Description

Introduction To Matthew 1

The birth, death, and resurrection of Christ are three of the main points to understanding whether or not he is the Messiah prophesied to come in the Old Testament. The redemption of mankind, the need for a Messiah, and the details of his coming are all outlined throughout the entirety of scripture.

Matthew 1 starts out with the genealogy of Christ starting with Abraham and ending with Joseph. Rahab, Ruth, Tamar, and Mary are the only four women mentioned in the genealogy, which leads many to believe Matthew had a significant reason for doing so.

Rahab was the Canaanite woman that hid Joshua, Caleb, and the other spies (Joshua 6). Ruth was the Moabitess widow that slept at Boaz's feet (Ruth 1 – 4). Tamar was Judah's daughter in law that pretended to be a prostitute (Genesis 38). And Mary was the mother of Christ (Matthew 1).

Date: c 50 – 60 AD (view 1) or c 80 – 90 AD (view 2)

Writer: Matthew

Composition

Matthew 1 is broken down into two main parts. Verses 1 – 16 give us the genealogy of Joseph, starting with Abraham. Verses 17 – 25 focus on the birth of Christ. In between the genealogy and Christ's birth, we are introduced to Joseph, the husband of Mary and stepfather of Christ. Matthew is the only gospel writer to explain that Joseph wanted to divorce Mary because she was a pregnant virgin. This was something that had never been seen before in all of human history, so The Most High sent Gabriel to assure Joseph that Mary's pregnancy was of The Most High. It is through this story that we get a glimpse of Joseph's character. He did not want to raise a child that wasn't his, but he also wanted to divorce Mary in private so that her reputation would not be ruined.

1. The genealogy of Christ through Joseph.

2. Joseph's humanity and character.

3. The birth of Christ.

Viewpoints

Matthew 1 is primarily focused on the male side of Christ's lineage, which was part of the culture at that time. Matthew uses the Old Testament to give us a complete genealogy that takes us through most of the books of the Bible that had been written up to that point.

Importance

Matthew 1 is important to the entirety of scripture because it gives us a rare look into the origin and character of the man The Most High chose to be an earthly father to Christ.