When I first became a Christian, one of the first books I read was the Gospel of Matthew. I was unacquainted with the Bible in general and was surprised to discover that the first book of the New Testament started with a list of names that seemed to have no significance whatsoever (Matt. 1:1–17). Like many first-time readers of the Bible, I wondered what purpose this genealogy could serve.
What Genealogies Are Not
One common understanding of genealogies is that they are useful in determining the age of the earth. In fact, this was the dominant view that I heard when I asked friends or other Christians about them. Famously, the seventeenth century Archbishop James Ussher once claimed that the world is 6,000 years old based on the genealogies of Scripture. Similar views of genealogies continue to spark debates around creation and typically sort people into camps of old earth and new earth creationism.
However, to use genealogies merely as tools to determine the age of the earth is like trying to determine whether or not George Washington wore Adidas or Nike. That is to say, it is an anachronistic question. It is taking a question that we are concerned about, reading it back into the Bible and expecting an answer.
Many biblical genealogies, including Matthew’s, are intentionally selective in highlighting which biblical figures they will include. In fact, Christian interpreters in the past like Hilary of Poitiers (310–368 AD) noted Matthew’s exclusion of King Ahab’s household from Jesus’ lineage. He writes:
It was done in this way because Joram begot Ahaziah from a pagan woman, that is, from the household of Ahab, and it was declared by the prophet that not until the fourth generation would anyone from the household of Ahab sit on the throne of the kingdom of Israel.
In other words, Matthew had biblical and theological reasons to exclude Ahab and his household from Jesus’ family tree. Thus, if we are not aware of these theological and biblical nuances, we can be prone to misunderstanding the purpose of genealogies as a whole.
What Is the Purpose of Matthew's Genealogy?
The first purpose of Matthew's genealogy is to establish the historicity of God's action in the world. Unlike other world religions, Christianity is unique in that it makes very concrete historical claims. The central person of Christianity, Jesus, was the descendant of actual historical figures who lived in the past. Jesus was a man who was born from the line of David and his ancestry could be traced all the way back to Abraham (Matt. 1:1). Matthew begins his gospel with a genealogy to highlight the historical nature of Jesus.
Second, Matthew's genealogy is meant to show Jesus as the fulfillment of God's promises to his people in the past. When God first called Abraham, he promised that through his offspring the nations would be blessed (Gen. 12:1–3). That is why Matthew's genealogy begins by identifying Jesus as the son of Abraham (Matt. 1:1).
Jesus was the ultimate fulfillment of God's promise. It is through faith in Jesus that a person is called a child of Abraham and becomes a member of Abraham's family by faith (Gal. 3:7–9, 29). It is Jesus who blesses all nations through faith by giving them every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places (Eph. 1:3).
What is more, Jesus is also described as the son of David. Like Abraham, God made special covenant promises to David—namely, that David would have a son who would be king of God’s eternal kingdom (2 Sam. 7:12–16). While David was a man after God's own heart, a promised king was still to come. Jesus is the king of the kingdom of God. He is the eternal king who sits enthroned at God's right hand and rules over all things in heaven and on earth (Matt. 28:18).
Third, Matthew's genealogy is intended to demonstrate the faithfulness of God. Even through the sin, doubt and constant rebellion from God's people recounted throughout the Old Testament, Matthew's genealogy demonstrates that God is faithful to his promise in spite of his people's unfaithfulness (2 Tim. 2:13). Through exile and hardship, God still worked through broken and sinful people to make good on his promise to send his Christ and deliverer to save his people from their sins (Matt. 1:21).
That is what treatments of genealogies today typically miss. When we become so preoccupied with having the Bible answer modern questions or address current controversies, we become blind to the original question that the genealogy intended to address. The real question that Matthew's genealogy addresses is this: Is God faithful? And the answer is, yes (Lam. 3:22–23). God is faithful and good even in a world that is filled with evil, darkness and sin.
Genealogies used to determine the age of the earth attempt to give us scientific data. But Matthew's genealogy, properly understood, gives us good news of a gracious God—one who loves us, pursues us, and works through us even when we are sinful (Rom. 5:8). Matthew’s genealogy ultimately points us to this: God has sent his Son, our only Savior, to give us eternal hope.
