The following quote is from a book by Arthur Pink entitled The Four Gospels which I am currently reading. It seems fairly good overall. In it, the author shows the differences between the four Gospels - how each one is unique and presents Jesus in light of the purpose of that particular Gospel: Matthew presents Jesus as the King of Kings, King of the Jews; Mark as the Servant of the Lord; Luke as the Perfect Man, the Son of Man; and John as God, the Son of God. If you want to dig in deeper on this theme, please click on the title of the book above to download it for free. Otherwise, enjoy this interesting excerpt from the chapter on Matthew.
The Generations Of Adam And Jesus
The first thing which arrests our attention is the opening verse. God, in His tender grace, has hung the key right over the entrance. The opening verse is that which unlocks the contents of this Gospel — “The book of the generation of Jesus Christ the Son of David, the Son of Abraham.” The first five English words here are but two in the Greek — “Biblos geneseos.” These two words indicate the peculiarly Jewish character of the earlier portions of this Gospel, for it is an Old Testament expression. It is noteworthy that this expression which commences the New Testament is found almost at the beginning of the first book in the Old Testament, for in Gen. 5:1 we read, “This is the book of the generations of Adam.” We need hardly say that this word “generation” signifies the history of.” These two “books” — the book of the generation of Adam, and the book of the generation of Jesus Christ — might well be termed the Book of Death and the Book of Life. Not only does the whole Bible center around these two books, but the sum of human destiny also. How strikingly this expression, found at the beginning of Genesis and the beginning of Matthew, brings out the Unity of the two Testaments!
In the book of Genesis we have eleven different “generations” or histories enumerated, beginning with the “generations of the heavens and the earth,” and closing with the “generations of Jacob” — see 2:4; 5:1; 6:9; 10:1; 11:10; 11:27; 25:12; 25:19; 36:1; 36:9; 37:2 — thus dividing the first book of the Bible into twelve sections, twelve being the number of Divine government, which is what is before us in Genesis — God in sovereign government. From Exodus to Daniel we find government entrusted, instrumentally, to Israel, and from Daniel onwards it is in the hands of the Gentiles; but in Genesis we antedate the Jewish theocracy, and there government is found directly in the hands of God, hence its twelvefold division. Twice more, namely, in Num. 3:1 and Ruth 4:18, do we get this expression “the generation of,” making in the Old Testament thirteen in all, which is the number of apostasy, for that is all the Law revealed! But, as we have seen, this expression occurs once more (and there for the last time in Holy Writ) in the opening verse of the New Testament, thus making fourteen in all, and the fourteenth is “the book of the generation of Jesus Christ.” How profoundly significant and suggestive this is! Fourteen is 2 x 7, and two signifies (among its other meanings) contrast or difference, and seven is the number of perfection and completeness — and what a complete difference the Coming of Jesus Christ made!
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