Scripture : Matthew 1:1
“The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the Son of David, the Son of Abraham.”
Jesus Christ is called the Son of David and the Son of Abraham. Who is the son of David in the genealogy of Jesus Christ? Solomon. He is the king of Israel. During his reign Israel was peaceful and prosperous. Who is the son of Abraham in the genealogy of Jesus Christ? Isaac. He is the only promised son. During his life he was sacrificed on the altar to God by his father. As the Son of David, Jesus will reign in the Kingdom of Peace on this earth for one thousand years when He returns. As the Son of Abraham, Jesus has come as the promised Son of the Father who died on the cross as the sacrifice of sin two thousand years ago.
“Now Jesus Himself began His ministry at about thirty years of age, being (as was supposed) the son of Joseph, the son of Heli, the son of Enosh, the son of Seth, the son of Adam, the son of God.” (Luke 3:23, 38)
In His genealogy according to Joseph His earthly father, Jesus is the Son of David and the Son of Abraham (Mat 1:1). But in His genealogy according to Mary His earthly mother, Jesus is called the son of God. Who is the son of God in this case? Adam. He is the first man who is called the son of God because he was created according to the image of God (Gen 1:27). Jesus is like Adam. He is also called the Son of God because He is the express image of God’s Person (Heb 1:3). He is the Second Man called the Son of God. The difference between Adam and Jesus is Adam was created on earth, but Jesus was born in heaven. The apostle Paul wrote, “The first man was of the earth, made of dust; the second Man is the Lord from heaven.” (1 Cor 15:47).
Jesus as the Son of God refers to His origin, Jesus as the Son of Abraham refers to His first coming and Jesus as the Son of David refers to His second coming. In the beginning He was in God and then He was born of God. When He came into this world for the first time He was born as a Man in a hidden place and lived a normal and quiet life. However, when He will come again to this world He will come openly in His glory as the Kings of kings. In His origin Jesus was like Adam the son of God, in His first coming Jesus was like Isaac the son of Abraham, and in His second coming Jesus will be like Solomon the son of David.
“Judah begot Perez and Zerah by Tamar, Perez begot Hezron, and Hezron begot Ram…Salmon begot Boaz by Rahab, Boaz begot Obed by Ruth, Obed begot Jesse, and Jesse begot David the king. David the king begot Solomon by her who had been the wife of Uriah.” (Matthew 1:3,5-6)
In the genealogy of Jesus Christ according to His father Joseph there are several women mentioned : Tamar, Rahab, Ruth and her who had been the wife of Uriah (Bathseba). The sons of these women actually did not have the rights to be included in the genealogy of Jesus because Perez was born from Tamar through harlotry, not through marriage (Gen 38). Boaz was born from Rahab who is not the descendant of Abraham and is a harlot in Jericho, a city of Canaan (Jos 2:1), Obed was born from Ruth who is a Moabite, not an Israelite (Ruth 1:4). Solomon was born from Bathsheba who was not supposed to be married to David because she was the wife of another man (2 Sam 11:3). If Jesus were Joseph’s natural Son, His blood would have been contaminated by the sin of His ancestors.
When we look at the genealogy of Jesus Christ according to Joseph we see there are some sons born with problems : Perez was born of harlotry, Boaz’s mother is a harlot, Obed’s mother is not an Israelite, Solomon’s mother had been the wife of another man. However, when we look at the genealogy of Jesus Christ according to Mary we do not see any problem in every generation. Every son seems to be born legitimately from an Israelite mother and inside marriage. From human standpoint, to be a legitimate son (free from any curse of the law and pure Israelite) it is possible that Jesus Christ is born from Mary’s womb but it is impossible that He is conceived from Joseph’s seed. And God did just that! Jesus Christ was born from Mary’s womb but He was conceived from the Holy Spirit’s seed.
“So all the generations from Abraham to David are fourteen generations, from David until the captivity in Babylon are fourteen generations, and from the captivity in Babylon until the Christ are fourteen generations.” (Matthew 1:17)
Why did Matthew divide the genealogy of Jesus Christ into three fourteen generations, from Abraham to David, from David to the captivity in Babylon and from the captivity in Babylon to Christ? Abraham is the forefather of Israel, David is the greatest king of Israel, the captivity in Babylon is the captivity of Israel and Christ is the Consolation of Israel. Israel had their beginning in Abraham, Israel reached the highest point when David became their king, Israel reached the lowest point when they were taken captive into Babylon and Israel received consolation and had the new beginning when Christ was born.
There are fourteen generation from Abraham to David, there are fourteen generations from David until the captivity in Babylon and there are fourteen generations from the captivity in Babylon until the Christ. What is the significance of three fourteen generations? Three times fourteen equals to forty two and forty two is six times seven. Six is the number of man and seven is the number of completeness. So after the number of the generations of men was completed, Christ was born. Since the beginning with Abraham, it took forty two generations of men for the Messiah to finally come as the Consolation of Israel. This Messiah is God who became a Man.