Matthew 1:1-17 God’s Promise Fulfilled
An
account of the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah, the son of David, the son of
Abraham. Abraham was the father of Isaac, and Isaac the father of Jacob, and
Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers, and Judah the father of Perez and
Zerah by Tamar, and Perez the father of Hezron, and Hezron the father of Aram,
and Aram the father of Aminadab, and Aminadab the father of Nahshon, and
Nahshon the father of Salmon, and Salmon the father of Boaz by Rahab, and Boaz
the father of Obed by Ruth, and Obed the father of Jesse, and Jesse the father
of King David. And David was the father of Solomon by the wife of Uriah, and
Solomon the father of Rehoboam, and Rehoboam the father of Abijah, and Abijah
the father of Asaph, and Asaph the father of Jehoshaphat, and Jehoshaphat the
father of Joram, and Joram the father of Uzziah, and Uzziah the father of
Jotham, and Jotham the father of Ahaz, and Ahaz the father of Hezekiah, and
Hezekiah the father of Manasseh, and Manasseh the father of Amos, and Amos the
father of Josiah, and Josiah the father of Jechoniah and his brothers, at the
time of the deportation to Babylon. And after the deportation to Babylon:
Jechoniah was the father of Salathiel, and Salathiel the father of Zerubbabel,
and Zerubbabel the father of Abiud, and Abiud the father of Eliakim, and
Eliakim the father of Azor, and Azor the father of Zadok, and Zadok the father
of Achim, and Achim the father of Eliud, and Eliud the father of Eleazar, and
Eleazar the father of Matthan, and Matthan the father of Jacob, and Jacob the
father of Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom Jesus was born, who is called the
Messiah. 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 the Messiah, fourteen generations.
****
OK, I get that Matthew was showing that Jesus was a direct
descendent through David of Abraham. He
needed this to prove the various prophecies for the Messiah, thereby
establishing Jesus as qualified to be the Messiah. However, being of a mathematical bent, I have
to question his counting. Matthew
clearly states that there are 14 generations from Abraham to David, listing 14
names, and 14 generations from David to Jeconiah, listing 14 names and,
finally, that there are 14 generations from Jeconiah to Jesus, listing 13
names. Now, some biblical scholars try
to explain this away by counting the listing of Jeconiah twice, once at the end
of section two and again at the beginning of section three, but if that is the
case, why didn’t Matthew count David twice, since he is also listed at the end
of section one and at the beginning of section two. Logical inconsistency here. Mathematicians don’t get to count one way
from section one to two and a different way from section two to three. Other scholars assert that it was common to
leave out unimportant names or people of dubious character, so there could be
other valid explanations. Am I inflating
the importance of counting? Do you think
I am missing the essential meaning that Jesus was a direct decedent of Abraham
through David?
Prayer: Heavenly Father, you are the source of all righteousness. Save us from dwelling on petty differences
when we should instead be focusing on your bigger message of salvation through
belief, love and redemption. Amen
Don Icken is a member of Trinity Lutheran Church, Brewster, NY
No comments:
Post a Comment