When you begin to read the New Testament in Matthew chapter one, there is a long genealogy of Jesus who is proclaimed to be Christ. 

For some, the list of names will have some meaning. They have heard many of the Old Testament stories and delight to see some names they recognize. For others they will brush past it or give it little attention as they fail to see the benefit in reading all the names. Still others will look for problems with the genealogy as they compare it to lists in the Old Testament.

What we often miss in the genealogy of Matthew’s Gospel is the way in which it sets the stage for Matthew’s telling of the life of Jesus. Matthew wants to establish in the reader’s mind, likely a Jewish audience, that Jesus is the one that was to come, and just how connected He was to their heritage.

He is pointing to Jesus’ connection to Abraham as the founder of what would become the Nation of Israel. Every Jewish person would point to Father Abraham. They would claim the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Jesus is connected to them as well. 

He is shown to be from the line of Judah from which the scepter of the king would always be. He is descended from King David and his son, King Solomon, making him a potential heir to the Davidic throne. 

However, Jesus is also connected to Salmon and his gentile wife Rahab who had hid the spies who found her in Jericho when they were preparing to take over the land of the Canaanites. He was related to their son Boaz who married his close relative’s Moabite widow, Ruth, of whom we read in the book after her name.

In the genealogy Jesus is shown to be related not only to David, but to his son Solomon who was born of the marriage between David and Bathsheba, who is noted to be the wife of Uriah, whom he had killed. But we also see that he comes through the lines of great kings like Hezekieh and Josiah who brought victory and reform respectively.

What this genealogy does is so much more than prove Jesus’ lineage and inheritance. It connects Him to all the stories the Nation of Israel had read for generations. It shows His relationship to the heritage of the people of God. And it shows his potential to be the Messiah, the coming King.

From this list of names we can see God’s amazing plan unfolding. It’s a reminder of the way in which God has brought about the rich history and prophecy fulfillment that would usher in His only Son, Jesus as the Messiah and the Savior of the world.

I encourage all of you to sit down between now and Christmas and read the stories of Christmas in the gospels of Matthew and Luke. And when you do, don’t skip the genealogies. Take time to marvel at the work of God in bringing about His perfect plan of salvation through the birth of His Son, Jesus.

Pastor Rich Cummings was called to Emmanuel Baptist Church in August 2022 and he has been a pastor since 2006. He has an MDiv from Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. He may be reached at [email protected].