Christian scholars-please clear up some confusion?

Question

Bible prophesies said that the Saviour will be descended from King David. Was Mary descended from David? Joseph was descended from David, but apparantly was not the bio father of Jesus. How can Jesus be the Saviour?

Answer 1

Actually Brad is correct.

*** Genealogy of Jesus Christ ***

The difference in nearly all the names in Luke’s genealogy of Jesus as compared with Matthew’s is quickly resolved in the fact that Luke traced the line through David’s son Nathan, instead of Solomon as did Matthew. (Lu 3:31; Mt 1:6, 7) Luke evidently follows the ancestry of Mary, thus showing Jesus’ natural descent from David, while Matthew shows Jesus’ legal right to the throne of David by descent from Solomon through Joseph, who was legally Jesus’ father. Both Matthew and Luke signify that Joseph was not Jesus’ actual father but only his adoptive father, giving him legal right. Matthew departs from the style used throughout his genealogy when he comes to Jesus, saying: “Jacob became father to Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom Jesus was born, who is called Christ.” (Mt 1:16) Notice that he does not say ‘Joseph became father to Jesus’ but that he was “the husband of Mary, of whom Jesus was born.” Luke is even more pointed when, after showing earlier that Jesus was actually the Son of God by Mary (Lu 1:32-35), he says: “Jesus . . . being the son, as the opinion was, of Joseph, son of Heli.”—Lu 3:23.
Since Jesus was not the natural son of Joseph but was the Son of God, Luke’s genealogy of Jesus would prove that he was, by human birth, a son of David through his natural mother Mary. Regarding the genealogies of Jesus given by Matthew and by Luke, Frederic Louis Godet wrote: “This study of the text in detail leads us in this way to admit—1. That the genealogical register of Luke is that of Heli, the grandfather of Jesus; 2. That, this affiliation of Jesus by Heli being expressly opposed to His affiliation by Joseph, the document which he has preserved for us can be nothing else in his view than the genealogy of Jesus through Mary. But why does not Luke name Mary, and why pass immediately from Jesus to His grandfather? Ancient sentiment did not comport with the mention of the mother as the genealogical link. Among the Greeks a man was the son of his father, not of his mother; and among the Jews the adage was: ‘Genus matris non vocatur genus [“The descendant of the mother is not called (her) descendant”]’ (‘Baba bathra,’ 110, a).”

Answer 2

According to Jewish law a man is presumed to be the natural father of every child his wife bears, unless the contrary is judicially proved. Once he has taken paternal responsibility for the child, such as by naming him (paternity cannot be reversed or denied) he is considered for all purposes the natural father of the child which also entitles the child to herditary claim as a descendant of that man's family line.

The bible says Jesus would be a descendent of the Davidic line which Joseph was from. By claiming paternal responsibilty as Joseph did made Jesus a descendent of the Davidic line under all laws, customs, and beliefs the same as blood.

The bible never says he will be born of the House David just descended from it.

Mary was also from the House of David claimed by marriage herditary rights are passed down paternally and through marriage under Jewish law. But either way all who claimed responsibilty were of the Davidic line at Jesus' birth.

Answer 3

If you look at the two genealogies, one for Mary and the other for Joseph--The one in Luke is the bloodline of Jesus through Mary and the one in Matthew is the legal line through Joseph-- it shows they are both descendent of David
So Jesus was in the bloodline of David through Mary and even though Joseph was not his true father, he still recevied an inheritance through Joseph, which came from David as well. So because of his inheritance through the house of David, he became a descendent. Sorry its kinda hard for me to explain

Answer 4

There are a lot of questions here, and I don't have a whole lot of time, so I'll answer the ones about the doctrine of the "trinity." You won't find anything resembling a "trinity" from an honest reading of the New Testament. That Jesus is divine is evident from verses like Colossians 2:19 ("For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily") and 1 Timothy 3:16 ("God was manifest in the flesh"), and Revelation 1:8, 11 and 22:13 with Isaiah 44:6 (Jesus said, "I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty" and "I am Alpha and Omega, the first and the last"; Jehovah said, "I am the first, and I am the last; and beside me there is no God.") The problem with most teaching on the deity of Jesus Christ is that people interpret it through the "lens" of Trinitarianism. All of these Scriptures prove the deity of Christ; however, none of them prove the trinity. Unlike man, God is everywhere-present, all-knowing, and all-powerful; hence, He is able to maintain a divine existence and a distinct human existence and yet still remain indivisibly and absolutely One (Deuteronomy 4:6). "With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible" (Matthew 19:26). When God became a man, He took on a completely distinct human existence, while continuing to exist as God omnipotent, apart from His human existence. To sum it up, God the Father is the only true God (John 17:1, 3), and Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is God the Father, the only true God, manifest in the flesh (1 Timothy 3:16). To further expound on this point, the Holy Spirit is not another "person" in an alleged "trinity," but rather is the Spirit of God the Father, the only true God (Matthew 10:20). The Spirit of God is no more a distinct "person" than is the spirit of man. Why do we argue and disagree? Because we are not listening to the Holy Spirit, whom Jesus promised would guide us into all truth.

