6 and Jesse the father of David the king. And David was the father of Solomon by the wife of Uriah, 7 and Solomon the father of Rehoboam, and Rehoboam the father of Abijah, and Abijah the father of Asaph, 8 and Asaph the father of Jehoshaphat, and Jehoshaphat the father of Joram, and Joram the father of Uzziah, 9 and Uzziah the father of Jotham, and Jotham the father of Ahaz, and Ahaz the father of Hezekiah, 10 and Hezekiah the father of Manasseh, and Manasseh the father of Amos, and Amos the father of Josiah, 11 and Josiah the father of Jechoniah and his brothers, at the time of the deportation to Babylon. 12 And after the deportation to Babylon: Jechoniah was the father of Shealtiel, and Shealtiel the father of Zerubbabel, 13 and Zerubbabel the father of Abiud, and Abiud the father of Eliakim, and Eliakim the father of Azor, 14 and Azor the father of Zadok, and Zadok the father of Achim, and Achim the father of Eliud, 15 and Eliud the father of Eleazar, and Eleazar the father of Matthan, and Matthan the father of Jacob, 16 and Jacob the father of Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom Jesus was born, who is called Christ. ~ Matthew 1:6-16
23 Jesus, when He began His ministry, was about thirty years of age, being the son (as was supposed) of Joseph, the son of Heli, 24 the son of Matthat, the son of Levi, the son of Melchi, the son of Jannai, the son of Joseph, 25 the son of Mattathias, the son of Amos, the son of Nahum, the son of Esli, the son of Naggai, 26 the son of Maath, the son of Mattathias, the son of Semein, the son of Josech, the son of Joda, 27 the son of Joanan, the son of Rhesa, the son of Zerubbabel, the son of Shealtiel, the son of Neri, 28 the son of Melchi, the son of Addi, the son of Cosam, the son of Elmadam, the son of Er, 29 the son of Joshua, the son of Eliezer, the son of Jorim, the son of Matthat, the son of Levi, 30 the son of Simeon, the son of Judah, the son of Joseph, the son of Jonam, the son of Eliakim, 31 the son of Melea, the son of Menna, the son of Mattatha, the son of Nathan, the son of David, ~ Luke 3:23-31
Jesus, the son of Mary and Joseph, is the long-awaited Messiah. The son of David. He was a direct descendant of the king of Israel, whom God loved and made a promise to. Both Matthew and Luke give an account of Jesus’ genealogy, one through His mother, Mary, and the other through His earthly father, Joseph. Now, Luke, who gives His father’s genealogy in his account, made it clear that it was only thought to be the son of Joseph. So, what does that mean?
Jesus’ genealogy didn’t come through Joseph, but through Mary because He is the seed of the woman (Genesis 3:15). Mary was a virgin when she conceived and gave birth to Him (Luke 1:26-38), yet Luke records Joseph’s genealogy instead of Mary’s. Matthew, on the other hand, records Jesus’ genealogy through Mary. Here’s what I find interesting: both Mary and Joseph came through the line of King David. One through King Solomon, the heir to the throne, and the other through Nathan. I find it even more interesting that both of these sons were born to David through Bathsheba, Uriah’s wife, but I’ll leave that for another day.
Jesus, the descendant of kings, was the rightful heir to the throne of His father David. At just the right time, He was born to a virgin, born pure, stainless, and without sin in order to fulfill God’s promise not only to Abraham (Genesis 22:15-18), but to David (2 Samuel 7:12-16). Now, if Jesus’ genealogy came through Mary, why did Luke record Joseph’s genealogy? That’s because Luke was a gentile writing to a gentile.
See, each Gospel is written from a different perspective for a different purpose. Luke’s Gospel was written to ensure Theophilus, a Roman of high social or official rank, who had heard of Jesus and wanted to know if all that he had heard was true. What does that have to do with anything? Theophilus was a Roman, and in ancient Roman culture, it didn’t matter who the mother was or who the child was or even who the birth father was; it only mattered who the father who accepted and raised the child was.
See, in ancient Rome, if a father didn’t accept their child, the child was abandoned. The baby was left at the wall to die. So, even though Jesus wasn’t Joseph’s biological child, Joseph accepted Jesus as his own and raised Him as such. In the ancient Roman culture, adoption meant more than just being taken in; it meant your past identity was removed, and you now took on the sole identity of your adoptive father. So, Theophilus didn’t care if Jesus came through the line of David through Mary. It only mattered whether Joseph accepted Jesus, and thus Jesus’ genealogy depended solely on Joseph being from the house of David for Theophilus. Whereas Matthew, writing to the Jews, showed that Jesus, being the biological child of the virgin Mary, fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah 7:14 that they had been waiting for.
Each Gospel, letter, poem, prophecy has a different audience and purpose. When we understand the audience that each writing was intended for, we can truly understand what the author intended their audience to understand. So, with that said, it doesn’t matter which side you look at, whether mother or father, Jesus is the rightful King of the Jews. The rightful heir to David’s throne.
Peace. Love. Go Forth and Understand The Author.
