The good news begins with the back story

Christopher Wright notes that nearly all Christmas renditions skip Matthew’s first sixteen verses; the geneaology of Jesus the Messiah. Maybe we’re missing something since Matthew wants to start with the geneaology?

Matthew uploads the whole backstory of the Hebrew scriptures with a crafted geneaology that spans three covenantal arcs: from Abram to David, from David to the Exile, and from the Exile to Jesus. We’re supposed to have the promise to Abram that he would be the father of many nations in our mind, and that through him all the families of the world would be blessed. We should remember that the LORD promised David a household, and to set a king upon his throne forever. We must remember that the people of Israel were delivered to Babylon, that the LORD promised to restore them to the land, and that they’ve lived as exiles even unto the present moment. Without this backdrop we’re likely to misunderstand Matthew’s repetition that such-and-such occurred in order to fulfill what was spoken of by such-and-such. For Matthew is not proof-texting his story with Hebrew scripture snippets; he’s painting Jesus' life on the canvas of Israel’s entire story.

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