The Jeff Cavins Show (Your Catholic Bible Study Podcast) - Why Bible Genealogies Are Interesting

Episode Date: January 16, 2026

Far from being filler, Matthew’s opening genealogy is rich with meaning. Jeff explains how the genealogy is carefully structured around God’s covenant promises, why the numbers in the list matter, and how it signals a new beginning in Jesus Christ. Email us with comments or questions at [e-mail]. Text “jeffcavins” to 33-777 to subscribe and get Jeff’s shownotes delivered straight to your email! Or visit https://media.ascensionpress.com/?s=&page=2&category%5B0%5D=Ascension%20Podcasts&category%5B1%5D=The%20Jeff%20Cavins%20Show for full shownotes!

This podcast is brought to you by Ascension. To discover even more free Catholic podcasts, videos, and resources, to help you live your faith every day, visit ascensionpress.com. Welcome to the Jeff Kaven Show, where we talk about the Bible, discipleship, and evangelization, putting it all together in living as activated disciples. This is show 465, why Bible genealogies are interesting. Hello, my friend. Welcome again. Good to be with you today as we jump into the Word of God on the Jeff Gaven show. And we talk about scripture. We talk about discipleship, getting to know the Lord and doing what he said to do. And hopefully, the show will be a part of helping you understand what God is trying to say to us. You know, last week was the opening of this four-part series that I'm sharing with you about Matthew, just to give you a jump start. because it is the liturgical year A, which is a focus on Matthew. And this is the genius of the Catholic Church is that every year we get to focus on a gospel. And I really like that.

I do. It sort of force feeds you, what you need, not just what you want, but what you need. And I like that. Call it a balanced diet, if you will. Well, last week I talked to you a little bit about how unique the gospel was. I showed you how it was basically set up in five books that kind of remind you of the five books of the Torah, Genesis Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. And I think that that helped a lot of people in understanding the basic structure. And each of those five divisions was divided up into

two things, narrative, that is, the movement of the story, and then discourse. Jesus teaches. So it's looking at the action, and then it is thinking about it, and Jesus teaches about it. So that's an important thing. Today I want to look at this opening genealogy, which sometimes people find boring. But when you understand what it really is, it's not boring at all. But I do feel sorry for people who end up having to read this during Mass and go through all the names because it can be difficult for people if they're not used to those names. So kudos for trying.

We get it. It's fine. But let's look a little deeper here, shall we? And by the way, these notes I'll give you. All you got to do is text my name, Jeff Kaven's one word to the number 3377. And we'll get you on the list. Okay. So Matthew starts off, as you know, with a genealogy.

Now, right away, you would ask yourself, why? Why in the world? would you start off with a genealogy if you're trying to capture people and gain likes as if that's important. But seriously, why would you start off that way? Why start your gospel with a genealogy? It's like watching Friends' home video, right? And this would have had a big impact on Jewish believers in the first century. Once they find out you're starting with a genealogy, that would mean something.

You see, in the genealogy, God is showing. that in Christ, a new beginning is happening. You got to think about the word genealogy. Okay. Greek is Genesis. Genesis. Genealogy, the Greek word is Genesis. In Jesus, God provides a new Genesis. A new Genesis, a new beginning.

Isn't that beautiful? You know, a lot of people never knew that. They never thought of that. The Bible starts off with Genesis. Well, of course it does. It's Genesis. It's the beginning. So then why do we start off with a genealogy in the gospel? Because it's a genesis. It's a new

beginning. In Jesus, God provides a new Genesis. So Matthew is asserting that Jesus is the beginning of something new and his work will impact the world, the whole world, the way Adam's activity impacted the whole world. Notice the Genesis 5-1 pattern. There's a 5-1 pattern, I would call it, and that is the last Adam and the first Adam. We got the first Adam, and then the last Adam. Paul calls Jesus the last Adam in 1 Corinthians 1545. And I'll put Genesis 5-1 in there for you as well. So Matthew's use of the Genesis 5-1 pattern implies that his gospel will be for the early church, what Genesis was for Israel, for Israel, a clear explanation of the origin of the church. We'll get back to that in a little bit, okay?

