(1:1-17) "The book of the generation of Jesus Christ"
The gospel of Matthew begins with a boring genealogy like that we are told to avoid in 1 Tim.1:4
("Neither give heed to fables and endless genealogies") and Titus 3:9 ("Avoid foolish questions and genealogies").
(1:3) "Judas begat Phares ... of Thamar." Judah "went in unto" his daughter-in-law,
Tamar, who was disguised as a prostitute. She conceived and
bore Pharez, an ancestor of Jesus. (Gen.38:2-29)
It's a good thing it was more than ten generations ago. Otherwise Jesus could not "enter into the congregation of the
Lord." (Dt.23:2)
(1:6-17)
(1:6-16) "David the king begat Solomon." There are 28 generations listed from David to
Jesus in Matthew's genealogy, while Luke's (3:23-31)
has 43. Except for David at one end and Jesus at the other, there are only three names in the
two lists that are the same.
The Genealogy of Jesus
From which of David's sons was Jesus descended?
(1:9) "Ozias begat Joatham." 1 Chr.3:11-12
lists three generations between Osiah and Jotham (Joash, Amaziah, and Azariah), but Matthew omits
all three.
Matthew vs 1 Chronicles genealogies of Jesus
(1:11) "Josias begat Jechonias."
Was Jeconiah the son or the grandson of Josiah?
(1:12) "Jechonias begat Salathiel and Salathiel begat Zorobabel."
Did Jeconiah have any children?
Who was Zerubbabel's father?
(1:16) "Jacob begat Joseph."
Matthew vs Luke genealogies of Jesus
Who was Jesus' paternal grandfather?
(1:17) "From David until the
carrying away into Babylon are fourteen generations."
Matthew vs. 1 Chronicles genealogies
How many generations from Jesus to Abraham?
(1:18) "When ... Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came together,
she was found with child of the Holy Ghost." After listing the genealogy of Jesus, Matthew
tells us that Joseph was not Jesus' father after all, which of course makes the
entire genealogy meaningless. The Holy Ghost, not Joseph, was the one who
impregnated Mary, contradicting many
scriptures which clearly state that Joseph was the father of Jesus.
Was Joseph the father of Jesus?
(1:19) "Joseph ... being a just man."
Has there ever been a just person?
(1:23) "A virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son,
and they shall call his name Emmanuel" The prophecy given in Is.7:14 referred not to a virgin but to a young
woman, living at the time of the prophecy. And Jesus, of course, was called
Jesus -- and is not called Emmanuel in any other verse in the New Testament.
(1:25) "Knew her not till" Many Christians believe that Mary was
always a virgin, but these verses say that she and Joseph "came together" after the birth of Jesus, their "firstborn son."