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“‘R. C. Sproul,’ someone said to me in the 1970s, ‘is the finest communicator in the Reformed world.’
Now, three decades later, his skills honed by long practice, his understanding deepened by years
of prayer, meditation, and testing (as Martin Luther counseled), R. C. shares the fruit of what has
become perhaps his greatest love: feeding and nourishing his own congregation at St. Andrew’s from
the Word of God and building them up in faith and fellowship and in Christian living and serving.
The St. Andrew’s Expositional Commentary will be welcomed throughout the world. It promises to
have all R. C.’s hallmarks: clarity and liveliness, humor and pathos, always expressed in application
to the mind, will, and affections. R. C.’s ability to focus on ‘the big picture,’ his genius of never saying
too much, leaving his hearers satisfied yet wanting more, never making the Word dull, are all present
in these expositions. They are his gift to the wider church. May they nourish God’s people well and
serve as models of the kind of ministry for which we continue to hunger.”
—Sinclair B. Ferguson, Senior Minister,
First Presbyterian Church, Columbia, South Carolina
“R. C. Sproul, well known as a master theologian and extraordinary communicator, now shows that
he is a powerful, insightful, helpful expository preacher. This collection of sermons is of great value
for churches and Christians everywhere.”
—W. Robert Godfrey, President, Westminster Seminary California
“I tell my students again and again, ‘You need to buy good commentaries and do so with some
discernment.’ Among them there must be preacher’s commentaries, for not all commentaries are
the same. Some may tell you what the text means but provide little help in answering the question,
‘How do I preach this text?’ R. C. Sproul is a legend in our time. His preaching has held us in awe
for half a century, and these pages represent the fruit of his latest exposition, coming as they do at
the very peak of his abilities and insights. I am ecstatic at the prospect of reading the St. Andrew’s
Expositional Commentary series. It represents Reformed theology on fire, delivered from a pastor’s
heart in a vibrant congregation of our time. Essential reading.”
—Derek W. H. Thomas,
John E. Richards Professor of Systematic and Practical Theology,
Reformed Theological Seminary;
Minister of Teaching, First Presbyterian Church, Jackson, Mississippi
“R.C. Sproul is the premier theologian of our day, an extraordinary instrument in the hand of the
Lord. Possessed with penetrating insight into the text of Scripture, Dr. Sproul is a gifted expositor
and world-class teacher, endowed with a strategic grasp and command of the inspired Word. Since
stepping into the pulpit of St. Andrew’s and committing himself to the weekly discipline of biblical
exposition, this noted preacher has demonstrated a rare ability to explicate and apply God’s Word. I
wholeheartedly recommend the St. Andrew’s Expositional Commentary to all who long to know the
truth better and experience it more deeply in a life-changing fashion. Here is an indispensable tool
for digging deeper into God’s Word. This is a must-read for every Christian.”
—Steven J. Lawson, Senior Pastor, Christ Fellowship Baptist Church, Mobile, Alabama
“How exciting! Thousands of us have long been indebted to R. C. Sproul the teacher, and now,
through the St. Andrew’s Expositional Commentary, we are indebted to Sproul the preacher, whose
sermons are thoroughly biblical, soundly doctrinal, warmly practical, and wonderfully readable.
Sproul masterfully presents us with the ‘big picture’ of each pericope in a dignified yet conversational
style that accentuates the glory of God and meets the real needs of sinful people like us. This
series of volumes is an absolute must for every Reformed preacher and church member who yearns
to grow in the grace and knowledge of Christ Jesus. I predict that Sproul’s pulpit ministry in written
form will do for Christians in the twenty-first century what Martyn Lloyd-Jones’s sermonic commentaries
did for us last century. Tolle lege, and buy these volumes for your friends.”
—Joel R. Beeke, President, Puritan Reformed Theological Seminary

Matthew
Copyright © 2013 by R. C. Sproul
Published by Crossway
1300 Crescent Street
Wheaton, Illinois 60187
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or
transmitted in any form by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or otherwise,
without the prior permission of the publisher, except as provided for by USA copyright law.
Cover design: Geoff Stevens, Ligonier
First printing 2013
Printed in the United States of America
Scripture references are from The New King James Version. Copyright © 1982, Thomas Nelson, Inc.
Used by permission.
All emphasis in Scripture quotations have been added by the author.
Hardcover ISBN: 978-1-4335-3175-0
PDF ISBN: 978-1-4335-3176-7
Mobipocket ISBN: 978-1-4335-3177-4
ePub ISBN: 978-1-4335-3178-1
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Sproul, R. C. (Robert Charles), 1939-
Matthew / R.C. Sproul.
pages cm. — (St. Andrew’s expositional commentary)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-1-4335-3175-0 (hc)
1. Bible. N.T. Matthew—Commentaries. I. Title.
BS2575.53.S67 2013
226.2'077—dc232012040404
Crossway is a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
SH 22 21 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13
15 14 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

