Have you started the New Year with a Bible-Read-Thru plan? If so, you’ve undoubtedly hit a family tree by now. Whether starting with Genesis or using a combination plan that suggests Old and New Testaments with Psalms/Proverbs, you probably came to a family tree with those funny names within the first week of reading.
Why did God record all those names in His Word? Perhaps it’s a similar motive that presses my father-in-law to spend weeks, months, and years searching for names to fill the branches of his own family tree. Because each name is a person, and each person is a life.
Today, I want to look at the family trees of the God/Man Jesus, found in Matthew and Luke. His genealogy is different at one crucial branch—the branch of David’s descendant.
Comparing Family Trees
The New Testament gives us the genealogy of Jesus in two of the four Gospels: Matthew and Luke. Why only those two? Let’s look at the four stories of Jesus’s life on earth, why they were written and for what type of audience.
- Matthew was written to ALL JEWS to prove Jesus was the prophesied King, spoken of in the Old Covenant (Testament).
- Mark was written as a testament of what Peter had seen to uneducated Jews who needed just the facts to make the most important decision of their lives.
- Luke, the doctor, wrote to his Gentile friend—and ALL GENTILES who would read his carefully researched testimony—about the life and ministry of the Jewish Messiah who had come to save the whole world.
- John wrote after the Church had come under persecution to convince readers the Jesus was who He claimed to be through the “signs” (miracles) he described and the emotionally compelling stories he included.
Do you see why Matthew and Luke, writing a more inclusive story to a fuller audience, needed to include the lineage of the Christ they lauded?
Matthew’s Genealogy
Since Matthew was writing to mostly a Jewish audience, he began Jesus’s genealogy with references every Jew would have understood.
“This is the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah the son of David, the son of Abraham.” Matthew 1:1 (emphasis added)
The rest of Matthew’s Gospel is filled with proof that Jesus is indeed the prophesied Messiah (Christ), spoken of in Isaiah, Micah, Psalms, etc. I’ve copied and pasted here the verses from Matthew’s genealogy that verify Jesus’ “branches” as son of David and son of Abraham…
“Abraham was the father of Isaac,
Isaac the father of Jacob,
Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers…
Salmon the father of Boaz, whose mother was Rahab,
Boaz the father of Obed, whose mother was Ruth,
Obed the father of Jesse,
and Jesse the father of King David.
David was the father of Solomon, whose mother had been Uriah’s wife,
Solomon the father of Rehoboam,
Rehoboam the father of Abijah,
Abijah the father of Asa…”
Matthew 1:2, 5-7 (emphasis added)
Luke’s Genealogy
Because Luke wrote for a largely Gentile audience, he included more detail about the political setting and Jesus’s full lineage—all the way back to Creation.
“. . . the son of Jacob,
the son of Isaac, the son of Abraham,
the son of Terah, the son of Nahor,
the son of Serug, the son of Reu,
the son of Peleg, the son of Eber,
the son of Shelah, the son of Cainan,
the son of Arphaxad, the son of Shem,
the son of Noah, the son of Lamech,
the son of Methuselah, the son of Enoch,
the son of Jared, the son of Mahalalel,
the son of Kenan, the son of Enosh,
the son of Seth, the son of Adam,
the son of God.”
Luke 3:34-38 (emphasis added)
There’s another interesting—and crucial—difference in the Matthew/Luke genealogies. In the intro, I mentioned the branch of King David diverged in Christ’s family tree. Let’s take a look:
“Now Jesus himself was about thirty years old when he began his ministry. He was the son, so it was thought, of Joseph,
the son of Heli . . .
the son of Melea,
the son of Menna,
the son of Mattatha,
the son of Nathan,
the son of David,
the son of Jesse,
the son of Obed,
the son of Boaz,
the son of Salmon.”
Luke 3:23, 31-32 (emphasis added)
Jesus’s Two Branches
Do you see the variation in the branches?
- Matthew 1:6 – Jesus’s lineage through David’s son, Solomon.
- Luke 3:31 – Jesus’s lineage through David’s son, Nathan.
Some Bible scholars say there was a copy error at some point in maintaining Scripture’s record. I don’t buy it. No one switches Nathan for King Solomon! Sheesh! Other scholars believe—and this I find waaaaay more likely—that the genealogy in Luke is Mary’s Family Tree!
Some have asked how Mary could be from the tribe of Judah (as David was) and still be “related” to Elizabeth (Lk. 1:36)–John the Baptist’s mother. Elizabeth’s husband, Zechariah, was a priest—who would have been from the tribe of Levi. But research shows that during the first century, those from the tribes of Judah and Levi often intermarried. Elizabeth could easily have been from the tribe of Judah–like Mary–and married Zechariah from the tribe of Levi.
The truth is…we simply don’t know. It’s an historical fact that our God didn’t feel vital to the Truth of Scripture.
What A Double-Branch Meant To Jesus
Since we’ve just celebrated Christmas, you’ve probably considered many facets of Jesus’s birth. But have you thought about the stigma the whole family faced when they returned to Nazareth after living in Egypt until Herod died (Mt. 2:15)?
Mary was pregnant before she and Joseph officially married. In those days, it was a stoning offense for the woman. At the very least, Joseph could have shamed her publicly and/or divorced her quietly.
- Jesus was the product of an illegitimate birth.
He was also:
- A son of David on his birth-mother’s side.
- A son of David on his supposed birth-father’s side.
- The Son of God.
I’m sure the double-branch of David didn’t completely remove the stigma of His illegitimate birth; however, His Heavenly Father made sure Jesus had an impressive earthly pedigree while His sinless, humble life as a carpenter’s son.
What Jesus’s Double-Branch Means To Us
Regardless of my family tree or yours, the moment we trust that Jesus paid for our sins with His blood and give Him lordship of our lives, our names get added to a Branch on His Family Tree.
“I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.” John 15:5
We are sons and daughters of Abraham and David, chosen to inherit His promises and made family by His Blood.
“Understand, then, that those who have faith are children of Abraham. Scripture foresaw that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, and announced the gospel in advance to Abraham: ‘All nations will be blessed through you.’ So those who rely on faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith.” Galatians 3:7-9
Whether your family is broken or you’re a family of one or your family ridicules your faith in the one, true God—take heart, dear one. You have an eternal family, and every story you read in God’s Word is about YOUR forefather, who lived out an important lesson for your benefit!
Upcoming Stories About King David
One of my all-time Bible characters is King David, and since I can now claim him as one of MY ancestors, I decided to write a few short stories about him! In the coming months, I’ll begin a serial novella about David’s Wives that you can receive through email on the fourth Monday of each month by subscribing as a “patron.”
The series is a fictional account of David’s early years after he was anointed king—the years before he ascended his throne in Jerusalem—and is based on the limited truths about his wives recorded in 1 Samuel 21:1-27:1.
CLICK HERE for more details about the first installment of the series, David’s Wives: Part I – Ahinoam as well as other benefits (like audio versions and devotionals) offered to my patrons.
Tweet-ables
- Did you know some scholars believe Jesus family tree has a double-branch to King David through both Mary AND Joseph?
- Why does the seeming discrepancy in the Matthew and Luke genealogies of Christ matter to ME?
- Why did God record genealogies in His Word? Perhaps because each name is a person; each person is a life; and each life tells a story. Those stories MATTER to us!
