseph. • Matt. 1:16, “And Jacob begat Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ.”
Joseph lineage was traced through Solomon, whereas Mary’s lineage (Luke 3) was traced through Nathan. Mary had no blood kinship with Jeconiah.
The emphasis in the book of Matthew is that God is the Father of Jesus. • Matt. 11:27, “All things are delivered unto me of my Father: and no man knoweth the Son, but the Father; neither knoweth any man the Father, save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal him.”
3) The deity of christ • Matt. 1:22, 23, “Now all this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us.”
Why did Matthew omit certain names? Between king Jehoram and Uzziah, Matthew omits Ahaziah (2 Kings 8:25), Joash (2 Kings 12:1), and Amaziah (2 Kings 14:1). In other words, there were seventeen generations between David and the exile.
It is obvious that Matthew adjusted the details (like adding women to the genealogy) and subtracting certain kings for the purpose of focusing on Christ being a descended of David, and the Savior to both the Jewish nation, and the Gentiles.
Why is Zara (Zerah) mentioned in the lineage? He is the twin brother of Phares. Matthew simply identifies the person being spoken about since there were several people who bore that name in the Old Testament.
Why preserve the genealogy in the Bible? God knew the records in the temple were going to be destroyed (AD 70). Jesus predicted it in Matthew twenty-four. Since His genealogy is found in the Bible, His legitimacy cannot be questioned!