So God has sworn two covenant oaths in the past to act like insurance policies for Israel. Israel's faith revolves around these two covenants. The first one is with Abraham in Genesis 12 and all the way really to Genesis 22. So you got the covenant with Abraham, starting in Genesis 12. You see it really explained in Genesis 15. And this would have ensured Abraham's seed, but also the Gentiles, ensure them of a promise. The second major covenant is with David.

2 Samuel 7. David wanted to build God a house, but God said, no, I'm going to build you a house. A house is a dynasty. It's a kingdom. God promised to raise up the son of David and establish the son of David as the son of God. 2 Samuel 7, verse 11 and on. Okay, so what we're going to see in the genealogy here is we're going to see a structure to it. that should say something to you about what? A new beginning. Very important to get this. This is a new beginning.

I'm going to go into that right after this. You're listening to the Jeff Kaven show. I am Father Colomba, Jordan a Franciscan friar of the renewal, living here in Ireland. This lent, I'm partnering with Ascension to bring you Crooks, a set of daily challenges and videos in the Ascension app. Starting Ash Wednesday, we'll take on four challenges each day that remind us of the cross of Christ.

One, reading scripture, two, praying the examined prayer. Three, doing one workout or exercise and four, and dietary fast of your choice. Nothing extreme. It's about stepping into small daily challenges that rub up against our weakness so we can learn to meet God in those moments and rely on him alone.

So here's the invitation. Join me every day this Lent in the Ascension app. Get ready for a Lent that stretches you, challenges you, and draws you closer to God. Download and subscribe to the Ascension app to get started today. God bless you. I'll see you soon. Welcome back. We're talking today about Matthew's Gospel since it is the liturgical year A, which focuses on Matthew.

And that's why I'm going into this with you to help orient you for this next liturgical year that we're in. We just began it, right? So we're looking into the genealogy that's mentioned right at the beginning. Now, we know that there are two major covenants in the past, Abraham and David, that are critical to this genealogy. And again, genealogy, Genesis, a new beginning. So one of the questions we ask at the beginning of this genealogy is who is your father? Who is your father? Now what's going to happen here in the genealogy is that it's going to be a long list of names.

Some of them are going to be familiar. Some of them not. There's also going to be the mention of four women in this genealogy. Four women in the genealogy, which is a bit rare, but there's a meaning. behind it, and I'll get to that in just a moment, all right? So as we read through all these names in the genealogy, a lot of people would start to get a little bit bored because they don't know what that is. Now, I got to tell you, the word for genealogies in the Old Testament is the word toledote. It means the generations of. You see, the word toledote speaks of a literary

tool, a genealogy, which takes you from the wide angle to the narrow. It takes you from a lot going on to one specific person or thing or event. So the genealogy is trying to focus you on something. Most people don't know that. They just think it's boring. But it's God trying to focus you on something. And in this case, it's focusing on Jesus and Jesus as the new beginning. So what we have here is verses 2 through 6 of Matthew 1 goes from Abraham to David. Remember those two covenants, Abraham and David? From Abraham to David. And then it goes in verses 7 through 11 from David to the Babylonian deportation.

And then verses 12 through 16, the Babylonian deportation or captivity to Joseph and Mary. So you have three major divisions, and you'll see this in verse 17 of chapter one of Matthew. It goes through the whole genealogy, 1 through 16, and then verse 17. It does this. Now, watch this. Matthew is very clever here, okay? And by way of extension, God is very clever, right? The author of this.

And so what we have is we have these three divisions, Abraham to David, David to the Babylonian deportation, the Babylonian captivity to Joseph and Mary. Those are the three areas. Now, Matthew is going to tell you how long each period is. Listen to what he says. So all the generations from Abraham to David were 14 generations. And from David to the deportation to Babylon, 14 generations. And from the deportation to Babylon to the Christ,

14 generations. Now, this, remember last week I was talking about, this is written to the Jews. The Jews are very much in tune with numbers, and numbers have meaning. And that's not the way it is in our culture as much, but boy, it was back then. Numbers have meaning. Now, if you are a Jew listening to this genealogy, there's going to be several questions. that come up and your eyes are going to get brighter as you understand what Matthew's trying to do. Three times he mentions 14 generations. Okay, three times. That's 42, number 42, okay?

