As I read the Christmas story from Matthew, I was tempted to skip the begats. But it is important to know where Jesus came from to understand the prophesies about Him. This prophesy in Isaiah 11:1 "A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a Branch will bear fruit." (NIV) was a major stumbling block for the Jews of Jesus' time. They knew the Messiah was promised to Jesse's line, knew that He would be considered the Son of David. Some used this against Him: "Others said, This is the Christ. But some said, Shall Christ come out of Galilee? Hath not the scripture said, That Christ cometh of the seed of David, and out of the town of Bethlehem, where David was?" (John 7:41-42). They assumed that since Jesus started His ministry in Galilee that He was born there. Also, because He was raised and educated in Nazareth, many wrongly assumed that He was born there instead. It was confusing to many Jewish people especially the scholars, like the scribes and pharisees. Matthew tries to clear up the confusion by reciting the "begats".
Matthew lists Joseph's genealogy starting at Abraham and coming all the way forward to David and then going from David to Joseph "the husband of Mary". When you read the names in Joseph's family tree, you see some old familiar ones. Of course, there are Abraham, Issac, and Jacob, but there is also mention of Boaz and Ruth, and the wise king, Solomon. This is a genealogy that is steeped in Biblical history. However, as impressive as it sounds, we know that Jesus did not come from Joseph's family tree. He was only the "husband of Mary" not the father of Jesus.
So turn to Luke chapter 3 verse 23 and you see another genealogy. This one starts at Joseph the "son of Heli". Now, Matthew says Joseph's father was named Jacob. However, Mary's father was named Heli (in the Greek, Eli in Hebrew). As I looked into this I discovered that under Jewish law, Joseph was also considered the son of Eli, his father-in-law, if Eli had no other children besides Mary because his inheritance passed through his daughter to the man she married. So now we trace another family tree, that of Mary. But the genealogy is recited backwards from Mary and Joseph, her husband, all the way back through to Adam "which was the son of God". Again many famous names appear in this genealogy and we see again the providence of God in the lives of so many people. People who lived what they thought were ordinary lives, yet whose lives had, to God, an extraordinary significance.
These genealogies prove that Jesus was of the tribe of Judah and a grandson of David just as was prophesied, by blood through his mother's line and by birth, through his father's. He was born in the city of Bethlehem just as was foretold. His mother and father were forced to travel there because Joseph "was of the house and lineage of David". Family trees matter, where you come from matters! The begats at the first part of Matthew are important to us because we as christians are a part of this Family tree, because of Jesus: "For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother." (Matthew 12:50 NIV). We are spiritual descendants of Jesse and beyond him through Abraham who was promised descendants more numerous than the stars: "He took him outside and said,'Look up at the sky and count the stars—if indeed you can count them.' Then he said to him, 'So shall your offspring be.' " (Genesis 15:5 NIV) The begats are important because through them we find out that we are the Children of Promise!
So go ahead and have a Wonderful Family Christmas!