THE RELATION OF LUKE 3:23-38

TO MATTHEW 1:1-17
The Nature of
Genealogies in Israel
The Bible is full of genealogies, and
each has its distinctive purpose and
function in the context of the book in
which it is locate<;!, and of the Bible as
a whole. So there is
nothing unusual
about the existence
of the genealogical
tables of both Mary
and Joseph at the
birth of Jesus.
"Under the guiding
hand of God, the
Jews preserved their
genealogical tables
with remarkable
accuracy through all
the centuries before
the birth of Jesus
and also during the
first century after His birth. Ever since
the earliest times the lineage lists were
compiled and preserved as accurately
as possible. Aftertheir return from the
Babylonian exile, the Jews again
thoroughly fixed their genealogical
tables by committing them to wctting
and bringing them up-to-date, and
this was continued undl the time of
Josephus. Especially would persons
like Joseph and the family of Mary,
who were ofDavidic descent, preserve
their genealOgical tables with special
care because the Old Testament
prophesied that the Messiah would be
born of the hoilse of David. Apart from
the pUblic registers, numbers ofJewish
families kept private family trees in
their homes and handed them down
from generation to generation. "-
Geldenhuys
The Purpose and Place of
Genealogies in Biblical History
The 40 genealogies in the Bible are
rich mines of historical, personal,
ethnographic, and religious
information. Genealogies were
important to the ancient Hebrews and
were used fora wide-range of purposes:
(1). To trace the land promises to the
descendants of Abraham; (2). To trace
the pedigree of the ptiesthood, which
was hereditary; (3). To trace the royal
succession ofjudah which must be of
the dynasty of King David; (4). To
divide and allot the Land of Promise so
that each tribe and family could occupy
its proper parcel; (5). To organize for
military service in terms of the tribes
and families; (6). To trace the Davidic
pedigree of the Messianic line. This
was their most important purpose: to
trace and document the development
of the serpent's seed and the women's
seed in history, Gen. 3:15; to illustrate
the fulfillment of covenant promises of
salvation in the history of God's people;
and to trace and document the lineage
of the Messiah.
The Usefulness of Biblical
Genealogies for Us Today
These Biblical genealogies are
testimonies to God's covenant
faithfulness to His covenant promises
4 '" mE COUNSEL of Chalcedon '" September, 1994
and curses in regard to His covenant
people down through their
generations, Exod. 20:4-6. They also
serveas chronological measurements
of Biblical history.
Gen. 5: 1-32--HistoricaILinkage
of Creation to Deluge
Gen. 11: 1 0-32-Historical Linkage
of Deluge to Abraham
'Gen. 46:8-27-Historical Linkage
of Abraharn to Joseph in Egypt
Ruth 4:20f--Historical Linkage
ofjoseph to David
IChron.I-9-
--Historical
Linkage of David
to' Babylonian
Captivity
Ezra 2:1-63-

Linkage of Cap-
tivity to Return to
Jerusalem
Matt.l: 1;
Lk3:23fHistorical
Linkage of Return
to Birth of the
Messiah
Using Biblical genealogies for
chronological measurement was never
seriously questioned by Bible scholars
until the advent of Charles Darwin.
However, if the historical chronology
of these genealogies is not accurate,
the doctrine of the inerrancy of the
Bible is at stake. If they are inaccurate,
Christ's Messiahship is at stake! There
are some small gaps in some of these
genealogies, but we can run cross-
references between them and fill in
those gaps. Furthermore, if there are
gaps, they must be insiguificant, for a
genealogy with gaps of thousands of
years, (longer than the genealogyitself),
is a useless document. When we add
up the numbers of these genealogies,
we find that the human race is around
six thousand years old, and that Adam
lived around four thousand years
before Christ. In the light of this fact,
the Bible's chronology makes
evolution, with its need for millions
and millions of years, an absurd
consideration.
