The gospel writers of Luke and Matthew give us a genealogy for Jesus, but they are different. (Matthew 1:1-17 and Luke 3:23-38). For example, Matthew gives Joseph’s father as Jacob, while Luke records Joseph’s father as Heli. We explore how both can be true?

Matthew presents the genealogy from Abraham going forward to Jesus, while Luke traces the genealogy from Jesus all the way back to Adam and Eve. The recorded family trees diverge with King David's sons, Matthew tracing the royal line through Solomon, and Luke tracing the line through David’s other son, Nathan. The entire list from this point until Joseph consists of different people. But this doesn't solve why Joseph 'seems' to have two fathers, as no one has two biological fathers. However, one person does have zero biological fathers—Jesus.

It makes sense then that Luke, the doctor, would trace Jesus' bloodline through his only blood relative, his mother Mary (who we have established is also one of his primary sources). So the two lines are from Joseph (in Matthew) and Mary (in Luke).

Now, these two different genealogies are critical in another way, which concerns "The Blood Curse of King Jehoiachin". 600 years before the birth of Christ, God pronounced a curse on the last king of Judah, saying, “Record this man as if childless, a man who will not prosper in his lifetime, for none of his offspring will prosper, none will sit on the throne of David or rule anymore in Judah” (Jeremiah 22:30).

In this curse, God bars any blood descendants of Jehoiachin from taking the throne. But who except a royal descendant could legitimately claim the throne? The problem is that the curse 'seems' to invalidate Jesus’ claim to be Messiah, as the Davidic Covenant promised that the Messiah, the “Son of David,” would reign forever on Jerusalem’s throne (1 Chronicles 17:11-14). It seemed God's promises were in a deadlock with God's own curse. An impossible situation.

However, in Jesus, this impossible contradiction was unlocked. Through Jesus' virgin birth, he possessed a direct, uncursed bloodline through Mary. She was of the clan of Judah and a direct descendant of King David through Nathan. So, Jesus possessed the biological heritage to claim the throne of David. But this alone does not bestow the legal right through Mary's blood, as she was not from the line of the last king.

However, in Joseph, Jesus gains the legal right to take the throne. Joseph is a direct descendant of Jehoiachin, but as Jesus is not his biological son, he does not carry the curse. The final piece to the puzzle then comes with an exception in the Torah that was made for the daughters of Zelophehad (Numbers 27: 1-11).

Zelophehad had no sons who could to inherit, so a provision was made for him. If his daughters married within their own tribe, their husband would become the legal heir of the estate and be legally the “son” of the father-of-the-bride. This law was then continued thereafter.

In Luke 3:23, the Koine Greek word used is the proper usage of the verb ἐνομίζω, which means “as reckoned by law.” So, from this term, we learn that Mary had no brothers and Joseph became "the son of Heli (the father of Mary) as reckoned by law" when they married, rendering Jesus the rightful heir to Joseph's inheritance.

This article is an extract from our new Christmas nativity graphic novel. Find it in our online store : https://www.wordforwordbiblecomic.com/buy

Why does Jesus' Genealogy in Luke differ from Matthew?

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