Matthew 1:1-17 – The God who came to be known

Matthew, a tax collector from Capernaum, is known to be the writer of this Gospel named after him.  Although he was in a profession greatly despised by the people of his day, the Lord Jesus called him and made him one of His 12 apostles. Also known as Levi, we are told that he left his career and everything immediately and followed Jesus at His invitation. Both Matthew 9:9 and Luke 5:27-28 affirm to this fact. In his account of the Gospel, we will see plenty of Jewish contents that will help us to connect the New Testament to the Old. We can safely surmise that this Gospel was written to address Jewish believers and is a manual for discipleship.    

Matthew’s Gospel began by giving us the genealogy of the Lord Jesus Christ and brings us to our historical roots. The first 17 verses connect the coming of Christ to the history of the Jews. Here Matthew deliberately selected three groups of 14 generations each: from Abraham to David; from David to the exile; and from the exile to the coming of Christ. He neatly put it this way to show three periods under three different categories of leaders. The first group was led by prophets; the second by princes; and the third by priests. The name of David was mentioned five times in this genealogy, indicating the significant role he played in the linage of our Lord Jesus. This is because the Messiah has to come from his line.

Of this list of people in the genealogy we see four women. They are Tamar, Ruth, Bathsheba and Mary, the mother of the Lord Jesus. Although the society and culture which our Lord was born into was dominated by male, this record reflects these four females. Their presence tell us that God has a place for everyone in His plan and program, regardless of gender. 

What can we take away from this genealogical record of our Lord Jesus? It assures us that Christianity is not a religion of happenstance. Our Lord wants us to know that our faith is real and has deep and definite historical roots. It tells us that God, in Christ, broke into time and space in order to connect with us. It serves as an invitation for us to know Him. In this genealogical account, we have the assurance that Christ Jesus is knowable and we can experience Him. We are invited to draw nearer to Him, closely follow Him, and dearly love Him. And this we should start each day committedly.