Matthew is one of the "gospels." I think I define gospel in an earlier post, but in case I didn't, according to Wikipedia, "a gospel is an account describing the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth." I think of a gospel as a biography of Jesus, written by an eyewitness.
Apparently, also according to Wikipedia, the gospel was written around 80-90 CE.
Let's move on because you can find everything I'm saying on Google. I'm here to offer you a fresh perspective, so let's delve into this first chapter of Matthew. You can read it on this post. Don't worry, it's shorter than the usual chapter length in a novel and I'm only copy-and-pasting the first two-thirds of the chapter.
The record of the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah, the son of David, the son of Abraham:
Abraham was the father of Isaac, Isaac the father of Jacob, and Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers. Judah was the father of Perez and Zerah by Tamar, Perez was the father of Hezron, and Hezron the father of Ram. Ram was the father of Amminadab, Amminadab the father of Nahshon, and Nahshon the father of Salmon. Salmon was the father of Boaz by Rahab, Boaz was the father of Obed by Ruth, and Obed the father of Jesse. Jesse was the father of David the king.
David was the father of Solomon by Bathsheba who had been the wife of Uriah. Solomon was the father of Rehoboam, Rehoboam the father of Abijah, and Abijah the father of Asa. Asa was the father of Jehoshaphat, Jehoshaphat the father of Joram, and Joram the father of Uzziah. Uzziah was the father of Jotham, Jotham the father of Ahaz, and Ahaz the father of Hezekiah. Hezekiah was the father of Manasseh, Manasseh the father of Amon, and Amon the father of Josiah. Josiah became the father of Jeconiah and his brothers, at the time of the deportation to Babylon.
After the deportation to Babylon: Jeconiah became the father of Shealtiel, and Shealtiel the father of Zerubbabel. Zerubbabel was the father of Abihud, Abihud the father of Eliakim, and Eliakim the father of Azor. Azor was the father of Zadok, Zadok the father of Achim, and Achim the father of Eliud. Eliud was the father of Eleazar, Eleazar the father of Matthan, and Matthan the father of Jacob. Jacob was the father of Joseph the husband of Mary, by whom Jesus was born, who is called the Messiah.
So all the generations from Abraham to David are fourteen generations; from David to the deportation to Babylon, fourteen generations; and from the deportation to Babylon to the Messiah, fourteen generations.
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As a teenager, when I first read Matthew, I remember somewhat glazing over, as I looked at Jesus' bloodline. I thought, 'Was that really necessary?' Before (let's just call the author) Matthew started writing anything else, he wrote out Jesus' ancestors. Why do you think Matthew did that?
I don't actually know the answer to that question, but I've heard others share with me their opinions. I guess it was really important to the Jews to write down the history of things. In a way, I think they're right because our history helps explain why we are here. In a way, the people that came before Jesus are part of Him.
Another reason I think that all the names are written first is because its acknowledging that Jesus had an important bloodline, i.e. he was royal or something. Why do I say that? Well, I'm speculating here, but it's kind of like a purebred pedigree for dogs. I have a couple of dogs myself so this may be why it comes to mind. If you get a dog that is a mutt, or maybe a pure breed, but with not so important parents, they will not have a pedigree. On the other hand, if you purchase a dog that has famous parents, or is in general relatively rare/valuable, bloodline is everything. I know humans aren't dogs, but obviously the author thought that Jesus was important enough of a person to trace his bloodline back 42 generations. With people, generally, you only trace your ancestry if it is super important to others (like if you're going to be the next queen or something) or if its important to you for sentimental reasons or curiosity's sake (ancestry.com). Even if it was for curiosity's sake, why trace it back 42 generations? Isn't it enough after 5?
Therefore, we have no other conclusion (really) to draw, other than Jesus' bloodline was important. Also, the people that the author points to, out of this slew of names, are Abraham and David. They must have been the "royalty" that made Jesus so important. Actually King David was considered the greatest king that the Jews had. Abraham was not a king, but he was the beginning of a promise that God made to all the Jews.
