So, did you actually read the entire genealogy? Though this stuff may be horrendously boring us, it was of great importance to the Jewish Christians for whom Matthew was writing. You may notice some differences between the genealogy of Jesus that you find in Matthew, and the one found in Luke (Luke 3:23-38). Though there are some comments to be made on these differences…we’re not going to go there in this post.
Rather, I want to focus upon this weird thing Matthew does in grouping the ancestors of Jesus in “fourteens.” What the heck is that all about? Well…our best guess is that it has to do with Hebrew numerology (i.e., The study of the meanings of numbers and their supposed influence on human life). There’s pretty solid historical evidence that Jews of the first century saw a lot of significance in numbers. In part, this was because each letter of the Hebrew alphabet was assigned a corresponding number. In English we’d say: A = 1, B = 2, C = 3, etc. Because of this, you could add up the numerical value of a person’s name to get their “number.” (Probably the most famous instance of this in the Bible is the reference in Revelation to the man with the number 666)
Anyway, when you add up the numerical value of the name David you end up with the number 14. Since “Son of David” is one of the titles of Jesus that Matthew uses most frequently in his gospel (and the other Gospel writers use very little if at all) most scholars are agreed that the 14 generations thing was primarily about proving that Jesus was THE legitimate Messiah and King of Israel…the bona fide Son of David.
If someone doubted that Jesus was the Messiah sent to save the world, how would you convince them? Probably not with a genealogical list, right? Matthew’s pattern doesn’t necessarily show us the most effective way to evangelize…but it does offer an example of using whatever we can to bring glory to God. Did Matthew believe in numerology? Who knows? What I do know is that he most definitely believed that Jesus of Nazareth was the Son of God and he would use any opportunity…any avenue…to persuade others of that fact as well. What about you and I…are we as passionate about bringing others to faith in Christ?
-- Justin
If only we'd had this song when I was a kid: The Ballad of Matthew's Begats
I think it's safe to assume that Matthew spent hours upon hours researching the genenology of Jesus to include in his gospel. While I believe it was Spirit led research, still there was no "Google" to search the countless scrolls he had to go through to build this geneology. That certainly shows a passion for the message he is writing and for the audience he is writing it to. Certainly challenges me to reevalute my level of passion for sharing the Gospel with others.
ReplyDeleteI hadn't considered it from that angle...but I think you've got a good point there.
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