The Pre-History (Genealogy) Of Jesus The Messiah (1:2-16).
The genealogy of Jesus now follows being in reverse order to Matthew 1:1; Matthew 1:1 refers from Jesus the Messiah back to His sources in David and Abraham, while Matthew 1:2-16 are in chronological order, referring forward from Abraham and revealing the onflowing of sacred history. Abraham is followed by Judah, from whom the sceptre will come (Genesis 49:10), is followed by David ‘the King', is followed by ‘Jesus the Messiah (Christ)', but with the Exile introduced as another focal point. This comes in with a jarring note emphasising to us that not all goes smoothly, because of man's waywardness. And all this will then be amplified in what follows, for:
· Matthew 1:18 to Matthew 2:8 refers to a miraculous birth to the house of David of the heir to the Davidic throne, from the house of Judah (Matthew 2:6).
· Matthew 2:1-12 introduces the King of the Jews (Matthew 2:2) from the house of ‘David the King' to whom the nations come to pay homage in the form of the Magi (Matthew 2:11).
· Matthew 2:13-23 parallels the previous going into Exile, and speaks of the exile of Jesus (Matthew 2:13-15), and His subsequent return from Egypt (Matthew 2:19-23), from which, in His Son, God will now give the final deliverance that has been awaited by the faithful for so long.
· Matthew 3:1-17 parallels the mention of the coming of Jesus the Messiah, God's beloved Son, in chapter 1, Who as Messiah receives the Holy Spirit on behalf of His people, so that He might drench them with the Holy Spirit in accordance with the words of the prophets (Isaiah 44:1-5; Joel 2:28-29).
Without chapter 3 the full significance of His coming as described in Matthew 1:1-17, and amplified in what follows, would tail off without being completed. The introductory explanation of the genealogy would be incomplete. Thus the three Chapter s are clearly to be seen as a unity.
Chapter 4 then reveals the commencement of the career of the Anointed One. As such He goes into the wilderness, as Israel had before Him, and there He too, like Israel, is tested as to whether He will prove faithful to God and His word. And there too He is called on to determine what His choices must be for the future (Matthew 4:1-11). Having triumphed from both viewpoints, this then results in His emerging as God's true light in preparation for His revelation as the Coming One Who is to have worldwide dominion (Matthew 4:12-17 with Isaiah 6:2-7), and the nature of how this will be achieved is indicated in terms of His coming as a light in the darkness (Matthew 4:16), a light which will come through the proclamation of the Good News. It results initially in a call to Israel to repent (Matthew 4:17), in a calling of disciples who are to become ‘fishers of men' in order to win men to Him (Matthew 4:17-22) and by the commencement of His own powerful preaching and healing ministry (Matthew 4:23-25). He is revealed by this as having come, not in order to conquer by force of arms or by crude politics, nor as having come to succeed by compromising with the world, but as having come in order to both succeed and conquer by proclaiming God's truth to the nations and calling men to the Kingly Rule of Heaven. This Kingly Rule of Heaven, God's present transforming Rule over the hearts of His true people, which will culminate in the everlasting glorious Kingdom, will take a prominent place from now on.
So having commenced with Abraham, and having connected Jesus firmly with Israel's past, Matthew sets Him firmly on the road to the fulfilment of His purpose, which is to bring back Israel to Him; to be a light to both Israel and the Gentiles (Genesis 12:3; Isaiah 42:6; Isaiah 49:6); and to establish the Kingly Rule of Heaven, through His word (and through the words of His disciples).