Bereansearching Bible Studies

Introduction

The Lord Jesus Christ Is often referred to as the God-Man, because Jesus is both fully God and fully “man”, given that Jesus was born of a woman (Mary), and that Jesus had Mary’s human genes (which trace back to Adam according to Luke 3:23-38), and, therefore, through Mary, Jesus received His human form. Jesus has a physical body consisting of human flesh, bones and blood, while also having been conceived immaculately by God via the Holy Ghost (Holy Spirit) Matthew 1:18.

Jesus referred to Himself as the “Son of man” over 70 times in the New Testament. Remember also that Stephen’s last words before he was stoned to death, as recorded in Acts 7:56, were “And said, Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God.” The last reference to the Son of man in the Bible is in the Book of Revelation 14:14, “And I looked, and behold a white cloud, and upon the cloud [one] sat like unto the Son of man, having on his head a golden crown, and in his hand a sharp sickle.”

Before proceeding further we must remember that while Jesus had a bodily form and substance, He was always fully God. Though Jesus identified with sinful mankind, Jesus Himself knew no sin as we read in 2 Corinthians 5:21, “For he hath made him [to be] sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.“

God tells us in the Bible that Jesus does indeed identify with mankind as Jesus Is physically descended through Mary from Adam via Seth and then via others, including; Noah, Shem, Abraham, Issac, and Jacob (Israel), and King David (via both his sons Solomon and Nathan). Where is this found in the Bible?

The Ancestral Line of Jesus

If we look at the genealogy that is provided in Matthew 1:2–17 , we see that there are 42 generations identified from Abraham to Joseph (Jesus’s earthly stepfather). But the key point is that this technically has nothing to do with Jesus own ancestry, but it does serve to tell us that Joseph is of the kingly line of Solomon and therefore also of the tribe of Judah. The ancestry of Jesus, from Mary all the way back to Adam, is only provided in the genealogy that we find in Luke 3:23–38 . Note how all of the verses read in like manner to this first verse, 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 points need to be understood here.

Point 1) Note that [the son] was italicized in the King James translation. The translators were signaling that this was not in the original manuscripts and it was therefore their supposition for clarification purposes. This is also reaffirmation of the truth of Jesus’ virgin birth (see Luke 1:29–38). People would “suppose” that Joseph was Jesus’s father. Moreover, Joseph could be viewed as a “son” of Heli by virtue of his marriage to Mary, who would have been the daughter of Heli.

Point 2)This could not be referring to a genealogical line of Joseph, because it implies that the first “father” in that ancestral line, going backward from Jesus, was Heli, but Matthew 1:16 tells us that Joseph’s biological father was a man named Jacob, and NOT Heli.

It should therefore be quite clear, and understood, that the genealogy in Luke has to be Mary’s, and NOT Joseph’s, and therefore it provides a complete account of Jesus’ earthly ancestry. How can we know this? If we go back to Matthew 1:6, we will see that Joseph is descended directly from King Solomon. But in the lineage provided of Jesus through Mary in Luke is more complicated:

1. We see that there was a split initially after David, as Luke 3:31 tells us that Mary’s line is traced back to King David’ son, Nathan, who like King Solomon (and two other brothers, Shimea, and Shobab) had the same mother, Bathsheba, who is also known as “Bathshua”, as we find in 1 Chronicles 3:5. This is also additional proof that Jesus is of the tribe of Judah.
2. However, there is an interesting and perhaps more important point to consider in the two genealogies of Joseph and Mary (and hence Jesus) when taken together. That is that there was evidently a several generation overlap of the two lines of ancestry. This apparently occurred as we find when we compare Luke 3:27, “Which was [the son] of Joanna, which was [the son] of Rhesa (“head”), which was [the son] of Zorobabel (Zerubbabel, “Sown in Babylon”), which was [the son] of Salathiel (Shealtiel, “I have asked of God”), which was [the son] of Neri (“Jehovah is my lamp”),” and Matthew 1:12&13, “¶And after they were brought to Babylon, Jechonias (Jechoniah/Jehoiachin “Jehovah establishes” and also Coniah) begat Salathiel (Shealtiel), ; and Salathiel begat Zorobabel; And Zorobabel begat Abiud (“my father is majesty”); and Abiud begat Eliakim; and Eliakim begat Azor;” It must therefore be deduced that Neri had a daughter (as opposed to a son) who was married to the last king of Judah, Jechonias/Jehoiachin (before or after the captivity in Babylon, 2 Kings 24:12) who bore Salathiel/Shealtiel, who then begat Zorobabel/Zerubbabel (as a grandson via a son named Pedaiah (“Jehovah has ransomed”) from 1 Chronicles 3:17-19), who then begat progeny Rhesa and Abiud where the genealogical lines of Joseph and Mary (and hence Jesus) split once again. [However, It should also be noted that neither Rhesa nor Abiud are specifically named as sons of Zerubbabel in 1 Chronicles 3:19&20, where we are provided the names of seven sons and one daughter. We can therefore only deduce that Rhesa and Abiud are more distant progeny, such as grandsons.] The importance of all this being that both Joseph and Mary (and hence Jesus) can trace their lineage through all of Judah’s kings of David’s Kingly line through Solomon.

