WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE?
Opening Prayer
Father in Heaven, as I anticipate celebrating the birth of your Son, prepare me to share with others the hope that is mine because of him.
Read MATTHEW 1:1–17
For additional translations of the passage, use this link to Bible Gateway.
The Genealogy of Jesus the Messiah
1 This is the genealogy[a] of Jesus the Messiah[b] the son of David, the son of Abraham:
2 Abraham was the father of Isaac,
Isaac the father of Jacob,
Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers,
3 Judah the father of Perez and Zerah, whose mother was Tamar,
Perez the father of Hezron,
Hezron the father of Ram,
4 Ram the father of Amminadab,
Amminadab the father of Nahshon,
Nahshon the father of Salmon,
5 Salmon the father of Boaz, whose mother was Rahab,
Boaz the father of Obed, whose mother was Ruth,
Obed the father of Jesse,
6 and Jesse the father of King David.
David was the father of Solomon, whose mother had been Uriah’s wife,
7 Solomon the father of Rehoboam,
Rehoboam the father of Abijah,
Abijah the father of Asa,
8 Asa the father of Jehoshaphat,
Jehoshaphat the father of Jehoram,
Jehoram the father of Uzziah,
9 Uzziah the father of Jotham,
Jotham the father of Ahaz,
Ahaz the father of Hezekiah,
10 Hezekiah the father of Manasseh,
Manasseh the father of Amon,
Amon the father of Josiah,
11 and Josiah the father of Jeconiah[c] and his brothers at the time of the exile to Babylon.
12 After the exile to Babylon:
Jeconiah was the father of Shealtiel,
Shealtiel the father of Zerubbabel,
13 Zerubbabel the father of Abihud,
Abihud the father of Eliakim,
Eliakim the father of Azor,
14 Azor the father of Zadok,
Zadok the father of Akim,
Akim the father of Elihud,
15 Elihud the father of Eleazar,
Eleazar the father of Matthan,
Matthan the father of Jacob,
16 and Jacob the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary, and Mary was the mother of Jesus who is called the Messiah.
17 Thus there were fourteen generations in all from Abraham to David, fourteen from David to the exile to Babylon, and fourteen from the exile to the Messiah.
Footnotes
- Matthew 1:1 Or is an account of the origin
- Matthew 1:1 Or Jesus Christ. Messiah (Hebrew) and Christ (Greek) both mean Anointed One; also in verse 18.
- Matthew 1:11 That is, Jehoiachin; also in verse 12
New International Version (NIV)Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Reflect
On this Christmas Eve, thank God for his willingness to be Immanuel – God with us – in our troubled world.
It may be off-putting to the modern reader to open the first gospel and be faced with a long list of ancient names they may never have heard before, but this is a trumpet blast announcing a royal and anointed arrival. Writing as a Jew for the sake of Jewish believers in Christ, Matthew begins with genealogy as a literary device designed to establish religious and historical Messianic credentials for Jesus. Records like this were common in the Old Testament, providing qualifications for people to serve in Levitical and priestly offices,1 as well as royal and military ones.2 He sets out his list of generations in an abbreviated way – either to satisfy his own desire for symmetry and a love of numbers (v. 17) or, more likely, to focus attention on Jesus as having the place of greatest honor. Whatever his system, Matthew’s message is clear: ‘Get ready – the Messiah is coming!’
It is surprising to see the less seemly side of the list: Tamar, the victim of Judah’s incestuous adultery with his daughter-in-law;3 Boaz, the son of Jericho’s converted prostitute Rahab;4 and Solomon, the son of David and Bathsheba, who had been Uriah’s wife.5 This speaks of God’s redeeming grace as well as the important place of women in the Messianic lineage.
The numbers of people using ancestry-searching websites around the world today demonstrate that the desire to identify our roots is widespread. Imagine what it might feel like to discover that you had kings and queens in your ancestry? Jesus is not only born of a royal line, but he is also the apex of the whole regal list. Matthew reveals him as the pinnacle of ancient kings of Israel and Judah, as befits his New Testament title ‘King of Kings and Lord of Lords.’6
Apply
Thank God for the people in the ancestry of Jesus with problems in their lives – and for your own place in the story of redemption this Christmas time.
Closing prayer
Lord God, from the very beginning, you promised a redeemer; thank you for your promise kept. Thank you that in Jesus I have a place reserved for me in heaven and look forward to life with him forever.
1 Neh 7:61–64 2 1 Chr 8:28 3 Gen 38 4 Josh 6:25 5 2 Sam 11, 12 6 see Rev 19:16
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