No More Worthy Subject – Matthew 1:1

The first words of any book will either make you want to read the book or put it down. Those first words need to grab you and not only that, but give you some idea of where you’re going in the journey this book is promising. There are multiple contenders for best opening words for novels (here, here and here). One of my favorites is, “In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbitt” (Tolkein’s The Hobbitt).

What about the first words of the Gospel of Matthew? Do they grab you? If you were a Jew living in the first century you might answer differently.

The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham. (Matthew 1:1 ESV)

The Gospel according to Matthew begins with what is necessarily a very Jewish concern.  If this Jesus is the Messiah then we Jews must know what his lineage is because all the promises concerning Messiah make him out to be David’s offspring.  So Matthew’s gospel is the book of Jesus’ genealogy and generations and is designed to demonstrate that he is indeed the son of David, who would of course also then be the son of Abraham.

Jesus’ name means “Yahweh saves” and in Hebrew is Yeshua or Yehoshua, equivalent to Joshua.  “Christ” means ‘anointed one’ and depicts Jesus as anointed for the offices of prophet, priest and king.  David was promised that his line would inherit the throne of Israel forever (2 Samuel 7) and be a priest after the order of Melchizedek (Psalm 110).  And all of this was part of God’s covenant with Abraham that He would make him the father of many nations and bless all nations through him.

Jesus is the fulfillment of God’s covenant through Abraham and David.  He is the one through whom all the nations of the earth have indeed been blessed and He has been ruling since his resurrection over all the earth as the Davidic king, who will finally bring the full expression of this kingdom to earth with his personal return.  There is no more worthy subject of any book.

So are you ready to go on this journey with Matthew? Where will it lead you? If it is worth its salt it will inevitably change you for the better. Let’s go!