Jesus is the Messiah. Matthew attempts to make this point as clearly as possible. It’s why he begins his genealogy of Jesus as the son of David, the son of Abraham, rather than vice versa. It’s why, tracing Jesus’ lineage back to David, he refers to him as the king. It’s why he quotes so much Old Testament scripture that prophesied of the coming Messiah and how Jesus fulfills them. It’s why he wraps up this genealogy noting that between each major unit there were 14 generations. 

This number 14 was a significant number because it was tied to the name of David. In Hebrew there are 22 letters in the alphabet, and each letter is given a numerical value. In Hebrew you would spell David’s name using three letters: “Dalet, Vav, Dalet”. Dalet is the fourth letter in the alphabet, and Vav is the sixth. So when you put them together it is: “4 + 6 + 4” and this of course equals 14. Jesus is the Messiah and even history testifies to it.

Why is this so meaningful? Because the Messiah was supposed to come and put everything right again. He was supposed to bring justice to the nations, and deliverance for Israel. The prophet Isaiah testifies that the Messiah would bring a healing that would include recovery of sight to the blind, the ability to hear for the deaf, and the lame will walk again. This Messiah will bring an end to all suffering for those who are waiting for him.

This is the season when we are reminded that he came. He healed the blind, deaf, lame and he took upon himself the burdens of our sin so we could receive the complete healing when he comes again.