I find it completely ridiculous when people don't respect
or even acknowledge their Christian roots, which by the way
are built upon the Jewish faith. I see so many Christians
who disregard scripture, who even disregard that Jesus
himself was Jewish, or how important it was/is that Jesus was
from the house of David.
Maybe it's because it confuses people, the whole tracing Jesus's
genealogy, simply because He was/is the son of God... so really
how important is his "earthly" parents genealogy? but you see
everything happens for a reason, and I realize people can
argue the genealogy account of Jesus in Matthew 1
with the genealogy account in Luke chapter 3
but the fact of the matter is Jesus was born through a virgin birth
just as it was said the Messiah would be in Isaiah
"Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign:
Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call
His name Immanuel."
Isaiah 7:14
also born in Bethlehem, as it was said He would be in Micah
"But you, Bethlehem Ephratha, though you are little among
the thousands of Judah, Yet out of you shall come forth
to Me The One to be Ruler in Israel,
Whose goings forth are from of old, From everlasting."
Micah 5:2
It's also fact that the Messiah was said to come out of the house of David
"Behold, the days are coming says the LORD, that I will raise to David
a Branch of righteousness; A King shall reign and prosper, And
execute judgment and righteousness in the earth.
In His days Judah will be saved, And Israel will dwell safely;
Now this is His name by which He will be called:
THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS"
Jeremiah 23:5-6
For unto us a Child is born, Unto us a Son is given;
And the government will be upon His shoulder.
And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
Of the increase of His government and peace There will be no end,
Upon the throne of David and over His kingdom, To order it and
establish it with judgment and justice From that time forward, even
forever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this.
Isaiah 9:6-7
Now Jewish people(the ones who don't recognize Jesus as messiah)
claim that Jesus can't be the Messiah because
if He was born of virgin birth(as He absolutely was) then how can He
be a descendant of David or "out of the house of David". They claim even if
Joseph was from David's line(which he was by the genealogy account in Matthew)
it wouldn't of mattered because Joseph was essentially not Jesus's real father.
But to me, I think they bring up a mute point, I mean first of all Isaiah says
the messiah would come from a virgin birth, do they just ignore that? so obviously coming from a virgin birth, Christ the messiah would be far different then anyone else. BUT yet he still would fulfill the other prophecies which claim Christ would come from out of the house of David(the Tribe of Judah)
I believe God chose Mary as the earthly mother for Jesus for a reason,
not because she was greatest among all women, but to fulfill Jewish prophecy
that...
1. The Woman would be a virgin(Mary was)
2. Her ancestry line(Mary's relative was Elizabeth)
Luke 1:5 "Zacharis wife(Elizabeth) was of the daughters of Aaron(levites)"
priestly ancestry line is important in itself, but Mary could have also
been a descendent of David. Luke 3:23-38 is disputed as not
being Joseph's ancestry line but actually Mary's
3.Her husbands line was traced back to David and his son Solomon
(Matthew 1)
And because Joseph was of the house of David and he was from that lineage
he had to travel back to Bethlehem because of the census with his pregnant
wife marry who thus then gave birth to Jesus in Bethlehem which was foretold in Micah.
An interesting thing to think about is Bethlehem means "House of Bread",
I say interesting because Jesus was and is "The Bread" which came down from heaven, and just like at the Last supper when Jesus blessed the bread, broke it, and gave it to the disciples and said "Eat this is my body", His body which was broken upon the cross for our sins.
Then Jesus said to them, "Most assuredly,
I say to you, Moses did not give you the bread from heaven,
but My Father gives you the true bread from heaven.
For the bread of God is He who comes down from heaven
and gives life to the world.
Then they said to Him, "Lord, give us this bread always."
And Jesus said to them, "I am the bread of life.
He who comes to Me shall never hunger,
and he who believes in Me shall never thirst.
John 6:32-35
Now the following that i'm about to post is from "Learnthebible.org" and it
is in support of Luke chapter three being about Mary's genealogy and not Joseph's which again is disputed. I just want to make a few points and be clear here..
I absolutely believe Jesus is what he said He was, and I believe He is the son of God who was born from a virgin birth and has every right to be on the throne of David. I believe Jesus could prove he was from the tribe of Judah and Jewish wether it was from His earthly fathers genealogy or Mary's. For me the argument on if Luke chapter three is really Mary's genealogy or Joseph's is pointless,
and Jewish people who refuse Christ as messiah will dispute anything
that doesn't line up with their thinking, just as the Jewish people in Christ's
time refused to believe He was(AND IS) the Messiah.
It's called FAITH my friends..true faith is faith like a child,
blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
I.E yield to Christ everything until you are nothing.
In a real sense, Jesus has three genealogical lines. Each of these lines has significance as to His person. We will look at each of them in turn.
HEAVENLY FATHER
Jesus was born of the virgin Mary by the Holy Ghost. Therefore, in the announcement of the angel to Mary about the birth (Luke 1:31-35), Jesus is called "the Son of the Highest" (v.32) and "the Son of God" (v.35). Even at age 12 when He spoke with the doctors in the temple, Jesus knew that God was His "Father" (Luke 2:49). In explanation of His special relationship to God as Father, Jesus testified, "I proceeded forth and came from God" (John 8:42). First and foremost, this is the genealogy of Jesus.
SUPPOSED EARTHLY FATHER
However, in addition to His heavenly Father, Jesus had one who served as his earthly father. Joseph was not the biological father of Jesus and the scriptures make this very clear. Concerning Jesus, Luke 3:23 states, "being (as was supposed) the son of Joseph." In two different verses (Luke 2:33, 43), the text of scripture refers to the earthly parents of Jesus as "Joseph and his mother." This clearly denies the physical parentage of Joseph.
