Study in the Gospel of Mathew,1

Today we study the first chapter of the Gospel according to Mathew. There are two biblical principles and their lessons which I believe, they are useful in biblical counselling.

Christ’s genealogy is crucial to historic Christianity. Mathew traced the linage of Christ Jesus back to Abraham to show He was a Jew, but also back through David to inform the readers that Jesus is qualified to rule on the throne of David, an event still in the future.

The mention of women in a Jewish genealogy is unusual. But in addition to Mary, four women are listed in this catalogue of names. The extraordinary emphasis is underscored by the kind of women Mathew mentions: Tamar, who was involved in a scandal with Judah in Gen.38; Rahab, the Canaanite harlot of Jericho in Josh.2; Ruth, who was  not an Israelite, but a Moabite in Ruth 1:4; and Bathsheba, the wife of Uriah, a woman involved in a sin of horrendous proportions in 2Sam11:1-12:23, and who may have been a Hittite.

At the beginning of his Gospel, Mathew shows how God’s grace forgives the darkest of sins and reaches beyond the nation of Israel to the world. He also points out that God can lift the lowest and place them in royal lineage.

Mary was a direct descendant of David. Mathew, however, was careful not to identify Jesus as the physical son of Joseph. The Greek pronoun translated “of whom” is feminine and refers to Mary. In the Old Testament, God anointed to three different offices: prophet, priest, or king. Although the Lord Jesus was God’s Anointed for all three, Mathew places the most stress on Jesus’s Royalty.

The genealogy of Christ is broken into three groups of names with fourteen generations in each list. The name David in Hebrew has a numerical value of fourteen. Because the heading of the list is “Son of David,” Mathew may have been drawing attention to the David’s emphasis in these names. In the first group, the Davidic throne is established; the second group, the throne is cast down and deported to Babylon; in the third group, the throne is confirmed in the coming of the Messiah. Furthermore, a basic covenant is set forth in each of these there periods; the Abrahamic Covenant in the first, the Davidic Covenant in the second, and the New Covenant in the third.

In the agreement with the popular Jewish understanding in Deut.24:1, Joseph wanted to divorce Mary because on the ground of infidelity. A divorce would be necessary because they had already made a marriage covenant, even though they had not already yet known each other physically. Joseph could have made the divorce a public matter, or he could have gone through a private ceremony before two witnesses. Being a gracious and just man, Joseph decided to keep it private.

Verses 1-17 establish Jesus as a legal son of Joseph; verses 18-25 deny that Joseph was Jesus’ physical father. The first was necessary to establish Jesus’ lineage to David and his royal right to be King. The second was necessary to establish His qualifications to be the Savour of all people. Jesus was God’s Son and not merely Joseph’s. Mathew celebrated on Jesus’ kingship while Luke detailed His miraculous conception by the Holy Spirit.

Verse 23 declares that “ the virgin shall bear a Son and they shall call his name Immanuel.” Mathew quotes Is 7:14. Here Isiah consoles King Ahaz of Judah. A coalition of two kings, King Aram and King Pekah of Israel was opposing Ahaz. As a sign for Ahaz that he would conquer these two kings, “a Son would be born of a virgin.” I believe that Isiah’s prophecy directly prophetic of Jesus’ birth and nothing else. That is why Mathew mentions this Isiah’s quotation here by the Holy Spirit.  Also, only the miraculous birth of Jesus can be considered a sign.

Joseph did not know Mary until she gave birth to Jesus. The clear implication of this verse is that Mary was a virgin only until the birth of Jesus. The brothers and sisters of Jesus were probably younger siblings born to Joseph and Mary after Jesus’ birth. Joseph could not have had children by a previous marriage, as some suppose, for then Jesus would not have been heir to the Davidic throne as the oldest son of Joseph.

Structure:

Verses 1-17: the genealogy of Jesus Christ.

Verses 18-25: Christ born of Mary.

Principle 1:1:18: ----"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.”

Lesson 1: Jesus Christ can be our sinless sin-bearer because He alone out of all the human family was born “without sin.” Through the virgin birth, He could be both fully human and unstained by sin.

Principle 2: 1:20: -----” But while he thought about these things ,behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream---.”

Lesson 2: Why didn’t  the angel Gabriel appear to Joseph when he appeared to Mary? We aren’t  told. But God will always reveal His will to us, however He sees fit, when we really want to know (and do) it. 20/09/2026.