Matthew 1

Matthew starts out with the Genealogy of Jesus. Matthew was probably the Matthew (tax collector turned apostle) of the Gospels. Matthew, probably writing many years after Jesus' death and resurrection (meaning that he had time to fully understand Jesus,) wrote to a church of Jews who became Christians. This is why here, with the genealogy, and elsewhere, Matthew sets out to show how Jesus was the Messiah in the mold of the Old Testament and was the fulfillment of many OT prophecies.

Note that Jesus' genealogy starts with the Father of the Jews, Abraham, and goes through King David as well. Non-Jews and even prostitutes are in Jesus' family tree.

Jesus was born to a lowly family in the genealogy (Mary.) She is engaged but found pregnant. This was cause for her death. Who would believe that God's Spirit was the father? Joseph, being faithful, receives a dream where he finds that this is God's doing and God's Son and to go along with the marriage. Jesus is the Greek form of Joshua, which means the LORD saves. Many people and places have symbolic names.