I. 2 -- Joseph, Son of David, Son of Abraham
Matthew 1 clearly asserts the virginal conception and
divine origin of Jesus, "God with us," "of the Holy Spirit"
(Mt 1:18,20,23). The principal concern, however, is to explain Jesus'
human origin to both Jews and gentiles. The very first verse states the
purpose of the two chapters: "The book of the origin of Jesus Christ, the son of
David, the son of Abraham" (Mt 1:1).
Jews are shown that the Son of God is the Messiah promised to the
royal line of David. Chapter 1 demonstrates this through the genealogy of
Joseph, his legal father. Chapter 2 confirms it by the geography of his birth in
Bethlehem, the town of David, even though he was raised in Nazareth.
With respect to gentiles, not always fully accepted by the Jewish
Christian community, there is the reminder that the Messiah is also "the son of
Abraham," who inherited God's promises for all. "I tell you, many will come from
east and west and sit at table with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of
heaven, while the sons of the kingdom will be thrown into the outer darkness"
(Mt 8:11-12). Matthew 1 breaks protocol to include gentiles in the
genealogy. In Matthew 2 the gentile magi search for the newborn king to adore
him, while the religious leaders of Jerusalem show no interest in seeking him
and actually become accomplices of Herod's plot to kill him.
The genealogy that follows the opening verse does not totally
agree with that of Luke 3. In fact, even the name of Joseph's father differs in
the two: Jacob (Mt 1:16) or Heli (Lk 3:23), although their
fathers' names are similar, Matthan and Matthat respectively. There is clearly a
certain artificiality in Matthew's presentation of the genealogy in three groups
of fourteen: "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"
(Mt 1:17). It was common practice at the time to allow certain
inclusions or exclusions to better serve the purpose of the writings. This
purpose would be somewhat different for the different audiences to which Matthew
and Luke were writing. Since Matthew is so concerned to draw parallels between
the New and Old Testament Josephs, it is not surprising that their fathers are
both "Jacob," a name used only of the patriarch throughout the whole of
Scripture. There is no discrepancy whatsoever regarding Jesus' Davidic descent,
nor any room to doubt the historicity of Joseph, his legal father, who belongs
to the substance of the tradition shared by the independent sources of Luke and
John.
From the time of King David, who lived a millennium before Christ,
God's covenant with his chosen people was made through the king of Israel,
anointed by God as shepherd of Israel, heir of the promises made to Abraham, and
unifier of all the tribes into one people. When David decided to build a temple,
God promised him a descendent, a son of God, who would establish his reign
forever (2 Sam 7:12-16). Not too long after David's reign, the kingdom
was divided and eventually it crumbled, but the messianic hope in the promise of
the promised new son of David did not leave the people. The New Testament
teaches in many places that Jesus is the "Son of David" fulfilling that promise,
and establishing his Church as the new Israel for all peoples of the earth. More
than any other, Matthew's Gospel emphasizes the title "Son of David"
(Mt 9:27; 12:23; 15:22; 20:30,31; 21:9,15; 22:41-45). His very first
task, then, is to begin his Gospel by showing how Jesus is of the royal line of
David in accord with the promise.
Matthew's genealogy thus revolves around David, whose name occurs
in the first verse (Mt 1:1), ends the first and begins the second of
the three divisions (Mt 1:6-7), and is repeated in the concluding
summary (Mt 1:17). This summary verse makes a point of repeating that
the number of generations in each of the three parts is fourteen, a number which
results from taking the sum of the numerical position of the Hebrew alphabet of
DWD (4+6+4), the consonants for "David." David is the only one given the title
"the king" (Mt 1:6).
The genealogy almost tediously repeats the formula A begot B, and
B begot C, down to the very end when the pattern is clearly interrupted. Joseph
does not beget Jesus, but is the husband of Mary of whom Jesus "was begotten."
Other irregularities, such as the inclusion of four women in the genealogy help
prepare for this most significant, final irregularity. This interruption in the
pattern is explained by the following verses 18-25, the story of Joseph's
vocation, which is strictly connected to the genealogy. The introductory verses
(Mt 1:1,18) to both the genealogy and this following section contain
the same Greek noun génesis "origin." The connection has often been
obscured, since this same noun has often been translated as "genealogy" or
something similar in verse 1, and as "birth" in verse 18. In the passage on
Joseph's vocation, the angel of the Lord addresses Joseph as the "son of David"
(Mt 1:20) and clarifies the mysterious verse 16, by showing how one
born of the Holy Spirit is also the Son of David through Joseph, and thereby
qualifies to be the promised Messiah.
In Jewish practice, biological fatherhood was not the only way to
pass on genealogical descent, since adoptive fatherhood was no less valid.
Matthew presents Joseph as the legal father who transmits Davidic descent
without being the biological father. Joseph's fatherhood is much more than
"adoptive," however, since he was already betrothed to Mary in a juridically
binding manner at the time of the miraculous conception. By taking Mary into his
home before Jesus' birth, Joseph was merely continuing with the normal final
phase of Jewish marriage. The child he accepted as his own at the angel's
bidding was not born to any other human father. Conceived not by any adulterous
affair, but by the Holy Spirit, Jesus is certainly the legitimate offspring of
Joseph's legitimate wife. Joseph is his only possible human father, and he is
legally so because he is Mary's husband: "Jacob begot Joseph, the husband of
Mary, of whom Jesus was born, who is called Christ" (Mt 1:16). Joseph
is called to name the child, since this is a natural consequence of continuing
the marriage and forming a household with his pregnant wife. Jesus the Christ,
the divinely conceived Savior, can be recognized as the promised Son of David
because Joseph is son of David.
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