Building Jesus: Matthew 1:1-17

Matthew 1:1 - The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham

This undistinguished verse is the start of the New Testament. If you grew up in church, you know that Matthew starts with a fairly lengthy (but not comprehensive) genealogy of Christ, from Adam through Mary and Joseph. Reading through the list of names here isn't all that exciting, particularly if you don't look up the names, but I do think there are some interesting insights to be found.

I. The Genealogy Question
Looking at verse 1 in a couple different translations, I noticed that "genealogy" was sometimes translated differently, as “history” or “works.” Looking up the original word shows that both of these are legitimate translations, which suggests that Matthew 1:1 may be an introduction for more than just Chapter 1. If it is read as “works” or “history” instead of genealogy, it can be seen as an introduction for the entire book of Matthew, since the book itself tells the story of Christ.

Since I don't believe the ordering of the books of the New Testament was inspired, this next observation is primarily literary, but I found it interesting anyway: Taken even more broadly, Matthew 1:1 can be read as a forward to the entire New Testament. The only requirement is showing that the New Testament is structured around Christ. Broken down into a classical narrative structure, this is easily defended. I see the simplified structure of the New Testament thusly:

Exposition – Christ is born, political and spiritual settings established
Rising Action – Christ begins ministry, recruits disciples, makes enemies by shaking up status quo, Christ's triumphal entry into Jerusalem
Climax – Christ's enemies arrange to have him arrested, tried, and eventually crucified.
Falling Action – Christ rises from the dead, appears to disciples, ascends t Heaven to send the Holy Spirit to continue His work.
Denouement/Resolution – Christ's disciples spread the Gospel and recruit new followers, expanding Christ's doctrines into practical everyday life.

II. The Relationship Metaphor
While a few of the names in the list are notable, familiar even to non-Christians (Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the fathers of Israel; Rahab of Jericho, the first Gentile in the list, who protected Joshua's spies; Ruth and Boaz; several kings, including David, the man after God's own heart), but mixed in are several people of whom we know little to nothing--Salmon, Shealtiel, Zadok, Matthan, etc. In fact, their only importance in the narrative is that they are in Jesus' line, related to the dramatic center of the New Testament.

In the same way that these people acquire historical significance from their historical relationship to Christ, Christians acquire their spiritual significance from their spiritual relationship to Christ. Seen in this light, Christ's genealogy serves as a powerful metaphor for “the least of these”, those forgotten by the world who are nevertheless important, irreplaceable members of Christ's spiritual family.

This is already getting fairly long, so I'll finish up my analysis of Matthew 1 in my next post.