For Christians who know the Bible well, will you please answer this question?

Question

According to Isaiah 11:1, the messiah is supposed to be a descendent of King David, yet Jesus' mother Mary is of the house of Levi, not David. That means that Jesus cannot possibly be the Messiah referenced in the Old Testament. What is your opinion on this?

If you try to say that his stepfather Joseph's lineage is good enough, then here is the actual passage "Then a shoot will grow from the stump of Jesse (King David's father) and a branch from his roots will bear fruit". I am sorry, but the New Testament is quite explicit about the fact that Jesus absolutely did not come from Joseph's or any other man's stump. The only human being he was related to was Mary.

Johnny Appleseed, your statement means absolutely nothing without posting the lineage right along with it. I have a feeling I shouldn't hold my breath waiting for you to do that. I am assuming that it will also be backed up with Bible verses, right? If not, then please do not waste your time.

SDW: Luke1:5

SDW, Since Elizabeth is Mary's kin and there is no other kin or lineage established for Mary any where else in the Bible, the only house she can be reasonably connected to is the house of Levi. There are those who poo poo this, and if you are one of these, then please tell what house she was from so we can establish once and for all how Christians can legitimately associate Yeshua of Nazareth with the Messiah of the Old Testament.

LiveForJesus, please tell me what Bible version you are getting this from, because I have yet to come across a version that has the nerve to say that the Luke lineage definitely comes from Mary. It says in clear writing that it is Joseph’s lineage (even in your quote).

Kenny P, do I really have to tell you what they say about assuming things. Even world-class scholars should know better than that, especially when it comes to the supposed "Word of God".

Mosa A, you've got your scriptures a bit messed up, but I know which ones you're talking about, so it's O.K. For my reply, please see what I said to LiveForJesus above.

SDW, I see that you have not yet responded to my challenge. I guess I'm just going to have to check back in ten minutes. ;)

SDW, your ten minutes is up and you still haven't replied. How does it feel to be on someone else's random time schedule? Don't like it? Then please don't do it to other people. I've got a heart conditon for God's sake, and I do not function well when I'm being timed!
You've got a cool avatar, though, and that is the only reason why I'm forgiving you! :P

LiveForJesus, I meant the same thing as you did (the lineage of Jesus found in the book of Luke), but I'm actually the one who was unclear, not you (thanks for being a sweetie about it). What I wanted to understand was what Bible you read that said that Heli was Mary's father. I just read the King James and Holman Versions and both of them say that Heli was Joseph's father. I know you've already written a lot for this question, but if you get a chance to tell me your Bible version, I'd appreciate it. Thanks.

Kenny P, I'm not exactly sure how I proved Christianity with my rebuttal to your answer. I in-fact showed that Christian Biblical scholars will "assume" whatever they need to in the effort to connect Yeshuah of Nazareth to the Messiah of the Old Testament. If you're going to assume things about the Bible for no other reason than to help support the validity of the Christian religion, then don't be surprised if people roll their eyes at you. By the way, if you have any reference to a LOGICAL reason why we should assume that Heli is Mary's father, then please list it. Otherwise, please don't give me the whole "son can mean the same as son in law" rubbish. If that were the case, then why not assume the lineage in Matthew refers to Mary instead of the one in Luke? But of course, it would not help the Christian faith to assume such a thing, since that would call down the curse of King Solomon's line upon Jesus, which would nullify any claim that He has to being the Messiah.

