And Jacob begat Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus, Who is called Christ. Matthew 1:16
Every provincial government has a branch or department called Vital Statistics, or something similar. This branch is notified every time somebody is born, is married, or dies, and it is this branch that keeps track of birth certificates, marriage licenses, and death certificates. This information is important for keeping track of every citizen in the province. For birth certificates, the information that is gathered identifies the date and place of the birth, and who the parents were. These records can be traced to identify the genealogy of everyone born in the province. These details might not sound very exciting, but they are very important. Just as the genealogy of Jesus, as recorded by Matthew, is important. Our text marks a critical change in the pattern of the record. From Abraham, the listing refers to each man as he begat a son, as our text mentions that Jacob begat Joseph. But Joseph is identified as the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus, who did not have, or need, an earthly father.
In the list of Jesus’ earthly ancestry, we follow the generations, and see each one marked by the birth of a baby boy. And each baby was born with his parents’ high hopes that this child would be the One prophesied to be the Messiah. This chain of blessed events ended when Mary and Joseph laid the baby Jesus in a manger in Bethlehem. Because this Baby was not merely Jesus, but Jesus Who is called Christ. And the term Christ, which means anointed, is the Greek form of the Hebrew Messiah. As He lay in the manger, only one of the adoring couple who watched Him there was His parent. His Father was watching from Heaven.
John 3:16 tells us that God gave His only begotten Son. The Babe of Bethlehem’s manger, the Stranger of Galilee, the despised and rejected man of Golgotha was never begotten of man. He was eternally begotten of God. Although He had a birth date (no, it was not December 25), He did not have a beginning. The beginning that we read of in the text is the beginning of His humanity, of His taking the name Jesus, that He might save us from our sins. When Simeon took the infant Jesus in his arms in the temple, he saw more than an eight-day-old baby; he saw the Ancient of Days. No wonder he could proclaim, Mine eyes have seen Thy salvation.
For Jesus’ birth, we are very thankful; for His eternal Sonship, we worship the Father. – Jim MacIntosh