Matthew 1 Commentary
Please choose a passage:
Matthew 1:1
Matthew begins his Gospel account by sharing the genealogy of Jesus, the Messiah. By beginning with Abraham, Matthew is showing how Jesus is the fulfillment of key provisions of God’s covenant with Abraham.
Matthew 1:2-3a
Matthew shares the genealogy of Jesus from Abraham to King David. And then continues through the line of kings with David’s son, Solomon.
Matthew 1:3b-4
Matthew cites the generations between Perez, who lived in Canaan prior to moving to Egypt, and Nahshon who was numbered in those coming out of Egypt, naming some but omitting most.
Matthew 1:5a
Matthew continues the genealogy of Jesus and includes another Gentile woman.
Matthew 1:5b
Matthew continues the genealogy and includes mention of a third Gentile woman.
Matthew 1:6a
Matthew completes his first major section of the genealogy with King David.
Matthew 1:6b-8
In Matthew 1:6-8 Matthew continues the genealogy of Jesus from David through the succession of kings from Solomon to Jeconiah whose reign ended with the Babylonian exile. Matthew is establishing Jesus’ credentials as “King of the Jews.”
Matthew 1:9-10
In Matthew 1:9-10 Matthew continues the genealogy of Jesus from David through the succession of kings from Solomon to Jeconiah whose reign ended with the Babylonian exile.
Matthew 1:11
In Matthew 1:11 Matthew continues the genealogy of Jesus from David through the succession of kings from Solomon to Jeconiah whose reign ended with the Babylonian exile.
Matthew 1:12-16
Matthew concludes his genealogy of Jesus by covering the period from the Exile event to the birth of the Messiah. This section emphasizes Jesus’s role as the Messiah.
Matthew 1:17
After concluding his genealogy of Jesus, the Messiah, Matthew explains that he has divided it into three groups of fourteen. In Jewish tradition the number fourteen is associated with King David.
Matthew 1:18-19
Matthew tells his account of Jesus’s miraculous conception and birth. His description of these events demonstrate and emphasize the dual natures of Christ, who was fully God and fully human.
Matthew 1:20-21
An angel of the Lord comes to Joseph in a dream and reveals four unusual things: his betrothed has been faithful to him despite her pregnancy; the child within her was conceived by God’s Spirit; the Son she will bear is to be named ‘Jesus’; He is the Messiah, for He will save His people from their sins.
Matthew 1:22-25
Matthew connects the miraculous birth of Jesus with the prophecy from Isaiah and the theological wonder that Jesus is God. After his genealogy and the descriptions of miracles and angelic dreams, Matthew rather plainly states the incredible, historical, wondrous fact that Jesus was born.
Additional Resources
The Gospel of Matthew was written to demonstrate to the Jews of Jesus, the Messiah’s generation that He was indeed the Christ. Matthew thematically substantiates the Messianic identity of Jesus beginning with the genealogy of Jesus, which ran from Abraham, the father of Israel’s people through King David who was promised to have a son who would be on Israel’s throne forever. Throughout his Gospel account Matthew makes use of numerous prophecies both explicitly stated and by way of subtle allusion to support his thesis. Matthew further makes use of parallel events in Jesus’s life to those of Messianic figures from the Old Testament (Moses, Joseph, David, etc.) to bolster his argument.
Jesus came to offer the Jews the chance to participate in the inauguration of the Messianic Kingdom. To do this, they would have to receive and follow Him as their Messiah. Jesus’s message was “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Matthew 4:17). Ultimately, they rejected Him as their Messiah and condemned Jesus to death by crucifixion. The Jews’ rejection of the Messiah opened the door for Gentiles to enter the kingdom (Matthew 8:11-12, 22:1-10). Matthew’s Gospel is therefore a call for the Jews repent of their murder of Jesus and to embrace Him for the divine Messiah He is.
Matthew shows how their rejection of Him and His brutal death was predicted not only by Jesus Himself, but also was foretold in the Jewish scriptures of the Messiah.
The main proof that Jesus was the Messiah was “the sign of Jonah” (Matthew 12:39, 16:4). This was Jesus’s death and resurrection from the dead. “Just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the sea monster, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth” (Matthew 12:40).
Because Matthew’s Gospel was written to people who were already members of God’s eternal family by virtue of their faith in God’s promise to send the Messiah, Matthew emphasizes the “reward of eternal life” (aka “The Prize of Eternal Life”) rather than “the Gift of Eternal Life”. In other words, Matthew’s Gospel focuses on how to “enter the kingdom” rather than how to “be born again”.
Matthew’s Gospel demonstrates how Jesus came to fulfill the law and open a way for God’s people to participate in the Messianic kingdom if they would follow His example of worshiping God from the heart by forgiving and serving others.
For “the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many” (Matthew 20:28). If we have faith to follow the example set forth by the resurrected Messiah, whom all authority on heaven and earth has been granted (Matthew 28:18) and take up our cross for His sake (Matthew 16:24-25), then we will become great in His kingdom (Matthew 20:26).
Finally, Matthew provides extensive samples of Jesus’s teachings including “the Sermon on the Mount”, “the Little Commission”, and “the Olivet Discourse” and many parables, alongside accounts of numerous miracles and wonders, personal moments with His twelve disciples, interactions with seekers, and increasingly as his Gospel account progresses: challenges and confrontations with His adversaries – the Pharisees, Scribes, and Priests.
In this chapter, Matthew identifies Jesus as the Jewish Messiah and the true King of Israel descending from the line of David. He sets forth these political themes with a genealogy of Jesus, starting from Abraham. Matthew also mentions details of Jesus’s miraculous birth, highlighting His divinity, even as he was born of Mary.
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