The Word Alone

Notes and Jottings

1:1-11 The Genealogy of Jesus the Messiah

The Jewish people had not received any divine revelation or word for 400 years. This is known as the intertestamental period.

Genealogies held great importance to Matthew’s original readers, for they traced family descent and demonstrated one’s place within the covenant promises of God. The Jewish people looked for the fulfilment of the promises made to their fathers, particularly to Abraham and David. Matthew therefore opens his Gospel with the genealogy of Jesus Christ, showing that He is the rightful heir of those promises and the One in whom they find their perfect fulfilment.

(1:1) Jesus Christ. The Greek word Christos means “Anointed One” and may be translated as Christ, Messiah, or Anointed One. In the Old Testament, this title is chiefly applied to kings, though it is also used of priests and, on occasion, prophets who were set apart by God for His service. By calling Jesus the Christ, Matthew identifies Him as God’s promised Messiah and immediately links Him with David, emphasising His rightful claim to Israel’s throne.

(1:1) son of David. This title declares Jesus to be the promised Messiah, the royal descendant of David. God had covenanted with David that his throne and kingdom would be established for ever through his seed (2 Sam. 7:11–16). Matthew presents Jesus as the fulfilment of that covenant and the lawful King of Israel.

(1:1) son of Abraham. Abraham was the father of the Hebrew nation and the one with whom God established His covenant promises. The Lord declared that through Abraham’s seed all the families of the earth would be blessed (Gen. 12:3; cf. Acts 3:25; Gal. 3:8). Matthew presents Jesus Christ as the ultimate fulfilment of that promise, for through Him God’s blessing extends to both Jew and Gentile.

(1:3) Tamar was a neglected widow who resorted to deception in order to obtain the justice that was rightfully hers (Gen. 38:26). Despite the sinful circumstances surrounding her story, God’s sovereign purpose prevailed, and she became an ancestress of the Messiah.

(1:5) Rahab was a prostitute in Jericho who sheltered the Israelite spies because she believed that the LORD had already given the land to Israel (Josh. 2:9). When Jericho fell, she and her household were spared because of her faith and obedience. Redeemed from both physical destruction and a life of sin, Rahab became an example of God’s saving grace (Heb. 11:31; Jas. 2:25).

(1:5) Ruth was the great-grandmother of King David (Ruth 4:17, 21–22). A Moabite by birth, she faithfully accompanied her widowed mother-in-law, Naomi, to Bethlehem, leaving behind her homeland and its gods. Her devotion to Naomi and her faith in the God of Israel led to her marriage to Boaz and the birth of Obed, the grandfather of David. Ruth’s inclusion in the genealogy of Christ demonstrates that God’s redemptive purposes extend beyond Israel, even though the Law excluded Moabites from entering the congregation of the LORD (Deut. 23:3). She stands as a testimony to God’s grace toward believing Gentiles.

(1:6) Matthew deliberately refers to Bathsheba as “the wife of Uriah“ rather than by her own name, drawing attention to David’s adultery and his orchestration of Uriah’s death (2 Sam. 11). Even through human failure and grievous sin, God accomplished His sovereign purposes.

(1:8) Matthew omits three kings between Joram and Uzziah—Ahaziah, Joash, and Amaziah (1 Chr. 3:11–12). Such omissions were acceptable in Jewish genealogies and enabled Matthew to preserve the carefully arranged structure of his genealogy.

(1:11) deportation to Babylon. This refers to the Babylonian captivity, when Nebuchadnezzar deported the people of Judah to Babylon following the destruction of Jerusalem (2 Kgs. 25:8–11). The exile marked one of the darkest periods in Israel’s history, yet God’s covenant promises remained secure.

(1:16) Joseph, the husband of Mary. Matthew traces the legal royal lineage of Jesus through Joseph. Although Joseph was not Jesus’ biological father, by legally receiving and naming Him, Jesus inherited the legal rights of David’s royal line. Jewish law recognised legal adoption as establishing true sonship.

1:16 The Six Marys of the New Testament

Six women named Mary are distinguished in the New Testament:

1. Mary, the mother of Jesus—The virgin chosen by God to bear the Messiah. She is always readily identified by the context whenever she is mentioned.

2. Mary Magdalene—A woman from Magdala, from whom the Lord Jesus cast out seven demons (Luke 8:2). She is consistently identified by the title Magdalene and is prominently associated with Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection.

3. Mary, the wife of Alphaeus (Cleophas)—The mother of James the Less and Joses (Mark 15:40). A comparison of John 19:25, Matthew 27:56, and Mark 15:40 indicates that Alphaeus and Cleophas are different forms of the same name. She was likely the sister (or close relative) of Mary, the mother of Jesus. She is usually identified by her sons, though in Matthew 27:61 and 28:1 she is called the other Mary, and in John 19:25 she is designated the wife of Clopas.

4. Mary of Bethany—The sister of Martha and Lazarus. She is best known for sitting at the Lord’s feet to hear His teaching (Luke 10:39–42) and for anointing Him with costly ointment shortly before His crucifixion (John 12:3; cf. Matthew 26:6–13; Mark 14:3–9). She is mentioned by name in Luke 10:39, 42; John 11:1–45; and John 12:3.

5. Mary, the mother of John Mark—A godly woman whose house in Jerusalem served as a gathering place for the early church (Acts 12:12). She was the mother of John Mark, the writer of the Gospel of Mark, and was related to Barnabas (cf. Col. 4:10).

