The Son of Abraham in the First Gospel

The first Gospel begins with the words, “An account of the genealogy of Yeshua the Messiah, the son of David, the son of Abraham” (Matt 1:1).1 It is not difficult to see how the theme “son of David” pervades Matthew’s magnum opus. The term appears ten times, and Yeshua is portrayed as the shepherd-king of Israel throughout.2 But how is “son of Abraham” reflected in the story?3 After all, every Jew is a son (or daughter) of Abraham.4 One fresh approach to this question has been to identify the son of Abraham as the new Isaac, a Messiah who sacrifices himself for the sins of Israel.5 While there is much merit to the Akedah interpretation, I propose a way forward more in line with Matthew’s narrative dynamics: that the son of Abraham is the one who implements the Abrahamic promise and proselytizes the gentile world as Abraham did. In order to make this case, I will show how the theme of raising up gentile children for Abraham appears at various points in the Gospel and culminates in the son of Abraham’s words, “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations” (Matt 28:19).

Abraham and the Nations in Matthew 1–2