Infancy Narrative
Chapter 1
The Genealogy of Jesus the Messiah
1 The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.
“Jesus” = Joshua. Parallels. “Jesus” means “Yahweh Saves”.
Christ means “anointed one”. It is a Greek form of the Hebrew “Messiah”. The first person to have the title of “Christ” was Saul, the King (1 Samuel 10). The king was the saviour. The king protected his people. David later became anointed by the Lord after Saul messed up three times.
It is pointed out that he is the “son of David”. This fulfills 2 Samuel 7. David wanted to build a house for the Lord. God promises to put his offspring on an eternal throne.
It is also pointed out that he is “son of Abraham”. This fulfills the promises made to Abraham that, through him, all the nations would be blessed.
2 Abraham was the father of Isaac, and Isaac the father of Jacob, and Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers,3 and Judah the father of Perez and Zerah by Tamar, and Perez the father of Hezron, and Hezron the father of Ram, 4 and Ram the father of Ammin′adab, and Ammin′adab the father of Nahshon, and Nahshon the father of Salmon, 5 and Salmon the father of Bo′az by Rahab, and Bo′az the father of Obed by Ruth, and Obed the father of Jesse, 6 and Jesse the father of David the king.
14 generations. It begins with Abraham whereas Luke’s genealogy begins with Adam. This is a Hebrew audience.
Notice that David has a title here “king”.
Presence of Gentiles and presence of women.
Presence of great saints and great sinners.
And David was the father of Solomon by the wife of Uri′ah, 7 and Solomon the father of Rehobo′am, and Rehobo′am the father of Abi′jah, and Abi′jah the father of Asa, 8 and Asa[e] the father of Jehosh′aphat, and Jehosh′aphat the father of Joram, and Joram the father of Uzzi′ah, 9 and Uzzi′ah the father of Jotham, and Jotham the father of Ahaz, and Ahaz the father of Hezeki′ah, 10 and Hezeki′ah the father of Manas′seh, and Manas′seh the father of Amos, and Amos the father of Josi′ah, 11 and Josi′ah the father of Jechoni′ah and his brothers, at the time of the deportation to Babylon.
Another 14 generations.
The son of David here is Solomon – his sin is pointed out.
12 And after the deportation to Babylon: Jechoni′ah was the father of She-al′ti-el,[h] and She-al′ti-el[i] the father of Zerub′babel, 13 and Zerub′babel the father of Abi′ud, and Abi′ud the father of Eli′akim, and Eli′akim the father of Azor, 14 and Azor the father of Zadok, and Zadok the father of Achim, and Achim the father of Eli′ud, 15 and Eli′ud the father of Elea′zar, and Elea′zar the father of Matthan, and Matthan the father of Jacob, 16 and Jacob the father of Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom Jesus was born, who is called Christ.
Another forteen generations.
Many parallels between Joseph the Carpenter and Joseph the son of the Patriarch Jacob. Chaste, saved family by taking them to egypt etc.
Jesus, like David above is given a title “Christ”.
Broke with the convension of saying that Jospeh begat… Emphasizes the virgin bith.
17 So 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.
David = DVD = 14
14 x 3 denotes perfection.
The presence of gentiles is import – signals the inclusion of them in the New Covenant. All the women mentioned are women of faith. Dubious love lives.
The Birth of Jesus the Messiah
18 Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child of the Holy Spirit; 19 and her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to send her away quietly.
Betrothal much more series back then.
The child is via the Holy Spirit points back to the “anointed” of God.
20 But as he considered this, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit; 21 she will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” 22 All this took place to fulfil what the Lord had spoken by the prophet:
It is emphasized that Joseph is a “son of David”. He is needed so that he is of David’s lineage. Joseph names the child and he legally adopts the child. In the old testament there were natural sons of David who were, by adoption, sons of God. In the New Testament we have an adopted son of David who was, by nature, Son of God.
His name describes what he will do. He will be the protector king and deal with the enemies of Satan and death.