CONTENTS
Series Preface 13
1 A Jewish Look at Jesus (1:1–17) 15
2 The Birth of Jesus (1:18–25) 21
3 Visit of the Magi (2:1–12) 27
4 The Slaughter of the Innocents (2:13–23) 33
5 John the Baptist (3:1–12) 39
6 The Baptism of Jesus (3:13–17) 45
7 The Temptation of Jesus, Part 1 (4:1–11) 49
8 The Temptation of Jesus, Part 2 (4:1–11) 55
9 Jesus Goes to Galilee (4:12–17) 61
10 Jesus’ Disciples and Ministries (4:18–25) 67
11 The Beatitudes, Part 1 (5:1–4) 73
12 The Beatitudes, Part 2 (5:4–9) 79
13 The Beatitudes, Part 3 (5:7–9) 85
14 The Beatitudes, Part 4 (5:10–12) 91
15 Sermon on the Mount (5:13–16) 95
16 Christ and the Law (5:17–20) 101
17 Jesus’ View of Murder (5:21–26) 107
18 Jesus’ View of Adultery (5:27–30) 111
19 Oaths and Vows (5:33–37) 117
20 Loving Our Enemies (5:38–48) 123
21 Private Piety (6:1–4) 129
22 Sincere Prayer (6:5–9) 135
23 Our Father’s House (6:9) 141
24 Hallowed Be Your Name (6:9–10) 145
25 Thy Kingdom Come (6:9b–11) 149
26 Daily Bread (6:11) 155

27 Forgive Us Our Debts (6:12) 159
28 Lead Us Not into Temptation (6:13a) 167
29 Thine Is the Kingdom (6:13b) 173
30 Treasure in Heaven (6:19–24) 177
31 Do Not Be Anxious (6:25–34) 181
32 Judge Not (7:1–6) 187
33 Ask and Receive (7:7–12) 193
34 The Narrow Way (7:13–20) 199
35 “Lord, Lord” (7:21–23) 205
36 A Firm Foundation (7:24–29) 213
37 The Cleansing of the Leper (8:1–4) 219
38 The Centurion’s Servant and Peter’s Mother-in-Law (8:5–15) 225
39 The Healer Who Was to Come (8:16–17) 233
40 The Cost of Discipleship (8:18–22) 239
41 The Calming of the Sea (8:23–27) 247
42 Before the Time (8:28–34) 253
43 Jesus Forgives Sin (9:1–8) 261
44 The Call of Matthew (9:9–13) 269
45 The Presence of the Bridegroom (9:14–17) 275
46 Two Daughters Healed (9:18–26) 281
47 The Compassion of Jesus (9:27–34) 287
48 The Fields Ready to Harvest (9:35–38) 293
49 The Commissioning of the Apostles (10:1–4) 299
50 The Sending of the Twelve (10:5–15) 305
51 Persecutions (10:16–23) 311
52 The Fear of God (10:24–33) 319
53 Jesus and Division (10:34–42) 327
54 John the Baptist’s Inquiry (11:1–11) 333
55 The Greatness of John the Baptist (11:12–19) 341
56 Woes on the Cities (11:20–24) 347
57 The Yoke of Christ (11:25–30) 355

58 The Lord of the Sabbath (12:1–8) 361
59 The Servant of the Lord (12:9–21) 367
60 War between the Kingdoms (12:22–30) 375
61 The Unpardonable Sin (12:31–32) 383
62 The Tree and Its Fruits (12:33–37) 389
63 Asking for a Sign (12:38–42) 395
64 Who Are My Brothers? (12:43–50) 401
65 The Parable of the Sower, Part 1 (13:1–17) 407
66 The Parable of the Sower, Part 2 (13:1–9, 18–23) 413
67 The Parable of the Sower, Part 3 (13:8–9, 18–23) 421
68 The Parable of the Tares (13:24–30, 36–43) 427
69 The Mustard Seed and the Leaven (13:31–35) 435
70 Three Parables (13:44–58) 441
71 The Death of John the Baptist (14:1–12) 449
72 The Feeding of the Five Thousand (14:13–21) 455
73 Jesus Walks on Water (14:22–36) 461
74 Inner Defilement (15:1–20) 469
75 A Gentile Woman (15:21–39) 477
76 The Leaven of the Pharisees (16:1–12) 485
77 The Great Confession (16:13–20) 491
78 The Shadow of the Cross (16:21–28) 497
79 The Transfiguration (17:1–9) 503
80 The Coming of Elijah (17:10–13) 509
81 A Faithless Generation (17:14–21) 515
82 Paying the Tax (17:22–27) 521
83 The Greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven (18:1–5) 527
84 Dealing with Temptation (18:6–9) 533
85 The Parable of the Lost Sheep (18:10–14) 539
86 Discipline (18:15–20) 545
87 The Unforgiving Servant (18:21–35) 551
88 Marriage and Divorce (19:1–12) 557

89 Jesus and the Children (19:13–15) 563
90 The Rich Young Ruler (19:16–22) 571
91 All Things Are Possible (19:23–30) 577
92 The Parable of the Workers (20:1–16) 583
93 Service (20:17–34) 589
94 The Triumphal Entry (21:1–11) 595
95 The Cleansing of the Temple (21:12–17) 601
96 The Cursing of the Fig Tree (21:18–22) 607
97 The Authority of Jesus (21:23–32) 613
98 The Parable of the Vineyard (21:33–46) 619
99 The Parable of the Marriage Feast (22:1–14) 625
100 Render to Caesar (22:15–22) 631
101 The Resurrection (22:23–33) 637
102 The First Commandment (22:34–40) 643
103 David’s Son and Lord (22:41–46) 649
104 Woes to the Pharisees, Part 1 (23:1–12) 655
105 Woes to the Pharisees, Part 2 (23:13–22) 661
106 Woes to the Pharisees, Part 3 (23:23–28) 667
107 Woes to the Pharisees, Part 4 (23:29–39) 673
108 The Destruction of the Temple (24:1–3, 32–35) 679
109 The Signs of the End (24:3–14) 685
110 The Great Tribulation (24:15–28) 691
111 The Coming of the Son of Man (24:29–31) 699
112 The Day and the Hour (24:36–44) 705
113 The Faithful and Evil Servants (24:45–51) 711
114 The Parable of the Wise and Foolish Virgins (25:1–13) 717
115 The Parable of the Talents (25:14–30) 723
116 The Judgment of Christ (25:31–46) 731
117 The Anointing at Bethany (26:1–13) 737
118 Judas’s Betrayal (26:14–25) 743
119 The Lord’s Supper (26:26–35) 751