The Purpose of the Genealogy
of Matthew 1:1-17
1
IMatthew's genealogy ofjesus can
be divided into three parts with
fOUlteen names in each, maybe [orthe
sake of easier memorization: The first
division, 1:1-6-The origin of the
Davidic Kingdom; The
second division, 1: 6-7-The
rise and decline of the Davidic
Kingdom; and The third
division,1:7-15-Theeclipse
and fall of the Davidic
Kingdom. A quick study of
Matthew's genealogy reveals
the following:
jesus is the Son of
Abraham and David
As the son of Abraham,
through Him all people will
be blessed; and as the son of David, by
Him all people will be ruled. The true
Gospel has two major themes:
salvation by Christ and dominion by
Christ. These two themes and realities
cannot be separated in reality. The
Son of Abraham always acts as the Son
of David and vice versa. The cross, by
which salvation was accomplished,
cannot be understood unless it is
understood that the One on that cross
was the Son of Abraham and of David,
I Cor. 2:8, Who lived and died and
was raised from the dead in order to
fulfill the Covenant in the power of
His KINGDOM.
jesus is the Son of judah
To say that Jesus is the Son of
Judah is to say that He is the gift of
God's SOVEREIGN GRACE, Gen.
49:8-10. Why a Son ofJudah? Why
not of one of the three older sons of
Israel? Judah was chosen not because
of age or rnelit, but by the sovereign,
electing will and grace of Almighty
God, Rom. 9: 16. His grace is the basis
of the whole plan. The phrase, "His
brothers," in connection with this
reference to Judah in Matthew's
genealogy refers to the whole nation
as the congregation of the Lord,
separated from the world to be a
blessing to the world, which is always
brought into close relation with the
Messiah Himself. It is His "body,"
Exod. 19:3-6. Therefore the focus of
Biblical history is the kingly Christ
and His Church; and the possibility of
Biblical, Messianic history is the
sovereignty of God.
jesus is the Son of
Good and Bad People
A part ofjesus' humiliation for our
salvation is His ancestry of evil, as well
as of good people. Some of the men in
Matthew's genealogy were wicked
beyond belief, such as Joram, Ahaz,
and Amon, II Kgs. 16:1; II Kgs. 2l:18f.
Even the good ancestors were capable
of terrible sins, e.g. David and
Bathsheba. We learn there that Christ
came to IDENTIFY WITH SINNERS,
and thereby to seek and to save that
which was lost. Christ HUMILIATED
Himselfbytaking upon Himself fallen
human flesh and this ancestIyinorder
to save us from our sins, Heb. 2;14f.
Neither sin nor apostasy can interrupt
God's redemptive purpose in Christ.
jesus is the Son of
Woman-Ancestors
This, of course, is obvious, except
that it is emphasized in Matthew's
genealogy, ina time when genealogies
did not ordinarily include the names
of women ancestors. Matthewincludes
immoral Tamar, Rahab, the converted
harlot and foreigner, Ruth, the
foreigner, and immoral Bathsheba.
Luke, with his emphasis on the
universalism of the Gospel, makes the
same paint. Christ is the
universal Savior, suited for all
men and women alike.
jesus is Not the Direct,
Natural Descendant of
jeconiah
Matthew's list includes
jeconiah, who was cursed by
God for his Sin, so that no
natural-born descendant of
his would ever sit on the
throne ofDavid,Jer. 22:30; I
Chron. 3:17,18; and yet
Matthewincludes himas a descendant
ofjesus, who did inherit the throne of
David. Howcanthis be? Since Matthew
presents us with jesus' ancestry
through joseph,] oseph could not have
been the father of a Davidic Messianic
King! Luke's genealogy is thatofJesus
through His mother, Mary to David;
therefore, Mary, who was of Davidic
descent, was the virgin mother of the
Messiah. joseph had an impressive
lineage, but it could not save him
from his sins. Only his adopted Son,
jesus Christ, could do that!
jesus is the Son of Mary,
and Therefore
the Incarnate Son of God
Notice the great care of Mattthew
with which he describes the "begetting"
of Jesus, so as to make it clear, that
Jesus is "of Mary" but not "ofjoseph."
Jesus is fully God and fully man in one
person forever.
