Jesus lineage?

Question

I recently attended a study where the preacher traced Jesus lineage back to King David through Joseph!This bothered me (wish I had spoken up but I didnt )
since Joseph was not his father his lineage has no bearing on his descent from King David!
However did you know that in Jewish Halakhic tradition only a person born of a Jewish mother is considered to be a jew,hence jewish descent is passed on from the mother! and Mary could trace her own lineage to David!

Answer 1

yes I did know about the Jewish linieage coming from the mother but the bible has Jesus family tree traced through Mary and Joseph although as you say Joseph was not realy his father we know that God was.

Answer 2

Your absolutely right, up to a point. That Jesus had no father
makes Joseph's lineage irrelavent...TRUE. That Judaism hold that the child of a Jewish mother is a Jew...making Jesus a Jew...TRUE. That Mary's alleged lineage (actually, the two lineages given in the gospels are both for Joseph...only later, when 'virgin birth' was added, was on attributed to Mary) back to David is of any relavence...FALSE.

While it is true that halachah states that religious identity is passed through the maternal line, it also states that tribal identity and inheritance issue, of which Kingship is a part, is passed through the paternal line. Therefore, Jesus, having no father by the Christian Tradition, cannot be a descendent of David insofar as inheriting the Throne is concerned. Further, if the gospels are partly true in that Joseph is not the father, but there is no virgin birth, that would make Jesus a mamzer, the product of an illicit union (worse than a bastard) and immediately disqualify him from being the Messiah. Either way, Jesus loses.

Answer 3

The Davidic lineage of Jesus runs through both Mary and Joseph. Matthew chapter 1 gives the lineage through Joseph and Luke chapter 1 gives the lineage through Mary. Compare the two and you will see what I mean. From Adam to David the lineage is the same. It is after King David that the line splits. Joseph is the stepfather of Jesus, but under ancient law he is the father by adoption. Because Joseph took responsibility for Jesus as his earthly father, Joseph is therefore regarded as the head of the household that Jesus was raised in and therefore his earthly father. This in no way takes away from the divinity of Christ or the purity of Mary. The claim that Mary was a whore who was impregnated by a Roman soldier is blasphemy and has no basis in Biblical truth or in secular history. It is a lie of the devil.

Answer 4

Joseph was Jesus father by adoption. But Mary also was Jewish and of Israel and lineage goes back that way.

Jesus asked the Pharisees, "How can the Son of David be the Lord of David?" Because that comment was in the Psalms.

So, Jesus was called the "Son of David" when He walked the earth also.

Yehuda is a tribe of Israel. Not every Israeli is a Jew.

And, when we are born of God, through faith in Jesus Christ, we are adopted into the family of God by a Jewish God also.

Answer 5

You are right that the lineage would have to be traced through the mother, and rightly so where Jesus was concerned; however, actually what you are saying is "of the tribe of Judah". The word jew is only a short form of Judah. There are two ways that you could be called a jew: one way is to be born of the bloodline of the tribe of judah; the other way is to live in the geographical location of the town of Judea. Both are legally "jews".

Answer 6

Spiritual lineage is traced through the father as the father is responsible for the spiritual training of the children

Answer 7

Mary belonged to the house of David tribe, and they use that evidence to try and trace her lineage.

Answer 8

Right!

Furthermore, a curse was placed on Joseph's line after King David (Satan thought he had "won"), but it was Mary's line that carried the necessary blood line from David down to Jesus.

(sorry I don't have the reference off the top of my head)