Matthew uses his genealogy to summarize the history of Israel. Each period is shown as sacred, but the period after the deportation is sacred only by the coming of King Jesus. The genealogy shows the line of the man, Joseph who would be the protector of Mary and Jesus. Finally, the genealogy sets up the angel’s visit to Joseph as a fulfillment of the history surveyed in the genealogy:
Joseph is a son of David, the earthly father of the Son of David, foreshadowed in the promise to Abraham and predicted in the promise to David.
The failures of Abraham’s and David’s lines (Judah and Tamar, David and Bathsheba, the three omitted kings, the judgment of the deportation) show the need for deliverance by the One whom Joseph is told “will save his people from their sins (Matthew 1:23).
The genealogy, particularly the last section, show that deliverance cannot come through human effort, which is why Joseph hears that Emmanuel has come:
God with us
(Matthew 1:22–23)The inclusion of non-Israelites in Jesus’ lineage foreshadows his status as the King, not merely of Israel, but of the whole world. Joseph soon sees that the first gifts at Jesus’ birth are from non-Jews (Matthew 2:11).
The genealogy was specifically designed to be a systematic summary of the history of Israel. This was common practice (see Genesis 5:1–32, Genesis 11:10–32). Moreover, a systematic edition of this history makes it easier to memorize. Matthew divides the genealogy into three parts containing fourteen names each. In order to achieve this harmonization a number of names are not only omitted, but Jechoniah is counted twice: both at the end of the second part and the beginning of the third. With this paradigm Matthew aims to show how the three periods of Israel’s history are equally sacred. The first period shows the line from Abraham to the kingship of David, the second from David to the captivity, and the third the return of the King in the person of Jesus.1
By providing Joseph’s genealogy, Matthew does not aim to prove Jesus’ Davidic origins. In Israel Jesus was seen as a son of Joseph, and given that this gospel is specifically aimed at a Jewish audience, Joseph’s genealogy would be of great importance. God predestined Joseph to be Jesus’ and Mary’s protector. It is therefore important who Joseph was, as Jesus’ earthly father. The purpose of this entire genealogy is therefore to provide an overview of the history of Israel and to show how Israel’s history finds its ultimate fulfillment in Jesus who is the Christ.2
The historical survey of Matthew 1:2–17 also prepares the readers for what immediately follows:
Jesus Christ is the fulfillment of a special history of promise (Abraham, Judah, David). Joseph is identified as
son of David
(Matthew 1:20).The history makes clear that deliverance from sin and judgment is necessary for everyone (Judah, David, the three omitted kings, the judgment of the deportation); Joseph receives the promise that Jesus will save his people from their sins (Matthew 1:21).
The history shows that the deliverance does not originate with human beings (three equally long periods show that the people’s line is exhausted). Joseph is now told that the time has come for Emmanuel, God with us (Matthew 1:22–23).
In the past history God did choose to proceed via Abraham and David, but he also shows that, in doing so, it was not about the national good, or the natural inheritance (Rahab, Ruth). Indeed, Joseph received the first gifts at Jesus’ birth from non-Jews (Matthew 2:11).3
1 The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.