Matthew begins the New Testament but is simply a continuation of the work God had been doing for centuries. With the arrival of Jesus, we encounter the culmination of God’s rescue mission begun back in Genesis. Jesus is the fulfillment of all that had gone on before and is the completion of what God purposed before the foundation of the world itself.
Each of the 4 Gospels tells the story of Jesus, though each narrates that story in its own way. Watch in Matthew for the word, “fulfilled” or the phrase, “this took place to fulfill”. Matthew is writing to a Jewish audience to show them that Messiah, the Savior, had come in the person of Jesus and in accordance with Scripture and as the fulfillment of the promises God made to his covenant people.
upword 
I think I’ve always skipped over the genealogy n Matt. It is pretty cool to see Boaz and Ruth contribute!!
Women in Geneology: I love how the Scriptures elevate women particularly at a time when women were not given equal rights. In this geneology given in Matthew we see Tamar (from Gen 38), Rahab (from Joshua 2), Ruth (King David’s great grandma, book of Ruth) and Bathsheba (Uriah’s wife) and Mary (Jesus’ mother). Clearly all of these women are of great importance and warrant further study.
I also found it interesting to compare this geneology to the one in Luke 3. I notice the geneology in Matthew goes forward from Abraham to Jesus, and the one in Luke goes backward from Jesus to Adam.
I wonder why the geneology in Matthew is compressed into two sets of 14 generations?
Matthew’s genealogy is laid out differently than Luke’s because they serve different purposes. Matthew opens with the words, “A record of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.” Matthew 1:1. Matthew is showing two things that would stand out to his Jewish audience. He shows Jesus’ covenantal position as the son of Abraham (Genesis 12), and his royal position as the son of David. Matthew’s aim is to show Christ as King. In the Bible Basics page on the blog, we laid out the primary theme of the Bible as the Kingdom of God. Matthew is showing who the King is. In the first 17 verses of Matthew 1; we’re given the royal genealogy. Remember, a king is not chosen by popular ballot but rather by birth and lineage.
Note that the genealogy in Luke is a personal genealogy through Mary. The genealogy in Matthew is a royal genealogy through the line of Joseph going back to David. In Matthew the genealogy traces forward through Abraham. In Luke, it is traced backward to Adam. Note that Jesus is fully man and fully God. Matthew is showing Jesus’ relation to the Jewish people; thus he goes only back to Abraham who is the father of the Jewish nation. In Luke, we see his connection with the human race. Hence, the genealogy goes back to Adam, the father of the human family.
Fantastic, thank you! Incredible and funny, I picked up a book that is, let’s just say a bit dry, that I’ve been slogging through over the past few weeks. If you notice my question about 14 generations above … I has stopped reading last in the middle of a sub-section in a chapter after literally falling asleep on the page … and this is where I picked up last night. The exact words from the top of page 86 were, “The name David is made up of Hebrew consonants: d-v-d. Hebrew didn’t have numbers as we do, but instead used letters both for letters and numbers. So if you add up d + v + d, or 4 + 6 + 4, you get 14. So, then Matthew organizes Israel’s history into three groups of fourteen, he is showing that all of Isreal’s Story has a Davidic shape, and that Davidic story comes to completion in the complete Davidic King, Jesus, son of Mary and Joseph, Messiah of Isreal.” No kidding, that was convenient! Note: this is an example of a Jewish method called a gematria, which is to find significance in numbers….this math geek love the Bible. Blessings!
Thank you for posting! These comments really shed light on a passage I would normally have tried skimming through…(if honest with myself) 🙂
Honestly, I’ve skipped this chapter several times before Emily. Finding the lineage interesting the first go through, but then assuming I had already processed the good parts and denying myself the opportunity for the Holy Spirit and the Living Word to break down my arrogant assumptions. On a high note, my wife and I had a wonderful evening reading through the first assignment, exchanging commentary and reading the supplemental Q&A notes from the Quest Bible. Thank you Jesus for time spent in the Word with the TV off.
