To read the texts click on the texts: Gen 49:2,8-10; Mt 1:1-17
The Gospel
of Matthew begins with the genealogy of Jesus. One important reason he begins
this way is because it is theologically important to him to begin by referring
to Jesus as the son of David and the son of Abraham. Jesus is, for Matthew, the
Messiah who has descended from David, as foretold by the scriptures. Another
reason why Matthew begins with the genealogy of Jesus is to show that God
continues to act in human history, and that he acts now, in a decisive way, in
the sending of his Son. God is not simply a God in the heavens, but a God who
is Emmanuel, God with us.
Matthew’s
genealogy consists of three parts. The first, which begins with Abraham, ends
with the Davidic kingship. The second begins with David and ends with the
deportation or exile to Babylon. The third begins with the exile and ends with
the birth of the Messiah, Jesus Christ.
Matthew
calls attention to the number fourteen at the end of the genealogy and, though
a variety of suggestions have been offered as to why he chose fourteen, the
simplest explanation is that the numerical value of “David” in Hebrew (DWD) is
fourteen (d, 4; w, 6; d, 4). By this symbolism, Matthew points out that the
promised "son of David" (1:1), the Messiah, has come. And, if the
third set of fourteen is short one member (to solve this problem some count
Jechoniah twice), perhaps it suggests that, just as God cuts short the time of
distress for the sake of his elect, so also he mercifully shortens the period
from the Exile to Jesus, the Messiah.
Unlike
Luke’s genealogy, which does not name a single woman, Matthew’s genealogy mentions
four women besides Mary. These are Tamar, Ruth, Rahab, and Uriah’s wife,
Bathsheba. Several reasons have been offered as to why Matthew mentioned these
four women. Three of these reasons are widely accepted today: (a) there was
something extraordinary about their union with their partners; (b) they showed
initiative or played an important role in God’s plan and so came to be
considered as instruments of God’s providence or of his Holy Spirit; and (c)
all four women (except Mary) were Gentiles and Matthew wants to show that in
God’s plan of salvation, the Gentiles were included from the beginning.
Through
this, Matthew probably wants to show that God wants all to be saved and that he
uses the unexpected to triumph over human obstacles and that he intervenes on
behalf of his planned Messiah. This combination of scandalous and irregular
union, and divine intervention, explains Matthew’s choice of the four women.
What are
the points that Matthew makes in his genealogy and what does he want to achieve
by it? Matthew clearly wants to show that Jesus is the fulfillment of all
Israel’s hopes. The story of Jesus is part of the story of God’s constant
saving acts throughout the history of Israel. God involves himself in the
nitty-gritty of life. Despite the constant infidelity of Israel, God remained
faithful and, in a definitive way, directed its history towards its fulfillment
in Jesus Christ.
Matthew is
also interested in affirming that the plan of God has often been fulfilled in
history in unanticipated and “irregular” ways, as was the case in the birth of
Jesus from Mary, and that Matthew is interested in showing that God worked
through irregular, even scandalous ways, and through women who took initiative,
like Tamar and Ruth. Yet the main reason for Matthew’s inclusion of these women
corresponds to one of the Gospel’s primary themes: the inclusion of the
Gentiles in the plan of God from the beginning. All of the men in Jesus’
genealogy are necessarily Jewish. But the four women mentioned, with the
exception of Mary, are Gentiles, “outsiders,” or considered to be such in
Jewish tradition. Just as the following story shows Jesus to be the fulfilment of both Jewish and Gentile hopes, so also the genealogy shows that the
Messiah comes from a Jewish line that already includes Gentiles.
By showing
Jesus as descended from David, Matthew wants to explicate that Jesus is the
royal heir to the throne. Jesus, however, thorough his life, cross, death and
resurrection will redefine the meaning of Kingship as never before.
Finally,
Matthew wants to stress that God is active constantly in history and involved
in the lives of his people. He works not only miraculously but also ordinarily
in human effort, pain, and struggle to bring people to the kingdom.
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