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Religion

2010-07-01 12:04:00

The genealogy of Jesus

Question: The Gospel of St Matthew commences with the lineage from Abraham to Jesus. This chronology attempts to list all the descendants of Abraham to Jesus. In chapter one, verse 16, it is stated: "Jacob was the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary, by whom Jesus was born, who is called the Messiah." If Joseph, husband of Mary was a descendant of Abraham, was Mary as well? If not, and the Holy Spirit "came upon" (Luke 1:35) Mary, how did our Lord descend from Abraham?

Answer: Sometimes we can get to a genealogy in the Bible and skip over it, but how unfortunate. Especially as we consider our Lord’s, it can tell us so much. It was racially mixed and it had the good, the bad and the ugly. But God uses Jesus’ entire earthly lineage for His purpose to bring the son of God into the world. Some of our readers may not appreciate all their relatives or be unhappy about their heritage, but don’t despair, God has a purpose in it all and a reason you have that lineage.

Now Matthew writes his gospel with his Jewish friends and neighbors in mind. The Jews were meticulous at keeping genealogies but they seemed to disappear after Christ came and the destruction of the temple. The reason the Jews did was because they were looking for the Messiah (Daniel 9:25-26) and that He had to be of the right stuff, the right lineage. The Romans kept it for keeping track of people for tax purposes and it is why Joseph and Mary made their way to Bethlehem (Micah 5:2) to register being of the "House of David" (Luke 2:4). Now Matthew chooses the line of Joseph, which was Jesus’ legal but not natural father which still poised Jesus as part of that Royal line of David and Solomon (Matthew 1:6). The person from that line would be the great king and royal rule over Israel and the eternal kingdom. Matthew goes further to show His roots reach all the way back to where the Hebrew faith began for the nation of Israel, Abraham (1:1), the father of the faith. Luke on the other hand is speaking to his gentile friends, especially Theophilus (Luke 1:3), who is a gentile dignitary of some kind. Rather than record Jesus’ lineage in descending order from Abraham as Mathew does (Matthew 1:1), he presents it in an ascending line starting from Jesus (Luke 3:23) through David (3:31), Abraham (34) all the way to Adam(38). Luke also traces it through Jesus’ mother Mary’s line, naming her dad, Joseph’s father in law, Eli or Heli (3:23). He also shows her blood line through David, but not through Solomon, but through David’s other son Nathan. This shows Jesus was of the royal line not only legally through Joseph, but also physically and biologically through Mary’s line. It also shows the human side of His nature being united with fallen man, as it traces His lineage all the way back to Adam. Luke also gives us another gift in that Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit. making Him Divine, but also being physically united to Adam and Abraham. Interesting also was that His right to the Royal line of David was protected from disqualification as King. Joseph’s line was disqualified by God because of his ancestor Jeconiah (Jehoiachin) was a wicked King to which God curses him and his line after him (Jeremiah 22:30). But Nathan’s was not and still held the royal privilege in God’s sight. Mary’s blood line not only gave Jesus His human right to rule, but also circumvent the curse of Jeconiah, and still maintained the royal privilege to rule. My hope in going through some of this stuff that it causes you to pause in the mist of the busyness of your day and realize the picture is bigger than you, your issues and the minutia you deal with every day. That you realize God even has the tiny details of your life weighed and measured. That worry and fretting does not need to be part of our life of faith journey. (Matthew 6:30) How marvelous it is just to look and gaze upon the brilliance of the mind of God to have all these aspects covered. (Romans 11:33-35) How sure a foundation He is to lean on for all ages. (Malachi 3:6) Our God knows the end from the beginning. (Isaiah 48:3) We can go through life with a tremendous sense of security even as we have our plans (Proverbs 16:9), He orders our steps for our good. (Jeremiah 29:11) May His peace flood over you even in the details of life He has set out for you. Pastor Dave Henion grew up for the first 18 years of his life in the diverse atmosphere of the NY metropolitan area, and Dave learned a lot about living the life of faith with convictions in a very diverse world. Being part of a religious and cultural minority, Mr. Henion learned the essence of tolerance and tactfulness with a loving witness. He moved to Pella, Iowa, where he earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Sociology at Central University of Iowa. There he also played on the offensive line with the team that won the NCAA National Championship in 1974 and met a freshman cheerleader his senior year who became his wife, Sandy. They moved to Michigan where she finished her Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration in 3 years and they married while Dave finished his Masters of Divinity degree at Western Seminary in Holland. Reverend Henion took a call to a small church along the Hudson River in Fort Lee NJ, home of the George Washington Bridge. There his early training diversity in his 12 years of ministry paid off dearly. He was blessed with 3 children. In 1991, the family took a call from the Reformed Church in America denomination, to plant a church in Wichita. The church started at Kensler Elementary School, moved to the Zoo and now is located at 8340 W. 21st N. He also became Dr. Dave in 2006, having received his Doctorate from Covenant Seminary in St. Louis, became a father-in-law two years ago and a proud grandfather 10 months ago. He also ministers as Director of the Police Chaplains for the Wichita Police and Sedgwick County Sheriff’s Departments. He can be reached at, 316-7299736.