Jun. 04, 2023
Overview and Introduction to Matthew and go through the genealogy with an explanation of why Matthew's genealogy differs from Luke's genealogy.
Matthew Lesson 1 Study Questions
1. Matthew is the most Jewish-centric of the four gospels. The
apostle regularly invoked the writings of the Old Testament
prophets in an effort to illustrate Jesus’s identity as Israel’s
long-awaited Messiah.
2. Matthew’s extensive connections between Jesus and the Old
Testament provide ample prophetic evidence for Jesus’s
ministry but also give contemporary readers a glimpse into
how first-century readers approached the Old Testament
with a Christ-centered mind-set.
3. Matthew wrote his account of Jesus’s ministry to show that
Jesus was and is indeed the King, Israel’s long-awaited
Messiah. He reflected this concern in his opening line, “The
record of the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah, the son of
David, the son of Abraham” (Matthew 1:1).
4. After enduring four hundred years of prophetic silence, God’s
people must have wondered whether or not He had deserted
them. After centuries of regular communication from God,
the people found themselves without a genuine prophet or
spokesman for God.
5. As we read through the pages of Matthew, not only do we
see Jesus Christ revealed as Israel’s King and Messiah, but
His coming to earth as God in the flesh reminds us of His
deep love for us.
6. The Son of David, the Son of Abraham: In this overview
of explaining the lineage of Jesus, Matthew clearly and
strongly connects him to some of the greatest men in the
history of the Old Testament. Matthew begins his account of
the life of Jesus Christ with the record of the lineage of
Jesus from the patriarch Abraham.
7. The Jewish flavor of the Gospel of Matthew makes for a
logical transition between the Old and New Testaments. For
these reasons, the early church placed it first in order
among the four gospel accounts.
8. the Gospel of Matthew also triumphantly ends with Jesus
commanding His followers to make disciples of all the
nations (Matthew 28:19-20). So, the Gospel of Matthew is
deeply rooted in Judaism, but at the same time is able to
look beyond; it sees the gospel itself as more than a
message for the Jewish people; rather it is a message for
the whole world.
9. The Old Testament prophesied that the Messiah would be
the Son of David; in the very first sentence, Matthew
points to Jesus as the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy.
10. Tamar... Rahab... Ruth... her who had been the
wife of Uriah: This genealogy is noted for the unusual
presence of four women. Women were rarely mentioned in
ancient genealogies, and the four mentioned here are
worthy of special note as examples of God’s grace. They
show how God can take unlikely people and use them in
great ways.
11. Joseph did not contribute any of the “blood” of Jesus,
but he did contribute his legal standing as a descendant of
the royal line to Jesus. Mary’s line – the blood line of Jesus –
did not go through Solomon, but through a different son of
David, named Nathan.