The messiah will be “a remnant of the house of Judah”, (Isaiah 37:31) from “the root of Jesse”, (Isaiah 11:10; Isaiah 11:1 ) and “from the house of David” (Isaiah 16:5). He will be “made of the seed of David according to the flesh” (Romans 1:3). The scripture speaks of more but I’m only going to address these scriptures.
Jacob, whose name was changed to Israel, had twelve sons. They were all Israelites, but not all were Jews. Judah was the 4th born son of Jacob and his wife Leah. It was from Judah that the Jews are descended. All of his descendants are Jews. Just as all of Levi’s descendents are Levites.
Genealogies were very important to the Jews. Public records recorded genealogies from the oldest to the youngest, and private records went from the youngest back to the oldest. This was done in part to prevent unqualified persons from gaining positions through their ancestry. The Matthew tab list the genealogy of Jesus Found in Matthew 1:1-16. This is the public record of the genealogy of Jesus. Please note it is from oldest to youngest.
The Luke tab is the private record of Jesus found in Luke. Please note it is from youngest to oldest. Here we find something strange. Matthew says Joseph’s father was Jacob and Luke says Joseph’s father was Heli. Are we to believe that Joseph had two fathers, of course not? Are we to believe that the scriptures are contradictory or one of these genealogies is wrong, of course not? Why two genealogies of Jesus? There are two genealogies of Jesus to prove His legal right to the throne of David. In Luke, Joseph is inserted to follow custom, indicated by the word, “(as was supposed)”, NT:3543; Nomizo; properly, to do by law, to follow by custom. It is even in parentheses to draw attention to it. The parentheses are shouting to us, “Take a closer look here!”
Mt 1:1-16
1 The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.
2 Abraham begat Isaac; and Isaac begat Jacob; and Jacob begat Judas and his brethren;
3 And Judas begat Phares and Zara of Thamar; and Phares begat Esrom; and Esrom begat Aram;
4 And Aram begat Aminadab; and Aminadab begat Naasson; and Naasson begat Salmon;
5 And Salmon begat Booz of Rachab; and Booz begat Obed of Ruth; and Obed begat Jesse;
6 And Jesse begat David the king; and David the king begat Solomon of her that had been the wife of Urias;
7 And Solomon begat Roboam; and Roboam begat Abia; and Abia begat Asa;
8 And Asa begat Josaphat; and Josaphat begat Joram; and Joram begat Ozias;
9 And Ozias begat Joatham; and Joatham begat Achaz; and Achaz begat Ezekias;
10 And Ezekias begat Manasses; and Manasses begat Amon; and Amon begat Josias;
11 And Josias begat Jechonias and his brethren, about the time they were carried away to Babylon:
12 And after they were brought to Babylon, Jechonias begat Salathiel; and Salathiel begat Zorobabel;
13 And Zorobabel begat Abiud; and Abiud begat Eliakim; and Eliakim begat Azor;
14 And Azor begat Sadoc; and Sadoc begat Achim; and Achim begat Eliud;
15 And Eliud begat Eleazar; and Eleazar begat Matthan; and Matthan begat Jacob;
16 And Jacob begat Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ.
KJV
Lk 3:23-34
23 And Jesus himself began to be about thirty years of age, being (as was supposed) the son of Joseph, which was the son of Heli,
24 Which was the son of Matthat, which was the son of Levi, which was the son of Melchi, which was the son of Janna, which was the son of Joseph,
25 Which was the son of Mattathias, which was the son of Amos, which was the son of Naum, which was the son of Esli, which was the son of Nagge,
26 Which was the son of Maath, which was the son of Mattathias, which was the son of Semei, which was the son of Joseph, which was the son of Juda,
27 Which was the son of Joanna, which was the son of Rhesa, which was the son of Zorobabel, which was the son of Salathiel, which was the son of Neri,
28 Which was the son of Melchi, which was the son of Addi, which was the son of Cosam, which was the son of Elmodam, which was the son of Er,
29 Which was the son of Jose, which was the son of Eliezer, which was the son of Jorim, which was the son of Matthat, which was the son of Levi,
30 Which was the son of Simeon, which was the son of Juda, which was the son of Joseph, which was the son of Jonan, which was the son of Eliakim,
31 Which was the son of Melea, which was the son of Menan, which was the son of Mattatha, which was the son of Nathan, which was the son of David,
32 Which was the son of Jesse, which was the son of Obed, which was the son of Booz, which was the son of Salmon, which was the son of Naasson,
33 Which was the son of Aminadab, which was the son of Aram, which was the son of Esrom, which was the son of Phares, which was the son of Juda,
34 Which was the son of Jacob, which was the son of Isaac, which was the son of Abraham,
KJV
If Jesus is; “a remnant of the house of Judah”, from “the root of Jesse”, “from the house of David” and “made of the seed of David according to the flesh”, then certainly Joseph could not be of his immediate paternal bloodline since Joseph was not his natural father. Then the bloodline could only be traced through His mother, Mary. However, since the custom was of using male genealogies only, then how could an ancestral line of Jesus be shown through Mary?
God gave a loophole in Numbers. Women are allowed to be included in the ancestral line if they met two stringent conditions.
- Num 27:8, "Therefore, tell the Israelites; If a man dies without leaving a son, you shall let his heritage pass on to his daughter."
- Num 36:6-7, "This is what the Lord commands with regard to the daughters of Salphahad: They may marry anyone they please, provided they marry into a clan of their ancestral tribe, so that no heritage of the Israelites will pass from one tribe to another, but all the Israelites will retain their own ancestral heritage."
So now, all we have to show is that:
- The father of Mary was dead had no sons.
- Mary married within her own tribe. Since Joseph was from the tribe of Judah then Mary must also be from the tribe of Judah.
The Bible does not mention any brothers of Mary, but it does say she had a sister.
The words of Jesus in John 19:25-27, and lack of evidence of male siblings, strongly suggest that the first condition was satisfied.
Jn 19:25-27
25 Now there stood by the cross of Jesus his mother, and his mother's sister, Mary the wife of Cleophas, and Mary Magdalene.
26 When Jesus therefore saw his mother, and the disciple standing by, whom he loved, he saith unto his mother, Woman, behold thy son!
27 Then saith he to the disciple, Behold thy mother! And from that hour that disciple took her unto his own home.
KJV
The second condition is a bit more involved. Joseph was obviously from the house of David, of the tribe of Judah. If Jesus Christ is “made of the seed of David according to the flesh”, then His mother, Mary has to be also of the house of David and therefore, of the tribe of Judah.
Let's look back to the two different genealogies.
- Matthew records Joseph’s father as Jacob and descending from David through Solomon.
- Luke records Joseph’s father as Heli and descending from David through Nathan.
- The two records are very different and suggest that they are not the genealogies of the same person, but two different ones.
- In the first verse of Lukes record, Luke states in parentheses(as was supposed). (Nomizo; properly, to do by law, to follow by custom.)
- Jesus father was God. Jesus mother was the virgin, Mary. His step-father was Joseph.
- Joseph was obviously from the house of David, of the tribe of Judah.
- The genealogy in Luke belongs to the only one left, which is Mary. Therefore, Mary is of the house of David and of the tribe of Judah. So the second condition is also met.
Summary:
Jesus Christ our Lord and savior is “a remnant of the house of Judah, from the root of Jesse”, and “from the house of David. He was made of the seed of David according to the flesh” through Mary. The two genealogies also fulfill the Davidic Covenant. He inherited the throne of Solomon through Joseph and seed of David through Mary. (2 Samuel 7:12-1)
