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Have you ever thought about the genealogy of Jesus given in
the first chapter of Matthew? Oh, genealogy, you say, that's
technical stuff, boring, right?
Maybe so, but this particular list of ancestors has something
very special to say about who Jesus was.
In the table at the right, we line up the list of the kings
of Judah on one side, and the ancestors of Jesus on the other
side. You know what? They're the same list — allowing
for some spelling changes due to language translation, plus
Matthew's habit of omitting a generation here and there.
Matthew is tracing Jesus' lineage, and it goes right through
the kings, from David on!
The Jews had long expected a “Messiah”, a king who
would be of the lineage of David, and would resume David's
throne. When people called Jesus “son of David”
(meaning “descendent of David”), they were saying
they wanted Jesus to take up David's throne and kingdom.
The point of Matthew's genealogy is not just to list Jesus'
ancestors — Matthew's point is that Jesus is the
rightful heir to the throne of Israel!
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