Son of Joseph

Meditator · Dec 22, 2018

Hi,
I'm not a Christian, but I've been reading the Bible, an ESV New Testament, and straight off, chapter 1 of Matthew I'm stuck!
It seems important to put down Jesus's genealogy..

A) why is it important to know why Jesus is descended from Abraham, David etc.

B) why is it important that it is 14 generations from this person to that person etc.? Is 14 a special number.

C) If Mary was a Virgin then how can Jesus be a descendant via Joseph? Joseph was not his biological father.

Thanks for your answers.
Many blessings.

tourist · Dec 22, 2018

Perhaps if you reading the remaining chapters it will begin to make some sense to you. My best guess is that the linage provided in Mathew is a legal one and not strictly genealogical. Jesus does have the blood of his mother Mary though.

Deuteronomy · Dec 22, 2018

Meditator said:

Hi Meditator, just wait until you get to the last third of Luke 3, because that genealogy (which is different from Matthew's) takes you from Jesus, all the way back to our progenitors, Adam/Eve, and finally, back to God Himself.

Here are a couple of short articles that I hope will prove useful to you in answering some of your questions. If you have more questions however, please don't hesitate to ask.

https://www.gotquestions.org/Jesus-son-of-David.html

https://www.gotquestions.org/Jesus-genealogy.html

Merry Christmas!

~Deut
p.s. - here are a couple more that might be of interest to you as well:

https://www.gotquestions.org/Bible-genealogies.html

https://www.gotquestions.org/who-is-Jesus.html

Deuteronomy · Dec 22, 2018

Meditator said:

Hi again Meditator, I meant to leave you with this thought in my last post. These are some of Jesus' very last words in the Bible:

Revelation 22

16 “I, Jesus, have sent My angel to testify to you these things for the churches. I am the root and the descendant of David, the bright morning star.”

Since you are reading about Matthew's genealogy right now and asking these questions, there is something else about Jesus that you may want to consider, how can He be both the "root" ~and~ the "offspring" of King David?

Jesus actually posed that very same question to the Pharisees of His day.

Matthew 22

41 While the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them a question:

42 “What do you think about the Christ, whose son is He?” They said to Him, “The son of David.”

43 He said to them, “Then how does David in the Spirit call Him ‘Lord,’ saying,

44 ‘THE LORD SAID TO MY LORD,

“SIT AT MY RIGHT HAND,

UNTIL I PUT YOUR ENEMIES BENEATH YOUR FEET” ’?

45 “If David calls Him ‘Lord,’ how is He his son?”

46 No one was able to answer Him a word, nor did anyone dare from that day on to ask Him another question.

~Deut

Adstar · Dec 23, 2018

Meditator said:

Welcome to CC Mediator..

A) Because it was foretold that the Messiah would come from the Family line of David.. So the geniology shows that Jesus came from david..

B) No 14 is not a special number as far as i know..

C) Mary was also a decendant of David..

Meditator · Dec 23, 2018

Adstar said:

I would have thought that it would make more sense to give Mary's genealogy to establish the bloodline.

Adstar · Dec 23, 2018

Meditator said:

Well Jesus was the adopted son of Joseph.. And when it comes to legal principle of the time a person becomes the child of the adopting parent..

Meditator · Dec 23, 2018

Adstar said:

Perhaps in law at the time, but that wouldn't make him a descendent in any real sense. You can't adopt ancestors like that, it's not a reasonable explanation.
Maybe after the spirit of Jesus went into Mary and she was expecting, maybe then Joseph also went into her and added the biological aspect through his sperm? That would make more sense to me.
I know it doesn't say that exactly in the Bible, but maybe it was something like that? Or maybe God gave Jesus the genetics of Joseph even though Joseph hadn't been with Mary?
I think there must be some way that Jesus was really also biologically connected to Joseph, the 'adopted' or 'legal' explanations just sound inadequate to me.

Deuteronomy · Dec 23, 2018

Hi Meditator, actually, the virgin birth of Jesus was prophesied in the Old Testament, and the prophesy is not only repeated and confirmed in the New Testament, it's also spoken of in very exacting terms there as well. For instance:

Isaiah 7

14 The Lord himself shall give you a sign;

Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a Son,

And shall call His name Immanuel.

Matthew 1

18 The birth of Jesus Christ was as follows: when His mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child by the Holy Spirit.

19 And Joseph her husband, being a righteous man and not wanting to disgrace her, planned to send her away secretly.

20 But when he had considered this, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife; for the Child who has been conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit.

21 “She will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.”

22 Now all this took place to fulfill what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet:

23 “BEHOLD, THE VIRGIN SHALL BE WITH CHILD AND SHALL BEAR A SON, AND THEY SHALL CALL HIS NAME IMMANUEL,” which translated means, “GOD WITH US.”

24 And Joseph awoke from his sleep and did as the angel of the Lord commanded him, and took Mary as his wife,

25 but kept her a virgin until she gave birth to a Son; and he called His name Jesus.

~Deut

Meditator · Dec 23, 2018

Deuteronomy said:

Hi Meditator, actually, the virgin birth of Jesus was prophesied in the Old Testament, and the prophesy is not only repeated and confirmed in the New Testament, it's also spoken of in very exacting terms elsewhere in the New Testament. For instance: