Two Different Geneologies Of Jesus, In The Bible... Which Is Right?

Common Sense Commentary:

 Approximately 2000 years after the Creation in Genesis 1, and another 2000 years before the birth of Jesus, the human race had just failed, at Babel, in its contradiction of God's command, and He destroyed their works and effort to unite the entire human race under one government and one proud name. So God scattered them to the four winds. It was then, that God called out from among the scattered nations a single human being, and told him, Abram, to leave his people and go to a distant location which God appointed and where God would build an entire nation through this one man. "Abram's name meant, "Father Of Many", but God changed and expanded it to "Abraham".... "Father Of Many Multitudes". God promised Abraham that He would make of him a "great nation" and his name would be great, and that God would "bless" Abraham and, "In thee shall all families of the earth be blessed." Gen.12:3. This promise was a prophecy of the world-wide blessing of the "seed" of Abraham ... Jesus. This O.T. verse is quoted to the Jews 2000 years later by the Apostle Peter in Acts 3:25.

There are two genealogies of Jesus in the New Testament. The first is in Chapter 1 of the gospel according to Matthew. The second begins in Luke 3:23. Matthew presents Jesus to the Jews as the prophesied Messiah of the Old Testament. Luke presents Jesus to the Gentiles as the crucified Savior. The Genealogy in Matt.1 begins with Abraham, father of the Jews, and goes forward up to and through King David and then to his son, Solomon, by Bathsheba, and continues through a total of 39 "begats" (births) or generations, the last of which is "Joseph, the husband of Mary", and then ends with one virgin birth ... Jesus, who is number 40, the number of testing. This is Joseph's genealogy and is the Jewish, legal, Kingly lineage, and placed Jesus as the "legal", Jewish rightful heir to the throne of King David.  Because of Roman, occupational rule, Joseph was disallowed to the throne of David, but the right to it passed on to Joseph's "legal", though not biological, son ... Jesus. He was considered, by the Jews, to be the son of Joseph. "And they said, Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? how is it then that he saith, I came down from heaven?" Jn.6:42. Jesus grew up in Joseph and Mary's home and was known locally as Joseph's son. But he was not Jesus' biological father.  Read carefully Matt.1:18, "Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise; when his mother was espoused to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Ghost."


The genealogy in Luke 3:23-38 which begins with Jesus and works backward through Nathan, another son of King David, then on through David back to Abraham ... but doesn't stop there. It continues all the way back to Adam and ends with Adam's Father ... God. If you number these generations with God as number 1, Jesus is number 77 ... the number of perfection. This genealogy is the true, natural, biological lineage of Jesus. These two genealogies cross paths twice. They cross at Salathiel (Matt.1:12 / Luke 3:27) and again at King David (Matt.1:6 / Lk.3:31). So King David was the Great Grandson of Ruth and Boaz and a common, distant Grandfather of both Mary and Joseph. So Jesus had a double claim to the throne of King David.

Notice Matt.1:16, "And Jacob begat Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom (Mary) was born Jesus." Every other generation in this genealogy was a "begat". Not so with Joseph and Jesus. Also notice Luke 3:23, "And Jesus ... being (as was supposed) the son of Joseph, which was ... of Heli...." The words preceding ".... of Heli" are "the son of Heli", but these two words, "the son" are in italics which means they were not in the original manuscripts but were added, supposedly for clarity. But Matt.1:16 says someone named "Jacob begat Joseph the husband of Mary." Joseph's being "of Heli" was a Jewish, legal relationship to his father-in-law, Mary's father. Women did not have the same legal standing as men, at that time, in that country, but their rights passed through their husbands.  Also notice that even in these genealogies of Jesus, both legal and biological, there were no perfect people ... including Abraham and King David. Abraham lied to the Pharaoh and said his wife was his sister. David took another man's wife and when she became pregnant, David sent the husband to be killed. The first child born to them was illegitimately conceived and died under the cloud of David's sin. And though judgement fell upon David and Bathsheba, God had mercy in the midst of His judgement and gave them another son ... Solomon.  There was also Thamar, the woman who prostituted herself with Judah ... and Judah paid for her services. Within those genealogies is a Moabiteish (not Jewish) woman, Ruth, and many very sinful people in Jesus' genealogy. So what am I saying? There are no perfect or deserving people among Jesus' ancestors or among ours either who deserve to be saved.
"For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast." Eph. 2:8-9

Jesus who did not need saving but was Himself the Saviour, was perfect. He was the extension of God from heaven and came, in His holy perfection to become a sin offering for us, crucified, nailed to that cross .... in our place. RB