What does it say?
Jesus is the long awaited Messiah, for he is the seed of David and the seed of Abraham. The line from Abraham to David mentions three women: Tamar, Rahab and Ruth. The genealogy from David to the deportation to Babylon also included a woman by the name of Bathsheba. After the deportation to Babylon the line goes from Jeconiah (Jehoiachin) to Joseph the husband of Mary by whom Jesus was born; Mary is the fifth woman mentioned in the genealogy of Jesus. Each section was fourteen generations; Abraham to David, David to deportation to Babylon, and deportation to Babylon to the Messiah. Although Joseph was betrothed to Mary, she became pregnant before they came together. Joseph planned to divorce her secretly but an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, and convinced him to take mary as his wife because the child conceived in her was of the Holy Spirit (God). Joseph was to name him Jesus because he would save his people from their sin.
iesous (ʼΙησοῦς, 2424) is a transliteration of the Heb. “Joshua,” meaning “Jehovah is salvation,” i.e., “is the Savior,” “a common name among the Jews, e.g., Ex. 17:9; Luke 3:29 (RV); Col. 4:11. (Vine's Complete Expository Dictionary)
The virgin birth fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah 7:14, 9:6-7. Therefore, Joseph took Mary as his wife but did not have sex with her until after the birth of Jesus.
What does it mean?
The three major covenants in the Old Testament are: Noahic, Abrahamic, and Davidic. Noahic represents all people, Abrahamic a particular family and Davidic a particular royal line within the Abrahamic family. The line from Noah to Abraham was not given but assumed. Abraham was promised a land, a people, a nation and that in his seed all the nations (Noahic) would be blessed. God promised through David’s seed to establish his thrown forever and he would be the son of God. The five woman mentioned are very important. Jesus came from the tribe of Judah but his genealogy went through Tamar. Tamar was Judah’s daughter in-law who disguised herself as a prostitute and became pregnant by her father in-law. Rahab was an actual prostitute, from the city of Jericho, when Israel first came in to possess the land of Canaan. Ruth was a Moabite. The Moabites came to be from incest, a union between father and daughter; therefore, the Israelites were not supposed to marry Moabites. Bathsheba became David’s wife after he committed adultery with her and had her husband murdered. Mary was a virgin but people assumed that she became pregnant before marriage and Joseph assumed by another man. It seemed unlikely that such a man as the Messiah would come from such sinful people as these but this demonstrates that God can use anyone, despite their past, and for his glory. The Genealogy of Jesus leaves no doubt that he is the Messiah, the Son of God; fully God and fully man in one person. Jesus came to save us from our sins.
What shall I do?
I shall remember that the incarnation of Jesus Christ was Divine and fulfilled Old Testament prophecy. I shall have repentance towards God and faith in Jesus, he is the Christ (Messiah), the Son of God (God in human flesh). I shall tell people about Jesus and the salvation from sin in his name. I shall realize that God can use me, and anyone else he chooses, in his kingdom, for his glory despite our past.