September, 1994 lHE COUNSEL of Chalcedon f 5
The Purpose of the Genealogy
of Matthew 1:1-7
The New Testament begins with
the Gospel according to Matthew,
which begins with these words, "The
book of the genealogy of jesus Christ,
the son of David, the son of
Abraham .... " The New Testament,
then, is the stbryof the outcome of the
life and work ofjesus Christ, Who is
"the son of David and the son of
Abraham," and the Son of God.
Identifying Jesus with these two
phrases at the beginning ofthe N.T.
sets forth two majorO.T. motifs which
are fulfilled in the life and
focus is on Jesus Christ as the
fulfillment of the O.T. covenant
promises, most particularly as the
promised King of the lineage ofDavid.
Jesus is David's Son and David's Lord,
Mat. 22:41-46. Matthew will tell his
audience that Jesus Christ is the
Messiah and King who will exercise
His royal rule and saving power, (Le.,
His kingdom), so as to fulfill all the
covenant promises of God in the lives
of all God's people . Therefore,
beginning his Gospel was wise in that
it firmly and undeniably establishes
the descent of Joseph, (Jesus' legal
answer is to be fOllnd in the purpose,
theme, and overall plan of the Gospel
of Luke.
Luke addresses a broaderaudience
than Matthew, for he addresses the
Gentile, i.e., non-Jewish, world. His
concern is to convince his readers
Christ truly belongs in the human
race, is one of us, and is truly God,
truly incarnate. Jesus is the divine-
human Savior of the world of
humanity. As Matthew is draWing
Jewish attention to the fact that Jesus
was the legal heir of David's throne
through Joseph, Luke is establishing
Jesus' real and historical
ministry of Jesus: The
Abraharnic Covenant,
Genesis 12-17, and The
Davidic Covenant, II
Samuel 7. Therefore to
understand the message of
the New Testament, it is
essential to understand the
promises and demands of
those covenants, and how
they are fulfilled in Jesus
Christ.
HHere is a powerful incen-
tive for world missions:
solidarity with the human
race. In Luke's genealogy
of Jesus, beginning with
Jesus and going all the way
back to "Adam, the son of
God," we are able to see
Christ's unity With the
human race. Here is a
powerful incentive for
world missions: Jesus
Christ, the Savior belongs
Jesus Christ; the Savior
belongs not to a single na-
tion or group of nations,
or to a privileged class,
He belongs to the world."
Butjesus' genealogy in Matthew's
Gospel does not end with Abraham; it
records Jesus' line<tge from Abraham
to "Joseph the hUsband of Mary, by
whom was bomJesus the Christ." It
goes three fourteen generations from
Abraham to David, fourteen gener-
ations from David to the Babylonian
Captivity, and fourteen generations
from the Babylonian Captivity to the
time of Christ. Why? Why does
Matthew begin the first Gospel of the
NewTestamentwithalonggenealogy
ofjesus? The answer to this question
is to be found in explanation of the
purpose and theme of the entire Gospel
of Matthew, for this genealogy is in
full harmbnywith the entire plan and
purpose of Matthew.
Matthew is addressing his Gospel
particularly to the Jewish people. His
father) from King David and frorn
Abraham.
The Pupose of the Genealogy
of Luke 3:23-38
Luke, on the other hand, does not
insert Jesus' genealogy into his
narrative until the third chapter of his
Gospel, 3:23-38. He spends much
time giving us the birth narratives of
John the Baptist and of Jesus, the
presentation of Jesus at the Temple,
Jesus' experience in the Temple at age
twelve, a concise record of His human
growth and development for the first
thirty years of His life, the ministry of
John the Baptist, and the baptism of
Jesus. Only then does Luke present us
with the genealogy of Jesus. Why at
this point? How does Luke use Jesus'
genealogy? What is its purpose in the
Gospel of Luke? Once again, the
~ THE CQlJNSEL of Chalc:edon ~ September, 1994
not to a single nation ' or
group of nations, or. to a privileged
class, He belongs to the world; " For
God so loved the world that Hegave His
only begotten Son; that whoever believes
in Him should not perish but have eternal
life . As Jesus said concerning Himself:
" I am the living bread that came down
out of heaven; if anyone eats of this
bread, he shall live forever; and the bread
also which I shall give for the life of the
world is My jlesh,"John6:51.
