Why Two Genealogies For Jesus? Matthew and Luke?

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The Genealogies Recorded
In Matthew and Luke?

Question: Why are there two different genealogies for Jesus? One in Matthew 1 and also in Luke, chapter 3? And why does Matthew 1 record Joseph's genealogy?

Answer: The Gospel of Matthew records Joseph’s genealogy and the Gospel of Luke records Jesus’ genealogy through Mary. (Joseph cannot have two fathers-- therefore we must conclude that Heli was Joseph's father-in-law, recorded in Luke 3.)

Both Mary and Joseph were of the royal house of David-- THIS IS SO IMPORTANT, as we shall examine. Both Joseph's and Mary's genealogy
are recorded for good reason, as we shall examine. Some modern "scholars"
are now suggesting that Luke and Matthew both record Joseph's genealogy.
We reject such modernistic thinking for it undermines the whole purpose of why the Holy Spirit gave us the two:

Matthew points out Jesus' place in the royal succession.
Luke gives us His actual physical ancestry through Mary's bloodline.

Joseph's genealogy is recorded because our Lord Jesus was the adopted son of Joseph, who was a son of David.

When you adopt a child, you take him home with you and he legally becomes your child, your heir, and that child takes on the family name. An adopted child becomes a part of the family and the parents treat him as their OWN.
So it was with Jesus-- Joseph cared for Jesus as if Jesus was his own child.

Now, the Lord Jesus, being the Son of God, was conceived of the Holy Spirit and did not come from Joseph’s loins (Isaiah 7:14) but rather was born of Mary, a virgin. Jesus was Joseph’s son by adoption -- when Joseph married Mary (Matthew 1:20)—thus legally, Jesus was Joseph’s adopted son.

Matthew 1:1 The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David,
the son of Abraham.

Joseph was a son of David and a son of Abraham. If Joseph was not of royal blood, even though Mary was of the lineage of David, the Messianic claim
of Jesus to David’s throne could have been rejected by the Jews. Both
parents had to be of David’s lineage and both were—Joseph was through the line of Solomon and Mary was through the line of Nathan.

SON OF DAVID

A promise was given to King David concerning Messiah:

1Chron 17:11-16 And it shall come to pass, when thy days be expired that thou must go to
be with thy fathers, that I will raise up thy seed after thee, which shall be of thy sons; and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build me an house, and I will stablish his throne for ever. I will
be his father, and he shall be my son: and I will not take my mercy away from him, as I took it from him [Saul] that was before thee: But I will settle him in mine house and in my kingdom
for ever: and his throne shall be established for evermore. And thine house and thy
kingdom shall be established for ever before thee: thy throne shall be established for ever.

As prophesied in the Old Testament, Messiah must be of the lineage of David. The title “Son of David” is a Messianic title. When we read of the people
calling out to Jesus, “Thou Son of David…” They were stating that He indeed was the promised Messiah.

Remember what the angel said to Mary, who was still a virgin? The Lord God
shall give unto Jesus the throne of His father, David. The genealogies are recorded to show, especially the Jewish people, that the Lord Jesus
meets the requirements of the Messiah.

Luk 1:26-30 And in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee, named Nazareth, To a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin's name was Mary. And the angel came in unto her, and said, Hail, thou that art highly favoured, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women. And when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and cast in her mind what manner of salutation this should be. And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour with God.

Luke 1:31-35 And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring
forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS. He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David: And he shall reign over the house of Jacob
for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end. Then said Mary unto
the angel, How shall this be, seeing I know not a man? And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and
the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.

(Notice, "the throne of his father David"... Since Jesus had no biological earthly father, Mary must also be of the lineage of King David. Jesus Christ was born "the seed of the woman". Mary's ancestral father was King David, as recorded in Luke 3.)

Isaiah 7:14 Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a
virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.

Micah 5:2 But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting.

Joseph's Lineage

Now that we have established that Messiah must be of the house of David and also virgin born--Deity--the Son of God, there must also be a significance of why Joseph's lineage is recorded in Matthew for the Jews to read. (Matthew is the Gospel to the Jews, generally called, "The Gospel of The Kingdom".)

