THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO
ST MATTHEW
CHAPTER 1
Christ is born of Mary—She conceives by the power of the Holy Ghost—Our Lord is named Jesus. [ Matthew is a book, it's the first one of the gospels to appear. Matthew seems to have been written to a Jewish Christian audience who is in some tension or had recently split with the synagogue. So one of the things that Matthew is trying to do is to, this is a really important to him, is to show that Jesus is the fulfillment of prophecy in the Old Testament. Scholars think it's probably not the first one to be written. Probably Mark is the first of the gospels to be written. But Matthew seems to be focused on helping readers understand that carpenter from Nazareth is indeed the Messiah that they've been waiting for. Matthew was a Jewish publican, or tax collector, whom Jesus called as one of His Apostles (see Matthew 10:3; see also Bible dictionary, “Publicans”). Matthew wrote his Gospel mainly to fellow Jews; therefore, he chose to emphasize Old Testament prophecies about the Messiah that were fulfilled through Jesus’s life and ministry. So you might think about writing a gospel as a project with a purpose to it, and you might even think about it as a problem solver. What problem is it that the Gospel of Matthew has to solve? And one way to think about that is you have the problem of helping a Jewish audience who's anticipating a capital M Messiah to deliver them from oppression and now you're trying to convince them that that person is a carpenter from a backwater place. It's not what they had expected. Matthew builds his case for Jesus being that Messiah. And one way he does it as you know, is to feature prominent prophecies from the Jewish scriptures, from the Hebrew Bible of the coming Messiah and then show how Jesus fulfills those. He is the fulfillment of Isaiah's prophecy of Emmanuel. fulfillment of various prophecies from the Old Testament. He even in the genealogy that he gives us for Jesus has this way of signaling that Jesus is the fulfillment of the king that will sit on David's throne forever. He's the descendant of Abraham. And that's different from what Luke's up to. He's the Matthew that was known before his conversion as Levi, son of Alphaeus (Mark 2:14). He was a tax gatherer at Capernaum, probably in the service of Herod Antipas, in whose tetrarchy Capernaum was. soon after his call he gave a feast to his old associates (Matt. 9:9–13; Mark 2:14–17; Luke 5:27–32) at which the Lord was present, and was in consequence blamed by the Pharisees. Matthew was probably a thorough Jew with a wide knowledge of the Old Testament scriptures and able to see in every detail of the Lord’s life the fulfillment of prophecy. His Gospel (see Gospels) was written for the use of Jewish persons in Palestine and uses many quotations from the Old Testament. His chief object is to show that Jesus is the Messiah of whom the prophets spoke. He also emphasizes that Jesus is the King and Judge of men. His Gospel was probably written in Aramaic but is known to us by a Greek translation. Of the Apostle’s later life little is known for certain. A tradition asserts that he died a martyr’s death. ]
1 THE book of the generation [ Lineage or genealogy. ] of Jesus Christ, the son of [ Was a descendant of. ] David, the son [ Was a descendant of. ] of Abraham. [ For an account of the exact lineage of the Savior see Luke 3:23-38 Since Joseph and Mary were cousins therefore Josephs genealogy is essentially Mary's and therefore the Savior's See New Testament Student Manual P.22. ]
2 Abraham begat [ Was the father of. ] Isaac; and Isaac begat Jacob; and Jacob begat Judas [ Or Judah - see Genesis 29:35. ] and his brethren;
5 And Salmon begat Booz [ Ruth's husband see Ruth 4:13 Here as in other names found here the names are different from the names found in the Old Testament. Why? because these are using the Greek versions of the names and the old Testament uses the Hebrew spelling of the names. ] of Rachab; and Booz begat Obed of Ruth; and Obed begat Jesse; [ King David's father. ]
6 And Jesse begat David the king; and David the king begat solomon of her [ Bathsheba. Matthew has his gospel, it's a very patriarchal genealogy, which we would expect, except that there are four women in it, which is totally unexpected. Ruth, Tamar, Rahab, and the wife of Uriah, who is Bathsheba. All four of these, Gentile women. So at least at some level it's saying, "Look, Jesus comes through the lineage that we would expect through David and Abraham, but we wouldn't have Jesus, we wouldn't have the Messiah without the influence of women, gentile women." So if they're part of the beginning of Christianity, then surely they should be allowed to be a part of the church. So at the time of Paul, the question among the Jews is kind of do Gentiles belong in the church? But this is something that threatens to split the church in two, between Jewish Christians and gentile Christians, and it's something that Paul is really struggling with. So that's going to be an important thing. He's saying to the Jewish audience, "Gentiles belong in this as well, and we should welcome them into it." He supports this fact with the idea of these gentile women, who if they're part of the beginning of Christianity, then surely they should be allowed to be a part of the church. ] that had been the wife of Urias;
12 And after they were brought to Babylon, Jechonias begat Salathiel; and Salathiel begat Zorobabel;
16 And Jacob begat Joseph the husband
of Mary, [ Note that Joseph is presented as the husband of Mary
and not the father of Jesus.] of whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ. [ Greek meaning "Anointed One" . The JST adds the phrase "as the prophets have written, who is called Christ" It is interesting to note that while Joseph was not the Saviors real father; His stepfather or his father of record was the legal successor to the crown; if the romans were not in power - Jesus the Christ pg 87. ]
17 so all the generations from Abraham to David are fourteen
generations; and from David until the carrying away into Babylon are fourteen
generations; and from the carrying away into Babylon unto Christ are fourteen generations.
