4 minute read time

12 Days Before Christmas Series: 2 – 12/14/2025

Read: Matthew 1:1-17 – Jesus’s Genealogy (through Joseph), and Luke 3:23-38 – Jesus’s Genealogy (through Mary)

The Biblical Christmas story can be found in Matthew, chapters 1 and 2, and in the first three chapters of Luke.

Matthew’s gospel (gospel means “good news”) was written for Jews familiar with the Torah—the first five books of the Bible (Genesis through Deuteronomy). His audience consisted of people who regularly visited the Temple, attended synagogue every week, and recited the Shema prayer twice a day. (The Shema is a central declaration of faith in Judaism, recited daily: “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.”) (Deuteronomy 6:4-5)

Luke’s gospel, on the other hand, was addressed to Gentiles—people who did not grow up reading the Torah or any other sacred text.

Both Matthew and Luke included details about the birth of Jesus of Nazareth and the events surrounding it. These are sometimes considered the “boring parts” of the story that we tend to overlook. However, by including these family trees, both Matthew and Luke were intentionally referencing the work of Moses. Moses, who wrote the Torah, included several genealogies in Genesis: the generations of Heaven & Earth (Genesis 2:4), Adam (Genesis 5:1), Noah (Genesis 6:9), Shem, Ham, Japheth (Genesis 10:1), Shem (Genesis 11:10), Terah (Genesis 11:27), Ishmael (Genesis 25:12), Isaac (Genesis 25:19), Esau (Genesis 36:1 & 9), and Jacob (Genesis 37:2).

Matthew’s genealogy of Jesus traces the family line from Abraham (the patriarch of the Jews), through King David, and finally to Joseph and Jesus. For Matthew’s audience, it was crucial to show that Jesus was the rightful heir to God’s promise to Abraham: that “all the families of the earth would be blessed” through him (Genesis 12:1-3).

Luke’s genealogy, however, is different. It traces Jesus’s family line through Mary, back to King David, Noah, and ultimately to Adam. For Luke’s audience, the goal was to connect Jesus to the entire human race—both Gentiles and Jews. Luke emphasizes that Jesus fulfills the promise given in the Garden of Eden, where God told the Serpent, “I will put hostility between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall strike your head, and you shall strike his heel.” (This verse, Genesis 3:15, is often interpreted as the first promise of redemption in the Bible.)

Not only do these genealogies establish Jesus’s lineage, but they also reveal unexpected stories within his ancestry—stories that challenged traditional expectations. Both Matthew and Luke underscore that Jesus was the rightful heir to the throne of King David. Yet Matthew’s genealogy, in particular, would have surprised his readers.

By mentioning four women in the genealogy, Matthew reminded his Jewish audience of the complicated and sometimes scandalous history in their past. Tamar, for instance, secretly seduced her father-in-law Jacob after he failed to provide her with a husband when she was widowed. King David seduced “the wife of Uriah” before arranging for Uriah’s death.

These genealogies also highlight the ethnic diversity in Jesus’s family tree. Rahab and Ruth, both Gentiles, were woven into the fabric of the Jewish story. Their inclusion shows that God’s plan was never limited to a single ethnicity.

Additionally, Matthew’s genealogy was a sobering reminder of the nation’s history: the Jews were sent into captivity in Babylon, and the kingdom of David had never been fully restored. Even though they had returned to the Promised Land, they continued to live under foreign rule—still experiencing a kind of exile.

It’s easy to skim past these family trees, but for the original readers, they were just as significant as the accounts of shepherds, angels, and wise men. The human ancestry of Jesus tells the story of a loving God who, from the very beginning, planned to establish a kingdom that welcomes everyone—Jew, Gentile, slave, free, male, and female.

The so-called “boring parts” remind us that the Christmas story truly is good news for everyone.

If you’d like to read the whole story as it unfolded over 2,000 years ago, check yesterday’s blog for a list of scriptures. If you have questions, feel free to reach out—I’ll do my best to answer.

And come back tomorrow for: Barrenness and the Virgin Birth.