Matthew opens with a genealogy that establishes Jesus' ties to the Old Testament. This is one of two genealogies that appear in the New Testament, the other is in Luke 3:23-38. The two do not match up very well. Some have attempted to explain this away by saying that one is a genealogy of Joseph's side of the family and the other is Mary's. A quick look reveals that this is not the case; both genealogies purport to go through Joseph's family.
The genealogies aren't real, they are made up to make theological points. Matthew wants to show the Jewishness of Jesus and message so his family tree connects Jesus to major figures in the history of Israel and only goes back as far as Abraham (with special mention of King David), the patriarch of the Hebrew people. Luke is also making a theological point but his is about the universality of Jesus. Salvation is for both Jews and Gentiles and Luke underscores this by tracing his family tree all the way back to Adam; implying Jesus' connection to the whole human race.
There is another interesting difference in the genealogies. Luke doesn't mention any women, but Matthew mentions five: Tamar, Rahab, Ruth, Uriah's wife, and Mary. This is an interesting list because these women were all considered "shameful" but the culture of their times. Tamar was the daughter of King David, who was raped by her brother Amnon, Rahab was a prostitute who helped the Israelite spies in the city of Jericho, Ruth was a foreign widow who cared for her Israelite mother-in-law, Uriah's wife became pregnant with King David's son while her husband was away fighting a war (David later set him up to be killed). Under the laws of the Old Testament, rape victims, prostitutes, foreign widows, and adultresses were the lowest of the low. No decent man was supposed to have anything to do with them. But, by singling these women out, the writer sets up the reader to rememer that God has ways of blessing ven these women who soceity rejects, and through them, the world. That is the perfect introduction for pregnant unwed Mary.
The story opens with Joseph getting an unpleasant surprise: his intended is already pregnant. Under the laws of Deuteronomy he could have had mary stoned to death. Being a nice guy, Joseph prefers to dissolve the marriage contract without making a fuss. She wouldn't ever be able to find a husband and would be looked down on b everyone but she would still be alive.
Then Joseph has a dream. An angel appears to him and explains the situation. Armed with this new knowledge, Joseph accepts the shame of marrying a pregnant girl. This is not a big deal in our culture, but Judea in the time of Jesus operated very much out of the "cupture of honor." Your family name and reputation meant everything and anything that would put a blemish on the family's honor was unacceptable. We can see echoes of this among the titled families of Europe, or the aristocrats of the Old South, who would fight deuls to preserve their honor. We also see it in the "honor killings" that still persist in some parts of the world when daughters are murdered for disgracing their families by engaging in premarital sex or by being victims of rape.
In Mary and Joseph we see something different . . . two people who willingly give up family and personal repitations to serve God. This change from a culture of honor to an ethic of humility is a huge change and something that we will continue to see all through the Gospels.
Joseph does not appear in any of the other Gospels at all, but he is an important figure here. His name reminds of the hero of Genesis 37-50. Like the Joseph of Genesis, Mary's husband is strongly connected to dreams which guide him in the right things to do. The parallels between the two Josephs are something that would have appealed to Matthew's jewish-Christian audience.
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