Paul is aware of tensions between the Jewish Christians and the Gentile Christians in the church in Rome and some of the Gentiles questioning the importance of the Jews at that time. Paul explains the Jewish historical heritage which remains important. Jesus, the Messiah was a Jew and Paul himself.

Matthew wrote for the Jews. The genealogy of Jesus is traced back to Abraham, the father of the nation. Matthew traces the ancestry through Joseph but Luke through Mary. Ancestry was important to Jews.