Matthew 1:1-17

Character, what is it and what should the core values of a Christian show to others? In the beginning, at the start of the New Testament, the first day of the salvation of Christ and the beginning of Christianity, did the world see or understand the depth of the love of the Trinity for man? What did it look like and to whom was it being written? Too small a thing to be only for His immediate family we, who by faith believe, become the extended family of God... adopted through the birth, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The day that you accept Him becomes the first day of your true and eternal life! Our lives should reflect Him to the physical world....does it? It is never too late to change as long as the Holy Spirit is on this earth waiting for us to turn our hearts to Him. Our lives should be wrapped around one concept:

What would Jesus do? 

Matthew’s Gospel serves several purposes beyond presenting a mere biography of Jesus. One purpose is to prove to Jewish readers that Jesus is their Messiah and promised King. The genealogy in chapter 1 points to Christ as the One who inherited God’s promises to David of an eternal dynasty. Even though many Jews of Jesus’ time were blind to Jesus’ identity, Gentiles (such as the wise men) identified Him as Israel’s promised King when He was a baby. Finally, the charge that hung above Jesus’ head on the Cross clearly highlights His royalty: THIS IS JESUS, THE KING OF THE JEWS. But most important, the Book of Matthew proves Jesus’ legitimate authority by highlighting His wise teaching and righteous life. 

 The rejection of Jesus by the Jews is a dominant theme of Matthew. Because of this rejection, God postponed the fulfillment of His promises to Israel and subsequently extended His blessings to both Jew and Gentile in the church.

Matthew is the only Gospel writer who speaks directly of the church. He points to the Gentile composition of this church by including several stories of the Gentiles’ faith in Jesus: the wise men, the centurion, and the Canaanite woman. He records Jesus’ prediction that the gospel will be preached to all nations, and the commission to the disciples to “make disciples of all the nations”.

A final purpose of Matthew is to instruct the church.The discipling process involves instruction in the words of Christ, and the Gospel of Matthew revolves around five of Jesus’ discourses.

Matthew 1:1-17

1 The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the Son of David, the Son of Abraham: 

² Abraham begot Isaac, Isaac begot Jacob, and Jacob begot Judah and his brothers. ³ Judah begot Perez and Zerah by Tamar, Perez begot Hezron, and Hezron begot Ram. ⁴ Ram begot Amminadab, Amminadab begot Nahshon, and Nahshon begot Salmon. ⁵ Salmon begot Boaz by Rahab, Boaz begot Obed by Ruth, Obed begot Jesse, ⁶ and Jesse begot David the king. 
David the king begot Solomon by her who had been the wife of Uriah. ⁷ Solomon begot Rehoboam, Rehoboam begot Abijah, and Abijah begot Asa. ⁸ Asa begot Jehoshaphat, Jehoshaphat begot Joram, and Joram begot Uzziah. ⁹ Uzziah begot Jotham, Jotham begot Ahaz, and Ahaz begot Hezekiah. ¹⁰ Hezekiah begot Manasseh, Manasseh begot Amon, and Amon begot Josiah. ¹¹ Josiah begot Jeconiah and his brothers about the time they were carried away to Babylon. 

¹² And after they were brought to Babylon, Jeconiah begot Shealtiel, and Shealtiel begot Zerubbabel. ¹³ Zerubbabel begot Abiud, Abiud begot Eliakim, and Eliakim begot Azor. ¹⁴ Azor begot Zadok, Zadok begot Achim, and Achim begot Eliud. ¹⁵ Eliud begot Eleazar, Eleazar begot Matthan, and Matthan begot Jacob. ¹⁶ And Jacob begot Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus who is called Christ. 

¹⁷ So all the generations from Abraham to David are fourteen generations, from David until the captivity in Babylon are fourteen generations, and from the captivity in Babylon until the Christ are fourteen generations.