Journey Of The Seed - Catch The Bible's Big Picture In 60 DaysSample

LINE OF KINGS

[Scheduled Reading: Luke 1-3]

Each of the gospel writers gives us a different look at The Seed. 

In Luke 3 we see another genealogy. If you look closely you’ll notice different names of certain fathers compared to Matthew’s genealogy. 

Actually it looks like a completely different genealogy. Why is that? 

Matthew presents the ancestry of The Seed through Joseph (stepfather to Jesus). 

Luke traces the ancestry of The Seed through the mother Mary. 

Both Mary and Joseph trace their lineage to King David, tribe of Judah. 

But Joseph’s line traces to King Solomon while Mary’s line traces to another of David’s sons, Nathan.

So why does Joseph come from a line of kings and Mary does not? After all – Mary is the birth mother. (And Joseph might be considered a stepfather.)

This is a weighty question and plenty of scholarly work has been devoted to this matter – the short answer is this. 

Under Jewish history, family genealogy follows the line of the father. Joseph was the legal father (or guardian) to Jesus. 

The reason Jesus was born in Bethlehem is because Joseph had returned to his hometown to be registered for the mandatory census.

Joseph is from Bethlehem, from the line of Kings. Jesus is the king of the Jews in the line of Joseph. 

Fascinating!