Jesus, the Christ. — KEN D. MILLER

1 The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.

2 Abraham was the father of Isaac, and Isaac the father of Jacob, and Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers, 3 and Judah the father of Perez and Zerah by Tamar, and Perez the father of Hezron, and Hezron the father of Ram, 4 and Ram the father of Amminadab, and Amminadab the father of Nahshon, and Nahshon the father of Salmon, 5 and Salmon the father of Boaz by Rahab, and Boaz the father of Obed by Ruth, and Obed the father of Jesse, 6 and Jesse the father of David the king.

And David was the father of Solomon by the wife of Uriah, 7 and Solomon the father of Rehoboam, and Rehoboam the father of Abijah, and Abijah the father of Asaph, 8 and Asaph the father of Jehoshaphat, and Jehoshaphat the father of Joram, and Joram the father of Uzziah, 9 and Uzziah the father of Jotham, and Jotham the father of Ahaz, and Ahaz the father of Hezekiah, 10 and Hezekiah the father of Manasseh, and Manasseh the father of Amos,[c] and Amos the father of Josiah, 11 and Josiah the father of Jechoniah and his brothers, at the time of the deportation to Babylon.

12 And after the deportation to Babylon: Jechoniah was the father of Shealtiel, and Shealtiel the father of Zerubbabel, 13 and Zerubbabel the father of Abiud, and Abiud the father of Eliakim, and Eliakim the father of Azor, 14 and Azor the father of Zadok, and Zadok the father of Achim, and Achim the father of Eliud, 15 and Eliud the father of Eleazar, and Eleazar the father of Matthan, and Matthan the father of Jacob, 16 and Jacob the father of Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom Jesus was born, who is called Christ.

17 So all the generations from Abraham to David were fourteen generations, and from David to the deportation to Babylon fourteen generations, and from the deportation to Babylon to the Christ fourteen generations. – Matthew 1:1-17 ESV

The book of Mark is part of what is commonly referred to as the Synoptic Gospels. While a distinct and separate book, with a message and audience all its own, it is linked with the other Gospels written by Luke and Mark because of the many similarities they share. The word “synoptic” is derived from two Greek words, syn and opsesthai, and it means, “to see together.” These documents, written by three separate men and from three distinct points of view, provide us with a unique and multi-faceted overview of the life of Jesus. They each tell the story from their own vantage point and with a particular audience and message in mind. There are slight differences found in each of the Gospels, such as the order of the events of Jesus’ life. In some cases, there are stories found that are not common to all three. Some have construed these differences to be contradictions that prove the books to be inaccurate and, therefore, unreliable. But each author, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, was writing his own unique account of the life of Jesus. For Matthew, one of the disciples of Jesus, his Gospel provides us with a first-hand account of one of the men who knew Jesus well and whose desire was to prove that Jesus was the Messiah and the fulfillment of the promise God made to David to place one of his descendants on his throne who would rule forever.

12 When your days are fulfilled and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring after you, who shall come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. 13 He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. 14 I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son. When he commits iniquity, I will discipline him with the rod of men, with the stripes of the sons of men, 15 but my steadfast love will not depart from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I put away from before you. 16 And your house and your kingdom shall be made sure forever before me. Your throne shall be established forever.’” – 2 Samuel 7:12-16 ESV

This promise was partially fulfilled in the life and reign of Solomon, the son of David who ruled as his immediate successor. But with the death of Solomon, God had split the kingdom of Israel in two, as punishment for Solomon’s failure to remain faithful to Him.

