Matthew 1:1-17
An account of the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah, the son of David, the son of Abraham. Abraham was the father of Isaac, and Isaac the father of Jacob, and Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers, and Judah the father of Perez and Zerah by Tamar, and Perez the father of Hezron, and Hezron the father of Aram, and Aram the father of Aminadab, and Aminadab the father of Nahshon, and Nahshon the father of Salmon, and Salmon the father of Boaz by Rahab, and Boaz the father of Obed by Ruth, and Obed the father of Jesse, and Jesse the father of King David. And David was the father of Solomon by the wife of Uriah, and Solomon the father of Rehoboam, and Rehoboam the father of Abijah, and Abijah the father of Asaph and Asaph the father of Jehoshaphat, and Jehoshaphat the father of Joram, and Joram the father of Uzziah, and Uzziah the father of Jotham, and Jotham the father of Ahaz, and Ahaz the father of Hezekiah, and Hezekiah the father of Manasseh, and Manasseh the father of Amos, and Amos the father of Josiah, and Josiah the father of Jechoniah and his brothers, at the time of the deportation to Babylon. And after the deportation to Babylon: Jechoniah was the father of Salathiel, and Salathiel the father of Zerubbabel, and Zerubbabel the father of Abiud, and Abiud the father of Eliakim, and Eliakim the father of Azor, and Azor the father of Zadok, and Zadok the father of Achim, and Achim the father of Eliud, and Eliud the father of Eleazar, and Eleazar the father of Matthan, and Matthan the father of Jacob, and Jacob the father of Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom Jesus was born, who is called the Messiah. So all the generations from Abraham to David are fourteen generations; and from David to the deportation to Babylon, fourteen generations; and from the deportation to Babylon to the Messiah, fourteen generations.
As we said yesterday, Matthew believes that in order to know Jesus, you need to know his family. In this case, his extended family, all the way back to the Patriarch Abraham. For this reason, Matthew begins his account of the story of Jesus with a genealogy.
And as we also said, because we think of genealogies more as something that should go (preferably unnoticed) in the back of a family album than as a helpful way to tell a story, we tend to skip over this part. Or, if we read it, we run through all the “father of” (“begat” in the King James version) fairly quickly.
But if you slow down, even a little, you’ll quickly notice two things. First, ancient Israel is a patriarchal culture and so traces its lineage through the male line. (This is why, by the way, that even though both Matthew and Luke stress that Mary becomes pregnant through the power of the Holy Spirit and not by Joseph, Jesus is considered Joseph’s son and therefore a descendant of David.) Given this way of accounting legal and familiar ancestry, it probably shouldn’t surprise us that the people who get mentioned are the fathers.
Except – and this is the second thing you’ll notice – sometimes mothers are mentioned as well. Not always, or even usually – of the forty-two generations named, women are mentioned only five times. But as when reading any good story, it’s important to pay attention to exceptions. And so over the next several days, we’ll do just that, slowing down to ask why Matthew includes these women, what made them exceptional, and how they help us understand Jesus better.
But not quite yet. First it’s important simply to note that Matthew does indeed make these exceptions. Sometimes Matthew is considered a more “narrow” gospel in that he focuses his story particularly on Jesus’ role as the Jewish messiah and most likely writes for a Jewish audience. By way of contrast, Luke casts his nets larger and includes from the outset a concern for both the Jewish and Gentile world (his genealogy, for instance, goes all the way back to Adam in include all humanity – Lk. 3:23-38). At other points, Matthew is described as more legalistic – sometimes being referred to as a “Christian scribe” – because of his stress on Jesus’ teaching in relation to the law and his role as a “new Moses.”
While there is something valid in both of these descriptions – which don’t, by the way, have to viewed negatively but simply help us understand Matthew’s audience and intent – it’s also important to note that in the very first verses of his story, Matthew defies convention and breaks the rules, as it were, to include these five remarkable women. By doing so, he challenges our preconceptions of who Jesus is and greatly expands our possibilities for imagining what God accomplishes through him.
Because that’s the thing when reading the Bible: you never quite know who God will use and are regularly surprised by how people are shaped, even transformed, by their encounter with the living Lord. It happened to these women. It happened to Matthew. It may even happen to us.
Prayer: Dear God, surprise again and again by your determination not only to save us, but also to use us to care for others and share the good news of your love and mercy. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Post Image: “St. Matthew and the Angel,” Rembrandt.
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