A Not So Jewish Look at the Gospel of Matthew Matthew 1:1–17
In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus gives a clear command: go and make disciples of all nations. Yet the early Jewish believers struggled with the idea that the Kingdom message was truly for the Gentiles too. In this Light on Life teaching, we take a not-so-Jewish look at Matthew’s Gospel and uncover how God intentionally highlighted Gentiles in the lineage of Jesus to confront prejudice and expand the mission. The Great Commission is not a suggestion—it is a command. And the question still stands: what have you done with your life to produce disciples for Jesus?
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About Emery
Emery committed his life to the Lord Jesus Christ over 40 years ago and has served as both a full-time pastor and an itinerant minister. Both he and his wife Sharon of 35 years emphasize personal growth and development through the Word of God. The ministry of the Holy Spirit is both the focus and the hallmark of their mission. Read more about them here.
Light Notes:
The Gospel of Matthew: A Jewish Gospel
Jewish prejudices were much in evidence in the first century.
Gentiles were worse than dogs in the eyes of the average Israelite.
There are a surprising number of Gentiles listed in the gospel of Matthew.
This fact raises some questions when you read Matthew’s gospel.
Matthews audience for his gospel is the Jewish believer.
Questions like, why did Matthew write his gospel to the Jews and then turn around and sprinkle Gentiles all throughout?
It is as if Matthew was trying to communicate something to the first-century Jewish believers of Jesus about their prejudices.
The Spirit of God Moves Upon the Gentiles
If you recall in Acts 10, the Spirit of God powerfully came upon the Gentiles as Peter preached the Word to them.
That action of the Spirit astonishes those who were with Peter.
Acts 10:45 (KJV) — 45 And they of the circumcision which believed were astonished, as many as came with Peter, because that on the Gentiles also was poured out the gift of the Holy Ghost.
The Greek word ‘astonished’ means utter amazement.
It means to nearly lose one’s mental composure because of shock.
In other words, these believers ‘blew a gasket’ when they heard other tongues come out of the mouth of these Gentiles.
The saga continues into chapter eleven where Peter has to answer for his part of God’s doings.
Now, this whole episode catalogs God’s doings.
It’s His works, and it’s His power.
Peter in the Squeeze Box
So, put yourself in Peter’s shoes for a moment.
Here you are minding your business, and now you’re in a boiling pot of trouble because of something the Lord did.
He didn’t ask your opinion about the matter; He just went ahead and did it.
Acts 11:1–4 (ESV) — 1 Now the apostles and the brothers who were throughout Judea heard that the Gentiles also had received the word of God. 2 So when Peter went up to Jerusalem, the circumcision party criticized him, saying, 3 “You went to uncircumcised men and ate with them.” 4 But Peter began and explained it to them in order:
What was the result of Peter’s explanation?
Acts 11:18 (KJV) — 18 When they heard these things, they held their peace, and glorified God, saying, Then hath God also to the Gentiles granted repentance unto life.
The point here is that we are in Acts eleven, about ten years after Jesus went back to heaven, and the Jewish believers of Jesus still don't have a real clue that the message of the Kingdom of God was not just a Jewish message but a Gentile one also.
Matthew tries to get this idea over to these relatively new Jewish believers of Jesus in his gospel.
He does it in a couple of ways.
Matthew’s Gospel and Jewish Genealogies
Jewish genealogies do not include women as a regular practice.
But in Matthew’s genealogy of Jesus, contains four women.
Matthew 1:1–17 (ESV) — 1 The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham. 2 Abraham was the father of Isaac, and Isaac the father of Jacob, and Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers, 3 and Judah the father of Perez and Zerah by Tamar, and Perez the father of Hezron, and Hezron the father of Ram, 4 and Ram the father of Amminadab, and Amminadab the father of Nahshon, and Nahshon the father of Salmon, 5 and Salmon the father of Boaz by Rahab, and Boaz the father of Obed by Ruth, and Obed the father of Jesse, 6 and Jesse the father of David the king. And David was the father of Solomon by the wife of Uriah,
The four women are Tamar, Rahab, Ruth, and Bathsheba, Uriah’s widow.
Tamar was from Canaan
Rahab was from Jericho in Canaan
Ruth was a Moabite.
Bathseba was in an inter-racially marriage to a Hittite.
So, we have three Gentiles in this genealogy and a fourth who’s married to one.
Why Gentiles Are in the Genealogy
Matthew 28:18–19 (ESV) — 18 And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
Do you hear the emphasis?
Go into all the world and make disciples.
That’s Matthew’s message to his Jewish compatriots.
He is saying to them, don’t stay stuck in your prejudices but go out beyond them and make disciples of all nations.
‘All nations’ means Gentile nations.
The Greek word ‘nation’s is ‘ethnos.’
It means a large group of people based on various cultural, physical, or geographical ties.
So, Matthew drops a massive clue in his gospel breaking with standard genealogical tradition, emphasizing Gentiles in the lineage of Jesus.
Matthew ends his gospel the same way he started it with an emphasis on the Kingdom of God as a domain for all people.
So, the question remains: “What have you done to establish the Kingdom of God with your life as a follower of Jesus?”
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