The Ancestry of Christ (Matthew 1:1-17)

To set the scene for Christ’s life, the New Testament begins by tracing his family tree, working back through the Old Testament. Both St Matthew and St Luke’s gospels each include a specific section on the ancestry of Christ. There are some differences between their two genealogies, but as Pope St John Paul II explained, this is for a reason.

He said: “The Gospel according to Matthew begins, in accordance with the Jewish custom, with the genealogy of Jesus (Matthew 1:2-17) and lists, starting from Abraham, the generations in the male line. Indeed, Matthew is concerned with highlighting, through the legal paternity of Joseph, the descent of Jesus from Abraham and David and, consequently, the legitimacy of his status as Messiah.”

The pope went on: “At the end of the series of the descendants we read: “Jacob fathered Joseph, the husband of Mary, from whom Jesus called Christ was born” (Matthew 1:16). By emphasizing Mary’s motherhood, the Evangelist implicitly underlines the truth of the virgin birth: Jesus, as a man, has no earthly father.”

He added: “According to the Gospel of Luke, the genealogy of Jesus (Luke 3:23-38) is ascending: from Jesus through his ancestors it goes back to Adam. The Evangelist wanted to show the bond of Jesus with the whole human race. Mary, as a collaborator of God in giving human nature to her eternal Son, was the instrument of Jesus’ connection with all humanity.”

The genealogies might, at first glance, appear to be merely uninspiring lists of names. However, there is actually more going on here than meets the eye. Behind each list are stories of the various people who prepared the way for Christ. Some, such as Noah, Abraham and King David are respected figures from Jewish history. Many of the kings mentioned in Matthew 1:7-11, however, were godless, bloodthirsty tyrants.

In his list, St Matthew also mentions four women – Tamar, Rahab, Ruth and Bathsheba (Matthew 1:3-6). These were mostly foreign women, some of whom led scandalous lives. Many others included in the lists were just ordinary people. The overall point is that Christ was descended from sinners and saints, kings and commoners, insiders and outsiders, celebrities and nobodies. He came to redeem everyone.

In St Luke’s version, which has seventy-seven names in total, every seventh person in the list seems to be significant. This includes several people named Joseph, another Jesus, King David, Abraham, and Enoch, the first saint after the Fall. It’s almost as if St Luke was saying that every seven generations, God sent someone special into the world, to prepare the way for Christ.

From the Middle Ages onwards, the royal ancestry of Christ was often pictured in art, in the form of the ‘Jesse Tree’ (cf Isaiah 11:1-10). Sometimes this was in a grand stained glass window, or alternatively as an illustration in a manuscript. Christ’s family tree usually featured a range of his ancestors, including his forefather, Jesse.

This glorious Jesse Tree window is found within the sanctuary of St Giles’, in Cheadle. It pictures Christ’s royal ancestry, as set out in St Matthew’s gospel. Designed by A.W.N. Pugin and produced by William Wailes, it was installed around 1845. The window features 27 of Christ’s ancestors, many crowned, with each of them labelled.

Jesse is pictured seated in the centre of the bottom row of the window, at its roots. By contrast, the window at the top features his descendants – the newborn Christ with his mother. The window uses the trademark colours of the Wailes studio – blues, greens and reds – and includes branches, flowers and leaves throughout.

See the full image:

Detail of some of the royal ancestors:

Detail of Jesse:

Detail of King David:

Detail of King Solomon:

Detail of the Madonna and Child from the top of the window:

Where to find this work of art
St Giles’, Cheadle

Read the relevant passage
Matthew 1:1-17

On a similar theme

• From the Old Testament: The idea for presenting the Ancestry of Christ as a family tree came from the ‘Jesse Tree‘ prophecy of Isaiah.
• From the New Testament: This stained glass window pictures the Ancestry of Christ as listed in St Matthew’s gospel.