Answer 5

Jesus's Jewish Religion and Jewish identity was passed on by Mary. Only someone with a jewish mother can be a Jew unless they convert.

Jesus's royal heritage would have come from the fathers side so Joseph must be a memebr of the house of David.

It doesn't say that he must actually conceive the child.When they married, his royal linage would be confirmed on Jesus.

Answer 6

First of all, there are no Biblical prophecies about a "savior." There are prophecies, or beliefs in scripture about the Messiah. It was believed that the Messiah would come from the line or household of David. However, the Messiah was generally believed to be a political figure more than a purely religious figure. The Jews of Jesus' time were expecting a powerful military leader who would come and free them from their Roman oppressors. Biblical prophecy is generally not considered telling the future, but understood by most mainstream religious people to be prophets speaking on behalf of God, to God's people concerning keeping right with God.

Answer 7

Joseph --of the line of David-- was Jesus' LEGAL, human, father ...
Was Mary also a descendant of King David?

The following excerpts answer your question ...

At least two authorities ... explain that Luke traces the natural lineage of Jesus through his fleshly mother Mary and her ancestors, while Matthew gives Jesus’ legal lineage, through Joseph and his ancestors. Starting with the oldest entry in each of the genealogical accounts, the understanding above helps us to see why they part company after David, Matthew’s account going through the line of David’s son Solomon, while Luke’s traces instead through David’s son Nathan, and why, though they meet again briefly at Shealtiel and Zerubbabel, they then branch off once more and pursue different lines. Matthew ends with Jacob as the father of Joseph and, according to this understanding, Luke ends with Heli, who was actually the father of Jesus’ fleshly mother, Mary.—The Westminster Dictionary of the Bible (Revised Edition of 1944, page 198, column 1); McClintock and Strong’s Cyclopædia (1882, Volume III, page 773, column 2).

Why, then, does Luke omit Mary and list Joseph as “the son of Heli”? Says the Cyclopædia above, page 773, column 2: “In constructing their genealogical tables, it is well known that the Jews reckoned wholly by males, rejecting where the blood of the grandfather passed to the grandson through a daughter, the name of the daughter herself, and counting that daughter’s husband for the son of the maternal grandfather (Numbers 26:33; 27:4-7).” In keeping with this rule, Joseph’s name would replace Mary’s in Luke’s account, even though the genealogy there was traced through Mary’s lineage. The Cyclopaedia sees in the very wording of Luke’s account a confirmation of this thought, saying, page 774, column 1: “The evangelist Luke has critically distinguished the REAL from the LEGAL genealogy by a parenthetical remark: ‘Jesus being (as was reputed) the son of Joseph (but in reality) the son of Heli,’ or his grandson by his mother’s side.”—Luke 3:23

Why have two genealogies, when one would suffice and differences between the two may cause confusion? For one thing, Matthew’s and Luke’s earliest readers would most surely be acquainted with the details above and so would not be confused, no more so than modern readers need be when familiarized with the details. For another, genealogies, while dry and boring to some, often serve a very important and vital purpose. Surely the genealogy of the Messiah or Christ would have special importance, for prophecies about him are very definite on his descent through the favored patriarchs Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and the beloved King David. Testing Jewish Pharisees on this point, Jesus asked them: “What do you think about the Christ? Whose son is he?” They answered: “David’s.” (Matt. 22:42, NW) Jesus’ messiahship had to have genealogical proof!

Jesus' Birth--How and Why It Happened
- Why It Was Necessary
- The Most Important Reason--To Prove God's Right to Rule the Universe
Lessons From the Record of Jesus' Birth
http://www.watchtower.org/library/w/2002/12/15/article_01.htm

Answer 8

actually the bible does say that there would be a savior born unto them, not only a messiah but a savior Isaiah 53:5, through the man that fulfills these prophecies the world would be saved, and that man is Jesus.

Answer 9

Yes, Mary is also a descendant of David.



http://www.carm.org/diff/2geneologies.htm

Answer 10

There are 40 prophesies in the Old Testament that are all fulfilled by Jesus. You have chosen one to nit pick.