Joseph in Christ's genealogy

Matthew and Luke showed that Joseph was a legal parent, but not a genetic parent to Jesus. Jesus was
miraculously conceived in Mary, through the Holy Spirit. By virtue of being Mary's husband, Joseph was
considered the father of Jesus. Since Jesus was born into Joseph's family, he was a legal heir. Through
Joseph, Jesus obtained a rightful claim to the throne of David.

Although Jesus was a legal descendant to Joseph, he was not a physical descendant. Luke's genealogy
directly addressed this issue by stating Jesus was "supposedly the son of Joseph" (Luke 3:23). Clearly,
people had assumed that Joseph was the biological father of Jesus, when in fact he was not (Matthew
13:55).

Who was Joseph's Father? At first glance, Matthew and Luke appear to be in disagreement as to who Joseph's father was. Matthew
states he was the son of Jacob, while Luke states he was the son of Heli. Fortunately, an unlikely source
has aided scholars in unraveling this mystery.

The Jerusalem Talmud indicates that Mary was the daughter of Heli (Haggigah, Book 77, 4). Joseph was
the son-in-law of Heli. Luke could rightfully call Joseph the "son of Heli" because this was in
compliance with use of the word "son" at that time.Moreover, designating a son-in-law as a son had
scriptural precedent. Refer to Son in JewishGenealogies for more on this topic.
Thus, Joseph was the son of Jacob, and theson-in-law of Heli.

Matthew's genealogy of Jesus

Matthew wrote to the Jews to present Jesus as King ofthe Jews. The account is in Matthew 1:1-17.
It begins by showing Jesus was a legal heir to the throne of David, by virtue of his lineage. This fact
is immediately set forth in verse one, which states Jesus was the "son of David, the son of Abraham." His
kinship to David the King of Israel is mentioned before that of Abraham, the father of Israel.
Matthew's genealogy traces the ancestors of Joseph,
the legal father of Jesus.

Structure of Genealogy

Matthew's structure descends from father to son, beginning with Abraham. Additionally, he divides the
genealogy into three groups of fourteen generations, separated by important historic points (Matthew 1:17).


The three divisions of Matthew's genealogy are:

Abraham to the reign of King David (Matthew 1:2-6).
David's kingdom to the Babylonian captivity (Matthew 1:6-11).
Release from Babylonian captivity to Christ (Matthew 1:12-16).

Luke's Genealogy of Jesus

This record is in Luke 3:23-38. Luke was a physician. He carefully investigated the life of Christ, and
wrote the books of Luke and Acts (Colossians 4:14, Luke 1:1-4, Acts 1:1).

Luke's Audience

The original readers of Luke's works were Greek Christians. While Matthew wrote to the Jews, Luke
wrote to the Greeks.

Matthew's genealogy emphasized Jesus' claim to the throne of David. Since Luke's readers were less
concerned about the fulfillment of Jewish prophecy,,his genealogy focused on Jesus' descent from God. It
placed no emphasis on Jesus being the descendant of,King David.

Reason for Differences

Differences between the genealogies of Matthew and Luke may be attributed to the fact that Matthew traced
the ancestry of Joseph, while Luke traced the that of Mary.

Unique Placement of the Genealogy

The placement of Luke's genealogy is after the baptism
of Christ. When Jesus was baptized, God said "This is
my beloved son." Immediately following this event, as
if to prove God's declaration, Luke inserted the
genealogy.

Encouragement to Greek Christians

The genealogy culminated by showing Jesus was the "son of Adam, the son of God" (Luke 3:28). This emphasized
the humanity of Jesus, and the equality of all christians, regardless of ethnic backgrounds.

Christians of Jewish descent originally considered Greek Christians as inferior to themselves (Acts
15:1-31, Galatians 2:11-16). Luke's genealogy underscored the fact that Jesus was the son of God.
Since all men are made in the image of God (Genesis1:26-27), this may have been a source of encouragement
to the Greek Christians.