23 “Behold, a virgin shall conceive and bear a son,
and his name shall be called Emman′u-el”
As is common in Matthew’s Gospel, he shows how this fulfills OT prophecy. Matthew = 70. Luke + Mark + John = 50 prophecies.
(which means, God with us). 24 When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him; he took his wife, 25 but knew her not until she had borne a son; and he called his name Jesus.
Joseph is obedient – he was righteous. Many OT people didn’t!
The emphasis here is the virgin birth. Until. St. Jerome. The early Reformers held to Mary’s perpetual virginity.
2 Samuel 6 – no children until the day of her death.
Psalm 110 – ..until I make your enemies your footstool
Joseph had nothing to do with the child’s conception whatsoever.
The Visit of the Wise Men
2 Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, saying, 2 “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.”
Herod is a king…but so is Christ. Tension! Herod was the child of an Edomite and a Ishmaelite. He played the king, rebuilding the temple…but everyone knew he was not.
Numbers 24 Balaam called from the East to curse the people of Israel. Kept on blessing them. Promise of a king. fulfilled by David…and then by Christ.
3 When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him; 4 and assembling all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born. 5 They told him, “In Bethlehem of Judea; for so it is written by the prophet:
6 ‘And you, O Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,
are by no means least among the rulers of Judah;
for from you shall come a ruler
who will govern my people Israel.’”
Fulfilment of prophecy.
7 Then Herod summoned the wise men secretly and ascertained from them what time the star appeared; 8 and he sent them to Bethlehem, saying, “Go and search diligently for the child, and when you have found him bring me word, that I too may come and worship him.” 9 When they had heard the king they went their way; and lo, the star which they had seen in the East went before them, till it came to rest over the place where the child was.
Jesus is referred to as a “child”. It takes a while to get from Iraq to Israel on camel! 1-2 years later. They are living in a house, rather than a cave or stable.
10 When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy; 11 and going into the house they saw the child with Mary his mother, and they fell down and worshiped him.
Wise men still find Him with his mother.
Then, opening their treasures, they offered him gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh.
Each are symbolic.
12 And being warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they departed to their own country by another way.
Another way.
The Escape to Egypt
13 Now when they had departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Rise, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there till I tell you; for Herod is about to search for the child, to destroy him.” 14 And he rose and took the child and his mother by night, and departed to Egypt, 15 and remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfil what the Lord had spoken by the prophet, “Out of Egypt have I called my son.”
Joseph is obedient again.
The “son” here originally referred to Israel corporately.
The Massacre of the Infants
16 Then Herod, when he saw that he had been tricked by the wise men, was in a furious rage, and he sent and killed all the male children in Bethlehem and in all that region who were two years old or under, according to the time which he had ascertained from the wise men.
Herod had worked out how old the child would have been. Age of the child fits in with the Wise Men’s journey.
This fits with our secular knowledge of Herod – he was a nutcase. Numbers 24:18 says that “Edom shall be dispossessed”. This is why Herod is so worried.
17 Then was fulfilled what was spoken by the prophet Jeremiah:
18 “A voice was heard in Ramah,
wailing and loud lamentation,
Rachel weeping for her children;
she refused to be consoled,
because they were no more.”
Prophecy fulfillment.
The Return from Egypt
19 But when Herod died, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt, saying, 20 “Rise, take the child and his mother, and go to the land of Israel, for those who sought the child’s life are dead.” 21 And he rose and took the child and his mother, and went to the land of Israel.
Joseph is obedient…again.
Jesus, like the people of Israel seeks safety in Egypt.
22 But when he heard that Archela′us reigned over Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there, and being warned in a dream he withdrew to the district of Galilee.
Archelaus was as nuts as his dad.
23 And he went and dwelt in a city called Nazareth, that what was spoken by the prophets might be fulfilled, “He shall be called a Nazarene.”
Nazarite vow. Numbers 6. Gave up wine. Never touched anything unclean, especially the dead. Jesus drank wine and touched the unclean and dead. Isaiah 11:1. Branch. In Isaiah 11:2 – the spirit of the lord shall rest upon him. Coming up next…