MATTHEW

Chapter 1

Knowing where you are

going is more important
than knowing from whence
you came.

Context
Matthew, the tax collector turned Christ follower, was led of God to write the first
Quick Outline
of the four Gospels. His approach is to show his Jewish audience that Jesus Christ is
the fulfilment of the promised Messiah. To do so he begins this Gospel by tying the
genealogy of Christ to the father of Judaism, Abraham, right through the great king of I. Genealogy of Jesus 1:1-17
A. Abraham to David 1-6
the Jews, David. Jesus was not only a Jew but He also has the exclusive right to the
B. David to Captivity 6-11
throne of David as the rightful promised King and promised Savior of the world.
C. Captivity to Christ 12-17
Wether or not we accept this fact is a choice that each individual has to personally
make. We find Joseph struggling with this eternal truth. Weighed against all human
reason, he chose to believe the truth. In choosing to believe he received the great honor II. Josephs Choice 1:18-25
A. Supernatural Dilima 18
of being the earthly father of Jesus.
B. Natural Reaction 19
C. Supernatural Word 20-23
Analysis
D. Supernatural Birth 24-25
v1-17 Who is Jesus Christ? The genealogical record identifies who Jesus is. As
Matthew traces the 42 generations from Christ back to Abraham a wealth of
information emerges about His identity. As the son of David v1, Jesus is the promised
eternal king 2 Samuel 7:16. As the son of Abraham v1, Jesus is the promised blessing
that will bless all nations all of the world, Genesis 12:2-3. Jesus is also the fulfilment
of Gods promise through a tumultuous history of human failures, unfavorable
circumstances, national captivity, and the return into the land. In verse 16 Matthew
makes it clear that Jesus was virgin born with the intentional change to Mary, of
whom was born Jesus. There was no man on earth who can claim that they begat
Jesus because Jesus was conceived of the Holy Ghost. One last fact identifying Jesus
is the title Matthew ascribes to Him three times in these verses - Jesus is the Christ, the
anointed one of God, a New Testament equivalent for the Old Testament Messiah.
v18-25 What would you have done? Marriage is a very serious vow, not only in the
sight of God, but also as the basis of flourishing society. If you were engaged to unite
with Mary in holy matrimony and then found out she was with child, would you
respond as Joseph responded? He was willing to spare her the certainty of death and
public humiliation but more importantly he patiently thought on these things v20.
His patients gave him the opportunity to hear from God. Gods message brought
comfort and assurance to the heart of Joseph. God gave him something to do. He was
to take Mary to be his wife. God also gave him truth to know. God was supernaturally
at work within Mary, the childs name was to be JESUS, and the child is going to save
His people from their sins. Again, Matthew wants to make it obviously clear that Jesus
is the fulfilment of the prophecies of old. After accepting this truth Joseph did exactly
What God told him to do ensuring that JESUS was virgin born.

Words To Know
Jesus - Savior, Deliverer
Christ - anointed, Messiah
begat - procreate, bring forth
espoused - engagement
just - innocent, holy, righteous
privily - secretly
Emmanuel - God with us

Further Study
1. Write a one sentence
biography for each person
listen in the genealogy of
Christ.

Meaning
To fulfil one or two prophecies would be remarkable, but Jesus fulfilled all of the
prophecies relating to His first advent into the world. He is the Christ and the only 2. Find out how many years are
Savior of this world, a truth Joseph accepted and all mankind are challenged to accept. between the division of
generations given in verse 17.
Application
If Jesus is the Savior of the world then we should accept Him as our Savior and allow 3. Why is Joseph referred to as
being a just man?
Him to be the rightful King of our lives.