Be Still And Know

Matthew 1.1 & 16 NLT "This is a record of the ancestors of Jesus the Messiah, a descendant of David and of Abraham ... Joseph was the husband of Mary. Mary gave birth to Jesus, who is called the Messiah." If you were writing a book about someone famous I suspect you wouldn’t start like this. But Matthew was writing his gospel for people from a Jewish background and so it was vital that he started with an account of Jesus’ ancestors. It was crucial that they could clearly see where Jesus fitted in the history of the people of Israel. Matthew points out that there were three groups of 14 generations. The first ran from Abraham to David; the second went up to the exile in Babylon: and the third concluded with the arrival of Jesus, whose legal father was Joseph. This firmly placed Jesus in the family line of David, and so he could be properly called the Son of David. The list of people in this chapter doesn’t seem to make great reading, but if you look at the individuals mentioned it is absolutely gripping. T