11 Therefore the Lord said to Solomon, “Since this has been your practice and you have not kept my covenant and my statutes that I have commanded you, I will surely tear the kingdom from you and will give it to your servant. 12 Yet for the sake of David your father I will not do it in your days, but I will tear it out of the hand of your son. 13 However, I will not tear away all the kingdom, but I will give one tribe to your son, for the sake of David my servant and for the sake of Jerusalem that I have chosen.” – 1 Kings 11:11-13 ESV

The nation would end up split in two, with the northern portion becoming the separate kingdom of Israel and the southern portion becoming known as Judah. This division would be marked by two separate kingly dynasties and a succession of less-than-ideal rulers who led the nations of Israel and Judah into apostasy. The end result was that both kingdoms were eventually punished by God for their unfaithfulness by allowing them to be defeated by more powerful enemies and taken into captivity. Israel, the northern kingdom, was defeated and deported by the Assyrians in 722 BC. Judah would fall to the Babylonians in 607 BC. And from that point forward, there would be no king to sit on the throne of either kingdom.

By the time Matthew wrote his Gospel, sometime during the first century, hundreds of years had passed and Israel was still without a king. And his Gospel provides us with an invaluable link to the Old Testament, where prophecies concerning the coming of one who would sit on the throne of David are found in abundance. Matthew, a Jew himself, seems to have written his book with a Jewish audience in mind and included more than 50 direct quotes from Old Testament passages as part of his Gospel. Malachi, the last book in the Old Testament canon, ends with the following promise from God:

5 “Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and awesome day of the Lord comes. 6 And he will turn the hearts of fathers to their children and the hearts of children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the land with a decree of utter destruction.” – Malachi 4:5-6 ESV

God predicts the coming of “the day of the Lord.” He promises to send Elijah the prophet. And in his Gospel, Matthew records the following words from Jesus, indicating that John the Baptist was the fulfillment of God’s promise.

13 For all the Prophets and the Law prophesied until John, 14 and if you are willing to accept it, he is Elijah who is to come. – Matthew 11:13-14 ESV

John will be introduced early on in Matthew’s account because he plays a vital role in the announcement of Jesus’ arrival on the scene. But his Gospel opens with a genealogical record that provides a vital link between Jesus and the nation of Israel. Jesus was born a Jew, a descendant of Abraham but, even more significantly, as an heir to the throne of David, the former king of Israel. Matthew ends his genealogical list with the words, “Jacob the father of Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom Jesus was born” (Matthew 1:16 ESV). And then he adds the essential descriptor: “who is called Christ.” The term “Christ” is the Greek equivalent of the Hebrew word “Messiah,” and it refers to “the anointed one.” Matthew makes it clear in his opening line that Jesus was the Christ or Messiah, but also the son of David and the son of Abraham. Then he uses the genealogy of Jesus to prove his assertion. The names of David and Abraham tie Jesus directly to the covenants God had made with these two men. And Matthew will go out of his way to show that Jesus came to be the fulfillment of the promise made by God in relationship to those covenants. God had promised Abraham, “in your offspring shall all the nations of the earth be blessed” (Genesis 22:18 ESV). And acccording to the apostle Paul, Jesus was the “offspring” God had been talking about.

Now the promises were made to Abraham and to his offspring. It does not say, “And to offsprings,” referring to many, but referring to one, “And to your offspring,” who is Christ. – Galatians 3:16 ESV

God had also made a promise to David, assuring him that his throne or dynasty would endure forever.

“…your house and your kingdom shall be made sure forever before me. Your throne shall be established forever.” – 2 Samuel 7:16 ESV

Matthew will go out of his way to let us know that Jesus was the fulfillment of that promise as well. His Gospel is designed to establish Jesus as much more than just a man who lived and died. He was the God-ordained fulfillment of the covenant promises. He was the Messiah, the son of God and the appointed Savior of the world. He was and is the rightful ruler over Israel and the nations of the world. Matthew is out to prove that Jesus was far more than an itinerant rabbi who ministered in the land of Galilee and died a criminal’s outside the walls of Jerusalem. He was not just a great teacher and moralist who performed miracles and confounded the religious leaders with His rhetoric. He was the one whom the Israelites had been anticipating for centuries: The Messiah. The one who would “turn the hearts of fathers to their children and the hearts of children to their fathers” (Malachi 4:6 ESV).

New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Ken Miller