A 01 The Genealogy of Jesus
CHAPTER I. THE GENEALOGY OF JESUS
ONE sign, which was to designate the person of the promised Messiah, was, his regular descent from Abraham, through the tribe of Judah, and family of David. If the will of God had so determined, the Messiah might have descended from any other nation than the Israelites, or from any other tribe than Judah, or from any other family than that of David. But since the purpose of God has marked out successively, Abraham, Judah, and David, as the lineal ancestors of the promised Savior, it is in that line, and that only, that we must expect his birth. And should every other part of the evidence be complete, and yet this be wanting, it could not be proved, that Jesus of Nazareth is really the Christ. He might have been an illustrious prophet; he might have been a great “teacher sent from God;” his life might have been the most blameless and pure, and his doctrine the most exalted and heavenly; he might too, have effected a great moral change among the Jews, and also in the state of the world generally; still his claims to Messiahship could not be established, unless he were born in the predicted line of ancestry. When God called Abraham from Ur of Chaldea, among other promises, he gave him the following, “And in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.” Genesis 12:1-20. This promise was afterwards repeated when Abraham was called to offer up his son Isaac. Genesis 22:1-24. Now, whatever blessings mankind may in general have derived from the Israelites, it is evident, that this promise refers to the Messiah. The Apostle Paul has given us its true exegesis — “He saith not, and to seeds, as of many, but as of one and to thy seed, which is Christ.” Galatians 3:1-29. The Messiah then was to be a lineal descendant of Abraham.
He was also to descend from the tribe of Judah. When the patriarch Jacob was blessing his sons, he pronounced, by divine inspiration, the following remarkable prediction concerning Judah: “The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come, and unto him shall the gathering of the people be.” Genesis 44:1-34.
Whatever criticisms the learned may have made upon this passage, the opinion has almost universally obtained, both among Jews and Christians, that its reference is to the Messiah as descended from the tribe of Judah. “The Jews,” says Hengstenberg, “regard verse 10th, as predicting the Messiah. Thus it was interpreted by the Chaldaic paraphrases; the Targum of Onkelos, of Jerusalem, and of Jonathan; the Talmud, the Zohar, and the old book Bereshith Rabba; and even by several of the more modern commentators, as Jarchi. The Samaritans also explain this passage of the Messiah. In the Christian church, the Messianic interpretation has, from the earliest times been generally approved.” 1 Gesenius renders the passage thus — “Judah shall not lay aside the scepter of a leader, until he shall have subdued his enemies and obtained dominion over many nations; referring to the expected Kingdom of the Messiah, who was to spring from the tribe of Judah.” The same reference to the Messiah, as descended from the tribe of Judah, is to be found in Psalms 108:1-13, where it is said of that tribe, “Judah is my lawgiver.” This passage may have primary reference to the establishment of the throne in that tribe; but its allusion evidently extends farther, and designates that future and illustrious Lawgiver, whom not only the Jews, but all the nations of the earth were to obey. “Perfectissime hoe completum in Christo,” 3 — says Poole — This is most perfectly fulfilled in Christ. The prophet Isaiah is even more explicit. “And I will bring forth a seed out of Jacob, and out of Judah an inheritor of my mountains, and mine elect shalt inherit it, and my servants shall dwell there.” The allusion here is so obvious as to need no explanation. The Messiah, therefore, was also to be a descendant from the tribe of Judah.
He was also to be of the house or family of David. “And thy house and thy kingdom,” said God to David, “shall be established forever before thee: thy throne shall be established forever.” 2 Samuel 7:1-29. The Psalmist in alluding to this promise, represents Jehovah as saying — “Once have I sworn by my holiness, that I will not lie unto David. His seed shall endure; and his throne as the sun before me. It shall be established forever as the moon, and as a faithful witness in heaven.” Psalms 89:1-52.
These promises include specifically and with great emphasis, the perpetuity of the throne in the house of David. Now, from Solomon to Zedekiah, there was included but a period of about four hundred and thirty years. And from Zedekiah to the dispersion of the Jews by the Romans, only a period of about six hundred more: unless, therefore, the throne of David be set up in the person of Messiah, these promises can have no real fulfillment. But the prophets are more specific — “And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots. And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him. And he shall not judge after the sight of his eyes; neither reprove after the hearing of his ears: but with righteousness shall he judge the poor, and reprove with equity for the meek of the earth. And righteousness shall be the girdle of his loins, and faithfulness the girdle of his reins.” Isaiah 11:1-16. The reference of this passage to the Messiah is not only proved by the context, but also by a similar one in Jeremiah. “Behold the days come, saith the Lord, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch; and a King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth; and this is his name whereby he shall be called — The Lord our Righteousness.”
But, even if there were any obscurity in these passages, there can be none in the following. Speaking of the Messiah, Isaiah says — “Of the increase of his government and peace, there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even forever.” Isaiah 9:1-21.
