Matthew 1 explained: A Family Tree and a Surprise Birth

A family tree with a purpose (v. 1)

Messiah means 'anointed one,' the king many Jews hoped God would send. Calling Jesus 'son of David' and 'son of Abraham' links him to two old promises: a lasting king from David's family, and a blessing for all nations through Abraham.

Abraham to King David (vv. 2-6)

Unusually for the time, the list names four women: Tamar, Rahab, Ruth, and Bathsheba, who is identified only through her first husband, Uriah. Rahab and Ruth were foreigners, and Tamar, Rahab and Bathsheba each had stories that raised eyebrows; scholars debate why Matthew includes them, though many see a hint that outsiders and messy histories belong in this story.

Kings, exile and three fourteens (vv. 6-17)

The line runs through the kings of Judah, through the disaster when Babylon conquered Jerusalem and took its people away, and down to Joseph, worded carefully so Jesus is Joseph's legal son but not his biological one. Matthew shapes this history into three blocks of fourteen, leaving out some kings to do it, which was a known practice in ancient family lists; why fourteen is uncertain, though some point out that David's name in Hebrew letters adds up to fourteen.

Joseph's hard choice (vv. 18-19)

Betrothal was a legally binding engagement, so ending it took a formal divorce, and a pregnancy by someone else could bring public shame or worse under the law. Joseph, wanting to do right yet unwilling to humiliate Mary, planned a quiet divorce in front of only a few witnesses.

The angel's message (vv. 20-23)

The angel tells Joseph the child comes from the Holy Spirit, meaning God's own presence and power, and that he is to be named Jesus, which means 'the LORD saves.' Matthew links this to Isaiah's words about a child called Immanuel, 'God with us'; Isaiah's Hebrew word means 'young woman' while the ancient Greek translation Matthew follows says 'virgin,' and Christians read the verse as finally pointing to Jesus.

Joseph accepts the child (vv. 24-25)

By marrying Mary and naming the baby himself, Joseph takes Jesus as his legal son, which places him in David's royal line. Matthew notes they had no sexual relations before the birth, underlining that Joseph was not the biological father.

Key verse: Matthew 1:23

Where Christians differ

Most Christian traditions hold that the virgin birth is literal history, while some Christians read it as a symbolic way of saying that Jesus came from God.

Something to think about

Matthew opens with a family history that leaves its outsiders and uncomfortable episodes in plain view; how much do you think the less tidy parts of a family's past shape the people who come after?