Mark Tabata’s Weekday Devotionals
Thursday August 13 2026
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Matthew 1:17-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.
The genealogies of Jesus recorded in Matthew 1:1-17 and Luke 3:23-38 are very important in establishing that Jesus is the promised Messiah. Throughout the Old Testament, God had promised that the Christ would be descended from a very specific bloodline. The Messiah would arrive from the bloodline of Eve (Genesis 3:15), Shem (Genesis 9:26-27), Abraham (Genesis 12:1-3), Isaac (Genesis 17:19; 21:12; 26:3-4), Jacob/Israel (Genesis 28:13-14; Numbers 24:17; Judah (Genesis 48:9-10), Jesse (Isaiah 11:1, 10), David (2 Samuel 7:12-16; Psalm 89:3-4, 35-37), and Solomon (1 Chronicles 22:9). The genealogies in Matthew and Luke clearly demonstrate that Jesus is indeed the promised Messiah.
However, are these genealogies reliable?
The evidence from archaeology and secular history confirms that the Romans, the Jews, and the Christians came to the conclusion that these genealogies of the Lord are indeed historically credible and authentic.
At any rate, the report is also appropriate for Matthew as biographer: there is little doubt that Jesus’ family historically stemmed from Davidic lineage. 9 All clear early Christian sources attest it (e.g., Rom 1: 3); Hegesippus reports a Palestinian tradition in which Roman authorities interrogated Jesus’ brother’s grandsons for Davidic descent (Euseb. H.E. 3.20); Julius Africanus attests Jesus’ relatives claiming Davidic descent (Letter to Aristides); and, probably more significantly, non-Christian Jewish polemicists never bothered to try to refute it (Jeremias 1969: 291). Jesus’ relatives known in the early church seem to have raised no objection to the claim of their family’s background (Brown 1977: 507). Thus Matthew opens and closes the genealogy with a title for Jesus significant but rare in his Gospel: “Jesus Christ” (1: 1, 18; against Fenton 1977: 42). (Craig S. Keener, The Gospel of Matthew: A Socio-Rhetorical Commentary, 114 (Kindle Edition); Grand Rapids, Michigan; William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company)
Again:
After Zerubbabel, Matthew relies on extrabiblical sources of which we know nothing. But there is good evidence that records were kept at least till the end of the first century. Josephus (Life 6 [1]) refers to the “public registers” from which he extracts his genealogical information (see also Josephus, Ag. Ap. 1.28–56 [6–10]). According to Genesis Rabbah 98: 8, Rabbi Hillel was proved to be a descendant of David because a genealogical scroll was found in Jerusalem. Eusebius (Hist. eccl. 3.19–20) cites Hegesippus to the effect that Emperor Domitian (AD 81–96) ordered all descendants of David slain. Nevertheless, two of them, when summoned, though admitting their Davidic descent, showed their calloused hands to prove they were but poor farmers. So they were let go. But the account shows that genealogical information was still available. (D.A. Carson, Matthew (The Expositor’s Bible Commentary), 165 (Kindle Edition); Grand Rapids, Michigan; Zondervan)
The genealogies of Jesus are true, and remind us that God keeps His Word and is faithful to what He has promised.
Father, thank You for Your faithfulness and the truthfulness of Your Word. Lord Jesus, thank You for being born in the world just as You promised and when You said that You would appear. We praise You, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Amen.