The Genealogy of Christ

Genealogy means “origin.” Genealogy to first century Jews was very important. It proved that 1) a person was an Israelite 2) it identified the tribe he belonged to and 3) it qualified certain Jews for religious duties. 

Christ’s genealogy is crucial to historic Christianity. It proved that Jesus is qualified to rule on the throne of David an event in fulfillment of the Scriptures still to come in our history.

Jesus was of the direct lineage of David and thoroughly qualified to be King of kings and Lord of lords. Jesus was born into the lineage of David through his stepfather Joseph. He was qualified for religious duties through His mother who was of the the Tribe of Judah and of the priestly division of Aaron. He was totally dependent upon His Father, the Holy Spirit, to fulfill His calling to the Body of Christ.

I found this very interesting: in Biblical times there was no word for father-in-law, just as there was no word for grandfather. Joseph can’t be the son of both Jacob and Heli. According to the Jerusalem Talmud (Chag. 77,4), Heli was actually Mary’s father making him Joseph’s father-in-law. The reason the two genealogies are different is that Joseph was descended from Solomon while Mary was a descendant of Solomon’s older brother Nathan.

So Joseph and Mary were actually cousins although many times removed. Since Heli had no sons, Mary had to find a husband from the tribe of Judah like herself to protect her father’s estate.(See Numbers 36) She also needed a direct descendant of Solomon to perfect her son’s claim to the throne of David, since Nathan’s descendants weren’t of the Royal line.

Joseph fit the bill on both accounts but like every other descendant of Solomon’s carried a blood curse disqualifying any biological son of his from ever being King of Israel.(Jeremiah 22:28-30) Since Joseph was not the Lord’s biological father, he could adopt Him, qualifying Him to be King without passing Him the curse.

Thus, because of the virgin birth, Jesus became the only one in Israel qualified to sit on David’s throne, and remains so to this day. 

Matthew 1:1-17

1 The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the Son of David, the Son of Abraham: