This
looks like it is just a list of names, and why would Matthew include them, especially
at the beginning of his account of the life of Jesus.
It
seems a strange way to start a gospel, and I know I would often skip over it – I
mean what is the point of all those names, and so many of them are hard to
pronounce.
For
the people who first read, or heard, this gospel, that list of names meant a
lot. The genealogy, or family history of Jesus, tells us a lot about who Jesus
is, and what we can expect in the rest of Matthew’s story.
Matthew
starts the gospel with this list of names. If you compare what Matthew has
written with the list of kings etc, from the Old Testament, you will notice
some have been left out. This isn’t because Matthew didn’t like them, but because
he wasn’t giving a full historical account of the forebears of Jesus. The genealogy
is included for a reason, not just to trip up the Bible reader rostered for the
day.
Another
thing to note is that it is different to the list in Luke chapter 3, Luke is
writing to a different audience and emphasises the humanity of Jesus, taking
the genealogy all the way back to Adam.
The
point of Matthew’s gospel, well, all the gospel writers, is to answer the question:
who is Jesus?
The
genealogy in Matthew is put together to show that Jesus is descended from Abraham,
thus making him a Jew; and from King David.[i]
Matthew
is writing for a community that is being pushed out of the temple and synagogue
for being followers of Jesus. Matthew has lots of references to the Old
testament, to reassure the followers of Jesus that they were indeed still
children of Abraham.
The
first verse of the first chapter is “An
account of the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah, the son of David, the
son of Abraham.” I read that Greek text
reads, somewhat literally, “the book of the genesis of Jesus Christ.”[ii]
This is a new beginning.
Matthew
tells us that from Abraham to Jesus are three sets of 14 generations, or six
sets of seven generations. “The implication is that Jesus begins the last
seven, the final epoch. He begins the seventh set of seven generations, an
allusion to the Jubilee year, the seventh Sabbath year. Jesus inaugurates the
Jubilee generation, an era in which everything will be reconstituted, redistributed
and turned upside down. Matthew prepares us for this radical remaking of the
world by giving us a genealogy in which five women, one for each of the books
of Torah, radically transform the Israelite story.”[iii]
So,
what does the list recorded by Matthew tell us?
This
is written in the standard format for the time, all males ….. except … we will get to the exceptions shortly. The men
in this list are faithful and sinners, liars and murderers. Some are better
known than others, the one thing they have in common is that they are listed as
forebears of Jesus. Just as for many others who go searching for information
about their ancestors, Jesus had a few unsavoury people in his history as well.
“God’s redemption
absorbs despicable histories like these, and Jesus is kin to those who need his
forgiveness most.”[iv]
It
is the exceptions I want to look more closely now. The exceptions are women. Women
did not usually feature in a family history list. and the women who are listed
by Matthew are not the Matriarchs, Sarah, Rebekah, Rachel and Leah.
The
women listed are, at first look, of dubious character.
Tamar,
Rahab, Ruth, the wife of Uriah, and Mary. Each of these has a story to tell. We
only hear a little of their story, and not in their own words. Each also represents
something of the kingdom message.
Tamar
[See Genesis
38] is married
to Er, who dies without any children. Then she is given in marriage to his
brother, Onan, who also dies without any children. Father in law, Judah does
not want to risk son number 3 also dying, so sends her away until son number 3 ‘grows
up’.
In order to fulfil the law for her first husband,
Tamar dresses as a prostitute in order to sleep with her father-in-law Judah,
producing a son for her dead husband. In this way Tamar becomes an ancestor of
the great King David.[v]
Matthew’s
reference to a story that reveals Judah’s sin says something important about
Matthew’s reading of Israelite history. Matthew emphasises that righteousness
is lived out, not only in words. Tamar does what is right in the law, in having
a child for her dead husband, she is the one who brings justice.[vi]
Rahab [Joshua chapters 2 and 6]
is a Canaanite prostitute living in the city of Jericho in the time of Joshua.