So then, we have been provided the ancestry of Jesus from Adam, through to Mary, in the book of Luke that includes a link to King Solomon’s genealogical line as well (albeit in a somewhat obscured manner).

Why is it so important to know Jesus’s Earthly Ancestry?

There are a number of prophesies that require that the Messiah, Who Is Jesus, must be descended from the tribe of Judah, as we know going back to Genesis chapter 49. But there is much more reason to be aware of Jesus Ancestry.

Jesus is Descended from a Long Line of Sinners, Going All the Way Back to Adam!

“…God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as [it is] this day, to save much people alive.” Genesis 50:20

God wants us to know and understand that Jesus Christ fully, and very intimately, identifies with sinful mankind! We can see most clearly that God has provided some interesting factual insights regarding Himself, and about Jesus’ earthly ancestry, when we also look into the Book of Ruth.  

In the Book of Ruth, together with the other verses listed above, some of the sinfulness of Jesus’ ancestors are made know to us from the Bible, such as:

1. The fact that Jesus had a body of flesh and bones means that Jesus was descended from Adam, the original sinner.
2. Jesus was descended (through Mary’s line from Boaz (Booz) Matthew 1:5/Obed/Jesse/David via Nathan, Luke 3:31) via an incestuous relationship (through Ruth, hence Moab, hence Lot with Lot’s daughter, the mother of Moab).  
3. We are also reminded of another unseemly point when we are provided this verse, Ruth 4:12, “And let thy house be like the house of Pharez, whom Tamar bare unto Judah, of the seed which the LORD shall give thee of this young woman.” Tamar was the daughter-in-law of Judah and she played the harlot (prostitute) to entice Judah in order to conceive Pharez (and his twin Zerah) by Judah, and Jesus’s earthly lineage is via Pharez (“Phares” in Matthew 1:3 and Luke 3:33).
4. Moreover, the wife of Salmon (women are not usually mentioned in the genealogies), was named Rahab (also as “Rachab” in Matthew 1:5), and Rahab is the name of a harlot (prostitute) whom Joshua (meaning “God is Salvation/Savior”, the same as the Greek “Jesus”) saved, when the city of Jericho was destroyed, see: Joshua 6:17. And Rahab was the mother of Boaz (Booz in Matthew 1:5 and Luke 3:32) who married Ruth, and together were the parents of Obed, who was the father of Jesse, who was the father of King David, as is clear from Ruth 4:21&22.
5. Even David, with whom Jesus is linked by birth through Mary via David’s son Nathan (Luke 3:31), was both an adulterer and pre-meditated murderer (David orchestrated the death of Bathsheba’s husband, Uriah the Hittite). Note that Nathan is also a full brother of King Solomon in that Bathsheba was the mother to both of them.
6. And then there were the many kings of Judah, up to and including Jehoiachin, who did “evil in the sight of the LORD” as we read in 2 Kings 24:9.

Conclusion

Jesus’ Ancestry, and all of the sordid historical aspects and details of the lineage of Jesus, were included in the Bible by God, very deliberately, to show us (in addition to the fact that Jesus is the fulfillment of all the Old Testament prophesies) how God was willing to so clearly and unequivocally associate Himself with sinful mankind from every possible perspective. And yet Jesus Himself knew no sin, as is clearly stated in 2 Corinthians 5:21, in order to take the believers’ places on the cross, and to pay the full price of redemption as our Kinsman Redeemer, saving us from what would have otherwise been an eternity in Hell!

