Episode Details

St. Matthew's begins his gospel with the genealogy of Jesus Christ. Actually, it was of Joseph, His foster father. The evangelist had to connect Jesus to our original parents, Adam and Eve. Then, he had to establish His ancestry to King David. First, the Savior had to be a valid representative of the human race. Thus, He should originate from Adam. He could therefore pay the price of sin, since man had to pay that price. He was the guilty one. Then, He would have to be a descendant of David, since that was the prophecy. This establishes His membership of the people destined to produce the Messiah. With these for certain, then a regular Israelite could begin reading St. Matthew's gospel, that was to prove that Jesus is indeed the Christ.