As stated above, Matthew points out Jesus' place in the royal succession. (While Luke gives us His actual physical ancestry through Mary's bloodline.) As stated above, Joseph was of the line of David through Solomon. The descendant of Solomon has legal claim to David’s throne. However... Joseph's own biological seed could never reign on the Throne of David. Why? Because there was a curse placed upon Joseph’s ancestor-- the last king of Judah, Coniah or also spelled Jeconiah in the Old Testament (Jeremiah 22:30). No seed of his shall sit on the Throne of David:

Jeremiah 22:30 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.

Jeconiah did have children but it was as if he were childless, seeing that none
of his offspring could reign upon the throne of David. Joseph had the royal bloodline from King Solomon—BUT seeing that he was a descendant of
Jeconiah (also spelled Jechonias in Matthew 1:11), Joseph could not rightfully sit
upon the throne, nor could his biological seed-- because of the curse-- BUT
the Lord Jesus, being Joseph's supposed son was not of his loins-- was not
“his seed”-- and therefore COULD take the rightful throne of David through Mary's lineage-- "the seed of the woman".

Joseph was of royal blood but no biological seed of his could rule on the Throne. BUT...The curse said nothing about an adopted son.

*The lineage in Matthew shows that Joseph is in point of law entitled to the throne, therefore Jesus is legally heir to the throne of David. The curse did
not affect the legal claim to the throne. Jesus has title to the Throne of David through Mary's bloodline. Mary's genealogy came through the line of Nathan. No curse rested upon that line. *See A.C. Gaebelein’s commentary on Matthew and Luke

"It is because Jesus was Mary's seed, "the seed of the woman" (Genesis 3:15), and not the seed of Joseph, that He is entitled to inherit the throne of David."
--William L. Pettingill

THE RIGHTEOUS BRANCH

Although there was a curse placed upon Jechonias and his seed, the Lord promised in Jeremiah 23:5 that He would still raise up a Righteous Branch in the House of David...this came via King David's son, Nathan-- of whom
Christ Jesus is an ancestor. (Genealogy of Christ Jesus, recorded in Luke 3).

Jeremiah 23:5-6 Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will raise
unto David a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and prosper, and
shall execute judgment and justice in the earth. In his days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely: and this is his name whereby he shall be called, THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS.

Now, we don't see "The Branch" mentioned again in Scripture until we reach the Book of Zechariah. Something interesting to note that very few expositors have touched on is the verses found in Zechariah 12:10, 12-14: “And I will
pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the
spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom
they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for
his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn...And the land shall mourn, every family apart; the family of the house of David apart, and their wives apart; the family of the house of Nathan apart, and their wives apart; The family of the house of Levi apart, and their wives apart; the family of Shimei apart, and their wives apart;
All the families that remain, every family apart, and their wives apart.”

It is rather interesting that specifically the house of David and Nathan and
Levi and Shimei are mentioned. When the Lord Jesus returns at the end of the Tribulation period to rescue Israel, these mentioned shall mourn when they recognize His nail prints in His hands and feet. The reason? The Lord Jesus is of the house of David and of Nathan. He is their relative—their kin, whom they have rejected for almost 2000 years. They will weep uncontrollably.

And Levi and Shimei are of the priestly line. Their ancestors delivered Jesus to be crucified and covered up the Lord’s Resurrection by paying off the soldiers. But yet the One, whom they said was an “imposter” and delivered him up to Pilate to be crucified is indeed the Messiah. Christ Jesus fulfilled the Hebrew prophecies concerning Messiah's death. (Found in such places as Psalms 22
and Isaiah 53—where Messiah was prophesied to be killed and rise again.)

The offspring of Levi and Shimei will know it is Jesus when He returns to
earth someday-- they will see nail prints in his hands and feet-- the Lord shall return in all of His glory to save them at the Battle of Armageddon and they shall weep bitterly because they and their ancestors before them, had rejected Jesus/Yeshua as their own Messiah for so many centuries.

