Jesus, Son of David, Son of Abraham

Where should biographies start? At the birth of the subject? But factors that shaped their lives were in place long before they were born. Parents, the nature of the culture that they were born into, the political situation? Each of our four Gospels starts in a unique position. Matthew, for his part, starts with a genealogy. We may question why Matthew would begin this way, but his introduction has questions for us as well!