These prophetic passages sufficiently explain the promise originally given to David, and so delightfully dwelt upon by the ancient Israelites in their inspired songs. The perpetuity of David’s throne and kingdom, was to exist in the person of the Messiah; who according to the flesh was to be made of the seed of David. David himself died soon after the promise was given. The line of earthly kings descending from him, terminated in the period of a few centuries. Even the dependent and afflicted dominion of the family of David and of the tribe of Judah which succeeded, was terminated under Titus and the Roman legions. All these were to pass away. But the kingdom of Messiah was to be strictly “everlasting,” and his dominion without end. In him, the throne of David was to be re-established, and was destined to continue “forever.” The descent then of the Messiah was to be through Abraham, Judah, David. Any other descent therefore must destroy the title and defeat the claims of him, who pretends to be the subject of these remarkable predictions. Was Jesus of Nazareth of such descent? This question is both fully and satisfactorily answered in the New Testament. The evangelists, Matthew and Luke, have each given genealogies of Jesus, the express object of which was to exhibit these facts.
These tables are in many respects different; but in that which is essential, they perfectly agree. Luke traces the genealogy of Jesus to Adam; Matthew only to Abraham. Luke follows either the line of Mary’s ancestry, or of Joseph’s legal ancestry; Matthew that of Joseph’s natural ancestry. From Jesus to David, Luke mentions forty-two names; Matthew but twenty-seven. Matthew has also omitted three names found in First Chronicles, chapter 3.
Now, notwithstanding these discrepancies, and the various methods adopted by the learned to reconcile them, the facts, about which we are inquiring, are obvious in both tables. Each evangelist traces the genealogy of Jesus to David. They take different routes, but arrive here at the same point. Nor is there the least variation between them from David, through Judah to Abraham. Here the tables perfectly agree, and the testimony of each is, that Jesus of Nazareth was linearly descended from David, Judah, Abraham. In explanation of the differences between these tables, the following observations of Bloomfield will be found appropriate. “As to the reconciling this (Matthew’s) genealogy with that of Saint Luke, it is best done, by supposing that St. Matthew gives the genealogy of Joseph, and St. Luke that of Mary. And therefore the former, who wrote principally for the Jews, traces the pedigree from Abraham to David, and so through Solomon’s line to Joseph the legal father of Jesus. And it must be remembered, that among the Jews, legal descent was always reckoned in the male line. St. Luke, on the contrary, who wrote for the Gentiles, traces the pedigree upwards from Heli, the father of Mary, to David and Abraham, and thence to Adam, the common father of all mankind. Finally, whatever difficulties, even after all the diligence of learned inquirers, shall exist on certain matters connected with these genealogies, we may rest assured, that if these genealogies of Christ, which must be understood to have been derived from the public records in the Temple, had not been agreeable thereto, the deception would have been instantly detected. And thus, whether Christ’s pedigree be traced through the line of Joseph or of Mary, it is undeniable, that Jesus was descended from David and Abraham, agreeably to the ancient promises and prophesies that the Messiah should be of their seed.” The following statements from the learned Dr. Clarke are also valuable. “Mary therefore appears to have been the daughter of Heli. Joseph and Mary were of the same family; both came from Zerubbabel; Joseph from Abiud, his eldest son; Mary by Rhesa his youngest. Thus it appears, that Jesus, son of Mary, reunited in himself all the blood, privileges, and rights, of the whole family of David; in consequence of which he is emphatically called, the son of David.” There is another remarkable fact recorded in the New Testament, which casts light upon the ancestral descent of Jesus. Luke records it in the following manner — “And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus, that all the world should be taxed. And all went to be taxed every one to his own city. And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judea, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem (because he was of the house and lineage of David) to be taxed, with Mary his espoused wife.” Luke 2:1-52.
Here is an event in which we see most clearly the hand of Divine Providence. The emperor Augustus makes a decree, which in its operation, requires every Jew to be enrolled in his own family and tribe. The names of Joseph and Mary are entered at Bethlehem, as belonging to the house of David. What a remarkable occurrence! What a public and authentic attestation of the real ancestry of Jesus! The humble circumstances of Joseph and Mary; their remoteness especially from the ordinary dwellingplace of the illustrious family of David, might have obscured the ancestry of their extraordinary Son. But a circumstance occurs forever to dispel all doubt on that subject. By an imperial mandate, they are enrolled at Bethlehem, as the descendants of the royal house of the son of Jesse! But there are a great many different passages in the New Testament, which distinctly state, that the genealogy of Jesus was such as the Old Testament Scriptures had assigned to the Messiah. Thus the Apostle Paul declares, that Christ “took not on him the nature of angels, but the seed of Abraham.” Hebrews 2:1-18. Again he affirms, that “it is evident, that our Lord (that is Jesus) sprang out of Juda.” Hebrews 7:1-28. Zachariah also speaks of Jesus as “a horn of salvation raised up in the house of David.” Luke 1:1-80.
Peter affirms, that Jesus was “the fruit of the loins” of David, Acts 2:1-47; and Paul, that Christ, “was made of the seed of David according to the flesh.” In truth, so numerous are the statements of this sort to be found in the writings of the Apostles, that it is impossible to deny, that their plain, uniform, and invariable testimony is, that Jesus was descended from David, Judah, Abraham. The evidence then, in behalf of the Messiahship of Jesus of Nazareth, so far as ancestral descent is concerned, is perfect. The purpose of God and prophecy require, that the Messiah should be descended through certain persons, specially designated, in the Old Testament Scriptures. The Evangelists and Apostles furnish indisputable testimony, that Jesus of Nazareth was thus descended. His genealogy, both legal and natural, passes through these very persons. The most authentic records are employed to show that these were his ancestors. And those who knew him best, never considered him as belonging to any other family, tribe or nation.