John the Baptizer is one wild Jesus Freak (note verse 2 of the song “Jesus Freak” by DC Talk). After calling the Pharisees and Sadducces a “brood of vipers” he warns them not to think for a minute they are simply born into the Kingdom, but that rather “Out of stones God can raise up children for Abraham.” And then that “every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.” — don’t mess with that guy! (Matt 3:7-10)
It seems to me that John’s baptism, of repentance, intentionally precedes Jesus’ baptism of the Holy Spirit, and is in that order purposefully, i.e. repentance first, Holy Spirit second (Matt 3: 11-12). Is this always right? Can we ever have the Holy Spirit without repentance?
I’m fascinated with the Message’s translation of John the Baptist’s speech in Matthew 3. It says, “When J the B. realize that a lot of Pharisees and Sadducees were showing up for a baptismal experience because it was becoming the popular thing to do, he exploded: ‘Brood of snakes! What do you think you’re doing, slithering down here to the river? Do you think a little water on your snake skins is going to make any difference? It’s your life that must change, not your skin! And don’t think you can pull rank by claiming Abraham as father…. What counts is your life. Is it green and blossoming? Because if it’s deadwood, it goes on the fire. I’m baptizing you here in the river, turning your old life in for a kingdom life. The real action comes next: The main character of this drama — compared to him I’m a mere stagehand — will ignite the kingdom life within you, a fire within you, the Holy Spirit within you, changing you from the inside out.’ I think the point is that God seekers get God answers. Those who are really hungry for God, hate their sin, and know their need for his cleansing grace, are the ones who receive it; it is an inside experience that is entirely real and known and that then affects the outside of our lives (the way we live and relate to the world). –cw
Power of knowing the Word: Notice how Jesus resist’s the enemy in Matt 4 verse 4 (Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God) in verse 7 (Do not put the Lord your God to the test) and in verse 10 (Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only). Jesus is quoting the Word directly — in fact, only from the book of Deuteronomy — those are direct quotes from Deut 8:3, 6:16 and 6:13 in that order. “And the devil left him” (Matt 4:11). The “Armor of God” in Eph 6 includes the “sword of spirit, which is the word of God” (Eph 6:17) — this is the weaponry of God’s children. Now read Jas 4:7 and understand the value of knowing God’s Word.
Yes! I agree! I’ve read this passage many times and have learned how to deal with spiritual warfare from it. What caught my eye today was the first response Jesus gives, which you mention — verse 4 — Man does not live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. Here’s the Message version: “It takes more than bread to stay alive. it takes a steady stream of word’s from God’s mouth.” I love that!!!!! So often I talk with Christians who don’t read Scripture and don’t know God’s still small voice. It is no wonder they are spiritually anemic… they are malnourished. Yeah for UPWORD together! Thank God for all of you who are going on this journey with us this year. You’re going to be a lean, green, jesus machine when it is all said and done. Strong God warriors who can feed others and who know and hear God’s voice! — chris
Momentum Squelched: As I move from Matt 4 to 5, I see momentum, “people brought to him all who were ill with various diseases, those suffering severe pain, the demon-possessed, those having seizures, and the paralyzed, and he healed them. Large crowds…. followed him.” (Matt 4:24-25). And at this opportune time Jesus preaches the Sermon on the Mount, telling those crowds they are murderers (v22), adulterers (v28), He denounces divorce (v32), and insists on follow-through (v37), He requires we love and pray for our enemies(v44), and finally wants perfection (v48). Jesus is unwilling to compromise His unflinching integrity. He shoots so straight and won’t have even a glimpse otherwise, despite his momentum. Don’t you want to around somebody who will shoot totally straight, yet with utter compassion (“and he healed them” — so matter of fact)? I do.
The manner in which we take action in the Kingdom is more important than I realized. Jesus continues the Sermon on the Mount in Matt 6. In particular, I noticed we are told to give (v. 4), pray (v. 6) and fast (v. 18) “in secret” — not for the purpose to be recognized by others but to our Father who “sees what is done in secret” (v. 4, 8, 18). Therefore we wouldn’t know ideally if we are giving, praying or fasting because it’s done in secret, except by what we observe in the Fruit that results! (Joy, Kindness, Love, Peacefulness and … Light).