The Israelites have escaped from Egypt and have been wandering in the
wilderness for 40 years. As they prepare to invade the land of Canaan, the
Israelites send spies to Jericho. When the spies find their lives in danger, Rahab
helps them escape. In return, the Israelites spare her family when they attack
the city.[vii]
Rahab
represents the outcasts of society. Here we see who Jesus will mainly associate
with, the sinners and outcasts.[viii]
Then we come to Ruth, a Moabite woman who gives up her land and her
people to support her Israelite mother-in-law, Naomi. Following Naomi back to
Bethlehem, Ruth navigates Israelite culture and custom to save her
mother-in-law, eventually marrying Naomi’s kinsman Boaz and having a son, Obed,
who would become the grandfather of David.[ix]
Ruth came
from Moab, an enemy of Israel. Her inclusion in the genealogy represents the
enemy Jesus calls his followers to love. She also represents the widow, the
alien and the poor whom the laws of Torah command society to provide for
because of their vulnerability.[x]
Then Bathsheba, though here she is referred to as the wife of Uriah the
Hittite. After adultery and murder, David marries Bathsheba, who becomes the
mother of Solomon, in biblical memory one of the greatest kings of Israel.[xi]
In
referring to Bathsheba, not by name but by telling us that she was Uriah’s
wife, Matthew highlights the sin of King David. For so long, the people of
Israel had longed for a new King, like David, and here is a reminder that he
was not perfect.[xii]
Culminating
the succession of women is Mary, a young peasant woman who gets pregnant before
her wedding, gives birth to the Messiah. Mary not only interrupts the normal
pattern of the genealogy, she breaks it. Up until now, even with the previous
interruptions, the normal pattern of “so-and-so was the father of so-and-so”
maintained. This time, however, Matthew writes “Mary, from whom Jesus was born,
who is called the Messiah.”[xiii]
This
list, of difficult to pronounce names, of men who lived and died, with a few
women included, tells us about the person Jesus, and what the new Kingdom will
be like.
The
ministry of Jesus will include:
- · outsiders
- · sinners
- · those act with righteousness
- · loving enemies
- · loving the poor and needy and widowed
- · turning upside down the established order.
This
list of names tells us about Jesus, and what is important to Matthew in the Jesus
story.
Jesus
is a Jew and in the line of King David.
Jesus
is also the fulfilment of the hopes and dreams of the people of Israel, but
like so often, in God’s way, not the way the people thought it would happen.
Where do you see the living out of the Kingdom of God?
[i]
https://bible.org/seriespage/1-origins-jesus-christ-matthew-11-25?fbclid=IwAR3o0HeXmrUb9f8F952Qp6IQqRBDdB8P_WHcnoXUQm37Rbb9Jaqsurp3qLI
[ii]
https://bible.org/seriespage/1-origins-jesus-christ-matthew-11-25?fbclid=IwAR3o0HeXmrUb9f8F952Qp6IQqRBDdB8P_WHcnoXUQm37Rbb9Jaqsurp3qLI
[iii]
https://themennonite.org/feature/subversive-women-genealogy-jesus/
[iv]http://www.workingpreacher.org/preaching.aspx?commentary_id=3843&fbclid=IwAR1tiR_tlxVuso9M0aLII8etUM0BWLhiGN6vmcg1aGFX3FM5eyiSY3sldho
[v]
https://robertwilliamsonjr.com/women-matthews-genealogy/?fbclid=IwAR1hx03nXz4A7SJ4KAjgQV12LZ969WMiyBK_eKy6zhpni_0K6mDnfbho4LI
[vi]
https://themennonite.org/feature/subversive-women-genealogy-jesus/
[vii]
https://robertwilliamsonjr.com/women-matthews-genealogy/?fbclid=IwAR1hx03nXz4A7SJ4KAjgQV12LZ969WMiyBK_eKy6zhpni_0K6mDnfbho4LI
[viii]
https://themennonite.org/feature/subversive-women-genealogy-jesus/
[ix]
https://robertwilliamsonjr.com/women-matthews-genealogy/?fbclid=IwAR1hx03nXz4A7SJ4KAjgQV12LZ969WMiyBK_eKy6zhpni_0K6mDnfbho4LI
[xi]
https://robertwilliamsonjr.com/women-matthews-genealogy/?fbclid=IwAR1hx03nXz4A7SJ4KAjgQV12LZ969WMiyBK_eKy6zhpni_0K6mDnfbho4LI
[xii]
https://themennonite.org/feature/subversive-women-genealogy-jesus/
[xiii]
https://themennonite.org/feature/subversive-women-genealogy-jesus/