Thanks Pixie!
{{{{{PixiePrincess}}}}}

Answer 1

Hi ^^
For some, the concept of a virgin birth can be difficult to comprehend or accept. I do understand your apprehensiveness here. This is a very long study but let me put it to you in short. I will check back to see if you have any comments that I can make clear for you. According to the Bible, it had become impossible for a legitimate and qualified Messiah to have an earthly father due to the spiritual downfall of King Solomon and his descendants. As a result, the Messiah could only have a heavenly Father. Genesis 17:17 records Abraham's reaction, "Then Abraham fell upon his face, and laughed, and said in his heart, Shall a child be born unto him that is an hundred years old? And shall Sarah, that is ninety years old, bear?" But just as God promised, Sarah had a son and they named him Isaac. Moreover, it was through this miraculous birth between a hundred-year old man and a ninety-year old woman that Almighty God established His everlasting covenant with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

In like manner, it would be through another miraculous birth that God would establish His New and everlasting Covenant with all of mankind, through the virgin birth of His only-begotten Son, Jesus of Nazareth. His later descendent that had a spiritual downfall. (To long to get into this)..but.

Joseph was a direct descendant of the royal line of David through Solomon. He was also a descendant of Jeconiah (Matthew 1:6-16, tells you more but I will cut it down for space sake.. (verse 11) and Zerubbabel (verse 12). Since Jeremiah 22:30 declares that all of Jeconiah's descendants were disqualified from claiming the throne of David as king, Joseph was also disqualified. Most importantly, if Jesus were the biological offspring of Joseph, He would also be declared ineligible to claim the throne of David because He would fall under the very same curse.

The Bible provides the lineage of Heli, Mary's father(29),..... in Luke 3:23, 31...... as follows, "And Jesus himself began to be about thirty years of age, being (as was supposed) the son of Joseph, which was the son of Heli, Which was the son of Melea, which was the son of Menan, which was the son of Mattatha, which was the son of Nathan, which was the son of David." God's eternal promise to David was fulfilled through Heli's genealogy. Since he was Mary's father, Joseph was considered to be his son-in-law. As a result, Mary was a descendent of David, but not from David through Solomon. She descended from David through Nathan.

Because of the sins of Solomon and his descendants, we not only eliminate him from the paternal line to the Messiah because of the virgin birth but also from the maternal line through Heli. Finally, it becomes clear that the Messiah would be both the Son of God paternally and the Son of David through Heli, Mary's father. Luke 1:30-35 records the words that the angel said to Mary:

But the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God. You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end."

"How will this be," Mary asked the angel, "since I am a virgin?"

The angel answered, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called[a] the Son of God.

The promise was fulfilled. As well as a curse lifted ^^

As always,
Seek,Learn,Discover,Love,
Your sister in Christ

Response: I just woke up.. Let me get my books BRB..I re-read your remark..No this is a reading out of Luke silly..Never did I say she or he came from Luke. Told you this is along study. It is the bloodline that dates back to the old testament.. It is in the book of Luke.. also here is the other spot but their is a period but it is hard to see it. I didn't do a space but hey it was 2:00 am for me next time I will be sure to use my space bar..I think this is were you read it......see.
father. Luke 1:30-35 (see the period) then I write that this records the words that the angel said to Mary: I should have said in the Book of Luke.. but I felt it was clear. sorry about that was sleepy. U.U zzzz
thank you..

Luke chapter 3;23,31 ..It is the short cut I gave because of it being so long..But it is in Luke chapter 3 verse 23-38. If you want to read the whole thing I cut it for space sake..Never did I say she was in the blood line of Luke.

Also,It does not matter what bible you read when it comes to the Linage.This is one part that actually read pretty much the same thing. And it is the undisputed. Some will put the word son, or just the names..This the bloodline is the only thing that is written that pretty much reads the same in all western written bibles. But it is all the same no change in the line. Sorry if you misunderstood the reference... Hope this clears it up for you.

Answer 2

"but the New Testament is quite explicit about the fact that Jesus absolutely did not come from Joseph's or any other man's stump" <-- that was pretty funny. :)

Here's the answer...

Luke 3:23-24 references Joseph as being the son of Heli, while Matthew 1:16 says he's the son of Jacob. Joseph can't be the son of both Jacob and Heli. So, is this a contradiction? No. In Biblical times there was no word for father-in-law, just as there was no word for grandfather.

