

The Gospel of Matthew Introduction Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 9 Chapter 10 Chapter 11 Chapter 12 Chapter 13 Chapter 14 Chapter 15 Chapter 16 Chapter 17 Chapter 18 Chapter 19 Chapter 20 Chapter 21 Chapter 22 Chapter 23 Chapter 24 Chapter 25 Chapter 26 Chapter 27 Chapter 28	BIBLE STUDY MATTHEW 1:1-25 REVIEW: In my introduction session, I stressed two major points… Matthew, along with Mark and Luke are known as the Synoptic Gospels. They all contain many similarities to each other – often even to the point of being word for word identical in their reports of Jesus’ sayings and deeds. Most Biblical scholars believe that Mark is the earliest Gospel – it is based upon a source of tradition of events and deeds in Jesus’ life and ministry. There also seems to be another source of tradition called the Q source that Matthew and Luke draw on in addition to the material from Mark’s gospel. This source, now lost as a direct record, is more concerned about the teachings of Jesus. Matthew draws from both the Markan and Q sources in developing his gospel account of Jesus’ life and ministry. To fully understand Matthew, we need to be aware of the context that it was written in and to whom it was originally written for. Most Biblical scholars believe that “Matthew” (it probably was NOT Matthew the apostle) was a member of a Christian Jewish community located in or around Antioch, Syria around 90 A.D. This community was in the midst of a number of crises. Although they followed Jesus as the Messiah, they considered themselves to be JEWS. Many other Jewish groups or “parties”, however (especially the Pharisaic party) considered them to be heretics and were intent upon excommunicating them from the Jewish faith. Also, their “mother church” – the Church in Jerusalem – no longer existed after the Romans had destroyed that city during the Jewish rebellion of 70 A.D. Finally, the Church as a whole was more and more becoming dominated by GENTILES – and Matthew’s community of Christian Jews found themselves being a minority that was in danger of becoming extinct. Matthew’s gospel was written to deal with all of these concerns. Matthew, much more so than any of the other gospels, shows Jesus as being the fulfillment of the Law and the Prophets. In other words, it stresses Jesus’ Jewish roots. Matthew also shows that those who follow Jesus are indeed the true Israel, not the Pharisees and other opposing parties that were trying to excommunicate them from Judaism. Finally, Matthew as a gospel shows that although Jesus was Jewish and sent first to the Jewish people, he ultimately was the Messiah for all people – even the Gentiles. Matthew’s ending, the so-called “Great Commission” in Matthew 28:18-20 especially emphasizes this. For Matthew’s community, this helped them to understand their purpose as Christian Jews – that through them, the saving gospel of Jesus Christ would spread to all people everywhere! MATTHEW 1:1-17 “The Genealogy of Jesus” “An account of the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah, the son of David, the son of Abraham. Abraham was the father of Isaac, and Isaac the father of Jacob, and Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers, and Judah the father of Perez and Zerah by Tamar, and Perez the father of Hezron, and Hezron the father of Aram, and Aram the father of Aminadab, and Aminadab the father of Nahshon, and Nahshon the father of Salmon, and Salmon the father of Boaz by Rahab, and Boaz the father of Obed by Ruth, and Obed the father of Jesse, and Jesse the father of King David. And David was the father of Solomon by the wife of Uriah, and Solomon the father of Rehoboam, and Rehoboam the father of Abijah, and Abijah the father of Asaph, and Asaph the father of Jehoshaphat, and Jehoshaphat the father of Joram, and Joram the father of Uzziah, and Uzziah the father of Jotham, and Jotham the father of Ahaz, and Ahaz the father of Hezekiah, and Hezekiah the father of Manasseh, and Manasseh the father of Amos, and Amos the father of Josiah, and Josiah the father of Jechoniah and his brothers, at the time of the deportation to Babylon. And after the deportation to Babylon: Jeconiah was the father of Salathiel, and Salathiel the father of Zerubbabel, and Zerubbabel the father of Abiud, and Abiud the father of Eliakim, and Eliakim the father of Azor, and Azor the father of Zadok, and Zadok the father of Achim, and Achim the father of Eliud, and Eliud the father of Eleazar, and Eleazar the father of Matthan, and Matthan the father of Jacob, and Jacob the father of Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom Jesus was born, who is called the Messiah. So all the generations from Abraham to David are fourteen generations; and from David to the deportation to Babylon, fourteen generations; and from the deportation to Babylon to the Messiah, fourteen generations.” This genealogical record may seem to be a rather strange way to begin the gospel, but to Matthew’s original readers this would have been absolutely normal. Jews understood genealogies as being essential for proving one’s “credentials”, and that is what Matthew is trying to do in presenting who Jesus is – that he is the rightful Messiah according to Jewish law by showing his descent from Abraham, from David and the kings of Judah, and from Zerubbabel, head of the Jewish community in the postexilic period – the return from Babylon. Genealogies are presented at many different points in the Old Testament. Examples include: Genesis 5, Genesis 10, and 1 Chronicles 1-9. This genealogy differs from normal Jewish ones in one very important respect. In Jewish genealogies, women are never mentioned – but Matthew includes four women, each showing an important aspect of who and what Jesus is. Let us briefly look at each of them… Judah is mentioned as being the father of Perez and Zerah by TAMAR. The story of this is in Genesis 38. Tamar was actually Judah’s daughter-in-law – married to his son Er. But Er died because he was “wicked in the sight of the LORD”. Er’s brother On was then supposed to marry her, but he also died. Eventually, after a period of enforced widowhood, Tamar disguised herself as a prostitute – and seduced Judah. Perez and Zerah were conceived as the result of this liason. Matthew lists Tamar to show that God can use even sin like this for a good purpose – this is part of Jesus’ ancestry. Salmon is mentioned as being the father of Boaz by RAHAB. Rahab is the Jericho prostitute who gave shelter to the Israelite spies in Joshua 2. In return for her cooperation, they agreed to spare the lives of her and her family when Jericho was conquered. Rahab was a prostitute and a Gentile, yet she is shown to be part of Jesus’ ancestry. Boaz is mentioned as being the father of Obed by RUTH. Her story is written in the book of Ruth. Ruth was a Moabite woman – a Gentile. Yet she also is shown to be part of the ancestral lineage of Jesus. Finally, David is listed as being the father of Solomon by the wife of Uriah – BATHSHEBA. She was the woman whom David committed adultery with, and then later compounded the sin by arranging to her husband Uriah killed in battle (2 Samuel 11). Yet, even this is part of the ancestral history of Jesus. By mentioning these four women, Matthew shows that through Jesus God includes even sinners and Gentiles as a part of his plan of salvation. We also note that Matthew carefully arranges Jesus’ genealogy into three groups of fourteen generations each. This was probably done mainly as an aid to help people memorize the names, but the groupings also carry symbolic value as well. The first group of fourteen deals with the history of Israel from Abraham through King David (of how from one man God made a great nation); the second group of fourteen deals with the history of Israel from David to Jeconiah, the last of the Israelite kings before the deportation to Babylon (this shows Israel’s story of shame, tragedy, and disaster); and the third group of fourteen deals with the history of Israel from the Babylonian exile to Jesus (who was born to liberate people from shame, tragedy, and disaster). Finally, it should be noted that a major point of this genealogy is to show that he is a descendant of King David. By the first century A.D., most Jews believed that the Messiah would be a literal descendant of David’s royal line. Matthew’s genealogy shows that Jesus fulfills this expectation. By implication, it also shows that Jesus is the One who will restore Israel to glory in a very special way. MATTHEW 1:18-25 “The Birth of Jesus” “Now the birth of Jesus the Messiah took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been engaged to Joseph, but before they lived together, she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit.” This is the only account in the Bible where Jesus’ virgin conception is explicitly referred to. It can be inferred from Luke’s gospel (chapter 1:26-38), but only Matthew directly states that Mary became pregnant even without human intercourse. That being the case, however, the stress is not so much on Jesus’ miraculous conception as it is that the Holy Spirit is uniquely his father. That is, Jesus was uniquely endowed with all the qualities of the Spirit. As such, he was the One who could bring God’s truth and love to people in a way that no other person ever could – because God was a part of him in a very special way. Also, the Jews especially connected the Spirit of God with the work of creation. As we read in Genesis 1:2, “the Spirit of God was moving over the face of the waters.” – bringing order from chaos. In the same way, through Jesus the Spirit is still bringing order from chaos and is creating a new people – the people of God! Not only that, the Jews also connected the Spirit with re-creation – of bringing life back from the dead. A famous story illustrating this is Ezekiel 37, about the Spirit entering the dry bones and making them a living host. In the same way, Jesus as a unique child of the Holy Spirit brings LIFE to people! *“Her husband Joseph, being a righteous man and unwilling to expose her to public disgrace, planned to dismiss her quietly.”* Here we need to understand the Jewish concept of betrothal. The NRSV translates this as “engaged”, but it is not the same “engaged” as we have for a couple today. The usual practice in first century Jewish society was that parents would arrange the marriages for their children as a legal contract. This would often be done while the children were not yet of age to be married as an adult couple. This contract was known as “betrothal”. In this state, the couple would be known legally as husband and wife but would not actually become husband and wife until the wedding and when the marriage was consummated afterwards. This usually took place a year after the betrothal was entered into. To end a betrothal involved the same process as a divorce. Joseph, confronted with apparent evidence of adultery on Mary’s part, had the right to end their relationship. As a “righteous” man (one who would not tolerate this kind of sin), he was ready to divorce Mary. At the same time, however, he was also merciful – he did not want to humiliate Mary by publicly proclaiming her as an adulteress – so he planned to dismiss Mary quietly by handing her a writ of divorce in the presence of two witnesses. Joseph needs to be commended here! He was truly a Godly man – combining the best qualities of righteousness and mercy. He did not tolerate sin, but also did not wish to punish the sinner any more than absolutely necessary. We would do well to be like Joseph in our lives and relationships! “But just when he had resolved to do this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife, for the child conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” Again, we need to commend Joseph here for being sensitive to the call of God. It was a dream rather than a direct vision, but yet Joseph knew that it was true and was willing to obey the angel’s message. Perhaps WE need to remember to be sensitive to what God may be saying to US in our dreams – especially when confronted with major decisions for our lives! In this passage, Joseph is specifically told to name the child “JESUS” – “for he will save his people from their sins.” The name “Jesus” literally means “God is salvation”. The Hebrew equivalent of the name is “Joshua” – or Aramaic is “Yeshua”. The name describes what this child will be – God’s salvation for his people! “All this took place to fulfill what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet: “Look, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall name him Emmanuel,” which means, “God is with us.” This prophecy is from Isaiah 7:14, and originally was a sign to King Ahaz that his enemies who were afflicting Israel would be removed even before the child is weaned. The word “virgin” is from the Greek (LXX) translation of the Old Testament. In the Hebrew text, the term “young woman” is used. Matthew obviously prefers the Greek translation to illustrate the miraculous conception of this special child. The term “Emmanuel” means “God is with us” – and again, it is another illustration of who this child will be. Through him, God is with us in a very special and powerful way. Finally, it should be noted that this is the first of a number of times that Matthew uses the expression that this was “to FULFILL” a prophecy. Matthew wants to make the point that Jesus fulfills the prophecies of the Old Testament. He may be a new revelation of God’s truth and love, but at the same time he is firmly rooted in the faith and traditions and prophecies of Judaism! “When Joseph awoke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him; he took her as his wife, but had no marital relations with her until she had borne a son; and he named him Jesus.” This passage does NOT support any idea of Mary’s perpetual virginity – as Roman Catholics believe. The strong implication is that after Jesus’ birth, Joseph and Mary as husband and wife had normal marital relations. Indeed, in Mark 6:3 it is specifically stated that Jesus had brothers, named James, Joses, Judas, and Simon and also sisters as well. Be that as it may, Matthew’s purpose in this passage is to show that Joseph was an obedient servant of God. He did as the angel of the Lord commanded him by taking Mary as his wife, and by naming her son JESUS. Joseph does not get much “publicity” in the gospels, but from what Matthew shows us about him we can understand that he was a wonderful “role model” as a father for Jesus. Indeed, when Jesus later addresses God as “Our Father” in the Lord’s Prayer, we can very well assume that somehow Joseph as his earthly father was in his mind. Joseph is an ideal example of a good husband and father – a man who is righteous, merciful, obedient, and loving. May God grant that we can be like him in our lives! -------------------- George R. Karres, Pella Lutheran Church 418 W. Main Street Sidney, MT 59270 gkarres@pellachurch.com