The Genealogy of Jesus Christ

Matthew 1

Reading the genealogy described in Luke 3:23-38 is beneficial when reading the genealogy described here in Matthew 1:1-17.

In Luke, the beginning of the genealogy of Jesus is with Adam, the first son of God, the genealogy of Matthew begins with Abraham. Matthew shows us that Jesus is the fulfillment of the promise that God made through Abraham to cause the family of God to multiply, based on faith, not the letter of the law, “And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise”, Galatians 3:29. Luke shows us that Jesus is indeed of the family tree of Adam and is the Son of God as the “Second Adam”, “And so it is written, “The first man Adam became a living being.” The last Adam became a life-giving spirit.” 1 Corinthians 15:45

In Luke, the entire genealogy is made of only men because, in the eyes of the Jewish culture, the seed[semen] of men was given more prominence than the women carrying the seed. In Matthew, he mentions several women, Tamar [who disguised herself as a prostitute to become pregnant by Judah], Rahab [who was a prostitute who helped the children of God defeat their enemies], Ruth [who was a Moabite gentile], Uriah’s wife [whom King David married], and Mary [the mother of Jesus]. Matthew’s account of the genealogy of Jesus is important because it shows how God came to bring His mercy, grace, and Salvation to all the gentile non-Jewish world, not just to the Jewish people. This is why Matthew begins his account of the genealogy by referring to Abraham in the very first verse.

Luke’s and Matthew’s genealogies of Jesus differ, as Solomon is included in Matthew’s account but omitted in Luke’s [Nathan is mentioned instead]. Matthew includes a lot of what we would say, “…this person is on my mother’s side of the family”, while Luke includes a lot of what we would say, “…this person is on my father’s side of the family”

The virgin birth of Mary is important because the birth of our Lord Jesus is not from the lineage of man, not from the semen of a man, but is born by the seed of the Holy Spirit and given birth by a woman.

Below is the genealogy given by Matthew,

“The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the Son of David, the Son of Abraham: Abraham begot Isaac, Isaac begot Jacob, and Jacob begot Judah and his brothers. Judah begot Perez and Zerah by Tamar, Perez begot Hezron, and Hezron begot Ram. Ram begot Amminadab, Amminadab begot Nahshon, and Nahshon begot Salmon. Salmon begot Boaz by Rahab, Boaz begot Obed by Ruth, Obed begot Jesse, and Jesse begot David the king.

David the king begot Solomon by her who had been the wife of Uriah. Solomon begot Rehoboam, Rehoboam begot Abijah, and Abijah begot Asa. Asa begot Jehoshaphat, Jehoshaphat begot Joram, and Joram begot Uzziah. Uzziah begot Jotham, Jotham begot Ahaz, and Ahaz begot Hezekiah. Hezekiah begot Manasseh, Manasseh begot Amon, and Amon begot Josiah. Josiah begot Jeconiah and his brothers about the time they were carried away to Babylon. And after they were brought to Babylon, Jeconiah begot Shealtiel, and Shealtiel begot Zerubbabel. Zerubbabel begot Abiud, Abiud begot Eliakim, and Eliakim begot Azor. Azor begot Zadok, Zadok begot Achim, and Achim begot Eliud. Eliud begot Eleazar, Eleazar begot Matthan, and Matthan begot Jacob. And Jacob begot Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus who is called Christ.

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.” Matthew 1:1-17

Revelation 12 gives a description of what Mary went through as a pregnant and unwed mother.

Over the generations, the Gospel of Jesus Christ is being phased out. The Baby Boomers occurred when the New World order was just being established. The population grew dramatically. Christians and the Word of God still had strong roots. The GenX population came next and were disaffected and directionless looking for something to fill their life. Christianity and the Word of God wasn’t what they were looking for. Then came GenZ, they are those intertwined with modern technology, known as the human robots. Christians and the Word of God has just about disappeared. The genealogy of Jesus Christ means something to Christians because it is part of our ancestry. But it means nothing to today’s generation who live for the global culture of the beast.

As Christians we are living in a day when the family tree of Christianity is being wiped out. The affliction and persecution of those who hold to the testimony of Jesus Christ is becoming stronger every day. God tells us not to be afraid to welcome the Holy Spirit into our life. Those who live for Jesus Christ will be given Salvation and eternal life in the New Jerusalem.

“But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.” Matthew 1:20