Gospel of Matthew: Jesus' Family Tree

Having recently been focusing on the prophets, for a book that will be coming out next year, it seemed natural to look at Matthew mostly because he is so good at quoting the Old Testament and reminding us to ponder the whole Bible. So I'm gonna take you along for the ride. This won't be any sort of comprehensive study. Just some of the interesting things I find on the way.

Rose window in Basilica of Saint-Denis, France,
depicting the ancestors of Jesus from Jesse onwards

Matthew 1:1-17
Ah yes, that interminable genealogy at the beginning of Matthew. Like me, you may have come across various explanations as to why particular people are included, their significance to Jesus' message to us, and why the thing is so darned long.

The ancient Jews loved genealogies. Every name called a story to mind and pointed to a particular part of salvation history. It has a theological content but also shows that these were real people and that Jesus broke into real time and history. So if you're telling the story of the Son of God coming to earth, wouldn't you start with where he fits in salvation history?

Two names in particular stand out from the very beginning. Jesus is called the "son of David" which reminds us of the promise God made that the Messiah would come from the line of David and establish a kingdom that would endure forever. Jesus is also called the "son of Abraham" which reminds us of God's promise that Abraham's descendants would become a great nation and that all nations would find blessing through his family. In Jesus these promises are fulfilled, Matthew is telling us.

Most interesting to me is the inclusion of four women in the genealogy — Tamar, Rahab, Ruth, and Bathsheba. It isn't unprecedented, but it is unusual. Especially when you consider that they are all Gentiles and three of them are associated with sexual immorality. Yet, they are specifically called out for our attention among Jesus' ancestry.

Matthew thus selects three of the most prominent Gentile women in the ancestral line of David along with the most famous of David's wives to highlight how Gentile blood flowed into the royal line of David. This underscores God's concern for Gentiles, demonstrating that he brought them into the story of Israel even in the Old Testament. It also lays a foundation for the universal mission of Jesus' kingdom, which will gather Gentiles into God's covenant family ...

All that in one genealogy! Which I'd have skipped without the commentary to show me what I was missing by not paying attention.

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Quote is from Catholic Commentary on Sacred Scripture: Gospel of Matthew. This series first ran in 2008. I'm refreshing it as I go.