The Reasonfor the
Differences between these two
Genealogies of Jesus
We, who believe in the inerrancy
of the Bible, must not hide from the
fact that there are obvious differences
between Ml'\tthew's genealogy oUeaus
and that of Luke. The majority of
names in each list are absent from the
other list. Matthew's listisrnuchshorter
than Luke's. Matthew appears to skip
more generations than does Luke. For
example, between David andShealtiel,
Matthew lists 16 different names, and
Luke lists 22. Between Shealtiel and
jesus, Matthew mentions 13 names
and Luke again lists 22. Matthew
presents his genealogy in three
divisions of fourteen names each,
whereas Luke doesnotuse this pattern.
Matthewgoes fromfatheno son, while
Luke goes from son to father. Does all
this mean that there are after all
discrepancies in these lists, and
therefore errors in the Bible, so that
our doctrine of inerrancy fall to the
ground? Not at all!
Attempts to find errors in the Bible
based on the differences in the two
genealogies ofjesus fail to understand
the major, deliberate differences
between the two: Matthew presents
us with the genealogyofjesus through
joseph, and hence of the LEGAL
HEIRS to David's throne, while Luke
presents us with the genealogy ofJesus
through Mary, and thus of the
GENETIC DESCENDANTS of King
David, and beyond David of the
ACTUAL DESCENDANTS of Adam,
the first man.
As we have already seen, Matthew
presents his birth narratives from
joseph's perspective, and Luke
presents his from that of Mary. This
appears also to be true of their
genealogies. Luke, probably obtained
the genealogical table of Mary's father,
Heli, from Mary herself, or from one
closely connected to her. However,
because it was not customary among
jews or Romans to insert the name of
a woman in a lineage list, Luke added
the words, "being supposedly the son
of joseph." Luke "was not afraid that
his readers would get the impression
that the genealogical tree was that of
joseph and not that of Mary, for in
Luke 1 and 2 he had pointed out
expressly that jesuswassolely the Son
of Mary and not ofjoseph and Mary.
Why should he then reproduce the
long family tree ofjoseph which ends
with these words, 'which was the son
of Adam, which was the son of God:
if he has already informed his readers
that jesus is in fact not joseph's Son
but that uninformed people only
'supposed so'? In the case of Matthew ,
matters are entirely different. There
he expressly reproduces the family
tree ofjoseph himself .... He does so
because jesus was in the eye of the
jewish law the legitimate descendant
ofjoseph, manied to His mother and
this established the legal relationship.
- Since Luke writes for Romans and
Greeks with whom the Davidic origin
of Jesus was no matter of topical
interest, it was unnecessary for him to
reproduce the genealogical table of
joseph.
"Above all, he wanted to show that
Jesus, as regards His actual human
descent, is through David, Abraham,
and finally Adam, the son of God. For
this purpose the genealogical table of
joseph would have been of no use to
him. For he specifically desires to
prove the solidarity ofjesus with the
humanrace, and of what benefit would
it be to him to give the family tree of
one who is not actually the father of
jesus.-
"A conclusive proof that Mary was
indeed of Davidic origin is the fact
that the jewish opponents of
Christianity in the first centuries never
denied the Davidic origin of jesus.
Since they knew the Christian claim
that He was only the son of Mary , they
would certainly have attacked His
Messiahship on that ground, if they
knew or even surmised that He was
not a descendant of David. "-
Geldenhuys
It is noteworthy that Luke has no
'TOU' (00, before 'Joseph" as he has
before every other name in his
genealogy ofJesus. By this omission,
he shows us that joseph's name isnot
really part of this genealogy. joseph's
name is not an actual part of this
genealo gical chain that leads from
Adam to jesus, recorded by Luke.234
Moreover, how could Luke think
of including a genealogy of joseph
after saying thatjesus was "supposedly
the son of] osep h"? The case is entirely
different in Matthew where joseph is
described as" the husband of MalY of
whom was bomjesus," Le.,joseph is
the legal, but not biological father of
jesus.
