The Genealogies of Joseph and Mary
HOR Book Studies • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
0 ratings
· 4 viewsNotes
Transcript
Scripture reading: Matt. 1:16; Luke 3:23
Scripture reading: Matt. 1:16; Luke 3:23
Jacob was the father of Joseph the husband of Mary, by whom Jesus was born, who is called the Messiah.
When He began His ministry, Jesus Himself was about thirty years of age, being, as was supposed, the son of Joseph, the son of Eli,
This morning I’d like to share a message taken from the third book of the History of Redemption Series, The Unquenchable Lamp of the Covenant: The first fourteen generations in the genealogy of Jesus Christ.
There are two records of Jesus’ genealogy in the New Testament. There’s one in the Gospel of Matthew, Matthew chapter 1, and there’s another in the Gospel of Luke, Luke chapter 3. And when we put these two genealogies side-by-side, we come across several differences.
The order of the genealogies
The order of the genealogies
The first difference is in the order.
Matthew records Jesus’ genealogy in a linear decending order, from parent to child.
Abraham was the father of Isaac, Isaac the father of Jacob, and Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers.
Luke, on the other hand, records Jesus’ genealogy in a linear ascending order, from child to parent.
When He began His ministry, Jesus Himself was about thirty years of age, being, as was supposed, the son of Joseph, the son of Eli,
The duration of the genealogies
The duration of the genealogies
Next, there’s a difference in the duration of Jesus’ genealogy in Mathew and Luke.
Matthew records Jesus’ genealogy goes all the way back to Abraham, who lived in 2166BC. So Matthew’s record covers about 2000 years, up to Genesis 12.
Luke, on the other hand, records Jesus’ genealogy all the way back to Adam, and then even to God. Adam lived in 4114BC, so Luke’s genealogy covers over 4000 years, all the way to Genesis 1.
The number of people recorded
The number of people recorded
The next big difference is in the number of people recorded.
Matthew records a total of 41 people in Jesus’ genealogy, from Abraham to Jesus.
On the other hand, Luke records a total of 77 people, from Jesus to Adam and even to God.
But here comes a bigger issue. If you were to trim the genealogy in Luke so that it began with Abraham, it still wouldn’t match with the genealogy in Matthew.
In Luke’s record, there are no less than 56 generation listed from Abraham to Jesus. That’s a lot more than the 41 names listen in Matthew 1. Furthermore, there are five women recorded in Matthew, so it’s 41 names but only 36 generations.
But what’s significant is that after David, the genealogies split into two paths. And from that point on, until Jesus, the names are completely out of sync.
Matthew 1:6–7 (NASB95)
Jesse was the father of David the king. David was the father of Solomon by Bathsheba who had been the wife of Uriah. Solomon was the father of Rehoboam, Rehoboam the father of Abijah, and Abijah the father of Asa.
the son of Melea, the son of Menna, the son of Mattatha, the son of Nathan, the son of David,
So what this shows us is that Matthew traces Jesus’ genealogy down the line of Solomon, whereas Luke traces Jesus’ genealogy down the line of Nathan, both of whom are sons of David.
These were born to him in Jerusalem: Shimea, Shobab, Nathan and Solomon, four, by Bath-shua the daughter of Ammiel;
But then we have one final issue: How can both genealogies be true? They both state that Joseph was the father of Jesus.
Jacob was the father of Joseph the husband of Mary, by whom Jesus was born, who is called the Messiah.
When He began His ministry, Jesus Himself was about thirty years of age, being, as was supposed, the son of Joseph, the son of Eli,
The answer is that what Luke actually shows us not Joseph’s genealogy, but that of his wife Mary.
In the book of Numbers, there’s a story which led to the creation of a new law. There was a man named Zelophahad, and he had no sons, but five daughters. And since the inheritance could only pass down to sons, Zelophahad’s inheritance, which would’ve been the family land, would be given over to another family.
Then the daughters of Zelophehad, the son of Hepher, the son of Gilead, the son of Machir, the son of Manasseh, of the families of Manasseh the son of Joseph, came near; and these are the names of his daughters: Mahlah, Noah and Hoglah and Milcah and Tirzah.
They stood before Moses and before Eleazar the priest and before the leaders and all the congregation, at the doorway of the tent of meeting, saying,
“Our father died in the wilderness, yet he was not among the company of those who gathered themselves together against the Lord in the company of Korah; but he died in his own sin, and he had no sons.
