Matthew 1:1
The record of the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah, the son of David, the son of Abraham:
“Jesus” was the name given to our Lord at his circumcision (Lk 2:21).
“Christ” was the proper name given by the angel to the shepherds (Lk 2:11).
Used by the Lord Himself in Matthew 23:8 and Mark 9:41.
Used by others near the end of his ministry in Matt 26:68 and Matt 27:17.
“Jesus Christ” was used once by Jesus in John 17:3, but wasn’t used by others until after his ascension and the formation of churches in his name.
Abraham’s family was the first prediction of the Messiah’s arrival (Gen 22:18).
David’s family was the last prediction of Messiah arrival (2 Sam 7:12–16; Isa 9:6–7; Jer 23:5–6).
To a Jewish reader these were the two great starting points of any true genealogy of the promised Messiah.
From the nearest of those two fathers came that familiar name of the promised Messiah, “the son of David” (Lk 20:41), which was applied to Jesus because, as David’s son, he was the rightful king (see 9:27; 20:31).
Personal Application:
Typically in a priority time I’m not this academic, but there is no other way to accurately study some subjects in the Bible. You have to do the research and study behind the passages in order to have a devotional thought or to personally apply it to your life. In these situations I don’t try to do all the research and study on my own. I turn to reliable scholars and allow their strength to compensate for my weakness as well as save me significant amounts of time. How long would it take to personally cross-reference every verse and study the historical context? These are the times I whole-heartedly encourage you to use commentaries to assist you so you can understand it, apply it, pray it and journal it.
Seeing the way that the various names were given to Jesus gives me confidence beyond the birth of Jesus but it gives me confidence going all the way back to the original promise of the Messiah to Abraham.
Now, virtually every word in verse one means something to me:
- Jesus the Messiah
- The son of David
- The son of Abraham
- Jesus is the promised Messiah from Abraham to David.
Interactive Prayer:
Father, I pray for the patience to study portions of scripture that are easy to run too quickly because they are so historical. Give me the discipline to discipline the genealogy. It is so easy to just look at this as an introduction full of unfamiliar and skip down to next section. Father, help me prioritize being a scholar who combines the head and the heart in my approach to Scripture.
Father, help me to prioritize learning more about first century Judaism so that I can know and understand Jesus better. Help me gain true control over my schedule and once and for all so that I can prioritize my priority time, my study time, and my teaching time. Father, give me the ability to improve as a scholar and as a teacher. Give me the wisdom to know how to teach our people how to be people of the Word. Give me the ability to give our people a love for the Word. I pray that our people will see it as a privilege to have the Word of God, to meditate upon the Word of God and to apply the Word of God to their lives. Father, make us a church that is constantly improving our presentation of the Word of God. Give us the ability to teach it with Your power and authority. Give us the ability to present it in a way that memorable, understandable and doable.
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