Matthew 1:1-17 (New International Version)

A record of the genealogy of Jesus Christ the son of David, the son of Abraham:
Abraham was the father of Isaac,
Isaac the father of Jacob,
Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers,
Judah the father of Perez and Zerah, whose mother was Tamar,
Perez the father of Hezron,
Hezron the father of Ram,
Ram the father of Amminadab,
Amminadab the father of Nahshon,
Nahshon the father of Salmon,
Salmon the father of Boaz, whose mother was Rahab,
Boaz the father of Obed, whose mother was Ruth,
Obed the father of Jesse,
and Jesse the father of King David.
David was the father of Solomon, whose mother had been Uriah's wife,
Solomon the father of Rehoboam,
Rehoboam the father of Abijah,
Abijah the father of Asa,
Asa the father of Jehoshaphat,
Jehoshaphat the father of Jehoram,
Jehoram the father of Uzziah,
Uzziah the father of Jotham,
Jotham the father of Ahaz,
Ahaz the father of Hezekiah,
Hezekiah the father of Manasseh,
Manasseh the father of Amon,
Amon the father of Josiah,
and Josiah the father of Jeconiah and his brothers at the time of the exile to Babylon.
After the exile to Babylon:
Jeconiah was the father of Shealtiel,
Shealtiel the father of Zerubbabel,
Zerubbabel the father of Abiud,
Abiud the father of Eliakim,
Eliakim the father of Azor,
Azor the father of Zadok,
Zadok the father of Akim,
Akim the father of Eliud,
Eliud the father of Eleazar,
Eleazar the father of Matthan,
Matthan the father of Jacob,
and Jacob the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ.

Thus there were fourteen generations in all from Abraham to David, fourteen from David to the exile to Babylon, and fourteen from the exile to the Christ.

Devotional (by Isaac Pellerin)

If you're looking for some unique names, Matthew has provided you with a great list to start with. Why are these names important? In Jesus' day, a persons heritage was incredibly important. For the Jewish people there were all sorts of prophecies stating that the Messiah would be a descendant of Abraham and in the line of David. The interesting thing about Matthew's record here, is that he includes a few key women. Tamar seduced her father in law in order to have a child. Rahab was a prostitute who hid spies in the city of Jericho to help the Jews claim their land, so God honored her. Ruth was a gentile (non-Jewish), as was Uriah's wife (Bathsheba), who committed adultery with King David. Rarely did genealogies include women, and Matthew includes some of those who would have been most tainted to people in his day.

Matthew is telling this story this way to show that the line of Jesus had “outsiders” in it. That it was part of God's plan to bring salvation to everyone, not just the people who thought they deserved it.

Prayer

God thank you for accepting me when I feel like an “outsider”. Please help me to show others who my feel that they are on the outside, that they belong to You. In Jesus' name, Amen.