The book of Matthew was written by the apostle Matthew; he is sometimes called Levi. Since he was an apostle and followed Jesus during His ministry on earth, much of what he wrote was first-hand accounts of the life of Jesus during that time period. The intended audience of the book was the Jewish people. While gentiles can certainly read the book, at times it is important to appreciate the intended audience; this will help us better understand what Matthew wrote.
Matthew gives the genealogy of Jesus Christ. The genealogy given by Matthew starts with Abraham and includes the well-known Biblical patriarchs Issac, Jacob and Judah. The genealogy continues to king David and on to Joseph the husband of Mary the mother of Jesus. This is the genealogy through Joseph, the adopted father of Jesus. To the Jews, it would have been important to show that Jesus came from king David and was a rightful royal heir to the throne of David. Matthew says in Matthew 1:17 “So all the generations from Abraham to David are fourteen generations, from David until the captivity in Babylon are fourteen generations, and from the captivity in Babylon until the Christ are fourteen generations.” While there were fourteen generations in each case, the number of years is not equal. It was roughly 1000 years from Abraham to David, roughly 425 years from David to Babylon, and roughly 600 years from Babylon to Jesus. So it was approximately 2000 years from Abraham to Jesus. Interestingly, it has now been approximately 2000 years since Jesus was on the earth.
It is also interesting to note that the gospel of Luke gives a similar but different genealogy. It is thought that it is the genealogy of Mary. It starts from Jesus and goes back to king David, on to Abraham and concludes with Adam who was the son of God. Luke was written to the gentiles; it was important to trace the human ancestry from Adam through David to Jesus. It was roughly 2000 years from Adam to Abraham. That means that the total time from Adam to Jesus was approximately 4000 years. Further, it means that it has been approximately 6000 years from Adam to the current time. We are close to beginning the seventh millennium, if that has any special meaning.
Matthew says that Mary was betrothed to Joseph. Betrothal is similar but different from engagement. In a sense, they were actually considered husband and wife, even though they had not come together. Joseph saw that Mary was with child and he knew that he was not the father. He assumed that she had committed fornication. He did not want to make her a public example so he was thinking about divorcing her secretly. According to the law of Moses (Deuteronomy 24:1) he could divorce her. Matthew 1:20-21 “But while he thought about these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, ‘Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take to you Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.’” The angel explained the situation to Joseph so that he would accept Mary. It was a marvelous thing from God that Jesus was conceived in Mary through the power of the Holy Spirit. Even from conception, we understand that Jesus was both human and God. The name Jesus literally means “Yahweh saves” of “The Lord is salvation”. Matthew goes on to explain in Matthew 1:22-23 “So all this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying: ‘Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,’ which is translated, ‘God with us.’” Jesus is God with us.
Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea while Herod was the king over the region. Some wise men or Magi had seen the star of Jesus. These were learned men, astrologers and interpreters of signs who were typically advisors to kings. They were likely from Persia or Babylon. If the star arose when Jesus was born, it would have easily taken months for them to travel from the East. They came to King Herod and asked “Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we have seen His star in the East and have come to worship Him.” (Matthew 2:2) They understood that the star indicated the birth of the King of the Jews and they wanted to worship Him. This implies to me that they were worshippers of God who lived in the East away from the Jewish people. Herod was proud and jealous of his kingdom, so he was troubled by the Magi’s question concerning a King of the Jews. Herod inquired of the chief priests and scribes and they told him that it had been prophesied that the Christ would be born in Bethlehem. This is roughly a two hour walk from where Herod lived in Jerusalem.
Matthew 2:7 “Then Herod, when he had secretly called the wise men, determined from them what time the star appeared.” Herod wanted to know how old the child would have been by the time that the wise men came to him. Verse 8 “And he sent them to Bethlehem and said, ‘Go and search carefully for the young Child, and when you have found Him, bring back word to me, that I may come and worship Him also.’” I believe that Herod lied to the Magi. Herod wanted to protect his kingdom so he meant to destroy the future King of the Jews. The Magi followed the star and found the young Child Jesus and they worshipped Him. We do not know how many Magi there were, but they gave gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh, gifts fit for a king. Being warned by God not to return to Herod, they returned home another way.
Knowing that Herod would seek to destroy the young child, the Lord told Joseph to flee to Egypt outside of Herod’s kingdom. Matthew 2:16 “Then Herod, when he saw that he was deceived by the wise men, was exceedingly angry; and he sent forth and put to death all the male children who were in Bethlehem and in all its districts, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had determined from the wise men.” History tells us that Herod did not live long after that. So once he was dead, the Lord told Joseph to return to Israel. Joseph, Mary and Jesus therefore came to live in Nazareth, a city in the region of Galilee, north of Jerusalem.
Praise God for His wonderful plan to bring His Son Jesus as a human to this earth.