Remember also, 1 Corinthians 15:22, “For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.” and 1 Corinthians 15:45, “And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam [was made] a quickening spirit.” and Romans 5:18-21, “¶Therefore as by the offence of one [judgment came] upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one [the free gift came] upon all men unto justification of life. For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous. ¶Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound: That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord.“

Jesus had to be born of mankind because it was humanity that sinned and therefore justice demands that humanity must pay. And by taking on a body of flesh and blood, Jesus could not only intimately identify with us, but He could also serve in the role of our Kinsman Redeemer. Jesus came to save sinners! Praise God from Whom all blessings flow! Hallelujah!

POSTSCRIPT #1

The genealogies are beautiful and reveal not only the points above, but also provide doctrinal insights. The genealogy of the covenant/corporate church in Matthew chapter 1 traces from Abraham down to Joseph (via the kingly line through Solomon). In Matthew 1:17, where we read, “¶So all the generations from Abraham to David [are] fourteen generations; and from David until the carrying away into Babylon are fourteen generations; and from the carrying away into Babylon unto Christ [are] fourteen generations.“

Here God divides the genealogies into three parts of 14 generations each.

1. The first 14 points to the beginning of the old testament church with Abraham, unto its triumphant rise at the time of David; and
2. the next 14 points to the apostasy and falling away from David’s death and split of kingdoms up to the destruction of the Nation of Israel (The Old Testament church); and
3. the last 14 points to the restoration/ fulfillment culminating in the coming of Christ. The total of 42 generations (calendars) of the old testament church parallels the 42 months (1260 days, and 3 1/2 years) of the New Testament era, which includes the beginning and rise of the triumphant New Testament church; the apostasy and falling away of the New Testament church; and the fulfillment of salvation in the (second) coming of Christ. Beautiful symmetry!

POSTSCRIPT #2

It should also be mentioned that while the genealogy of Jesus was placed in the Bible for the believers’ edification (regarding Jesus’ link to David and to Ruth/Lot and the Patriarchs and the fulfillment of many Old Testament prophesies), everyone is nonetheless instructed to heed these additional admonitions to not go beyond what is provided by God within the Bible:

1 Timothy 1:4, “Neither give heed to fables and endless genealogies, which minister questions, rather than godly edifying which is in faith: [so do].“

Titus 3:9, “But avoid foolish questions, and genealogies, and contentions, and strivings about the law; for they are unprofitable and vain.”

POSTSCRIPT #3

Did you ever wonder why Jesus was born in Bethlehem (in Judah/Judaea), but He was raised in the village of Nazareth (in Zebulun/Zabulon)? Well, the reason is that Jesus had to be born in Bethlehem to fulfill the prophecy of 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.” Bethlehem is also known as the city of David as we read in Luke 2:4, “And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judaea, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem; (because he was of the house and lineage of David:)“

Note that the last verse equates Nazareth as being part of Galilee. Jesus is also referred to as a Galilaean as we read in Luke 23:6, “When Pilate heard of Galilee, he asked whether the man were a Galilaean.” And the accusation brought to Pilate was that Jesus began His teaching in Galilee as we read in Luke 23:5, “¶And they were the more fierce, saying, He stirreth up the people, teaching throughout all Jewry, beginning from Galilee to this place.”

And we also know from Matthew 4:15, “The land of Zabulon, and the land of Nephthalim, [by] the way of the sea, beyond Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles;” which refers back to Isaiah’s prophecy in Isaiah 9:1, “Nevertheless the dimness [shall] not [be] such as [was] in her vexation, when at the first he lightly afflicted the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, and afterward did more grievously afflict [her by] the way of the sea, beyond Jordan, in Galilee of the nations.“

So then…

1. Jesus was born in Bethlehem (the land of the tribe of Judah, in the center of Jewry, next to Jerusalem), but He grew up in Galilee (Nazareth, in the land of the tribe of Zabulon) the fringes of Israel that represent the Gentiles, and then…
2. Jesus first revealed the kingdom of heaven on earth, at His first advent, in the land of the Gentiles, which culminated in the fulfillment of his earthly ministry with his death at Jerusalem in the land of Judah, and then…
3. The revelation of the of His atonement to His people, His heavenly ministry, began at Pentecost in Jerusalem in Judah and is being fulfilled in the Gentile world, typified by Zebulon in Galilee, as we read in Acts 1:8, “But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.“

This entry was posted on June 7, 2023 at 1:15 am and is filed under Bible Studies. You can subscribe via RSS 2.0 feed to this post's comments.

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