Jesus: David's Son, God's Son!

The genealogy Matthew gives for Jesus in the opening verses of his Gospel lays the foundation for showing how it is that Jesus, the most unlikely of candidates, should be recognized as the Messiah, the son of David, the son of Abraham. The problem is, in v16 Matthew is almost at pains to point out that Joseph, King David's descendant, is not Jesus' father. In v18-25 Matthew explains not only how it is that Jesus can legitimately be called the son of David, but also how he comes to be called both Jesus (Yahweh saves) and Immanuel (God with us).