The "Son of God" and "Son of Man"

Romans 1:3-4 Concerning his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, which was made of the seed of David according to the flesh; And declared to be the Son of
God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead:

Psalm 89:26-27 He shall cry unto me, Thou art my father, my God, and the rock of my salvation. Also I will make him my firstborn, higher than the kings of the earth.

Christ Jesus says in Revelation 22:16 "I am the root and the offspring of David, and the bright and morning star."

The Lord Jesus is the Son of David. Both chapters, "Matthew 1" and "Luke 1" also state that His conception was of the Holy Spirit. There is absolutely no question that Jesus is Divine. He is the Son of Man and the Son of God.

Matt 1:20 But while he thought on these things, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost.

Many prophecies pointing to Messiah state that He would be Deity (Psalm 2:6-7, Isaiah 9:6) and also would be the seed of the woman (Genesis 3:15).

Isaiah 9:6: For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.

Notice that this child spoken of in Isaiah 9:6 is called, "Mighty God", "Everlasting Father"...Only God could have such titles.

Many Hebrew prophecies also state that Messiah would be "pierced" and
killed. (Isaiah 53, Psalm 22:16, Daniel 9:26, Zechariah 12:10, plus others).
For a detailed study on prophecies of the Hebrew Scriptures pertaining
to Messiah, click here.

The Lord Jesus is Jewish-- He was called by His friends and family, "Yeshua", which means "salvation". He grew up in Israel, with a Jewish mother and stepfather and Jewish brothers and sisters-- the biological children of Joseph
and Mary's marriage.

Messiah Jesus lived all His years obeying the Law of Moses. He never sinned and instead was crucified for our sin, fulfilling the Scriptures concerning the Messiah-- that Messiah would be rejected and killed and rise again.

The Lord Jesus told His disciples these words (after He arose from the dead):
Luke 24:44-48 And he said unto them, These are the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms, concerning me. Then opened he their understanding, that they might understand the scriptures, And said unto them, Thus it is written, and thus
it behoved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day: And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among
all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. And ye are witnesses of these things.

(This is why God has not allowed the Jews a Temple for sin offerings in over 1900 years. The Lord Jesus paid the price for sin, fulfilling the Scriptures.)

CONCLUSION

The Gospel of Matthew points out Jesus' place in the royal succession. The Gospel of Luke gives us His actual physical ancestry through Mary's lineage. Both Mary and Joseph had to be of the House of David. If Joseph was not of royal blood, even though Mary was of the lineage of David, the Messianic
claim of Jesus to David’s throne could have been rejected by the Jews. Both parents had to be of David’s lineage and both were—Joseph was through the line of Solomon and Mary was through the line of Nathan. Jesus was not a
"son of David" through Joseph but through Mary-- the seed of the woman.

Jesus' genealogy through Mary avoided the curse placed upon Jeconia's seed and "yet allowed Him to claim the throne legitimately as a true human descendant of David, and as the adopted heir of the kingly line of Joseph."
-Liberty Bible Commentary

A.C. Gaebelein wrote: "As the supposed son of Joseph, He (Jesus) inherited
the legal title to the throne through Joseph, but being a son of David through Mary, the curse which rested upon Jeconias was not upon Him."

William Pettingill wrote: “Jesus is the heir to the Davidic and Abrahamic covenants. The throne is his, and he is the promised seed through whom all
the families of the earth shall be blessed.”

The Lord Jesus Christ is the legal heir to the Throne of David and He shall
rule and reign forever.

Psalm 110:1 <A Psalm of David.> The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool.

1Cor 15:25 For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet.

Copyright © 2006 Cobblestone Road Ministries
All Rights Reserved.

FURTHER READING:

The Hebrew Scriptures Prove Jesus is the Messiah
Why Are The Jews Called "God's Chosen People"?
Why Did Messiah Have To Die?
Is The Trinity Found In The Hebrew Scriptures? Yes!

Further Christian Study:
His Final Triumph
Did Mary Have Other Children?

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