Matthew 1:1-17

It is always amazing to me to trace the lineage of Jesus through the line of David and all the way back to the Patriarch Abraham. There is a distinct plan that has unfold especially when Matthew reiterates in verse 17 that there were fourteen generations from Abraham to David, from David to the Exile, and from the exile to Christ. Christ was the completion of a promise given some 42 generations previous when God told Abraham that he would be the Father of many nations. The cross reference to the passage is Genesis 22:18 in which God says to Abraham during his testing "and through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed me."

Abraham really did not understand the fullness of this statement and we live in a great time of life in which we can look back easily through God's Word to see the fruition of prophetic sayings. Most people skip over geneologies but I find that the record stated in the first chapter of Matthew points to the sovereign power and plan of God. He brought His promises to completion through line of Abraham and David. What a blessing that is to us as believers.