You have number 42, three times 14. But the reader, the Jewish reader here, isn't going to stop with three sets of 14. Why? Because they're going to see six sets of seven. Six sets of seven. Seven is a covenant number. It is a very powerful number as six in itself. You know that number, six, six, six is often tied to some negative things in the Old Testament. But number seven, full creation, God rests on the seventh day. Shavah is the Hebrew for seven, that's how you'd say it, and it has to do with covenant, covenant, right? So you have three sets of 14, six sets of seven. Then Matthew starts talking about Jesus and the birth of Jesus, which is the beginning of the seventh set of seven. So you have three times 14, that's six sets of seven. This now is the next. beginning with Jesus as he is mentioned.

So if you take the name of David and you put the numerical value to it as the Jews did and do, then you would have David, D, V, D, David. The D, Dalit, has the numerical value of four, and then the Vav, six, and then Dalit, So you have four plus six plus four is 14. Remember, three times 14, six sets of seven, Jesus is the beginning of the seventh seven at the mark of fulfillment. Isn't that amazing what he's doing there? So why all the focus on David? Well, it brought to mind the glory days of Israel.

It reminded them that God made a covenant that one day someone from the house of David would sit on the throne forever and ever, 2 Samuel 716. So the third cycle begins with the deportation to Babylon, captivity. The return, the restoration is missing. It's missing in the genealogy. It only lasted 70 years, but Matthew leaves it out. The return from Babylonian captivity in 587 BC. The real restoration hasn't taken place.

Jesus' birth marks the beginning. of the real restoration. No legitimate heir has assumed the throne since the deportation. Right at about verse 13, Zerubbable, the reading would have become quite exciting. Now, there's another thing about this genealogy. Let me share this with you real quick, and that is this. There are four women mentioned. Four ladies. I call them shady ladies. Moral shadow of suspicion. You have Tamar mentioned in the genealology. She's a Canaanite. And that's in Genesis 38, 26.

She tricks Judah into getting her pregnant. Then you have Rehab, a Canaanite and a harlot. She's the one that was over in Jericho, and she made it possible for the spies to remain safe and scout out how they were going to take Jericho. You have Ruth, a Moabite, outsider. And of course, Ruth, she ends up meeting Boaz and becomes the great grandmother, King David. And then you have the wife of Yeraya.

You know who she is. Bathsheba. But the genealogy doesn't even mention her name. She's a Hittite. I should say Yeraya is a Hittite. And she's an adulterer. So you have another outsider there in a sense, right? Okay.

So you got four women mentioned. and you would think that he would have listed Sarah Rachel, the great matriarchs. All the women chosen were not the great matriarchs. The women chosen all had unusual, marital, or sexual relationships. The listing of these four women may also be interpreted as an inclusion of sinners or Gentiles in Jesus' genealogy. But we can learn from this, that God uses unusual people to advance. his plan of salvation. But there's more. The genealogy also demonstrates that God can weave a wonderful tapestry out of the saddest and most sordid scenes in our lives. What about you?

Are there things in your life that held you hostage, captive like in Babylon? God can't do anything with you? Wait till you get deep into Matthew. Why would they reject? Jesus. Think about this for a moment. Why would they reject Jesus? Well, I can tell you one big reason. Virgin birth. That's right. You're telling me that Mary was impregnated by the Holy Spirit? Can you say headline news? You know what's happening here? When Matthew mentions the four women in the genealogy, Listen, this is a preemptive strike aimed at their doubts. They had Canaanites, Moabites, prostitution, adultery, incest in their lineage, and that wasn't enough to reject Solomon as Son of David.

Wow. So when they hear that Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit, This is going to say to the Jewish audience, our history is filled with crooked lines that God wrote with. He wrote straight with crooked lines. And this one, this stays in that line of God doing an amazing work. And this is the new Genesis, the new beginning, the new law, the king, the son of David, the fulfillment of everything that went before us.

Isn't that beautiful? I just wanted to share that with you this week. I thought it might help. So enjoy. Let's pray. In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, amen. Lord Jesus, thank you so much again for your word. We thank you, Lord, for writing straight with crooked lines like us.

And we ask you, Lord, to open our hearts and minds again, that we might really hear your word and that we would revere you and worship. you and do what you said to do in Jesus name. Amen. Let me conclude with this, my friend, if you have not gone through the Matthew study, my 24-week study with Ascension, check it out. This is the year to do it. This is important. God bless you and have a wonderful week.