NEW TESTAMENT CONTEXTUAL COMMENTARY

by Dr. Robert R. Seyda

GOSPEL OF MATTHEW

CHAPTER ONE

Part I (con’t)

We must also take note that man can only reproduce through natural means, but God transcends these human limits. Did He not make Adam out of the earth’s dust? Could He then not also send His Son as a human being with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob as forefathers by blood and by prophecy? And to those who believe, hasn’t He given them power through the Spirit to become the children of God? To modern authors, this genealogy does not contain the catchy phraseology so typical of contemporary works and which they claim is necessary to hold the reader’s interest. And rightly so, because this writer’s account is not a novel, but the advent of the greatest story every written. Over the centuries there have been many critics concerning this genealogy, but we must remember that the author was tracing the human side of Jesus’ family, not the divine. Therefore, while knowing who fathered whom was needed, it is more important to know that it was the heavenly Father through the Holy Spirit who brought His Son into the world, and this spiritual genealogy is the most significant. Not only for Jesus, but for all those who would eventually be called the children of God. As a matter of fact, one Jewish writer who devoted his learning to publishing anti-Christian works of Jewish authors, traveled long distances to gather his material. He became convinced that one medieval polemic work titled: “Toledot Yeshu,”¹ made Jews guilty of blaspheming Jesus. So he implored them to restrain their fellow Jews from mocking Jesus, Mary, the cross, the mass, and Christian teachings.² But it would take two world wars before Christians worldwide would deplore the treatment of Jews, and tone down the animosity on both sides. But one thing both Jews and Christians agreed to was that the Messiah would come through the family of David. One respected Rabbi said: “In the generation when the son of David [i.e., the Messiah] will come, scholars will be few in number, and as for the rest, their eyes will be blurred by sorrow and grief.”³ Jewish literature also agrees with Matthew’s lineage by recognizing: “…there are two women from whom come king David, and king Solomon, and King Messiah; and these two are Tamar and Ruth.”⁴ The acknowledgment of the lineage of Jesus is also supported by Jewish Messianic thinkers who say: “From Joseph in Egypt we infer that success and prosperity in life accrue sooner or later to everyone who observes the rite of the covenant and keeps himself pure and chaste. Our thinking is confirmed by the example of Boaz, concerning whom we read [said to Ruth], ‘As the Lord lives, lie down until the morning.’⁵ The Tempter wished to lead Boaz into sin; but faithful and true to his oath, he resisted the temptation and thus kept pure the sign of the covenant. Therefore, he was honored by fathering those whose offspring became kings and rulers over all other kings, and also of becoming the ancestral forefathers of King Messiah who is called by the name of the Holy One.”⁶ The mention of Boaz ushers in another well-known individual, his mother, the prostitute named Rahab who helped Joshua conquer Jericho. Because of her cooperation she and her relatives were saved from destruction. Tradition has it that she ended up becoming the wife of one of Joshua’s generals named Salmon.⁷ The Jews taught: “Aminadab fathered Nahshon, who was the head of the household of the tribe of Judah, and Nahshon then fathered Salmon the Righteous.⁸ He is the Salmon of Bethlehem of Judah, and Netophah, whose sons abolished the guards which the wicked Jeroboam had set over the highways. They served their father, and were reassuring children, like balm”.⁹ Not only did Rahab conceive Boaz, but Jewish literature tells us: “Eight prophets who were also priests were descended from Rahab the harlot, namely, Neriah, Baruch, Serayah, Mahseyah, Jeremiah, Hilkiah, Hanamel and Shallum.’ Rabbi Judah says: Hulda the prophetess was also one of the descendants of Rahab the harlot. We know this because it is written here ‘the son of Tikvah’ and it is written elsewhere, in connection with Rahab, ‘the family line of the scarlet thread!’”¹⁰ That scarlet thread was the sign given to Rahab for her to display on her apartment window so that the troops would pass by her apartment and not destroy it or anyone inside. How amazing that Jesus was a part of the family line known as the “scarlet thread,” because it too is a symbol of His precious blood that He blessed at His last meal with the disciples, and which is the cleansing reservoir that washes away all our sins and makes us clean in heart and mind, as well as the powerful source that heals our diseases through His wounds. Based on this information, we need not cringe when we mention the harlot Rahab as one of Jesus’ notable ancestors. Also, as much as the Jews detested men marrying outside the Israelite bloodline, even they admit that Ruth, who became Boaz’s wife, was an exceptional outsider as well. Jewish writers tell us: “Elimelech, the husband of Naomi, died, and she was left a widow, and her two sons were left orphans. They transgressed the decree of the Word of the Lord and took foreign wives for themselves, from the daughters of Moab. The name of the one was Orpah, and the name of the second was Ruth, the daughter of Eglon the king of Moab, and they lived there for a period of about ten years.”