Luke’s Genealogy of Jesus

 

I hope you’ll take the time to study this chart.  It would be helpful to do so as you read both Matthew’s and Luke’s genealogies of Jesus Christ.  They are different because they present Jesus in different aspects; each presents proof of His claim to the throne of David, and His claim to be Messiah. 

In Matthew, Jesus Christ  is proven to be the King legally; in Luke, His genealogy as the Son of man is presented, linking Him with all of mankind.  In Matthew, Mary’s husband Joseph is a descendant of David through the house of Solomon.  In Luke, Mary, the virgin, is a descendant of David through the house of Nathan.  As a woman, she did not have a claim to the throne. In order for Jesus to have that legal right to the throne, He had to be born to the wife of a man who had  a perfectly legal, unchallenged right to the throne.  Through Joseph, Jesus is the legal heir. Because He was the Son of man and, finally, Son of God, He had the absolute, indisputable right to claim the throne.

Luke’s genealogy begins in chapter 3, verse 22-23 and ends with the incredibly beautiful words, “Which was the son of Adam, which was the son of God.”  No one but Jesus has ever, or ever will, fulfill the prophecies of a baby, born of a virgin, in the city of Bethlehem, Who would legally be King and Messiah, and through Whom would come salvation for all mankind. 

Wise men still seek Him.