120 The Garden of Gethsemane (26:36–46) 757
121 Jesus’ Arrest (26:47–56) 765
122 Jesus before Caiaphas (26:57–68) 771
123 Peter’s Denial (26:69–75) 777
124 The Remorse of Judas (27:1–10) 783
125 Jesus before Pilate (27:11–26) 789
126 The Crucifixion (27:27–44) 797
127 Jesus’ Death and Burial (27:45–66) 803
128 The Resurrection (28:1–15) 813
129 The Great Commission (28:16–20) 821
Index of Names 828

SERIES PREFACE
When God called me into full-time Christian ministry, He called
me to the academy. I was trained and ordained to a ministry
of teaching, and the majority of my adult life has been devoted
to preparing young men for the Christian ministry and to trying to bridge
the gap between seminary and Sunday school through various means
under the aegis of Ligonier Ministries.
Then, in 1997, God did something I never anticipated: He placed me
in the position of preaching weekly as a leader of a congregation of His
people—St. Andrew’s in Sanford, Florida. Over the past twelve years, as
I have opened the Word of God on a weekly basis for these dear saints,
I have come to love the task of the local minister. Though my role as a
teacher continues, I am eternally grateful to God that He saw fit to place
me in this new ministry, the ministry of a preacher.
Very early in my tenure with St. Andrew’s, I determined that I should
adopt the ancient Christian practice of lectio continua, “continuous expositions,”
in my preaching. This method of preaching verse-by-verse through
books of the Bible (rather than choosing a new topic each week) has been
attested throughout church history as the one approach that ensures believers
hear the full counsel of God. Therefore, I began preaching lengthy
series of messages at St. Andrew’s, eventually working my way through
several biblical books in a practice that continues to the present day.
Previously, I had taught through books of the Bible in various settings,
including Sunday school classes, Bible studies, and audio and video teaching
series for Ligonier Ministries. But now I found myself appealing not so
much to the minds of my hearers but to both their minds and their hearts.
13

14
Series Preface
I knew that I was responsible as a preacher to clearly explain God’s Word
and to show how we ought to live in light of it. I sought to fulfill both tasks
as I ascended the St. Andrew’s pulpit each week.
What you hold in your hand, then, is a written record of my preaching
labors amidst my beloved Sanford congregation. The dear saints who sit
under my preaching encouraged me to give my sermons a broader hearing.
To that end, the chapters that follow were adapted from a sermon
series I preached at St. Andrew’s.
Please be aware that this book is part of a broader series of books containing
adaptations of my St. Andrew’s sermons. The title of this series
is St. Andrew’s Expositional Commentary. As you can see, this is more
than a convenient title—it is a description. This book, like all the others in
the series, will not give you the fullest possible insight into each and every
verse in this biblical book. Though I sought to at least touch on each verse,
I focused on the key themes and ideas that comprised the “big picture” of
each passage I covered. Therefore, I urge you to use this book as an overview
and introduction.
I pray that you will be as blessed in reading this material as I was in
preaching it.
R. C. Sproul
Lake Mary, Florida
April 2009

1
A JEWISH LOOK AT JESUS
Matthew 1:1–17
>
The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the Son of David, the Son of
Abraham: Abraham begot Isaac, Isaac begot Jacob, and Jacob begot Judah
and his brothers. Judah begot Perez and Zerah by Tamar, Perez begot
Hezron, and Hezron begot Ram. Ram begot Amminadab, Amminadab
begot Nahshon, and Nahshon begot Salmon. Salmon begot Boaz by Rahab,
Boaz begot Obed by Ruth, Obed begot Jesse, and Jesse begot David the
king. David the king begot Solomon by her who had been the wife of
Uriah. Solomon begot Rehoboam, Rehoboam begot Abijah, and Abijah
begot Asa. Asa begot Jehoshaphat, Jehoshaphat begot Joram, and Joram
begot Uzziah. Uzziah begot Jotham, Jotham begot Ahaz, and Ahaz begot
Hezekiah. Hezekiah begot Manasseh, Manasseh begot Amon, and Amon
begot Josiah. Josiah begot Jeconiah and his brothers about the time they
were carried away to Babylon. And after they were brought to Babylon,
Jeconiah begot Shealtiel, and Shealtiel begot Zerubbabel. Zerubbabel begot
Abiud, Abiud begot Eliakim, and Eliakim begot Azor. Azor begot Zadok,
Zadok begot Achim, and Achim begot Eliud. Eliud begot Eleazar, Eleazar
begot Matthan, and Matthan begot Jacob. And Jacob begot Joseph the husband
of Mary, of whom was born Jesus who is called Christ. So all the generations
from Abraham to David are fourteen generations, from David until
the captivity in Babylon are fourteen generations, and from the captivity in
Babylon until the Christ are fourteen generations.
15