How do you teach on these without testimony? I guess it’s the heart, or our intentions, or our motives that matter. I think that’s the emphasis. I would go as far to generalize — it’s always about the heart, where our motivations originate, why we aim to please, who we take action for. Am I giving, praying or fasting to impress others? Or am I doing it because I desperately need Him and I know (and have faith that) God will come through?
One of the many other things that sprung out at me in Matt 6 was the “eye is the lamp of the body” teaching sandwiched between two money teachings (v. 19-24). Why does Jesus include this teaching in the midst of teaching about money? Clearly money is an idol today, can anyone refute that? And it must have also been an idol then… It’s interesting that through the eyes one can see “light” or “darkness” — isn’t that the truth? You just know where a person is at through their eyes — and just before this we have “where your treasure is there your heart will be also” (v. 21); and after we have “no one can serve two masters…you cannot serve both God and Money.” (v. 24). So what I’m wondering is how does this teaching, on light and darkness visible through the eyes, fit into these two teachings on money? I guess it is really one teaching — although I have always thought of these as different teachings — so is the light and darkness relative to our giving? Giving requires trust in Jehova Jire (the Lord provides)…therefore it is an outward expression or visible sign or action that conveys (though done in secret) of our trust in God, and hence the “light.” Furthermore a lack of trust in God is evidenced by “darkness.” How incredibly important is giving generously!
Finally, Jesus says three times, “do not worry” (v. 25, 31, 34), which is evidence of “little faith” (v. 30). Rather “seek first the Kingdom…. each day has enough trouble on it’s own” (v. 33-34). These are high octane teachings. Oh, if we could all take these to heart what a Godly force we would be!!!
So many other topics that have yet to be spoken about: e.g. “no retaliation” (Matt 5: 39-41); be perfect” (Matt 5:48); how we should pray (Matt 6:9-13); conditional forgiveness “if you forgive…your heavenly Father will forgive you…if not…[He] will not forgive you” (Matt 6:14-15) — so rich! What are others thoughts on these?
The light and darkness passage (6:22) really spoke to me. Where are my eyes, as the lamp of my body, looking regularly? Are they focused on the things of God? Or man? I covet with my eyes, i lust with my eyes, i judge with my eyes without thought or intention. Forgive me Father. And my kids…what they see is scary. James and I were watching Sunday football and a Hardees commercial came on that was totally pornography!! God save us! Can we no longer enjoy Sunday football?
I love reading Matthew and the “directness” of all of Jesus’ teachings. However I always get stuck on “Do not judge others, and you will not be judged.” (v. 7:1). Don’t we “judge” everyday on moral issues? What does that verse mean?
Hey Susan,
This is Catherine. Here are my thoughts: I think there is a line between judgment and discernment. Jesus also tells us to be “wise as serpents and innocent as doves” in our everyday dealings with life and people. My studies over the years about judgment versus discernment is that one hurts others while the other guides our steps. Its a fine line. For example, when we judge others, we place an invisible spiritual wall between ourselves and that person. In effect, we “rule” that person is outside of God’s grace. The Kingdom, which is what Matthew is about, is governed by mercy, forgiveness and grace. When we live in judgment, we place ourselves outside of the realm of God’s Kingdom (because we aren’t following his form of governance) and into the earthly Kingdom. The earthly Kingdom is governed by law. When you live by the law, you live by justice and judgement. While we walk around in the earthly Kingdom, Jesus calls us to live spiritually in His Kingdom. In his Kingdom, we operate by mercy, not judgment. We live by grace, not law. Chris has preached a couple of sermons over the years about not asking for justice, but rather mercy. We are all culpable in the earthly Kingdom. That is why we cling to His Kingdom of mercy.
Discernment is exercising wisdom in regards to life and people. Exercising discernment leads us to make decisions based on God’s principles rather than those of the world. I may discern someone has behavior that is hurtful instead of judging them to be a bad person (morally). No one falls outside his grace unless they choose to. When I judge someone, I essentially place them outside God’s Kingdom. I really don’t want that done to me!
Those are just my thoughts about that…I have lots more but not space for it here. I think this verse really challenges me to see everyone and every thing through His eyes and not to assume my “natural” reactions to things are His as well.
