Matthew 1:1-17

The genealogy of Christ. Two lists of the human ancestors of Christ are given in the New Testament: Matthew, writing for Jewish Christians, begins with Abraham; Luke (Luke 3:23-38), writing for Gentile Christians, goes back to Adam the father of all men (for other points of difference, see on Matthew 1:16). According to his human nature, Christ was the descendant of Abraham, David, and Mary; according to his divine nature He was the eternal and only-begot-ten Son of God, begotten from the essence of the Father. John (John 1:1-18) begins his Gospel by setting forth his divine genealogy. In Him, the God-man, all the ascending aspirations of human nature towards God, and all the descending revelations of God to man meet in perfect harmony. Matthew begins at Abraham: 1. to prove to Jewish Christians that Jesus of Nazareth was the promised Messiah; 2. to show the connection between the Old and New Testaments through a succession of living persons ending in Jesus Christ, who is the subject of the Gospel and the object of the faith it requires.

Christ is the fulfilment of all the types and prophecies of the Old Testament, the heir of all its blessings and promises, the dividing line and connecting link of ages, the end of the old and the beginning of the new history of mankind. In the long list of his human ancestors, we have a cloud of witnesses, a compend of the history of preparation for the coming of Christ down to the Virgin Mary, in whom culminated the longing and hope of Israel for redemption. It is a history of divine promises and their fulfilment, of human faith and hope for the ‘desire of all nations.' In the list are named illustrious heroes of faith, but also obscure persons, written in the secret book of God, as well as gross sinners redeemed by grace, which reaches the lowest depths as well as the most exalted heights of society. Matthew's table is divided into three parts, corresponding to three periods of Jewish preparation for the coming of Christ (see on Matthew 1:17).