Matthew 1:1-16 says, The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham. MAT1:02 Abraham begat Isaac; and Isaac begat Jacob; and Jacob begat Judas and his brethren;  MAT1:03 And Judas begat Phares and Zara of Thamar; and Phares begat Esrom; and Esrom begat Aram;  MAT1:04 And Aram begat Aminadab; and Aminadab begat Naasson; and Naasson begat Salmon;  MAT1:05 And Salmon begat Booz of Rachab; and Booz begat Obed of Ruth; and Obed begat Jesse;  MAT1:06 And Jesse begat David the king; and David the king begat Solomon of her that had been the wife of Urias;  MAT1:07 And Solomon begat Roboam; and Roboam begat Abia; and Abia begat Asa;  MAT1:08 And Asa begat Josaphat; and Josaphat begat Joram; and Joram begat Ozias;  MAT1:09 And Ozias begat Joatham; and Joatham begat Achaz; and Achaz begat Ezekias;  MAT1:10 And Ezekias begat Manasses; and Manasses begat Amon; and Amon begat Josias;  MAT1:11 And Josias begat Jechonias and his brethren, about the time they were carried away to Babylon:  MAT1:12 And after they were brought to Babylon, Jechonias begat Salathiel; and Salathiel begat Zorobabel;  MAT1:13 And Zorobabel begat Abiud; and Abiud begat Eliakim; and Eliakim begat Azor;  MAT1:14 And Azor begat Sadoc; and Sadoc begat Achim; and Achim begat Eliud;  MAT1:15 And Eliud begat Eleazar; and Eleazar begat Matthan; and Matthan begat Jacob;  MAT1:16 And Jacob begat Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ.  This is the beginning of the New Testament, the one based on faith and not works.  These verses link the promise of God, made to Abraham and David, to the fulfillment of that promise in Jesus Christ.  Matthew was a Jew by birth and a publican by trade, and he was with Jesus throughout His ministry. There is little to say individually about these verses, as they simply give the genealogy of Christ and prove the faithfulness of God to keep His promises.  Verse seventeen says, So all the generations from Abraham to David are fourteen generations; and from David until the carrying away into Babylon are fourteen generations; and from the carrying away into Babylon unto Christ are fourteen generations.  This was forty-two generations after God's promise to Abraham, broken down into three series of fourteen generations.  Some have attempted to use this as a reason to claim that there would be fourteen generations until the return of Christ, but since Christ Himself said He did not know the day of His return, I do not believe that the purpose here was to help us fix a time.  I am not even sure how many generations have passed since Christ first came to earth, but we can be certain that He will return, even if it is after forty-two generations or longer.