Catherine,
Thank you….that really helps a lot. You’ve given me a lot to think about.
Hi Susan – This is Brent, writing from another computer on my business trip. I have been taught, and I think Catherine nailed this as well above, that Jesus is talking about judgement in terms of salvation. Are they or are they not in the Kingdom? Are they saved? And that is not our decision to make. If the same standard were reversed on us, would we qualify? In the parable of the wheat and the weeds, those who are in and not in both look alike, but it’s Jesus who judges distinguishing between them. In the parable of the sheep and the goat, again Jesus is the judge. I think that we are prone to judge whether individuals are saved or not, and therefore this a mandate that requires God’s help to resist this tempation. Rather than judge, we are better to attempt to lead all closer to Christ! We tend to see external things most often, but God looks at the heart. How often are we wrong in our perceptions of another? On the other hand, we do need to be honest, and call one another out, holding one another accountable. Do you see the difference between these two ways of thinking about judgement?
Yes, I do see the difference. When I read about judging in Matthew I was confusing it with keeping each other accountable as opposed to judging someone’s heart and therefore, salvation. Thank you Catherine and Brent for helping me understand. I’ve always read the Bible but on my own. I can tell I’m going to enjoy reading the Bible this way!
Response: In Matt 8:14-15 Peter’s mother-in-law is healed of a fever, which may have been a lot more of a concern than we think today, but nonetheless seems less dramatic than other miracles performed. However, her response is immediate service. Her actions clearly express gratitude. Since we have been healed, don’t we too want to serve the Lord?
Catherine here.
There is so much to this. We serve because we’ve been deeply loved and it is one of the only appropriate responses. We put our money/action/time where our heart is. We pray for all hearts to experience his love and healing. The rest will follow.
In Genesis Ch 18:2, it says that Abraham looked up and saw 3 men standing nearby. He addresses one as My lord and then it goes on to say that he had Sarah prepare a meal for them. So he addresses these 3 as men. All through this chapter, Lord is capitalized as if one of these 3 is God. Then in verse 22, it says, “the other 2 men turned and headed toward Sodom.” Then in Chapter 19, it says, “That evening the two angels (I think these 2 are the same 2 that headed towards Sodom) came to the entrance of the city of Sodom”. So which is it? Are these 2, men or angels and if they are angels, why does Lot feed them? I didn’t think angels ate as mortal men do?
Hey Paul – Chris here – Most commentators come to the same conclusion… That 2 of the visitors are angels and one is Christ. The reason for this is the language of “Lord” which always refers to God. How is it possible for the Lord to show up prior to his birth? I can only assume it is similar to when Moses and Elijah show up alive after their deaths. I think it has to do with the fact that the eternal real in not bound by time, rather it is a realm of timelessness. The Lord has the ability to enter in at any point though this is not the normative way in which he does things. In Heb 13:2 – it says not to neglect showing hospitality to strangers for thereby some have entertained angels unaware. As to why the angels eat, I really don’t know. I can only make some assumptions so take it for what it is… in some way angels can take on human form when they engage with human beings. This occurs enough times in Genesis to make it a plausible as well as the ref in Hebrews plus in Revelation when John is speaking to the angel early on. I think angels have a variety of forms (that would certainly be in keeping with the creativity and diversity of God) and so when angels come to bring messages from the Lord they are of the kind that appear to be human. The seraphim and cherubim are different – they are otherworldly. I suspect that those angels that come in human form veil their glory in some way so as not to be worshiped by those to whom they appear. Hope this helps a bit…
There may be some variation in translations on this as well — e.g. in the NIV “the other 2 men” you are referring to are simple identified as “the men” — although I agree that when the later verses indicate these are two not three and are the same two Angles that destroy Sodom and Gomorrah (think about for a minute the power Angels posses, only two destroyed these cities). Also, I understood the third individual as an appearance of Christ as well, a Christophany. Other such examples include the 4th man in furnace with Shadrach, Mesach and Abednego (Dan3:25), and Melchezedek just a few chapters back (Gen 14:8; Heb 5:6-10; 7).