16
Matthew
We do not know definitively who wrote the Gospel of Matthew,
but the universal testimony of the early church is that it was
penned by Matthew, one of the twelve disciples. Matthew
was called from his labor as a tax collector, which was one of the most
despised vocations any Jew could hold, yet because of his training as a
tax collector, Matthew was acquainted with lists and genealogies from the
public registry, so he would know the family history of the people being
taxed. He was also, obviously, literate and probably spoke two or three
languages. Therefore, his work as a tax collector, under the providence of
God, was the Lord’s preparation for Matthew to begin his most important
and celebrated task. This book has been called, even by critics of historic
Christianity, the greatest book ever written.
The Genealogy
Matthew begins his Gospel with these words: The book of the genealogy
of Jesus Christ (v. 1). Here is a Jew writing principally for Jews,
and his first assertion is that he is writing about Jesus Messiah. Christ is not
the name of Jesus. His name is Jesus bar Joseph or Jesus of Nazareth. The
term Christ is His title, and it means “Jesus the Anointed One” or “Jesus the
promised Messiah.” Matthew mentions another important title that would
resonate with his Jewish audience: the Son of David (v. 1). This title for
Jesus, Son of David, is used more by Matthew than by any other Gospel
writer, because the Messiah was to come from the loins of the greatest king
of the Old Testament; He would be of the seed and lineage of David. So
from the very beginning of his Gospel Matthew calls Jesus “Christ, the
Son of David.”
Matthew then adds, the Son of Abraham (v. 1). One of the great difficulties
of harmonization in sacred Scripture is the relationship between
the genealogy presented by Matthew and that presented by Luke in his
Gospel. There are many places where these two genealogies do not agree.
The first point of difference is that Luke traces the genealogy of Christ
back to Adam, indicating that this Christ is not simply the Savior of the
Jews but that the scope of Jesus’ redemptive activity is universal. He is the
new Adam, who recovers the promise that God made originally to Adam
and Eve in the garden. Matthew, on the other hand, goes only as far back
as Abraham because he is writing to a Jewish audience, to people who
would want to know about the ancestry of Jesus as well as that of Matthew.
It is important that His ancestry can be taken back to Abraham.
Ancestry was important to Jewish people, as it has been to people of all

A Jewish Look at Jesus (1:1–17)17
cultures throughout history. Probably the culture that is least concerned
about ancestry is our own, which is why we often fail to understand the
import of lists such as this.
When I enrolled as a student at the Free University of Amsterdam, I had
to fill out a form with personal information. One of the questions on the
form asked, “What was your father’s station in life?” The university wanted
to know my cultural class standing. That was also important for the Jew,
which is why Matthew begins by giving us Jesus’ ancestry. Additionally,
the ancestry was important to demonstrate that Matthew’s Gospel did not
pertain to a mythical character or hero. To the Jew, the ancestry testified
to historical reality.
Several years ago a friend of mine, a missionary with Wycliffe Bible
Translators, worked among a people who had never heard the gospel in
their language. The people could not write or read, so all their communication
was oral. The missionary’s first task was to learn the language of
the tribe. Then she had to change that oral language into written form
and teach the people to read and write it. It was a laborious task that took
many years. Only after all that was accomplished could she undertake
the task of translating the Bible into this language. She began with the
Gospel of Matthew. To expedite the project she skipped the genealogy
to get to the meat and substance of the story of Christ, and then she sent
her translation work off to be printed by a publisher in a distant city. She
waited months for the first copies of Matthew to arrive at the compound,
and when the trucks came in with the Bibles, or, at least, the Gospel of
Matthew, the people were much more interested in the trucks than they
were in the translation. After having spent ten years on the project, she was
crushed when she saw that the people didn’t care at all. Nevertheless, she
persevered in her task, and in the second edition of Matthew she included
the genealogy. When that arrived the missionary explained the genealogy
to the tribal chief, and he said, “Are you trying to say that this Jesus you’ve
been telling us about for ten years was a real person?”
She replied, “Yes, of course.”
He said, “I thought you were telling us a story about some mythical
character.”
Once he understood that this Christ was real in space and time, the
chief came to Christ, and shortly thereafter the whole tribe came to Christ.
There are three sections in the genealogy, and Matthew divides these
three sections into three groups, each of which has fourteen names. The
significance of that has puzzled New Testament scholars. The Hebrew lan-

