Matthew 1:16 (NKJV)
And Jacob begot Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus who is called Christ.
There are no other passages that are so avoided and viewed with such disdain, more than the genealogies. Today’s verse is the end verse of the genealogy recorded in Matthew 1:2-16. It begins with Abraham and ends with Joseph. Whereas, in Luke 3:23-38 we have the genealogy of Jesus which begins with Joseph and ends at Adam. Already, just by these few words, it seems like these passages do not agree.
There is no other task that some people want to accomplish more than to prove that there is error in the bible. This is impossible. God’s word is truth, all His words are right. David says, “The words of the LORD are pure words, Like silver tried in a furnace of earth, Purified seven times”, (Psalms 12:6, NKJV). How then, do we deal with this seeming contradiction of these passages?
First of all, Matthew 1 records the family line of Joseph. In the first century, and also today, the child receives the name of the father. All the people around Jesus, as He grew up, accepted Him as Joseph’s son. Joseph was the step-father of Jesus since Jesus was conceived of the Holy Spirit. Matthew 1:16 says that Joseph was the husband of Mary and Jesus was born of Mary. Mary physically bore Jesus, but He was conceived of the Holy Spirit. Joseph and Mary never came together until after the birth of Jesus. Even though Joseph was considered the father of Jesus by all his peers, he was merely the step-father. All would have accepted that Joseph was the physical father. But, we (and those in the first century) need to receive, by faith, the fact that Jesus was born of Holy Spirit, so that we can then be saved.
The other genealogy in Luke 3 is the family line of Mary. This genealogy descends, beginning with Jesus and ending with Adam. Adam is the father of man. Adam’s line shows the human side of Jesus. This was needed in order to show that for Jesus Christ was fully human.
Jesus was fully God and fully human at the same time. He needed to become a man in order to live out the same experiences and temptations that man did. He also needed to die a martyr’s death in order to be the savior of the mankind. But, He needed to be conceived of the Holy Spirit in order to be God. This enabled Him to live the perfect life that He did.
So we see, these two passages do not deny each other, but they confirm each other. They do not contradict. They merely share the same historical facts from a different perspective. The heavenly side of Christ needs to be supported and so does the human side. God came to earth in all perfection and needs to be trusted by faith. But, Christ the human needed to die in the flesh in order to be the perfect sacrificial lamb of God. The death of Christ pays all our sins and all we need to do is trust Him by faith with a repentant heart.
Thoughts, comments, objections.
Daniel A. Smith
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