How could Jesus be the messiah but the son of god?

Question

The messiah, the bible predicts, would be a great-great-great (etc) grandson of david.

And the gospels list Joseph as having been in the line of david...but not Mary.

But if God was the father of Jesus....

Then Jesus was not from the line of David.

Answer 1

He wasn't the messiah. You're correct. Joseph would have had to be his father, plus he would have had to fulfill all of the prophesies.

Answer 2

You're on the right track. The New Testament contains two incompatible genealogies tracing the lineage of Joseph (Matthew 1 and Luke 3), and neither is the actual lineage of Jesus if Joseph was not his father. Presumably these authors thought that being born miraculously was so impressive that the lack of literal genetic descent from David would not be a problem. They would perhaps also have considered Joseph's acceptance of Jesus as his son an 'adoption'.

Answer 3

In Matthew you have the genealogy of Joseph, who was the legal father of Jesus. As an adopted son, Jesus had all the same rights as a "blood" child would have had. So he was of the "legal" line of David.

But it gets better. Go to Luke 3, and you will find a second genealogy. This one traces the bloodline of Jesus through his mother Mary. Note that is begins with the phrase that Jesus "was supposed to be" the son of.... That phrase in the original culture meant that they are following his bloodline through marriage. So this is the bloodline of his mother Mary. Notice that she, also, is discended from David (by his son Natha).

So both legally and "by blood", Jesus was of the house of David.

Answer 4

Jesus was a natural heir to the throne through Mary, but, a legal heir to the throne through his adoptive father, Joseph. please read on:

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).”—Commentary on Luke, 1981, p. 129.

We may conclude, therefore, that the two lists of Matthew and Luke fuse together the two truths, namely, (1) that Jesus was actually the Son of God and the natural heir to the Kingdom by miraculous birth through the virgin girl Mary, of David’s line, and (2) that Jesus was also the legal heir in the male line of descent from David and Solomon through his adoptive father Joseph. (Lu 1:32, 35; Ro 1:1-4) If there was any accusation made by hostile Jews that Jesus’ birth was illegitimate, the fact that Joseph, aware of the circumstances, married Mary and gave her the protection of his good name and royal lineage refutes such slander

Answer 5

Jesus was of the line from both lineages.

The lineage of the Jewish nation is via the seed. (ref. Genesis 21:12, Genesis 22:18, Genesis 26:4) And since only the males have the seed, most assume that it is through the male only. However, the prophecy given in Genesis 3:15 states clearly that Messiah would come into the world via the Seed of the WOMAN.

"I will put enmity between you [Satan] and the woman, and between your seed and HER Seed; He shall bruise your head, And you shall bruise His heel."

So Jesus, through the Seed of Mary, is of the lineage of David.

Paul was a very strict Jewish man taught under Gamaliel*. He stated the following...

Galatians 3:16
Now to Abraham and his Seed were the promises made. He does not say, "And to seeds," as of many, but as of one, "And to your Seed," who is Christ.

2 Timothy 2:8
Remember that Jesus Christ, of the seed of David, was raised from the dead according to my gospel.

Answer 6

Matthew traces the lineage through Jesus' earthly father, Joseph. This indicates that Matthew is writing to the Jewish people. During first century times, if a Jewish man adopted a son, that son receives the father's lineage. Therefore, according to Jewish tradition, Jesus would be given the genealogy of his adopted father.

Answer 7

Mary was from the line of David, too. She and Joseph were second or third cousins, I believe.

Answer 8

Jesus was created in heaven as an angel named micheal. But he was sent to the earth for our ransom savior, but his spirit was sent to the womb of mary. He was born, and thus from the line of David. But he originated by god.

Answer 9

You're very perceptive to find inconsistency like that. But let's not get too silly. If you over analyze a teaching you loose the point of the teaching.

It's much like arguing about what kind of fruit did Adam and Eve "eat thereof." That has nothing to do with the point of the story.

Christ is called the "Son of Man." That means he's, in a way, a microcosm. He represents the fact that when we screw-up, God feels it. We all have a spark of the divine in us. What you do to your brother you do to yourself (spiritually). What you do to yourself, you do to God.

Answer 10

I asked this question one year ago and just searched my history for it. Here are some more answers if you wish to read them.
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=Ahqrac45X_BHHm1xigj3iGLty6IX?qid=1006032208029