18
Matthew
guage uses a gematria, which is a kind of numerological symbolism. We find
an example of this in the book of Revelation, where we read that the number
of the beast is 666 (Rev. 13:18). Those numbers can be applied to real
persons to identify the beast. If you look at this same kind of structure in
the genealogical table, you will see that the number fourteen is the number
of David. David is the central character of the ancestry, and Matthew is
taking great pains to show that Jesus is from the line and lineage of David
and that He has come to restore the fallen booth of the great king of the
Old Testament.
Another difference between the genealogy in Matthew and the genealogy
in Luke is that Matthew lists the father of Joseph as Jacob; in Luke’s
Gospel it is Eli. However, Luke does not use the term begat; he uses simply
of someone. If you look through the genealogies, you will see that both
the lists are selective, and that Matthew and Luke do not select the same
people. The most notable difference is that in Matthew, the list moves
from David to Solomon, whereas in Luke, it moves from David to Nathan.
Solomon and Nathan were both sons of David, and, actually, the elder son
was Nathan, not Solomon. Nevertheless, the kingship passed from David
to Solomon rather than to Nathan. This gives us a clue as to why these
genealogies are different.
What scholars tend to agree on is that Matthew’s genealogy is the royal
lineage of the kings of David. When Matthew gets to the sons of Jacob, he
lists not the firstborn, Reuben, but Judah. The tribe of Judah was given
the kingdom: “The scepter shall not depart from Judah . . . until Shiloh
comes” (Gen. 49:10). In Matthew’s genealogy the heirs to the throne of
David come down finally to the father of Joseph, whose name is Jacob. In
Luke’s Gospel the genealogy does not come through the lines of the kings
but from the son of Nathan.
The genealogies differ past David, and we do not know why. Suggested
repeatedly throughout church history is that Matthew is giving us the
genealogy of Joseph, and Luke is giving us the genealogy of Mary. This
suggestion is highly disputed, but I am inclined to think it is the right solution.
We have every reason to believe that Mary also was descended from
David, and Jesus, of course, gets His human nature not from Joseph but
from Mary. However, in Jewish society the fatherhood of Joseph, even
though he was merely Jesus’ stepfather, as it were, is important for legal
genealogical considerations.
So why does Luke tell us that Joseph is of Eli while Matthew tells us that
Jacob begot Joseph? Obviously Joseph didn’t have two different fathers. I

A Jewish Look at Jesus (1:1–17)19
think Matthew is giving us the physical descendants from Jacob to Joseph.
In Luke’s Gospel, Joseph is not called “the son of Eli” but “of Eli.” In
other words, Joseph is “of Eli” in the sense that he was Eli’s son-in-law.
Noticeable by its absence in Luke’s genealogy is any reference to King
Jeconiah, who is mentioned twice in Matthew’s list. Jeconiah came under
the curse of God such that his seed would never be on the throne of David.
This means that if Luke had traced Jesus’ genealogy through Joseph, Jesus
couldn’t have been king, but since Jeconiah does not appear in Luke’s list,
it is likely that Luke’s list traces the line through Mary.
Significant about the genealogies is the reference to four women.
Although not the norm, including women in such lists was not unheard
of in Jewish genealogies. The four women mentioned are all non-Jews.
Perhaps the most significant one is Ruth the Moabite, who was the grandmother
of David. We see here the promise to Abraham, that through his
seed all the nations of the world would be blessed, including Gentiles like
Rahab and Ruth.
In Martin Luther’s study of the genealogies, he sees Jesus as the Son of
David who restores the kingdom to Israel, but as the Son of Abraham He
brings the kingdom of God to the whole world. All of that is pointed to by
what appears, in the beginning, to be nothing but a list of names.

2
THE BIRTH OF JESUS
Matthew 1:18–25
>
Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows: After His mother Mary was
betrothed to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of
the Holy Spirit. Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not wanting
to make her a public example, was minded to put her away secretly.
But while he thought about these things, behold, an angel of the Lord
appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not be
afraid to take to you Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is
of the Holy Spirit. And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His
name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.” So all this was
done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the
prophet, saying, “Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son,
and they shall call His name Immanuel,” which is translated, “God with
us.” Then Joseph, being aroused from sleep, did as the angel of the Lord
commanded him and took to him his wife, and did not know her till she
had brought forth her firstborn Son. And he called His name Jesus.
When we celebrate the birth of Jesus at Christmastime, our attention
is most often given to Luke’s account, because it gives us so
much information. It tells us of the annunciation of the angel
21

22
Matthew
Gabriel to the peasant girl Mary. It includes the story of the shepherds as
well as the infancy hymns that are sung by Zacharias and by others during
that time. Matthew’s version is much briefer.
We notice at the outset that Matthew gives his account from the viewpoint
of Joseph, whereas Luke tells his account from the viewpoint of Mary.
Luke assures us that what he wrote in his Gospel was well researched from
eyewitnesses, and tradition affirms that Luke got much of his information
from Mary herself. Of course, when Matthew wrote his Gospel he had no
opportunity to interview Joseph.
Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows (v. 18). This opening
assertion is rich in content, as brief as it is. The word used here for the
birth of Jesus is gennēsis. Our word genesis comes from the Greek ginomai,
which means “to be, to become, or happen.” Matthew is asserting that this
is how Jesus came to be, which, as we noted in the last chapter, places the
birth of Jesus within the framework of history rather than mythology.
The Betrothal of Mary and Joseph
After his mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph, before they
came together, she was found with child of the Holy Spirit
(v. 18). This takes place after betrothal and prior to marriage. In our society,
a betrothal is considered to be an engagement between two people
who intend to become married at a certain time, yet there are countless
occasions in which engagements are broken and the marriage never comes
to pass. Among the Jews in Jesus’ day, however, a betrothal was far more
serious. It was an unbreakable pledge customarily undertaken one year
before the wedding, and it carried almost the weight of marriage itself; it
was so close that it required virtually a writ of divorce to end it.
Following betrothal the bride remained under the roof of her parents.
She would not move into the home of her husband until after the actual
marriage. Therefore, it was serious when a betrothed woman was discovered
to be with child; the implications of such a pregnancy were enormous
in Jewish society and could, indeed, result in execution of the woman
who violated her betrothal by becoming pregnant. Yet we are told here
in Matthew that before Mary came together with Joseph, “she was found
with child of the Holy Spirit.” The father of this child in Mary’s womb was
not some illicit lover, nor was it Joseph; the paternity was accomplished
through the supernatural activity of the Holy Spirit. In the Apostles’ Creed
we recite, “Jesus Christ . . . was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the
virgin Mary . . .” Those two miraculous aspects—His conception and His

