1The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.
2Abraham became the father of Isaac. Isaac became the father of Jacob. Jacob became the father of Judah and his brothers. 3Judah became the father of Perez and Zerah by Tamar. Perez became the father of Hezron. Hezron became the father of Ram. 4Ram became the father of Amminadab. Amminadab became the father of Nahshon. Nahshon became the father of Salmon. 5Salmon became the father of Boaz by Rahab. Boaz became the father of Obed by Ruth. Obed became the father of Jesse. 6Jesse became the father of King David. David the king became the father of Solomon by her who had been Uriah’s wife. 7Solomon became the father of Rehoboam. Rehoboam became the father of Abijah. Abijah became the father of Asa. 8Asa became the father of Jehoshaphat. Jehoshaphat became the father of Joram. Joram became the father of Uzziah. 9Uzziah became the father of Jotham. Jotham became the father of Ahaz. Ahaz became the father of Hezekiah. 10Hezekiah became the father of Manasseh. Manasseh became the father of Amon. Amon became the father of Josiah. 11Josiah became the father of Jechoniah and his brothers at the time of the exile to Babylon.
12After the exile to Babylon, Jechoniah became the father of Shealtiel. Shealtiel became the father of Zerubbabel. 13Zerubbabel became the father of Abiud. Abiud became the father of Eliakim. Eliakim became the father of Azor. 14Azor became the father of Zadok. Zadok became the father of Achim. Achim became the father of Eliud. 15Eliud became the father of Eleazar. Eleazar became the father of Matthan. Matthan became the father of Jacob. 16Jacob became the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary, from whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ.
17So all the generations from Abraham to David are fourteen generations; from David to the exile to Babylon fourteen generations; and from the carrying away to Babylon to the Christ, fourteen generations.
18Now the birth of Jesus Christ was like this: After his mother, Mary, was engaged to Joseph, before they came together, she was found pregnant by the Holy Spirit. 19Joseph, her husband, being a righteous man, and not willing to make her a public example, intended to put her away secretly. 20But when he thought about these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, don’t be afraid to take to yourself Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. 21She shall give birth to a son. You shall name him Jesus, for it is he who shall save his people from their sins.”
22Now all this has happened that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying,
23“Behold, the virgin shall be with child,
and shall give birth to a son.
They shall call his name Immanuel,”
which is, being interpreted, “God with us.”
24Joseph arose from his sleep, and did as the angel of the Lord commanded him, and took his wife to himself; 25and didn’t know her sexually until she had given birth to her firstborn son. He named him Jesus.
Matthew used the word “forgiveness” more times than any other New Testament author. He was a Jew who wanted his Jewish audience to understand that Jesus is the king of Gentiles as well as Jews. The inclusion of "all the nations" (28:19 NKJV) in the scope of the Church's mission could only be explained by the immeasurable power of God's forgiveness. Reminders of God's grace are woven into the very fabric of Jesus' physical ancestry as Matthew records it in 1:1-17. Tamar conceived Perez by Judah, her father-in-law; Boaz was the son of the Canaanite prostitute Rahab; Ruth, a descendant of Moab (a cursed nation); and Solomon's mother was Bathsheba, with whom David committed adultery. Matthew, himself a forgiven tax collector, tells Jesus' response to the Pharisees' question: "'Why is your Teacher eating with the tax collectors and sinners?'" "He said, 'It is not those who are healthy who need a physician, but those who are sick'" (9:11-12). Matthew records Jesus' challenge to His followers to forgive those who have wronged or hurt them (6:14-15). The paralytic's healing, in 9:2-8, was to demonstrate that "The Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins" (v. 6). In response to Peter's question, "'Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me and I forgive Him?,'" Matthew 18:22-35 demonstrates the great sin of failing to forgive others as God has forgiven us (see John 20:23; Col 3:13). Such emphasis upon the power and importance of forgiveness serves to heighten the dramatic turning point in Matthew's Gospel, when Israel's leaders commit the unpardonable sin (12:31-32). The (possibly unique) rejection of the greatest possible demonstration of Jesus' operation in the power of the Holy Spirit, left those representatives of the nation in the unforgiven state they willfully chose.