¹¹ However, some Rabbis point out: “In the exercise of His justice God’s reluctance to take human life is shown also in His treatment of Mahlon and Chilion, for first their horses died, and then their camels and their donkeys died, after that their father died.”¹² This fact of Ruth being a Moabite princess is confirmed by later writers: “For as a reward for the forty-two sacrifices offered up by Balak, he was privileged that Ruth should be his descendant; as Rabbi Jose ben Huna said: Ruth was the daughter of Eglon, the grandson of Balak, king of Moab.”¹³ It should also be noted here that another woman named Tamar was part of our Lord’s genealogy.¹⁴ One Jewish commentator surmised, that when Judah saw her, she “…appeared to be suitable as a wife, the daughter of a prominent person, a trader named Shua, who was known as a generous person,” it might be likely that Judah may have married her for her looks or as a possible door to her father Shua’s fortune.¹⁵ Another esteemed Jewish Rabbi sees the same connection by pointing out: “Judah saw there a daughter of a certain Canaanite,” which he mentions, “implies that he married her on account of her father.”¹⁶ This of course, went against the teachings of the patriarchs. So we see that Rahab,¹⁷ the well-known prostitute from Jericho, and Ruth, the Moabitess,¹⁸ were all Gentile women. This may help explain why Jesus called Saul of Tarsus to become His ambassador to the Gentiles, because they were such an integral part of His human heritage. The writer goes on to tell us that Obed was the father of Jesse, even though some Jewish scholars do not believe that Jesse was the immediate son of Obed, but part of the fourth generation after him; though no other sons are mentioned between them in the Book of Ruth. One Jewish historian lists them this way, “Boaz was apparently 300 years old when he fathered Obed and he died immediately after his union with Ruth. His father Salmon died when the Israelites entered the Land. But one Rabbi disagrees and explains in his commentary on Ruth, that these elders; Salmon, Boaz, Obed and Jesse, were still alive at David’s birth.”¹⁹ Therefore, Jesse is rightly placed among the forefathers of Christ, since the Messiah was to be a branch of his family tree, and is called the root of Jesse,²⁰ which words are interpreted as the Messiah by many of the Jewish scholars. As a matter of fact, Jewish theologians say: “There is a further allusion to this union of the spiritual nature with the human nature in these words: ‘Because as long as the son of Jesse lives on this earth,²¹ because divine life on the earth is only possible through the Messiah, the son of Jesse. He it is, who is master and lord over all, and from him humanity and individual life receive their nourishment and sustenance.”²² A Jewish prayer also reveals this thought: “Samuel prayed: ‘ Give us discernment, O LORD, to know Your ways, and cut away evil from our hearts we can reverence You, and forgive us so that we may be redeemed, and keep us far from suffering, and satisfy us in the pastures of Your land, and gather our far-flung brothers and sisters from the four corners of the earth, and let them who err from Your remedies for sin be disciplined, and lift up Your hand against the wicked , and let the righteous rejoice as they build Your city and establish the Temple and in their exaltation of the descendant of David Your servant and the preparation of a light for the son of Jesse Your Messiah; before we call may You answer; blessed art You, O LORD, who hears and answers prayer.”²³ Jewish men in many countries repeat this prayer every day of the year. But it has a familiar ring to the prayer our Lord taught His disciples, and may have been somewhat of an inspiration for our Master. As such, we should also pray and thank our heavenly Father that by way of His love, mercy and grace we too are included in the spiritual genealogy that we trace back to Him through His Son Jesus the Christ. So Matthew leaves no doubt the the Jewish people and leaders were ripe for the coming of the Messiah as a descendant of David. But few of them agreed on who He would be and how He would appear. So in their biases caused them to miss Him when He did arrive. When you look at the secular world today where hope abounds for a world leader that will bring all mankind together in peace and harmony, they too overlook the man from Galilee because He does not fit their mold.