Matthew Chapter 1

So, its time to talk about chapter one. You may be wondering about the unusual picture of baby Jesus. I will explain the picture later. The first 17 verses are genealogy (a family register tracing the descendants  and ancestral relationships of tribes and families). Ungers Bible Dictionary has a a lot of good information on genealogies if you want to read more. The reason Matthew gives us the genealogy is in the first verse. He wants to show us the record of Jesus the messiah, the son of David, the son  of Abraham . He is showing us that Jesus is qualified to be the messiah and king through his family history in accordance with the prophecies .( Exam. Jer.23:5-6). This genealogy would have meant a lot to the Jewish people  of that day. They would have understood exactly what Matthew was trying to convey with this genealogical record.

So on to verse 18 and this is where the picture comes in. In remembering Matthew chapter 1, we are going to remember that the first 17 verses are genealogy and verse 18 is where the story of the (one) only begotten son is born. If you lay the 8 down on it's side you will see that it slightly resembles a swaddled baby. (yes I'm serious).
 Even if this seems crazy to you or makes you slightly annoyed, I guarantee you will remember the swaddled baby in verse 18.  So on to the rest of chapter 1,

I find it interesting that in verses 18-25 that we see that the story of the birth of Jesus is told from Joseph's view point. In the book of Luke, the story is told from Mary's point of view. Joseph seems to have been a cool, take charge kind of guy. It says he found out she was expecting, he decided not to disgrace her or have her killed, as the law commanded, but to kindly put her away. Then an angel appeared to him in a dream, gave him the facts and he got up from his sleep and went and took Mary as his wife. Did he bang on her door in the middle of the night? I guess we can ask him when we get to heaven. He also kept her a virgin because he knew that the messiah was to be born of a virgin. He was an awesome guy who was obedient to God. That's  all God wants. A person who listens to God's word and is obedient to it, is a person God can use .

Ok, so to remember chapter 1  

MATTHEW CHAPTER1

IT'S ABOUT THE BIRTH OF (ONE) ONLY BEGOTTEN SON (its the Christmas story)

the first 17 verses are genealogy

starting with verse 18 IF YOU LAY THE 18 ON IT'S SIDE IT KIND OF LOOKS LIKE A SWADDLED BABY.

Start practicing remembering this as you go to sleep at night!

Have to go. Hannah needs lunch! Start reading chapter 2!
love nancy