6. Mary of Rome—A faithful believer commended by the Apostle Paul for her diligent labour among the saints in Rome (Romans 16:6). Nothing further is recorded concerning her, but her devoted service earned the apostle’s public recognition.

(1:17) all the generations from Abraham to David. Matthew arranges the genealogy into three groups of fourteen generations. He intentionally omits certain names, not to distort history, but to emphasise significant periods in Israel’s history and to produce a memorable literary structure.

1:18-25 THE BIRTH OF JESUS THE MESSIAH

Matthew records the birth of Christ from Joseph’s perspective, whereas Luke presents the account primarily from Mary’s viewpoint (Luke 1–2). Throughout this section Matthew repeatedly shows that the events surrounding Jesus’ birth fulfilled Old Testament prophecy, demonstrating that He is Israel’s promised Messiah.

(1:18) Jewish betrothal was a legally binding covenant, far more significant than modern engagement. Although the couple had not yet begun living together as husband and wife, the relationship could only be dissolved by divorce.

(1:18) came together refers to living together as husband and wife and consummating the marriage.

(1:18) found to be pregnant from the Holy Spirit. Mary’s pregnancy had become evident before she and Joseph had begun married life, making the miraculous nature of Christ’s conception unmistakable.

(1:19) not wishing to publicly disgrace her. Under the Mosaic Law, adultery was punishable by death (Deut. 22:23–24). By the first century, however, this penalty was seldom carried out under Roman rule. Joseph, described as “a righteous man,” sought to end the betrothal quietly, showing both righteousness and compassion.

(1:20) dream. Throughout Scripture God often revealed His will through dreams, particularly during key moments in redemptive history. Here an angel assures Joseph that Mary’s child has been conceived by the Holy Ghost.

(1:21) In Jewish custom, the father formally named the child. By instructing Joseph to name the child, the angel confirms Joseph’s legal fatherhood of Jesus. Jesus is derived from the Hebrew name Joshua (Yeshua), meaning “The LORD saves” or “Jehovah is salvation.”

(1:21) for He will save His people from their sins. The Messiah came not merely to deliver Israel from political oppression but to accomplish the far greater work of redeeming sinners through His sacrificial death (Isa. 53:4–6, 11–12).

(1:22) Matthew repeatedly demonstrates that Jesus’ life fulfilled Old Testament prophecy, presenting Him as the promised Messiah and rightful King of Israel.

(1:23) virgin. The Greek word parthenos unequivocally means “virgin” and reflects the Septuagint’s translation of Isaiah 7:14. Matthew affirms the miraculous virgin conception of Christ as the ultimate fulfilment of Isaiah’s prophecy.

(1:23) Emmanuel. Meaning “God with us.” Although Isaiah’s prophecy had an immediate significance during the reign of Ahaz, its complete and ultimate fulfilment is found in Jesus Christ, who is God manifest in the flesh (John 1:14; 1 Tim. 3:16). Matthew begins his Gospel with “God with us” and concludes it with Christ’s promise, “I am with you always” (Matt. 28:20).

1:18-25 WHEN WAS CHRIST BORN?

The exact date of the birth of Jesus Christ is not revealed in Scripture. Although Christians have observed 25 December as the celebration of Christ’s birth for many centuries, the Bible nowhere identifies that day as the date of His nativity.

Based on the historical evidence recorded in Scripture and confirmed by secular history, most conservative scholars place the birth of Christ between 6 and 4 B.C. This may appear surprising, since B.C. means “Before Christ.” The explanation lies in the fact that the modern system of dating years was developed in the sixth century by the monk Dionysius Exiguus, who attempted to calculate the year of Christ’s birth. His calculations, however, were slightly inaccurate. Later historical research, particularly the established date of Herod the Great’s death in 4 B.C., has shown that Jesus must have been born several years earlier than Dionysius estimated (Matt. 2:1, 16–19). Since Herod was alive when Christ was born and ordered the slaughter of the infants in Bethlehem, the birth of Jesus necessarily occurred before Herod’s death.

At the time of Christ’s birth, the Julian calendar, introduced by Julius Caesar in 46 B.C., was in use throughout the Roman Empire. In A.D. 1582, Pope Gregory XIII introduced a revised calendar, now known as the Gregorian calendar, which corrected accumulated inaccuracies in the Julian system and remains the civil calendar used in most of the world today.

Various suggestions have been made concerning the season of Christ’s birth. Some favour an autumn birth because the shepherds were keeping watch over their flocks by night (Luke 2:8). Others argue for a spring birth based upon the timing of the priestly divisions mentioned in Luke 1. While these proposals are reasonable, none can be established with certainty, and Scripture does not place emphasis upon the exact season.

The precise date of Christ’s birth is therefore of secondary importance. The central truth of the Gospel is not when Christ was born, but who He is. In the fullness of God’s appointed time, the eternal Son of God entered the world through the virgin birth, fulfilling Old Testament prophecy and accomplishing the Father’s redemptive purpose (Isa. 7:14; Mic. 5:2; Gal. 4:4).

(1:25) And he did not know her until she bore her firstborn son. Matthew carefully affirms that Jesus was conceived solely by the Holy Ghost, without any human father. Joseph and Mary did not consummate their marriage until after Jesus’ birth, safeguarding the truth of the virgin birth. Jesus was born during the closing years of Herod the Great’s reign, generally dated around 5–4 BC. Although His birth occurred before the beginning of the modern calendar era, His coming marked the fulfilment of God’s redemptive promises made throughout the Old Testament.