The Birth of Jesus (1:18–25) 23
birth—were integral to the faith of the Christian church of the early centuries.
Jesus’ conception was extraordinary, not natural but supernatural,
accomplished by the divine work of the Spirit, and as a result a baby born
to a virgin.
Perhaps no assertion of biblical Christianity fell under greater attack
by nineteenth-century liberalism than the account of the virgin birth. For
some reason more attention was given to that than to the resurrection.
Because the story is so blatantly supernatural, it became a stumbling block
to those who tried to reduce the essence of the Christian faith to all that
can be accomplished through natural humanity.
When Mary’s pregnancy was discovered, Joseph, being a just man—
one who was also kind and gave detailed attention to the observance of
the law of God, not wanting to make her a public example, was
minded to put her away secretly (v. 19). He was not willing to call
down the wrath of the courts upon his betrothed, and he decided to deal
with it from a spirit of compassion. After he thought it over deeply and
carefully, he decided to divorce her or put her away in a private manner, so
as to save his betrothed from total public humiliation.
While he thought about these things, behold, an angel of
the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of
David” (v. 20). The New Testament makes so much out of the fact that
Jesus is the Son of David that it’s almost amazing to find Joseph being
given that same title, but this is also important for the lineage of Jesus.
For Jesus to be a Son of David in Jewish categories, legally His father also
had to be a son of David. That is why the angel gives this honorific title
to Joseph when he addresses him, saying, Do not be afraid to take to
you Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the
Holy Spirit (v. 20). This is the second time in this brief narrative that the
conception of Christ in the womb of Mary is attributed to the work of the
Holy Spirit.
In Luke’s version, when the angel Gabriel told Mary that she had conceived
the child and would bring forth a baby, she was stunned and said,
“How can this be since I know not a man?” (Luke 1:34). The angel replied,
“With God nothing will be impossible” (v. 37).
Then Gabriel explained to Mary how the birth would take place. The
Holy Spirit would overshadow her so that the child would be born as a
result of this supernatural work. Luke uses the same language that is used
at the dawn of creation: “In the beginning God created the heavens and
the earth, and the earth was without form and void, and darkness was

24
Matthew
upon the face of the deep” (Gen. 1:1–2), and then we are told that the Holy
Spirit came and hovered over the waters, and God said, “Let there be
light” (v. 3). In the act of creation, the Spirit is moving on the face of the
deep, and out of the nothingness of that darkness God, through the power
of His Spirit, brings forth the whole of creation.
From the biblical perspective, the genesis of life in the first place was
through the power of the Spirit of life, of the Spirit of God. Gabriel was
declaring to Mary that same power by which the universe was made; that
same power that brought life out of the darkness originally is the power
that will overshadow her womb and produce a son. God doesn’t need a
human father to bring this to pass.
The Authority to Name
She will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus,
for He will save His people from their sins (v. 21). It was the privilege
of Jewish parents to name their children. The very first enterprise
given to humanity in the garden was the scientific task of taxonomy, that
is, the task of naming the animals, and in that task of naming, the superior
names the subordinate. God gave to Adam and Eve the responsibility and
authority to name everything in the animal kingdom. Yet throughout the
Old Testament, when a child was born into specific historical and redemptive
purposes, God took away the privilege from the parent and named the
child himself, indicating that the child belonged to Him.
That is what happened with Zacharias in the birth of John the Baptist.
God told Zacharias what to name his son (Luke 1:13). The same thing happens
here in Matthew. The Lord is saying to Joseph, “You are not going
to choose a name for this boy. You will name Him what I tell you to name
Him, because ultimately He is my Son, and you shall call his name Jesus.”
The etymology behind that name is “Jehovah saves.” Name Him Jesus
“for He will save His people from their sins.”
The idea of salvation in the Bible in general means some kind of rescue
from a threat of destruction or calamity, and the highest, ultimate sense
of salvation is rescue from the worst of all possible calamities. The worst
calamity that could ever befall human beings is to fall under the judgment
of God for their sin. That is the calamity that awaits every person
who does not rush to Christ for salvation. However, the baby is called
“Jesus” because He is a savior, and He will save His people from the
consequences of their sins.

The Birth of Jesus (1:18–25) 25
The Virgin Birth
So all this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken
by the Lord through the prophet saying, “Behold, the virgin
shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name
Immanuel,” which is translated, “God with us” (vv. 22–23). This
verse, in which Matthew is quoting Isaiah, was sharply attacked by the
critics of the nineteenth century. In the Jewish language there are two
words that can be used to describe a virgin. The most precise and technical
word is not the one that Isaiah chose. Rather, Isaiah chose the other
word, which can be translated “young woman” or, more appropriately,
“maiden,” which presumes virginity but doesn’t necessitate it. The critics
point to that and say that Isaiah wasn’t speaking of a virgin but saying only
that a young woman, a maiden, would conceive. Therefore, the critics say,
the Bible does not teach a virgin birth. That’s what we call the exegesis of
despair, because if you just give a cursory look at the context of this text,
there is no doubt that Matthew is teaching that Jesus was born from the
womb of a woman who had never been with a man—a virgin.
Isaiah said, “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall
call His name Immanuel” (Isa. 7:14), but here in Matthew the angel says
they will call His name “Jesus.” Those names are not the same, and they
do not mean the same thing. Isaiah does not tell us why they will call Him
“Immanuel.” The term Immanuel describes what Christ does. It describes
the event of incarnation. He will be called Immanuel because He will be
the incarnate presence of God with us, but His proper Jewish name will be
Jesus, because “He will save his people from their sins.”
Then Joseph, being aroused from sleep, did as the angel of
the Lord commanded him and took to him his wife, and did not
know her till she brought forth her firstborn Son. And he called
His name Jesus (vv. 24–25). This reflects not only the obedience and
submission of Joseph to what the angel had directed him to do but also that
Joseph fully embraces Jesus as his son and fulfills the legal requirements of
the genealogy that we examined in the last chapter. Joseph did this even
though the child’s name was not selected by him but by the angel. In the
ultimate sense, Jesus was named by God, who is His ultimate Father. In the
proximate sense, Jesus was named by Joseph, who was given the unspeakable
privilege of being the Lord Jesus Christ’s earthly father.

