School of Discipleship



Matthew 1:1-17
1The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.
2Abraham was the father of Isaac, and Isaac the father of Jacob, and Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers,
3and Judah the father of Perez and Zerah by Tamar, and Perez the father of Hezron, and Hezron the father of Ram,
4and Ram the father of Amminadab, and Amminadab the father of Nahshon, and Nahshon the father of Salmon,
5and Salmon the father of Boaz by Rahab, and Boaz the father of Obed by Ruth, and Obed the father of Jesse,
6and Jesse the father of David the king. And David was the father of Solomon by the wife of Uriah,
7and Solomon the father of Rehoboam, and Rehoboam the father of Abijah, and Abijah the father of Asaph,
8and Asaph the father of Jehoshaphat, and Jehoshaphat the father of Joram, and Joram the father of Uzziah,
9and Uzziah the father of Jotham, and Jotham the father of Ahaz, and Ahaz the father of Hezekiah,
10and Hezekiah the father of Manasseh, and Manasseh the father of Amos, and Amos the father of Josiah,
11and Josiah the father of Jechoniah and his brothers, at the time of the deportation to Babylon.
12And after the deportation to Babylon: Jechoniah was the father of Shealtiel, and Shealtiel the father of Zerubbabel,
13and Zerubbabel the father of Abiud, and Abiud the father of Eliakim, and Eliakim the father of Azor,
14and Azor the father of Zadok, and Zadok the father of Achim, and Achim the father of Eliud,
15and Eliud the father of Eleazar, and Eleazar the father of Matthan, and Matthan the father of Jacob,
16and Jacob the father of Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom Jesus was born, who is called Christ.
17So all the generations from Abraham to David were fourteen generations, and from David to the deportation to Babylon fourteen generations, and from the deportation to Babylon to the Christ fourteen generations.

Back in the beginning of our study of the Book of Genesis, we discussed the “protoevangelicum” – the announcement of the first Gospel. In Genesis 3:15, God the Father promises the fallen Adam and Eve that He would send a Messiah to redeem them from the mess they made of creation by their disobedience. In Matthew, the first book of the New Testament, we find the fulfillment of that promise in the person of Jesus Christ.

Matthew was written by the disciple that Jesus called away from his role as tax collector. While Matthew was Jewish, he was also hated by his own people because tax collectors were considered agents of the Roman government and often cheated the people by charging more tax than was due. Jesus always goes for the odd man out, doesn’t He? When called, Matthew responds by leaving his old life behind and following Jesus. As a follower of Christ, Matthew writes to all believers with what I believe to be a very specific emphasis – discipleship. While Jesus taught the masses on several occasions, what we find in Matthew is The Jesus Christ School of Discipleship [my title – not his]. Jesus’ focus is almost always on the Disciples – those 12 guys he gathered around Himself who would be charged with the duty of sharing Christ’s story with the world.

The Book starts out with a very telling sentence: “The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.” Jesus is given three qualifying names which all lead us in one direction; He is the fulfillment of the promise made in Genesis 3:15. First, He is Jesus, the Christ. Christ equals Messiah. There can be no mistake. This is guy we’ve been waiting for since the beginning! He is the Son of David; He is royalty! God promised that David’s line would live forever on the throne and in Jesus that is exactly what happens. And finally, He is the son of Abraham. God’s promise to Abraham was that he would become a might nation and that through him all the world would be blessed. Jesus comes to save all who would believe from the penalty of their sins and usher us into an eternity with Him. Matthew establishes Jesus’ purpose and pedigree right from the very beginning. This is who the story will be about and it is information we want to know.

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