Matthew 1-3

Matthew 1

Matthew (Levi) was a Jew who was a former tax collector.

Part of the synoptic gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke)

• From Greek: συν (syn) = “together” + ὄψις (opsis) = “seeing”
• There is similar structure

“The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.”

• Jesus is:
  • Son of David: rightful King (2 Samuel 7)
  • Son of Abraham: fulfillment of covenant (Genesis 12)

Three sets of 14 genealogies
Likely intentional (David = דוד = 14)

² Abraham was the father of Isaac, and Isaac the father of Jacob, and Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers, ³ and Judah the father of Perez and Zerah by Tamar, and Perez the father of Hezron, and Hezron the father of Ram,⁴ and Ram the father of Amminadab, and Amminadab the father of Nahshon, and Nahshon the father of Salmon, ⁵ and Salmon the father of Boaz by Rahab, and Boaz the father of Obed by Ruth, and Obed the father of Jesse, ⁶ and Jesse the father of David the king.

• Abraham- David

And David was the father of Solomon by the wife of Uriah, ⁷ and Solomon the father of Rehoboam, and Rehoboam the father of Abijah, and Abijah the father of Asaph,^[b] 8 and Asaph the father of Jehoshaphat, and Jehoshaphat the father of Joram, and Joram the father of Uzziah, ⁹ and Uzziah the father of Jotham, and Jotham the father of Ahaz, and Ahaz the father of Hezekiah, ¹⁰ and Hezekiah the father of Manasseh, and Manasseh the father of Amos,^[c] and Amos the father of Josiah, ¹¹ and Josiah the father of Jechoniah and his brothers, at the time of the deportation to Babylon.

• David-Exile

¹² And after the deportation to Babylon: Jechoniah was the father of Shealtiel,^[d] and Shealtiel the father of Zerubbabel, ¹³ and Zerubbabel the father of Abiud, and Abiud the father of Eliakim, and Eliakim the father of Azor, ¹⁴ and Azor the father of Zadok, and Zadok the father of Achim, and Achim the father of Eliud, ¹⁵ and Eliud the father of Eleazar, and Eleazar the father of Matthan, and Matthan the father of Jacob, ¹⁶ and Jacob the father of Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom Jesus was born, who is called Christ.

• Exile- Christ

Four women show up in the geneaology: Tamar, Rahab, Ruth, wife of Uriah

 Birth of Jesus 

• Mary is pregnant before marriage
• Joseph resolved to divorce her quite

Unnamed angel visits Joseph

“That which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit”

• Name: Jesus (Ἰησοῦς / יֵשׁוּעַ  Yeshua) “YHWH saves”

“Behold, the virgin shall conceive…” (Isaiah 7:14)

• Immanuel (עִמָּנוּ אֵל) = “God with us”

Joseph has immediate obedience

• Protects Mary’s honor and marries her
• Becomes legal father
• Refrains from sexual intercourse until after her birth

Matthew 2

Arrival of the Magi

• From the East
• Seeking “King of the Jews”

Herod troubled and assembles priests and scribes 

• Quotation: Micah 5:2 (Bethlehem) “…for from you shall come a ruler…”

Harod pretends to want to worship and sends Magi to find Jesus

Magi gave gifts:

• Gold 
• Frankincense 
• Myrrh 

They were warned in a dream not to return to Herod

Joseph warned in a dream by an angel to go to Egypt

• Fulfillment: “Out of Egypt I called my son” (Hosea 11:1)

Herod kills male children

• Similar to Pharaoh (Exodus 1)
• Fulfillment: Jeremiah 31:15 (Rachel weeping)

Herod dies and angel tells Joseph to return

• Avoids Judea (Archelaus Herod’s son)
• Another dream tells him to go to Galilee
• “He shall be called a Nazarene”
  • Unsure what this means as not found in Old Testament
  • Likely thematic (branch: נֵצֶר netzer, Isaiah 11:1)

Matthew 3

John the Baptist 

“Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand”

• Fulfillment of Isaiah 40:3  “voice in the wilderness”
• Similar to Elijah in dress 2 Kings 1:8

John was a wilderness prophet

• Baptism
  • Repeated water immersion was not new ((mikveh / מִקְוֶה) for purity) 
  • But this one-time baptism of repentance was 

He gave warnings to Religious Leaders

• Called them “brood of vipers”
• Said true repentance produces fruit
• Judgment imagery:
  • Axe at the root of worthless tree

John vs. Jesus:

• Water vs. Spirit & fire
• Separation imagery:
  • Wheat vs. chaff

Jesus comes to be baptized

• John hesitates
• Jesus: “to fulfill all righteousness”
• Spirit descends like a dove

“This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased”

• See:
  • Psalm 2 (King)
  • saiah 42 (Servant)

Application

God is at work through imperfect people and circumstances. Just look at the genealogy of Matthew 1. We are called to repent and to be baptized in the Living Water.