Some 600 years before the birth of Christ, the prophet Jeremiah made an astounding prediction. He wrote, "The Lord says, "The time is coming when I will choose as king a righteous descendant of David. That king will rule wisely and do what is right and just throughout the land. When he is king, the people of Judah will be safe, and the people of Israel will live in peace. He will be called "The Lord of Our Salvation." Jeremiah 23:5 TEV (Today's English Version).
The book of Matthew begins by making it clear that Jesus was the fulfillment of Jeremiah's prophecy. Matthew set out to do by showing that Jesus was a descendant of David and also an ancestor of Abraham. Because the Messiah was to be of the seed of Abraham (see Genesis 22:18; Galatians 3:16) and of King David, founder of the royal line (see Isaiah 9:6,7), Matthew presents the evidence to prove that Jesus is a descendant of these two men. Jesus had to be from the proper family line in order to make His claim as the Messiah valid. With this in mind, Matthew begins his book, "The book of the generations of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham." Matthew 1:1. In verse 16 of his book, Matthew comes to the point and writes, "And Jacob begat Joseph the husband of Mary, of who was born Jesus, who is called Christ."
Mary, the mother of Jesus, also had the proper family line according to the Apostle Paul. He wrote, "Concerning his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, which was made the seed of David according to the flesh;" Romans 1:3. To understand the term "according to the flesh" note that a person's ancestry comes in two parts. The family name or title comes through the male. The wife takes the husband's name. However, a person's genetic makeup is a combination of the mother's and father's genes. But, recently, science has discovered that there is part of our DNA that only comes from the mother. It's called mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) and it passes down through the generations and does not get mixed up with the father's genes. Mitochondria, power muscle contractions, thinking and everything else that the cells of our bodies do. They are the "energy factory" or the "powerhouse" of the cell. Mitochondria come solely from the mother and can be used to trace a person's family tree.
Matthew writes, "And Jacob begat Joseph the husband of Mary, of who was born Jesus, who is called Christ." Matthew 1:16. It is interesting to note that Matthew very carefully avoids saying that Joseph "begat" Jesus. Instead, Joseph is referred to as the husband of Mary. Therefore, only the family title passed from Joseph to Jesus. When the angel explained to Mary what was to happen he said, "The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God." Luke 1:35.
Indeed, family ties are also important for us today. The Apostle Paul states, "So if you belong to Christ, you are now part of Abraham's family, and you will be given what God has promised." Galatians 3:29 (Contemporary English Version)
A Note About Matthew
Matthew opens with a series of begats that seems to make little sense to modern readers. However, it is felt that Matthew's audience was largely Jewish Christians and unbelieving Jews. It appears to be Matthew's purpose to convert the unbelievers and to confirm to the believers that Jesus was the Messiah of prophecy. Matthew presents Jesus as the One, the fulfillment of the Old Testament prophets such as Jeremiah. Reading the begats with this in mind helps to make sense of why they were listed.

Blessings in your study of God's Word!

Marvin Hunt

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Blessings!
Marvin Hunt

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