Gospels Part 065
Matthew’s genealogy of Jesus Christ’s legal lineage through Joseph shows another prophecy that He fulfilled.
Having covered Luke’s genealogy of Jesus through His mother Mary, let’s now look at Matthew’s legal genealogy of Jesus’ stepfather, Joseph, on page 2 of A Harmony of the Gospels: The Life, Ministry and Teachings of Jesus Christ.
Beginning in Matthew 1:1:
“The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the Son of David, the Son of Abraham . . .”
Matthew is primarily writing to a Jewish audience to prove that Jesus is the prophesied Messiah. Matthew states up front in verse 1 that Jesus is a descendant of both David and Abraham. Then he proves it from the genealogical records he gives.
Incidentally, historical sources state that the Jewish people of that day kept very detailed genealogical records, both in public and in private, and that they were stored in Jerusalem. Regrettably, those detailed records were lost when the Roman legions destroyed Jerusalem in A.D. 70. This is relevant because it’s possible that Matthew and Luke both accessed these records for their Gospels, or perhaps they got the information from the family records of Joseph and Mary. Portions of these genealogies appear in the biblical record as noted on page 2 of the Harmony of the Gospels.
This historical background is important because at the time Matthew and Luke wrote their Gospels, anyone who questioned these lineages could have gone to the public records in Jerusalem and verified the information firsthand. It was also common at that time for families to memorize their genealogies, so that also might have been the source for parts of the information Matthew and Luke recorded for us. Luke likely received some of his information from Mary, as one of the eyewitnesses he interviewed (Luke 1:2), so she could have provided genealogical information preserved for us.
We’ll continue with the account in Matthew 1:2-17, then come back for a closer look:
“Abraham was the father of Isaac, Isaac the father of Jacob, Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers, Judah the father of Perez and Zerah (by Tamar), Perez the father of Hezron, Hezron the father of Ram, Ram the father of Amminadab, Amminadab the father of Nahshon, Nahshon the father of Salmon, Salmon the father of Boaz (by Rahab), Boaz the father of Obed (by Ruth), Obed the father of Jesse, and Jesse the father of David the king.
“David was the father of Solomon (by the wife of Uriah), Solomon the father of Rehoboam, Rehoboam the father of Abijah, Abijah the father of Asa, Asa the father of Jehoshaphat, Jehoshaphat the father of Joram, Joram the father of Uzziah, Uzziah the father of Jotham, Jotham the father of Ahaz, Ahaz the father of Hezekiah, Hezekiah the father of Manasseh, Manasseh the father of Amon, Amon the father of Josiah, and Josiah the father of Jeconiah and his brothers, at the time of the deportation to Babylon.
“After the deportation to Babylon, Jeconiah became the father of Shealtiel, Shealtiel the father of Zerubbabel, Zerubbabel the father of Abiud, Abiud the father of Eliakim, Eliakim the father of Azor, Azor the father of Zadok, Zadok the father of Achim, Achim the father of Eliud, Eliud the father of Eleazar, Eleazar the father of Matthan, Matthan the father of Jacob, and Jacob the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary, by whom Jesus was born, who is called Christ.
“So all the generations from Abraham to David are fourteen generations, and from David to the deportation to Babylon, fourteen generations, and from the deportation to Babylon to Christ, fourteen generations” (New International Version).
Let’s pick up on one point here, reinforcing what we saw in Luke’s genealogy: Matthew 1:16 tells us,
“and Jacob [was] the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary, by whom Jesus was born, who is called Christ” (New English Translation [NET]).
Notice here that the wording changes from “X [was] the father of Y” to “and Jacob [was] the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary, by whom Jesus was born, who is called Christ.” This signals, as Luke does in his account, that Jesus was not conceived by a human father as the others in this list were. Matthew specifically points out that Joseph was “the husband of Mary, by whom Jesus was born, who is called Christ.”
Matthew does not say that Joseph was Jesus’ father, but only that Joseph was the husband of Mary, “by whom Jesus was born.” And as we’ll see shortly in the story flow, this is because Mary conceived through the Holy Spirit, not by Joseph. Both Matthew and Luke affirm here what they cover in much greater detail elsewhere in their Gospels.
Next time, we’ll look at some not-so-obvious points Matthew embeds in his genealogy.
© 2026 Scott Ashley. All rights reserved. Used with permission.
UYA Team | uya@ucg.org
United Young Adults (UYA) primarily serves the 18–32-year age group for the United Church of God. There are three main areas of contribution to the lives of the young adults: Promoting Spiritual Growth, Developing Meaningful Relationships and Making the Most of Your Talents. The Know Your Sword series is a daily expository message introducing God’s Word from a trusted perspective.
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Scott Ashley
Scott Ashley was managing editor of Beyond Today magazine, United Church of God booklets and its printed Bible Study Course until his retirement in 2023. He also pastored three congregations in Colorado for 10 years from 2011-2021. He and his wife, Connie, live near Denver, Colorado.
Mr. Ashley attended Ambassador College in Big Sandy, Texas, graduating in 1976 with a theology major and minors in journalism and speech. It was there that he first became interested in publishing, an industry in which he worked for 50 years.
During his career, he has worked for several publishing companies in various capacities. He was employed by the United Church of God from 1995-2023, overseeing the planning, writing, editing, reviewing and production of Beyond Today magazine, several dozen booklets/study guides and a Bible study course covering major biblical teachings. His special interests are the Bible, archaeology, biblical culture, history and the Middle East.