However, others looked on Joseph as the father of Jesus. The multitudes consider Christ to be "Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know" (John 6:42). They looked on Him as "Joseph's son" (Luke 4:22). And, since Jesus was to sit on the throne of His father David, His genealogy through His supposed earthly father would be important. If He is to be king of all Israel, He must have a male genealogy back to David. This is the genealogy we find in Matthew, chapter one.
Mathew, of the four gospels, is the gospel that deals most with Jesus as the King of the Jews. It is in Matthew that the wise men of the east seek Him that is born King of the Jews (Matthew 2:1-2). The genealogy of Matthew begins by introducing Jesus Christ as "the son of David" (Matthew 1:1). In the eyes of the Jews, in order to be king He would have to be able to trace his royal line through his father. That is why the genealogy of Joseph is given in Matthew. But even here, great care is taken to show that Joseph was not the biological father of Jesus. The genealogy ends with, "And Jacob begat Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ" (Matthew 1:16). Jacob begat Joseph--that is biological. But Joseph was simply the husband of Mary of whom was born Jesus. The remainder of Matthew, chapter one, tells of the virgin birth of Jesus.
So, the genealogy of Matthew is the genealogy of Joseph. It is given to establish the legal right of Jesus to the throne of David. However, if we want to understand the true human genealogy of Jesus, we must look at it through His mother Mary. That is the genealogy of Luke, chapter three.
EARTHLY MOTHER
The genealogy of Luke is radically different from the one in Matthew. Mathew goes from Mary's husband Joseph all the way back to David but Luke has different names between Joseph and David. Only before David do the two genealogies merge again and have the same names. However, although the genealogy of Matthew begins with Abraham, the genealogy of Luke goes all the way back to "Adam, which was the son of God" (Luke 3:38). This can be understand in light of the emphasis Luke makes concerning Jesus. Whereas in Matthew, Jesus is presented as the King of the Jews, in Luke He is presented as the Son of man. That is, the emphasis is on His humanity. So, although the King of the Jews need only trace his lineage back to Abraham to prove his Judaism, the Son of man needs to trace his lineage all the back to the first man- Adam.
The gospel that emphasizes the humanity of Christ is also the proper one to trace His biological genealogy through His mother Mary. Although a mother's genealogy did not usually matter greatly, Jesus had only one human parent and His biological genealogy had to be traced through that one parent. However, even here, Joseph stands in for Mary. The genealogy begins, "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" (Luke 3:23).
Obviously, the passage does not say that it is the genealogy of Mary. However, we can rest assured that it is that of Mary for several reasons. First, it is completely different from the one in Matthew. This suggests that each genealogy follows a different parent. Second, giving both genealogies (although unusual) is required because of the unusual circumstances. Third, the Matthew genealogy uses the word "begat" to define the line. This is a biological term and pretty much has to refer to biological descent. The key phrase in Luke is "the son of." Although this often refers to biological descent, it is often used of adopted children and other situations as well. In a sense, Joseph adopted Jesus as His earthly son. The best understanding of the two genealogies is that Matthew refers to the line of Joseph for legal reasons and Luke refers to the human line through Mary.
However, there is another extremely important reason for the two genealogies. One of the kings of Judah in Matthew's genealogy is a man named Jechonias (Matthew 1:11-12). He was king during the time of the Babylonian captivity. Jeremiah also lived during this time and made an important prophecy concerning Jechonias (also called Jehoiakim and Coniah). Consider these prophecies concerning Jechonias.
Jeremiah 22:28-30 Is this man Coniah a despised broken idol? is he a vessel wherein is no pleasure? wherefore are they cast out, he and his seed, and are cast into a land which they know not? O earth, earth, earth, hear the word of the LORD. Thus saith the LORD, Write ye this man childless, a man that shall not prosper in his days: for no man of his seed shall prosper, sitting upon the throne of David, and ruling any more in Judah.
Jeremiah 36:30 Therefore thus saith the LORD of Jehoiakim king of Judah; He shall have none to sit upon the throne of David: and his dead body shall be cast out in the day to the heat, and in the night to the frost. According to the prophecy of Jeremiah, Coniah (Jehoiakim) will have no man of his seed to sit upon the throne of David. The word seed would refer to all of his future descendants. This was true during his time because of the Babylonian captivity. It has been true historically since that time. However, of Jesus it is prophesied that He shall be given "the throne of his father David" (Luke 1:32). That is a problem because the genealogy in Matthew includes Jechonias, a king God prophesied would never have a man of his seed sit on the throne of David. What is the answer? It is found in the second genealogy.
As you recall, the genealogy of Matthew is that of Joseph. It is the legal line of David that includes the kings of Judah. However, it is not the biological line of Jesus. That is found in Luke. This is where the genealogy of Luke becomes so interesting. It is not traced through Solomon the son of David (as the Matthew genealogy). Rather, it is traced through another son of David, a man named Nathan (Luke 3:31). Nathan was a younger brother of Solomon, being born to David and Bathsheba. So, although the Luke genealogy is traced through David, it avoids the cursed line of Jechonias. Jesus was of the legal line of David through His mother's husband, Joseph. However, He was not of the seed of Coniah (Jechonias). He was not biologically of the cursed line.
What a declaration of God's providential wisdom. Only He could have worked all of this out. Praise the Lord for His goodness! He took care of every requirement and gave His Son to be born to this earth so that He could fulfill the promise of the Jewish Messiah and offer Himself as the Saviour of the world. Thanks be to God for His amazing grace- Taken from(http://www.learnthebible.org/the-genealogy-of-jesus.html)
