The Genealogy of Jesus Through Mary
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Q: Where in
the Bible can one find the genealogy of Mary the Mother of
Christ?
A: I am convinced that Luke
gives the genealogy of Jesus through Mary. Notice how this
genealogy begins:
Luke 3:23 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,
Two things we need to
recognize. First, the Bible usage of the phrase, the son of,
is not nearly as strong as the direct word "begat" which is
used in the genealogy found in the first chapter of Matthew.
One who is the son of someone in the Bible may be a
grandson, a descendant of many generations, an adopted son,
or a son-in-law. Therefore, Joseph could easily be the
son-in-law of Heli and the wording would be accurate.
Second, since genealogies were naturally given through the
fathers, it would be understandable for Joseph to stand in
for his wife Mary when her genealogy was given.
Matthew 1:16 And Jacob begat
Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus, who is
called Christ.
You can see that the wording
of Matthew is much stronger and could not refer to Mary's
genealogy. At the end of the line, Jacob begat Joseph. That
is a statement which definitely refers to biological birth.
This Joseph was the husband of the Mary of whom Jesus was
born.
But there are other reasons
for accepting the genealogy of Luke as that of Mary. For one
thing, the two genealogies are so different that they have
to be of different lines. Since they both point to Jesus,
one has to be that of Joseph and the other of Mary. As
already argued, Luke's has wording that much more readily
admits the possibility of being Mary's line. Yet, there is
another major point. Consider these passages:
Jer 36:29-30 And thou shalt
say to Jehoiakim king of Judah, Thus saith the LORD; Thou
hast burned this roll, saying, Why hast thou written
therein, saying, The king of Babylon shall certainly come
and destroy this land, and shall cause to cease from thence
man and beast? 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.
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.
Jehoiakim was the father of
Coniah (also called Jeconiah, Jechonias, and Jehoiachin).
Coniah did sit for a time on the throne of Jehoiakim, though
only for about three months. However, there seems to be a
cutting off of the line with these curses from the prophecy
of Jeremiah. The descendants of these men will never sit on
the throne of David again. However, the genealogical line of
Joesph in Matthew (1:11-12) includes Jechonias. Therefore
the Messiah, though He must come of the line of David,
cannot come through the line of Jehoiakim and Coniah. That
is exactly what the New Testament allows with the two
genealogies.
The genealogy of Matthew
deals with the official line and the legal right of Jesus to
be King of the Jews through Joseph His supposed father. This
would satisfy the Jewish traditions. However, Luke gives His
right to reign in God's eyes through Mary who provides His
human nature. This line bypasses the ancient royal lineup
entirely and comes through David's son Nathan (Luke 3:31).
In this manner, Jesus was both legally qualified (through
Joseph's line) and spiritual qualified (through Mary's line)
to be the King of the Jews. How wonderfully the Bible brings
all of these truths together! God bless.
Till He comes,
Pastor David Reagan
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