One Year Journey Through the New Testament
Matthew 1
Welcome to Day One of our Journey through the New Testament!
Genealogy of Christ
Ruth 4:18–22; 1 Chr. 1:34, 2:1–15; Luke 3:31–34
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.
Points to Ponder:
Jesus was from a lineage of ordinary people.
His lineage included a harlot, a foreigner, a murderer, an adulterer, and other sinners as well. It also included many great leaders and honorable men.
But His lineage was ordered by the Lord. The triplet of fourteen years between major characters or events is a sign of God’s order in this lineage.
While the “begets” are considered a bit of dry reading, there is really a great story of hope included in these ordinary people’s lives leading up to the birth of the Savior.
Birth of Christ
18 Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows: After His mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Spirit. 19 Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not wanting to make her a public example, was minded to put her away secretly. 20 But while he thought about these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take to you Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. 21 And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.”
Points to Ponder:
When things don’t go the way that we think they should, we can have doubt that everything is alright.
Joseph had doubt that he should follow through on his pledge to marry Mary because she was pregnant outside of marriage. His cultural upbringing suggested he “put her away” or divorce her. But God, through and angel, reassured him that this was all part of God’s plan. Thank goodness he listened.
The plan is not always our chosen plan, but God’s plan is always better.
The Prophecy
22 So all this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying: 23 “Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,” which is translated, “God with us.”
24 Then Joseph, being aroused from sleep, did as the angel of the Lord commanded him and took to him his wife, 25 and did not know her till she had brought forth her firstborn Son. And he called His name Jesus.
Points to Ponder:
God’s plan is sometimes given to us as a prophetic utterance. When God wants us to be in the loop on His plans, He sends a declaration through a prophet. We may not know it is Him, but when the event or happening occurs, we can then see the fulfillment and remember the word of the Lord.
God gave several prophecies about the coming of the Messiah. This is just one example of one of those prophecies, found in Isaiah 7:14, that was fulfilled in the life of Jesus Christ, the Messiah.
Joseph was satisfied by this word and did his part in fulfilling the wonderful plan of God to save this world from our sins.
The extremely brief and simple account in verses 24-25 encapsulate the entrance of Christ into the world. The plan was in place and the Son had been born!
Publication Info
The New King James Version (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1982), Mt 1:1–25.
See you this afternoon for Live@5 (Facebook: Dr. Greg Sloop) for a discussion of Matthew, Chapter 1, and tomorrow morning (gregsloop.com) for Matthew, Chapter 2 with notes!
Devoted To You 