EXPOSITION OF LUKE 3:23-38
The Beginning of jesus'
Ministry at About Thirty Years
of Age
Luke, the physician, is the only one
of the Gospel writers who tells at what
age]esus began His public ministry of
the Word-when He was about thirty
years old. This does not mean that He
was inactive with no ministry to people
for the first thiny years of His life. On
the contrary, He was already
ministering to people before He
reached thirty, according to Luke 2: 52.
II. The Maternal
Ancestors of jesus
(3:23-31) The Ancestors from
jesus to David
The list of ancestors from jesus to
David in Luke's account is different
than the list of Matthew, as one would
expect, if Luke's account is of jesus'
maternal ancestors and Matthew's is
His paternal ancestors.' Two names
are the same, however, in this section
of each genealogy, those of Shealtiel,
Mat. 1; 12, Lk. 3:27, and Zerubbabel,
Mat. 1:12,13, Lk. 3:27. For possible
explanation forthis, see footnote three.
(3:32-34) The Ancestors from
David to Abraham
The list of jesus' ancestors from
David to Abraham is generally the
September, 1994 mE COUNSEL of Chalcedon 7
same with a few differences. (1).
Matthewaddshelpfulside-comments,
which Luke does not. For example,
see Mat.l:2,3,S,6. (2). InMat.l:3we
are told that Hezron begat Ram, or
Aram in Greek, who begat
Amminadab, but in Luke 3:33, (in the
NASV), we are told that, while Ram,
(ArniinGreek), was the son ofHezron,
Amminadab, was the son of Admin,
who was the son of Ram, (Ami). How
do we explain these differences? One
thing to bearinmind is that the Gospel
writers are writing in Greek the
Hebrew names, which
We know nothing about Hezron
and Ram, except that they are ancestors
ofjesus. "To us these are merelynames.
We do not even know whether they
were men of untarnished or of spotted
reputation. To God, however, they
were important for the historical
accomplishment of His plan to bring
the Messiah into the world for man's
redemption. - Hendriksen,
MATTHEW. Remember that it was at
the age of thirty that Levites were first
permitted to do priestly work in the
Tabernacle, Numbers 4:3.
The Attitude of the Humble
Christian Toward Difficult
Places in the Bible
There are several aspects of Jesus'
genealogies that are difficult to explain
and reconcile; and much tinie has been
spent by genuine scholars who believe
in the inerrancy of the Bible in trying
to deal honestly and thoroughly with
these difficult places. It has not ever
been shown successfully that there are
eITorsin the Bible. However, we should
keep this in mind: "It is humbly
suggested that a few difficulties of this
would explain for some
of the differences. For
instance, Ram in Hebrew
is Aram in Greek. Also, it
was not common for
people to have two
names. Forexample Ram,
or Aram, also is called
Ami; and Jehoiakim is
also called either
Jeconiah, or Coniah.
"'As Adam is the genetic
and covenantal head of
the fallen human race,
Jesus is the incarnate,
covenantal and spiritual
c1assmay have been allowed
to find place in Holy
Scripture, in order to
exercise the faith of persons
who, while they feel such
intellectual trials keenly, are
but little affected by those
which imperil the salvation
of the ordinary c l s ~ of
mankind. "-BurgoninJohn
Ryle on LUKE.
The book of Ruth
contains a genealogy
head of the regenerate
human race."
The Significance of
Calling "Adam, the Son
of God"
which agrees with Matthew, but not
with Luke-Perez, Hezron, Ram,
Amminadab, Nashon, (Ruth 4: 18-22;
Mat. 1 :3-S. Luke adds that
Amminadab was the son of Admin,
who was the son of Ram. Luke may
have had genealogical information
that Matthew did not have, (such
written and oral lists were plenty).
However, Matthew did not make a
mistake, for he had a specific pattern
he wanted to follow, and small gaps in
genealogies were not uncommon or
unexpected, (compare Ezra 7:3 and I
Chron. 6:7-11), and apparently
Matthew had to leave out some names
in order to be faithful to his scheme of
fourteens. Futhermore, the word,
"son," is used in more than one sense
in bothgenealogies.lnsome instances
"son" should be translated "grandson"
or even "great-grandson."
