Matthew 1:2 Commentary and Bible Study

Here is a summary that allows us to look back over centuries of God’s providence at a single glance. Starting with Abraham, Matthew traces the ancestors that lead to Joseph. Why does he do this when Joseph was not the physical father of Jesus, since Jesus was born of the virgin Mary before they came together? Because, although Joseph was not the physical father of Jesus, he was the human parent, the earthly father to whom God entrusted his son to bring him up. He was the one who acted as Jesus’ human father on earth, and whom the Scripture calls his parent (Luke 2:27, 41). Furthermore he was the legal father of Jesus, which meant that Jesus was considered his son legally, and would inherit his lineage and any property and land left by him. Because Joseph was the earthly father of Jesus, as part of his nurturing duty, he taught his son a trade, the trade of carpenter, for he too was a carpenter (Matthew 13:55). Isaiah asks, ‘Who shall declare his generation?’ (Isaiah 53:8), for the Lord had no descendants on earth, but his genealogy was traced through the one who was recognised as his earthly father. Matthew writes for Jews and therefore starts his genealogy with Abraham, the figure of primary importance to every Jew. Luke on the other hand writes for Gentiles, and traces the ancestry of Jesus, as many believe, through Mary back to Adam, the father of the entire race. That ancestry also leads back through David and Abraham.At each generation God made a choice. He chose Isaac not Ishmael, and he chose Jacob and not Esau. He also chose Judas (aka Judah), according to the prophecy of Genesis 49:10. From him would come the one who would be called in the Book of Revelation, ‘the Lion of the tribe of Juda, the Root of David.’ Not a single prophecy of Scripture has been allowed to fail.