“In all, then, there were fourteen generations from Abraham to David, fourteen from David to the exile to Babylon, and fourteen from the exile to the Christ.”MATTHEW 1:17 · BSB · READ MATTHEW 1:1–17 →
God doesn't need a clean family tree to bring a perfect Savior. He writes straight with crooked lines.
Most of us skip genealogies. Matthew opens his Gospel with one on purpose. It is the first thing he wants you to know about Jesus: He comes from somewhere, and that somewhere is a mess God redeemed.
The list names the scandals
MATTHEW 1:3–6 →Ancient genealogies usually listed fathers. Matthew includes four women, and each carries a story people would rather forget. He even names David's sin by calling Bathsheba “Uriah's wife.”
- Tamar: deception and injustice (Genesis 38).
- Rahab: a Canaanite who hid Israel's spies (Joshua 2).
- Ruth: a Moabite, from an enemy nation.
- Uriah's wife: David's sin is named, not hidden.
The list counts the exile
MATTHEW 1:11–12 →The second set of fourteen ends at the exile to Babylon, the lowest point in Israel's history. Matthew counts it anyway. Defeat, loss and exile are inside the line God was drawing toward Jesus.
- Your Babylon is not outside God's story.
- God's promises outlive seasons that look like the end.
The list arrives at Christ
MATTHEW 1:16–17 →Three sets of fourteen, forty-two generations, and the line lands on Jesus, who is called Christ. Every generation was moving toward Him, whether it knew it or not.
- History is not random. It has a center.
- The structure is deliberate. Matthew wants us to see God's ordering hand.
Your name can be added
JOHN 1:12 →Jesus came through a broken family line so He could bring broken people into God's family. To all who receive Him, He gives the right to become children of God.
- Adoption, not achievement.
- Your past is not the final word on your future.
- Write down three seasons you'd rather forget, and ask God to show you where He was in each.
- Read the book of Ruth this week. It's only four chapters.
- Thank God for one person in your own story who pointed you to Him.
- Why do you think Matthew included these four women?
- What season of your life feels like “Babylon”?
- How does it change you to know your story is moving toward Christ?
Father, You wrote Jesus into a family full of failures and foreigners. Write me into Your family too. Take the parts of my story I'm ashamed of and make them point to Your Son. Amen.