If you are reading this you are using a computer. Computers run software, or sets of instructions, that is created by software developers from specifications. Any product - be it a toy, building, or software has a set of specifications. Near the end of the product’s development there are folks that might verify whether or not the product lives up to the original specification. The idea of traceability is introduced whereas each feature of the product can be traced back to a section of the specification. “Why do the blog entries appear in reverse chronological order?” Because someone determined early on that is what they wanted, it was written down, and some geek created the code to make it so. [I'm a geek, so I can say that :-)].
Being omniscient and unbound by the idea of linear time, God must have anticipated challenges to the lineage of Christ. Providing this lineage gives us the traceability to safely assert that Christ is Someone very special sent to not just fulfill OT prophecy but to redeem mankind from themselves. So when our friends, co-workers, and clerks have questions regarding the veracity of Christ then we’ll have an answer. We can point them to this traceable lineage.
Another part that is interesting in this chapter is the introduction of the virgin birth. This is, by all biological estimations, a complete paradox. It might even be a tad creepy to the uninitiated. But it is an essential part of Christian doctrine that the Son of God was born of a virgin without the sin nature passed from Adam. What the ancient Pharisees used to mock Christ is one of the key doctrines of Christianity that we all can cling to.
{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
My study Bible says that Hebrew genealogies are not complete, but simply highlight the most notable ancestors. I have no reason to doubt this, but if true, doesn’t it really throw off the fourteen thing that seems so important in verse 17?
I’m not even sure why 14 is so significant - maybe it really isn’t to us. Again, my study Bible says that in Hebrew, letters have numeric value, and that the numeric value of “David” is 14. Somehow, that argues in favor of Jesus being descended from David to the Jewish audience?
- Kyle
Kyle-
I’m not sure if the number 14 has any spiritual significance, but the genealogy is deliberately shortened. When Matthew wrote his gospel, the Temple records would have been readily accessible to challenge anything he wrote. His point was to show that Jesus’ human ancestry gave Him claim to the throne.
While pretending to concentrate on work, I’ll see if I can find anything on the significance of 14, but for now, take a look at this article. It explains it better than I can.
http://www.lifeofchrist.com/life/genealogy/print.html
I too know very little about the numerology in the Bible and especially this verse. I have a reference book at home that describes this as Jesus’ lineage divided up into three blocks of 14 generations each. Fourteen is the cumulative sum of the Hebrew letters in the name “David” (leth=4; waw=6; daleth=4). This technique is described as “gematria” and carries no significant spiritual significance according to the reference. In fact, it was considered an ordinary and generally comprehensible technique during Matthew’s day (Zuck, 26).
My understanding is that divinely inspired writers like Matthew would use such techniques to either drive a point home or make something more memorable. The Psalms (e.g. Ps 119) sometimes are arranged as an acrostic; each stanza or section starts with a letter of the Hebrew alphabet. Another example is the use of a chiasm to drive home the emphasis of a particular section of Scripture. The prayer of Nehemiah in Nehemiah 1 is arranged in a chiasm.
Bottom line - the numbering may just be a literary device and nothing more.
Bottom line - take everything in this comment with a HUGE grain of salt.
References:
Zuck, Roy B., ed. A Biblical Theology of the New Testament. Chicago: Moody, 1994.
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