“Why should the name of our father be withdrawn from among his family because he had no son? Give us a possession among our father’s brothers.”
So Moses brought their case before the Lord.
Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,
“The daughters of Zelophehad are right in their statements. You shall surely give them a hereditary possession among their father’s brothers, and you shall transfer the inheritance of their father to them.
“Further, you shall speak to the sons of Israel, saying, ‘If a man dies and has no son, then you shall transfer his inheritance to his daughter.
So if a man dies without a son, the inheritance would go to his daughters.
But then comes another issue. Zelophahad was from the tribe of Manasseh, and you can imagine a huge plot of land divided up according to the families of Manasseh. Zelophahad’s inheritance would be split among his five daughters.
Now, if all five of his daughters were to marry gentlemen from the other tribes, one marries a man from Judah, another from Ephraim, another from Simeon… Then the portions of land would transfer to that gentleman’s tribe. Because it’s always sons first. Sons take priority in the inheritance of land.
So then the leaders of Manasseh come to Moses and they complain.
and they said, “The Lord commanded my lord to give the land by lot to the sons of Israel as an inheritance, and my lord was commanded by the Lord to give the inheritance of Zelophehad our brother to his daughters.
“But if they marry one of the sons of the other tribes of the sons of Israel, their inheritance will be withdrawn from the inheritance of our fathers and will be added to the inheritance of the tribe to which they belong; thus it will be withdrawn from our allotted inheritance.
“When the jubilee of the sons of Israel comes, then their inheritance will be added to the inheritance of the tribe to which they belong; so their inheritance will be withdrawn from the inheritance of the tribe of our fathers.”
So then God gives a new law, saying that any daughters who inherit their father’s inheritance cannot marry outside of their own tribe.
“This is what the Lord has commanded concerning the daughters of Zelophehad, saying, ‘Let them marry whom they wish; only they must marry within the family of the tribe of their father.’
“Thus no inheritance of the sons of Israel shall be transferred from tribe to tribe, for the sons of Israel shall each hold to the inheritance of the tribe of his fathers.
“Every daughter who comes into possession of an inheritance of any tribe of the sons of Israel shall be wife to one of the family of the tribe of her father, so that the sons of Israel each may possess the inheritance of his fathers.
So the five daughters of Zelophahad couldn’t marry outside their tribe. They couldn’t pull of a Romeo and Juliet.
Now this gives us some context for Jesus’ genealogy in Luke.
When He began His ministry, Jesus Himself was about thirty years of age, being, as was supposed, the son of Joseph, the son of Eli,
If Heli didn’t have any sons, then according to the law, Heli’s inheritance would go to his daughter Mary. That means that Mary had to marry within the tribe of her father. Which tribe was that? The tribe of Judah.
the son of Amminadab, the son of Admin, the son of Ram, the son of Hezron, the son of Perez, the son of Judah,
Mary was from the tribe of Judah.
Which tribe was her husband Joseph from?
Judah was the father of Perez and Zerah by Tamar, Perez was the father of Hezron, and Hezron the father of Ram.
So in conclusion, Mary had to marry within the tribe of Judah in order to preserve the inheritance of Judah within the tribe. And so she probably married Joseph out of obedience to the Word of God. And so when Luke records Mary’s genealogy, he records that Joseph is the legal son of Heli, because he is the one who receives Heli’s inheritance. Why? Because Heli’s daughter married him.
And so the inheritance of Judah stays within the tribe of Judah.
And what’s the inheritance of Judah?
Genesis 49:10 (NASB95)
“The scepter shall not depart from Judah, Nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet, Until Shiloh comes, And to him shall be the obedience of the peoples.
The inheritance is the scepter. The kingship. The promised king of the Davidic covenant whose reign will never end. And through Mary’s obedience to this law, the inheritance of Judah came through her. Christ the eternal king. The son of Abraham, the son of David.
So in response to this, we need to ask ourselves, ‘How can I inherit this inheritance of Judah?’ And I think Mary’s attitude to God’s Word is part of the answer. Let’s read this final verse.
And Mary said, “Behold, the bondslave of the Lord; may it be done to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her.
If we confess this to the Lord today, then the blessing of the scepter of Judah will be upon us. The blessing of being able to say, “Jesus Christ is my Lord and King.”