3
VISIT OF THE MAGI
Matthew 2:1–12
>
Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the
king, behold, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, saying, “Where
is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we have seen His star in the
East and have come to worship Him.” When Herod the king heard this,
he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. And when he had gathered
all the chief priests and scribes of the people together, he inquired of them
where the Christ was to be born. So they said to him, “In Bethlehem of
Judea, for thus it is written by the prophet:
‘But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,
Are not the least among the rulers of Judah;
For out of you shall come a Ruler
Who will shepherd My people Israel.’”
Then Herod, when he had secretly called the wise men, determined from
them what time the star appeared. And he sent them to Bethlehem and
said, “Go and search carefully for the young Child, and when you have
found Him, bring back word to me, that I may come and worship Him
also.” When they heard the king, they departed; and behold, the star
which they had seen in the East went before them, till it came and stood
over where the young Child was. When they saw the star, they rejoiced
27

28
Matthew
with exceedingly great joy. And when they had come into the house, they
saw the young Child with Mary His mother, and fell down and worshiped
Him. And when they had opened their treasures, they presented gifts to
Him: gold, frankincense, and myrrh. Then, being divinely warned in a
dream that they should not return to Herod, they departed for their own
country another way.
We Three Kings from Orient Are” has been sung throughout
church history, but the only historical accuracy in the hymn
is that those who came to Jesus came from the East, or the
Orient. Nothing in Scripture teaches us that they were kings or that there
were exactly three of them. Those assumptions are drawn chiefly from the
fact that there were three gifts brought to Jesus, and the particular gifts
presented indicated great wealth of the sort that was usually found at that
time only among royalty. The majority of the hymn is based on speculation
and assumption, and unbridled speculation has led many to ruin.
When we speculate, we must underscore that we are making hypothetical
inferences.
The people who came to visit Jesus bringing their lavish treasures are
identified by Matthew as magi, from which we get the English word magic.
The title was usually reserved for those who consulted the stars to learn the
future, a common practice in ancient times. In a sense, they were identified
as magicians, not necessarily of black arts but as those who were counselors
of sorts, perhaps to kings.
They came after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the
days of Herod the king (v. 1). We know that Herod died in 4 BC, and
historians estimate that Jesus was born in either 6 or 7 BC. We assume that
this visitation from the magi came sometime after the birth of Jesus. Most
artwork depicts the magi and the shepherds gathered around the Christ
child in a stable, but the biblical text tells us that when the magi came,
Mary and Joseph and the baby were in a house.
The journey from the east would have taken some time, so the magi
arrived perhaps as much as a year or two after Jesus had been born. The
reason for assuming as much as two years is that Herod ordered the slaying
of all male children under the age of two years old (v. 16).
The Star
The wise men did not come directly to Bethlehem but to Jerusalem, and
they came with a question on their lips: “Where is He who has been

Visit of the Magi (2:1–12) 29
born King of the Jews? For we have seen His star in the East and
have come to worship Him” (v. 2). Perhaps no text has been subjected
to more speculation than the description of the star that led these men
from the East. Some scholars have indicated that it was likely a comet’s
tail that gave guidance to the people in their sojourn. Johannes Kepler, for
example, argued that there was an unusual conjunction of the two planets
in the constellation Pisces in 7 BC that would have given off an extreme
luster. Still others say that these men, perhaps being astrologers, had seen
in their astrological charts the appearance of certain stars that heralded
the birth of a great king. The other possibility is that the star that led these
men to Jerusalem and then to Bethlehem was a specific creation by God
for this particular event, something like the shekinah glory cloud that led
the people of Israel in their wilderness wandering.
If I had to choose from among these options, I would choose the latter.
I think it would be very difficult to follow the tail of a comet, or even an
inordinately bright conjunction of two planets, to Jerusalem and then from
Jerusalem to Bethlehem. I suspect that this is another account of a miraculous
work of God to guide the men to the proper place.
We do not know how they knew that they were looking for the King of
the Jews; Matthew doesn’t give us that information. But he does say that
they had seen His star in the East and had come to worship Him, that is,
to give obeisance to Him. The implication here is that the men were coming
not merely to give homage to a monarch but to worship before deity.
Herod’s Dilemma
When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all
Jerusalem with him (v. 3). Herod was troubled because the birth of
a foretold king would pose a clear and present threat to his position. Of
course, had he known the time of his own death, he would not have had
to worry about a child’s coming of age and eventually replacing him. Not
only was Herod troubled, but all Jerusalem with him. We would think that
the city of Jerusalem would have been filled with excitement rather than
troubled at the news that the King of the Jews had been born. Perhaps the
arrival of an entourage (whether of three or three hundred) bearing gifts
simply created a great stir in the city.
When Herod had gathered all the chief priests and scribes of
the people together, he inquired of them where the Christ was
to be born (v. 4). They answered Herod according to their knowledge
of the Old Testament, saying, “In Bethlehem of Judea, for thus it

30
Matthew
is written by the prophet: ‘But you, Bethlehem, in the land of
Judah, are not the least among the rulers of Judah; for out of
you shall come a Ruler who will shepherd My people Israel’”
(vv. 5–6). They reported to Herod that the prophet Micah had predicted
the exact town in which the Messiah would be born, namely, Bethlehem.
We see in the prophecy of Micah the unusual linkage between king and
shepherd, and we see again the link to David in the Old Testament, who
was the great shepherd king. So Jesus comes not only as a King for His
people but also, as He described Himself, as a good shepherd who came to
tend and care for His sheep (John 10:11).
Then Herod, when he had secretly called the wise men,
determined from them what time the star appeared. And he
sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and search carefully for
the young Child, and when you have found Him, bring back
word to me, that I may come and worship him also” (vv. 7–8).
Such treachery—how evil is the heart of man. Herod said he wanted to
come and worship the Child King, but all the while he really wanted to
kill Him.
The Child Worshiped
When they heard the king, they departed; and behold, the star
which they had seen in the East went before them, till it came
and stood over where the young Child was. When they saw the
star, they rejoiced with exceedingly great joy. And when they
had come into the house, they saw the young Child with Mary
His mother, and fell down and worshiped Him (vv. 9–11). Their
journey from the East was long and dangerous. Most likely they traveled
from ancient Persia, which is now Iran, or from the part of Babylonia that
may now be Iraq. In any case, the travel involved was significant. When
the guiding star brought them to Mary and Joseph and the Child, they
were filled with joy, and they went in to worship Him. We must wonder
what was going on in the mind of Mary and Joseph when the entourage
came bearing treasures and falling on their knees to worship their Son.
And when they had opened their treasures, they presented
gifts to Him: gold, frankincense, and myrrh (v. 11). Biblical
scholars see a certain symbolism contained in the particular gifts that
were offered. The first gift was gold, which was the only fitting gift to
give a king in the ancient world. Gold was the metal of royalty, and the
fact that gold was lavishly spread at the feet of Jesus’ parents, and Jesus

Visit of the Magi (2:1–12) 31
Himself, is another indication that the men were paying homage to Him
as a king.
The reason behind the gift of frankincense is more difficult to pinpoint.
In the ancient world incense was primarily used by priests in worship.
Central to Jewish worship in the tabernacle and then in the temple was the
altar of incense, which was tended by the priests. It symbolized the sweet
aroma and fragrance of the prayers of God’s people to Him. Matthew in
his Gospel makes much of Jesus’ being both a king and a priest.
The third gift, myrrh, is the strangest of the three. The chief use of
myrrh among ancient people was for anointing the dead at the time of their
burial. When Jesus died and was laid in the tomb, women came early in
the morning with precious spices in order to anoint His body, and myrrh is
what they would have used for that occasion.
Many speculate that, taken together, there was one gift for a king, one
for a priest, and one to signify death. This should not surprise us in light of
the announcement made to Mary and Joseph when they took the Child to
the temple where they were told, “Behold, this Child is destined for the fall
and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign which will be spoken against
(yes, a sword will pierce through your own soul also), that the thoughts of
many hearts may be revealed” (Luke 2:34–35).
Investing in God’s Kingdom
I was told about a sermon that Billy Graham preached in 1957 about tithing.
In his sermon he referenced Paul’s command “Let him who stole steal
no longer” (Eph. 4:28). We can make a similar application from this text in
Matthew’s Gospel. If you are not a tither, you are robbing God. The magi
brought lavish gifts to Christ because they believed He was worthy of their
sacrifice and honor.
It is difficult to separate people from their money. I have been a tither
throughout my Christian life. I have tithed even when it was difficult to
do so, and I have never regretted a single cent of it. I tithe my gross pay,
and I pay God before I pay the government. Additionally, I have for many
years practiced the principle of delayed gratification and sought to invest
as much money as I tithe, which altogether takes 20 percent right off the
top. In the providence of God, I have been blessed with some fruitful
investments, but I have also made some bad ones. When you make an
investment, you do not know how it will turn out, because, as the financial
experts say, even in the middle of a bull market, there is a bear loose in
the woods seeking whom he may devour. The greatest investment one can

32
Matthew
make is in the kingdom of God, and there are no bear markets in heaven.
Every investment that we make in the kingdom of God returns thirtyfold,
sixtyfold, or a hundredfold.
I do not encourage people to tithe in hope of becoming rich, nor do I
encourage people to tithe simply because it is their duty. I encourage people
to tithe for the joy of it. Tithing is joyous because the Lord loves a cheerful
giver. When we pinch our money and are reluctant to give it, God is
not pleased. Consider the magi. They traveled a great distance and poured
out their wealth to honor Jesus. I have been told that if you really want to
know how deep your spiritual life is, look at your checkbook, because your
checkbook reveals more objectively than anything else the place of your
heart. The magi gave not knowing about the cross or the resurrection. We
know what Jesus did, and the application, while painful, is clear: give of
your best to the Master, and do not ever rob God.

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