The Position of Matthew
Matthew breaks the silence of 400 years. Between Malachi's prophecy and the announcement of the birth of Jesus. Israel was under the domination of the Roman empire. No man of "the house of David" had been allowed to sit upon the throne for over 600 years.
Herod was not the king of Israel, but a governor of Judea, appointed by the emperor of Rome. The man who really had the throne-rights of the house of David was Joseph, the carpenter, who became the husband of Mary. See the genealogy of Joseph in Matthew 1, and notice especially one name, Jechonias (Jeconiah), in verse 11
If Joseph had been Jesus' father according to the flesh, He could never have occupied the throne, for God's word barred the way. There had been a curse on this royal line since the days of Jeconiah. In Jeremiah 22:30 we read, Thus saith the Lord, write ye this man childless, a man that shall not prosper in this days: for no man of his seed shall prosper, sitting upon the throne of David, and ruling any more in Judah. Joseph was in the line of this curse. Hence, if Christ had been Joseph's son, He could not have sat on David's throne.
But we find another genealogy in Luke 3. This is Mary's line, back to David, through Nathan, not Jeconiah (Luke 3:31). There was no curse on this line. To Mary, God said, fear not, Mary, for thou hast found favor with God. And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb and bring forth a son, and shalt call His name JESUS. He shall be great, and shall be called the son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David: and he shall reign over the house of Jacob forever; and of his kingdom, there shall be no end (Luke 1:30-33).
The book of Matthew follows after the Old Testament and is the beginning of the New. It is the connecting link between the books. It is written for the Jews, and it is fittingly placed. It takes for granted that the course of the events is known to its readers. The Old Testament had closed with the chosen nation looking for their long-promised king, their messiah. Matthew's Gospel shows that Jesus was that king. It is the Gospel of fulfillment.
Matthew presents the Lord Jesus in a distinctly Jewish relationship. Only in this one of the four Gospels do we find a record of the messiah's declaration, I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel (Matthew 15:24). What did his own people do with him? (See John 1:11)
In numerical position, The book of Matthew is the fortieth in the Canon. Thirty-nine books in the Old Testament, then Matthew. Forty is always some testing or probation in scripture. Jesus was tempted by the Devil for forty years; Moses was in a palace for forty years, then on the backside of a desert for forty years. What other instances of this number forty do you remember in scripture? Look it up in your concordance.
In this fortieth book of the bible, Israel is in the place of probation and testing, by the presence of the messiah in their midst. Christ is presented asking the Jews, and they reject Him, not only as their messiah but as their savior (Matthew 16:21).
Article Written by Gospel Light
Blog Written by Ab Ashok
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