Jesus and Abraham At Christmas time people often focus on the opening chapters of the Gospels of Luke and Matthew as they read the accounts of Jesus birth.  However when you go to Matthew's Gospel, the first thing that greets you is a genealogy of Jesus. Amongst other things this genealogy ties the life and ministry of Jesus firmly into the Old Testament.  The significance of Matthew's genealogy going back to Abraham is that it ties the coming of Jesus to God's promise to Abraham in Genesis 12:1-7 to bless all peoples on earth and give the land to his offspring.  This is explained by Paul in Gal 3:13-18. To complete this connection to Abraham people have also noted that Matthew's gospel  finishes with the command to 'go' in the great commission (Matt 28:18-20).  This echoes God's command to Abraham to 'go'  in Gen 12:1.

David Wanstall, 10/12/2009