In Matt 12 the Pharisees constantly attempt to trap Jesus (Matt 12:2, 10, 14) and He has no time for the trivial — and yet Jesus always conveys such countenance. There are these petty folks living in little stories and with Jesus you get none of that. He’s provocative. Later Jesus describes this annoying trait by saying “you strain gnats but swallow camels” (Matt 23:24) — i.e. you nitpick the little things and miss the big things — meanwhile through Matt 12 Jesus is healing people left and right — restoring lives, saving people — and they are focusing on the picayune trivial things. Lord help us to keep our eyes fixed on Kingdom things and not get tripped up on the trivial mundane.
The Expectation of Miracles:
The descriptions of the many miracles of Jesus are sometimes difficult for me to carry over into daily life. Anyone else ever feel this way?
Let me explain further: As a nurse practitioner in a NICU, I deal very regulary with the dying process and death of babies. What worse a fate is there for a family than to be thrown unexpectantly (usually) into this situation. These families beg for exactly the miracles we have read about. Many of them are SURE that there will be this miracle for their baby and I pray with them that they are right. They chose to keep going with medical interventions at the cost of many months and much suffering for the child. They tell me that it’s in “God’s” hands. However, many times there is no miracle and I sometimes see a sentiment of anger in the faces of these parents when their baby dies. Why no miracle for their baby? I often struggle to reconcile this for myself. I fail. When is enough intervention enough? When do we not do the next “it” to these babies simply because we can? Is there a point when medicine is overriding God’s choice for this child by continuing to keep him/her alive with massive amounts of technology for what we know will be a very poor outcome? Do we place “human” qualifiers on these situations (as the servant did in Genesis)? Again, things for me to ponder!
Thanks for this thoughtful post, Melissa. It is often hard to discern the difference between ‘my wants’ and God’s will. On the one hand I am called to pray boldly and believe (Jesus commands us to do this), on the other hand, especially in the midst of pain and uncertainty, it is often unclear what to pray and how to pray. Sometimes we try to manipulate God to get what we want. This is especially delicate in a situation like the one in which you work. There is no greater pain than that experienced by a parent with a sick child… especially a baby. The burden is incredible and the temptation to control can be overwhelming. If the prayer is not answered as the parent wants, the temptation exists to believe God is not really good or powerful or that prayer works, etc.
I know with regard to my daughter’s illness that I was slow to publicly affirm my belief that she would be healed (even though the Lord said to me that she would one day be well) — not because of doubt but as a personal caution — knowing how easy it is for desire to override reality when dealing with a sick child. I wanted to be very careful to be sure I was hearing rightly what He was saying and not what I was wanting, and therefore gave it time and lots of prayer. In the the end, it was still, “Thy will be done.” Not everyone is able to get to that place of surrender – perhaps we only get there by an act of grace itself.
Maybe with regard to “the expectation of miracles” we should always expect God will act with, from, and for goodness in every situation. However, we should not demand how he will do it. Sometimes that means healing in the physical. Sometimes that means homecoming…. Thanks again for helping me to think.
chris here – Matthew 17:2 “there he was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and his clothes became as white as the light.” What a remarkable revelation of who Jesus is… It’s like the Wizard of Oz in reverse. In Oz, Dorothy discovered that the “great and powerful wizard” was a sham and hidden behind the curtain was actually a small and pitiful man. On the Mount of Transfiguration we see that behind the non- descript veil of Jesus’ human body is the Almighty and Everlasting One. The Light of the World. The One in whom there is no darkness at all. The All-Glorious One! … His face shone like the sun! When was the last time you looked directly into the sun? I bet most of you looked away pretty fast to avoid burning your retinas. There’s a natural reaction that we have that makes us look away – a built in defense to injury — from the brightness. Here in Matt 17, we glimpse briefly the Jesus before whom we will one day fall on our faces in adoration no longer fearing to look at him but instead enraptured with his beauty! Revelation 21 tells us of the New Jerusalem, “I did not see a temple in the city because the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb (Jesus) are its temple. The city does not need the sun or moon to shine on it for the glory of God gives it light and the Lamb is its lamp.” Next time you wonder if Jesus is big enough to handle your problems, I suggest you go outside and look at the sun. 🙂