[ In other words every 14 generations something important happens to Israel. ]
18 ¶ Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise: [ Or this is how it happened. ] When as his mother Mary was espoused [ Or engaged; this period was typically 1 year in length, they were legally bound to each other, but could not consummate the marriage] to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Ghost.
19 Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, [ "dikaiosune" or righteous. Fair, honest and strict in keeping the commandments of God. If know from Lukes account that Mary was highly favored at a young age 11-14 so from Elder McConkie we learn that this favor came from the pre-existence. He Jospeh is righteousness suggesting that even though this was undoubtedly an arranged marriage, God had interceeded into the arrangement they were equally yoked together spiritually, and that makes snse as God wanted his son raised by a righteous man as well as a righteous woman. We see that he is righteous as displaied by the fact that he is also receiving dreams and revealations. See vs 24. ] and not willing to make her a public example,
[ The point of Law is defined in Duet. 22:13-27. If Joseph were to have exposed her it would protect his reputation; and as a result Mary would have been public humiliation and possible stoned to death. ] was minded to put her away privily. [ Thus avioding the public humiliation and danger ]
20 But while he thought on these things, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that [ The child ] which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost. [ see Luke 1:35 ]
21 And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call
his name JESUS: for
he shall save his
people from their sins. [ Paraphrase of Isaiah's
statements Isa. 43:24-25, Isa. 53:11. Why is it important that Jesus had Mary as a mother, a mortal and God as a father? If we were to take out the fact that God was Jesus' father and just admit that Joseph was it, then my first thought, well, what would that mean to Christ’s atoning sacrifice? If God isn't his father, the atonement doesn't work. Then, I went next step further and then thought, well, what happens if we took Mary out of the equation? The atonement of Jesus Christ also wouldn't work. I don't think we often think about it that way, but there's part of Jesus being mortal. Why is it important that Jesus had Mary as a mother, a mortal and God as a father? If we were to take out the fact that God was Jesus' father and just admit that Joseph was it, then my first thought, well, what would that mean to Christ’s atoning sacrifice? If God isn't his father, the atonement doesn't work. Then, I went next step further and then thought, well, what happens if we took Mary out of the equation? The atonement of Jesus Christ also wouldn't work. I don't think we often think about it that way, but there's part of Jesus being mortal. ]
22 Now all this was done, that it might be fulfilled [ Isaiah prophecy Isaiah 7:14. Matthew also seems to be writing to address another question or concern that some in Judaism seem to be asking. Which is, where is this God who made a covenant with us? He promised that if we made a covenant that we would be His people, that we would be a treasured nation to Him. He promised that He would go before us with our enemies and fight our battles and be our divine warrior. So what happened? How did we get overtaken by the Greeks and now the Romans, where is God? Why isn't he fighting our battles for us now? Has he abandoned us? Is he really there? Part of Matthew's answer to this is, you better believe it. When the angel is speaking to Joseph, he's going to quote a passage from Isaiah chapter 7:14, and we're all familiar with this. Now this is done that might be fulfilled, which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet Isaiah saying, "Behold a virgin shall be with child and shall bring forth a son and they shall call his name Emmanuel." Which is being interpreted, "God is with us." So Matthew is writing his gospel, at least in part to say, "God has not abandoned His people and the evidence that He has not abandoned his people is that He sent His son, Jesus Christ." ] which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying,
23 Behold, a virgin shall be with child, [ Conception was a miracle. ] and shall bring forth a son, [ Jesus Christ the son of God will acquire his mortal body just as every other mortal does through the process of birth. ] and they shall call his name Emmanuel, [He shall be called la-wnm[ IM-MENU-EL; literally, The STRONG GOD WITH US or God is with us. some versions have it editions have la wnm[ immanu El, God with us. There is a signifigance to the use of "EL" according to strongs dictionary the use of "El" in a name means "god, god-like one, mighty one". Hence it is used in names like Nathanel...to show god like qualities. The "Im" is an contraction of "I am". Notice that "Eloh'im" (God) is the inverse in spelling of "Immanuel" as the "El" is at the front on one and at the end of the other and the "Im" is swapped in either case. Two different individuals very much the same in character and purpose. see also Isa 7:14 ] which being interpreted is, God with us.
24 Then Joseph being raised from sleep did as the angel of the Lord had bidden him, and took unto him his wife:
[ This was most likely not a pleasant thing for Joseph to do; but none the less he went forward and did as he was instructed to do, and married Mary. Elder Holland talked about Joseph once in a talk around 1995, called Always Remember Him. And he talked about certain things that we could think about during the sacrament. And Elder Holland said something like this, we could think of Jesus's unpretentious father and we could be reminded that quiet unpretentious people have moved this work forward from the beginning. And then Elder Holland said, "If you feel like you are serving almost anonymously, so did one of the best men who ever lived," about Joseph. ]
25 And knew her not [ He had not had sexual relations with her; hence she was born of a virgin. ] till she had brought forth her firstborn son: and he called his name JESUS.[ Joseph and Mary went on to have at least six children See Mark 6:3 the Greek text suggests that Jesus actually had 3 sisters and 4 brothers. ]