Heli was actually Mary's father, making him Joseph's father-in-law. The reason the two genealogies are different is that Joseph was descended from Solomon while Mary was a descendant of Solomon's brother Nathan (one of David's other sons).

So, Joseph and Mary were actually cousins although many times removed. Since Heli had no sons, Mary had to find a husband from the tribe of Judah like herself to protect her father's estate (See Numbers 36). She also needed a direct descendant of Solomon to perfect her son's claim to the throne of David, since Nathan's descendants weren't of the Royal line.

Joseph fit the bill on both accounts, but like every other descendant of Solomon's, he carried a blood curse, disqualifying any biological son of his from ever being King of Israel (Jeremiah 22:28-30). Since Joseph was not Jesus' biological father, he could adopt Him, which qualified Him to be King without passing Him the curse. Since Jesus was born into Joseph's family, He was a legal heir. And, through Joseph, Jesus obtained a rightful and legal claim to the throne of David.

Thus, because of the virgin birth, Jesus became the only one in Israel qualified to sit on David's throne, and remains so to this day.

Answer 3

Read the first chapter of Matthew starting at verse 1 and you will see the lineage of Jesus Christ listed. Jesus' claim to the lineage of David through Joseph came when he and Mary were married.

Answer 4

The lineage of Jesus is recorded in two places: Matthew 1:1-17 and Luke 3:28-38. Most biblical scholars assume that Luke is referring to the genealogy of Mary and that the genealogy recorded in Matthew is of Joseph. The Matthew genealogy follows Joseph's line (Jesus' legal father), through David's son Solomon. Luke follows Mary's line (Jesus' blood mother), through David's son Nathan.

Answer 5

Please state where you got your information that Mary was a descendant of Levi. The closest I can come is that her relative Elizabeth was married to a priest, who traditionally came from the tribe of Levi; that would not make her a Levite.

I'll check back in a few for a scripture reference, and edit appropriately.


I'm back. I see no scriptural support for the claim that Mary was a descendant of Levi. I'll be back in about 10 minutes or so to check again.


Back again. Still nothing. I'll give it one more check in a few minutes.


Checked it. Again, Elizabeth was a Levite, but that doesn't mean Mary was. Even if they were first cousins, their respective fathers could have been from different tribes. And we do not know precisely what their relationship was--we generally assume that they were cousins.



Sorry, I went to bed last night without checking back. My bad.

Luke 1:26-38--the angel Gabriel speaking to Mary. See verse 32 in particular:
"...The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David,..."

Gabriel was satisfied that Jesus' lineage was adequate, and he hangs out with God in person.

Answer 6

http://www.thebiblerocks.com/bible/people/jesus_geneology.html

This website compares the two passages of scripture showing Jesus' geneology. Joseph's geneology is explained in Matthew and Mary's geneology is explained in Luke. Both show that both Mary and Joseph descended from King David, but through different sons of David.

Answer 7

Mary and Joseph where from the same tribe.
If a father died with no son the daughter carried on the blood line.
It's quite complicated and a lot of typing and i am not the best at typing but check out this website
www.home.inreach.com/bstanley/geneal.htm

Answer 8

Check out Matt.1:16.
Then read Luke3:23.
So how can Joseph have two fathers?
Jewish tradition did not consider women position in the family tree.(Please read MClintock and Strong's Cyclopedia Vol.3 p.774).

Answer 9

The Bible is the Christan Guide to Life.Not Yahoo answers.And if you need an answer for a specific question there is an A-Z guide to the bible somewhere.Use it as in index to look up an answer to your question.

Answer 10

You are mistaken. Both Joseph and Mary descended from David directly. There was a point where the lineage divided with two brothers - one brother led to Mary and the other to Jesus. I have the genealogy on my PC but cannot get to it right away.

Jesus needed BOTH a physical right to the throne of David ANd a spiritual right. David gave Him His physical right and God His Father gave Him His spiritual right. BEEYOOTIFUL!

PRAISE HIS HOLY NAME!