SOME IMPORTANT FACTS ABOUT THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW!

MATTHEW 1:1-16

THE STRANGE GENEALOGY OF JESUS!

[1] The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.
[2] Abraham begat Isaac; and Isaac begat Jacob; and Jacob begat Judas and his brethren;
[3] And Judas begat Phares and Zara of Thamar (Tamar, who played the harlot to conceive a child by her father-in-law - see Genesis 38); and Phares begat Esrom; and Esrom begat Aram;
[4] And Aram begat Aminadab; and Aminadab begat Naasson; and Naasson begat Salmon;
[5] And Salmon begat Booz of Rachab (Rahab, an actual harlot - see Joshua 2); and Booz begat Obed of Ruth (Ruth, a Moabite, a Gentile - see Ruth 1); and Obed begat Jesse;
[6] And Jesse begat David the king; and David the king begat Solomon of her that had been the wife of Urias (Bathsheba, an adulteress who conceived a child by David while still married to Urias - see 2 Samuel 11);
[7] And Solomon begat Roboam; and Roboam begat Abia; and Abia begat Asa;
[8] And Asa begat Josaphat; and Josaphat begat Joram; and Joram begat Ozias;
[9] And Ozias begat Joatham; and Joatham begat Achaz; and Achaz begat Ezekias;
[10] And Ezekias begat Manasses; and Manasses begat Amon; and Amon begat Josias;
[11] And Josias begat Jechonias and his brethren, about the time they were carried away to Babylon:
[12] And after they were brought to Babylon, Jechonias begat Salathiel; and Salathiel begat Zorobabel;
[13] And Zorobabel begat Abiud; and Abiud begat Eliakim; and Eliakim begat Azor;
[14] And Azor begat Sadoc; and Sadoc begat Achim; and Achim begat Eliud;
[15] And Eliud begat Eleazar; and Eleazar begat Matthan; and Matthan begat Jacob;
[16] And Jacob begat Joseph the husband of Mary (Mary - who remained a virgin until after the birth of Jesus - Matthew 1:25), of whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ.

SOME INTERESTING OBSERVATIONS!

Matthew's Gospel is known as the Gospel written to the Jewish people.  In it, Jesus quotes the Old Testament more than one hundred times, and it is the only Gospel which contains the phrase "that it might be fulfilled."  It is also the only book in the Bible which uses the phrase "kingdom of heaven,"
which is ironic in that the Jews were looking for their Messiah, Who they believed would renew the Davidic kingdom here on earth.  That will, of course occur upon the Lord's return at the end of the Tribulation (a.k.a. Daniel's Seventieth Week - Daniel 9:24-27; and The Time of Jacob's Trouble - Jeremiah 30:7).

Another obvious irony is the fact that Matthew, a Jewish tax collector, includes five women in his genealogy of Jesus.  Luke's Gospel also contains His genealogy, but does not include any females.  A side note:  Luke's genealogy uses the phrase "which was the son of" between names in the King James Version; the original text has only the word "of" before each name.  That is significant because the last of the names listed is Adam, and the KJV says, "which was the son of God.  Adam was the creation of God; Jesus is Only Begotten Son of God!

In Matthew's Gospel,  Jesus also makes positive statements about  Gentiles:  a centurion (8:5-13); a Canaanite woman (15:21-28); and in His "Great Commission," He tells His disciples to proclaim the Gospel, baptize converts, and disciple all nations (not just Israel, but Gentiles as well).  And, Jesus told Peter that he would be the one who decided those who could be part of His Church (Matthew 16:18-19).  The disciples were told that they were to be witnesses to those in " Jerusalem, Judaea, Samaria, and to the uttermost part of the earth" (Acts 1:8).  Peter was, in fact, the one who confirmed those groups as being accepted into the Church (Jerusalem and Judaea - Acts 2:5, 9; Samaritans - Acts 8:14, 25; "uttermost part of the earth" (Gentiles) - Acts 10:9-48.

Just in case someone reading this believes this shows Peter to be the first "pope," the leader of the Church was not Peter, but was James, the half brother of Jesus (see Acts 15 below):

Acts 15:13-19 - And after they had held their peace, James answered, saying, Men and brethren, hearken unto me:  Simeon has declared how God at the first did visit the Gentiles, to take out of them a people for His name.  And to this agree the words of the prophets; as it is written, After this I will return, and will build again the tabernacle of David, which is fallen down; and I will build again the ruins thereof, and I will set it up:  that the residue of men might seek after the Lord, and all the Gentiles, upon whom My name is called, says the Lord, who does all these things.  Known unto God are all His works from the beginning of the world.  Wherefore my sentence (decision) is, that we trouble not them, which from among the Gentiles are turned to God:  but that we write unto them, that they abstain from pollutions of idols, and from fornication, and from things strangled, and from blood.


BY THE WAY, THE NEXT TIME YOU READ THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW, NOTICE THAT THE NUMBER OF MAGI IS NOT MENTIONED; THERE WERE THREE GIFTS; AND ALSO NOTICE THAT BY THE TIME THEY ARRIVED IN BETHLEHEM, JESUS WAS NO LONGER A BABE, BUT WAS A YOUNG CHILD!  GOD BLESS YOU AS YOU STUDY GOD'S WORD; IT IS WHAT HE USES TO MAKE HIS CHILDREN WISE!