Matthew 1:11

After Josias St. Matthew omits Eliakim (2 Kings 23:34). The brethren of Jechoniah (Jehoiachin) are really his uncles, Jehoahaz and Zedekiah, Zedekiah, the last king of Judah, though really the uncle of Jehoiachin (2 Kings 24:17; Jeremiah 37:1), is called his 'brother'even in OT. (2 Chronicles 36:10). 12. Jechoniah (Jehoiachin) was probably childless (yet see on Jeremiah 22:30), and adopted Salathiel (Shealtiel) as his heir (see 1 Chronicles 3:17). Shealtiel seems also to have been childless, for although both here and in Ezra 3:2; Nehemiah 12:1; Haggai 1:1, etc., he is said to have had a son Zorobabel (Zerubbabel), this Zerubbabel seems to have been really the son of Shealtiel's brother Pedaiah (1 Chronicles 3:19), who may have married his childless brother's widow according to the Law.

16. Little importance attaches to the reading of the SinaiSyriac version, 'Joseph begat Jesus,' which is certainly not original, lacking, as it does, all MS authority, and contradicting the plain statements of the evangelist (Matthew 1:18). Probably the reading comes from an Ebionite version of this Gospel. The Ebionites were an early sect, who, while admitting our Lord's Messiahship, denied His divinity and supernatural birth. Or the error may be due to the mechanical repetition by some scribe of the word 'begat,' which he had already written thirty-eight times.

17. As there are only thirteen generations from the captivity to Christ, probably a name has dropped out.

18-25. Circumstances of the Conception and Birth of Jesus: cp. Luke 1:26; Luke 2:1. The order of events is (a) Conception of John by Elisabeth, Luke 1:24, (b) Annunciation to Mary at Nazareth six months afterwards, Luke 1:26, (c) Visit of Mary to Elisabeth lasting three months, Luke 1:39, (d) Return of Mary to Nazareth, Luke 1:56; (e) Birth of John, Luke 1:57, (f) Mary is found to be with child, Matthew 1:18, (g) An angel appears to Joseph, Matthew 1:20, (h) Journey to Bethlehem, Luke 2:4, (i) Birth of Jesus, Matthew 1:25; Luke 2:7.

Significance of Christ's Infancy. At first sight it seems unworthy of the Son of God to be conceived and born, and to pass through the stages of human growth. But in truth the interval between God and man is so infinitely great, that the minute difference between infancy and manhood is of no consequence. The marvel is that the Son of God should consent to become man at all; it is no additional marvel that He should become an infant. If it was expedient for the human race which He came to redeem, that He should pass through all the stages of a truly human experience, then the same infinite loving condescension which caused Him to become man would cause Him to be conceived and born. It is a fact admitted by the most sceptical that the human birth of Jesus Christ has appealed to the imagination of mankind, more perhaps than any other event of His life, and has produced permanent effects of the utmost importance (Luke 1:51). (a) It has abolished the once common crime of infanticide by teaching that infant life is sacred. (b) It has raised the dignity of women, and produced in men the feeling of chivalry towards them, which is essentially Christian and was unknown to the ancient world. (c) It has sanctified motherhood and family life. (d) It has placed chastity both in men and women in the forefront of Christian virtues. (e) It has given a new importance to childhood, so that kindness to children and a willingness to conform to the ideal character of childhood, are marks of a true Christian. The human birth of Jesus is thus justified both by its results and by its adaptation to human needs. 'Jesus Christ,' says Irenæus, 'came to save all by means of Himself. He therefore passed through every age, becoming an infant for infants, a child for children, a youth for youths, an elderly man for elderly men, that He might be a perfect Master for all.'

The Incarnation and the Virgin Birth. A difficulty has been felt in our days in accepting the miracle associated with the conception of our Lord. This arises chiefly from the facts that the two Gospels which record it differ to some extent in their accounts, and that the nature of the miracle itself precludes absolute demonstration.

It may be candidly admitted that the miraculous conception of Jesus has not the same evidence for it as the other miracles, and that if it were affirmed of any ordinary man it could not be believed. But Jesus was not an ordinary man. He was one who, according to credible testimony, worked many miracles, including the raising of the dead, and concluded an absolutely unexampled career by rising from the dead and ascending into heaven. The miraculous manner in which Jesus left this earth thus removes all theoretical difficulty from the miracle by which He is said to have entered it. The main question to be considered is: Do the existing narratives show signs of having proceeded from the only two persons who can have known anything about the matter, viz. Joseph and Mary? Certainly they do. St. Matthew's Gospel regards the matter entirely from Joseph's point of view. It is Joseph who discovers the condition of Mary (Matthew 1:18), and is doubtful what course to pursue (Matthew 1:19). It is to Joseph that the angel appears to announce the miraculous conception of Jesus (Matthew 1:20), and again to bid him flee into Egypt (Matthew 2:13), and to return (Matthew 2:19). St. Luke's narrative, on the other hand, reflects entirely the point of view of Mary. It is to Mary that Gabriel appears (Luke 1:26). A full account is given of her visit to Elisabeth (Luke 1:39). The mother's memory appears in the mention of the swaddling clothes and of the manger (Luke 2:7), and in the words, 'But Mary kept all these sayings and pondered them in her heart' (Luke 2:19), and again, 'Yea, a sword shall pierce through thy own soul also' (Luke 2:35). St. Luke's account is much fuller than St. Matthew's, and this is easily accounted for. When St. Luke was collecting his materials in Palestine, Mary was probably still alive, whereas Joseph (St. Matthew's authority) had long been dead, and his account had probably passed through several hands before it reached the evangelist. The historical character of both narratives is shown by their freedom from the extravagant features which mark the apocryphal Gospels, and by their essential agreement, in spite of the fact that they are absolutely independent. It is true that St. Matthew seems to represent Bethlehem rather than Nazareth as the original home of Joseph and Mary, though he does not actually say so. On the other hand, St. Luke seems ignorant of the flight into Egypt, and passes straight from the presentation in the Temple to the return to Nazareth. But these are only instances of one imperfect account supplementing another, not of radical inconsistencies. Both accounts agree as to the two main points, Christ's birth of a virgin and His birth at Bethlehem.

Granting the fact of a real Incarnation, the Virgin Birth would seem to be the most reverent and fitting way of bringing it about. Since natural generation invariably gives rise to a new person, it was plainly unsuitable to the case of Jesus, at whose conception no new person came into existence, but the already existing Son of God entered upon a new human experience. Moreover, natural generation having been generally associated, especially by the Jews, with sin, it was not desirable that the moral miracle of a sinless human nature should be marked by the physical miracle of a miraculous conception. The last appeal, and perhaps to many minds the only possible appeal, is that of the argument derived from' cause and effect.' Look at the stupendous fact—Jesus. The miracle of the NT., the miracle of the ages is not the Resurrection, but Jesus Himself. The phenomena of His life and character, the incomprehensibility of His person, seem to demand uniqueness and mystery in His birth. To abandon the Virgin Birth because of the difficulties of a few would be to throw greater difficulties in the way of the many. The doctrine has always been regarded as an integral part of the faith. It appears in the earliest form of the Apostles' Creed (100 a.d.).