(3:34-36) The Ancestors
from Abraham to Adam,
the Son of God
The Insertion of Cainan in
Verse 36
Only Luke gives us the genealogy
ofjesus from Abraham to Adam. There
is one difficult name in this section,
that of Cain an in verse 36. The Hebrew
version of Genesis 11: 12 does not
include this name, although it is found
in the Septuagint, i.e., the Greekversion
of the O.T. Why did Luke add the
name? He obviously had many
documents to work with in writing his
book and in putting together Jesus'
genealogy, Lk. 1:1-4. Perhaps, he
added the name to his genealogy so as
not to confuse those who only knew
the Septuagint, i.e., the Greek speaking,
non-Jewish people to whom his book
is addressed.
8 ~ THE COUNSEL of Chalcedon ~ September, 1994
Luke carries Jesus' falilily-tree all
the way back to Adam, the first man,
whom Luke calls, "the son of God."
This insertion fits in perfectly with the
theme and spirit of Luke's Gospel, for
throughout he focuses on the universal
and comprehensive impact of the life
and ministry of Jesus Christ. Christ,
the Last Adam, is related to the whole
human race, because He is an actual
descendant of the First Adam. Christ,
the Last Adam and the eternal Son of
God, came to earth to accomplish what
the first Adam, who was the son of
God by virtue of the fact that he came
into existence by a direct creation of
God in the image of God, failed to
accomplish-secure eternal life under
God's blessing for the human race.
When in the image of God failed, God
in the image of man came to the rescue.
Christ not only came to give us what
Adam lost, He came to giveus far more
than we ever lost in Adam, "for where
sin abounds, grace abounds all the
more." As Adam is the genetiC and
covenantal head of the Fallen human
race,Jesus is the incarnate, covenantal
and spiritual head of the regenerate
human race, Rom. 5:12f.
The statement that Adam is the
"son of God" "disposes of the pagen
myths about the origin of man and
shows that God is the Creator of the
whole human race, Father of all men
in that sense. No more animal origin
of man is in harmony with this
conception. "-Lenski.
However, it must be pointed out
that Adam is "the son of God" in a
different sense than Jesus is "the Son
of God." Adam is God's son in that he
was directly created by Him and in
His image. Chlist is the Son of God in
that He is the incarnate Messiah, in
His humanity being in the image of
God, and in that He is God incarnate,
the Second Person of the TIinity, in
human flesh. Christ is God the Son.
As Lenski has Wlitten: "It would be
unwarranted to think that Luke meant
that only through this line of human
ancestors was Jesus 'a son of God; for
all of these ancestors would then be
sons of God in the same sense; in
other words, Jesus would sink to the
level of ordinary men. It is true, that,
in carrying the ancestrybacktoAdam's
creation by God, Luke pTesents Jesus
as the Saviour of the race (universality),
and that this is the chief import of this
genealogy. He is the Saviour of all by
being the Seed of Abraham and the
Heir of David, the two great names in
this list. To stress the fact alone that
Jesus is here made 'the son of David'
fails to give due weight to the rest of
the list; and to thinkJesus calls Himself
'the Son of man' because of this descent
as recorded in Luke forgets the real
origin and meaning of that Messianic
title and in the list itself overlooks the
final name: 'of God ....
Conclusion
FIRST, "We see, lastly, in these
verses, WHAT A FRAIL AND DYING
CREATURE IS MAN. We read at the
end of the chapter a long list ofnames,
containing the genealo gy of the family
in which our Lord was born, traced
up through David and Abraham to
Adam. How little we know of many of
the seventy-five persons, whose names
are here recorded! They all had their
joys and sorrows, their hopes and
fears, their cares and troubles, their
schemes and plans, like any of
ourselves. But they have all passed
away from the earth, and gone to their
own place. And so will it be with us.
We to are passing away, and shall
soon be gone.
"Forever let us bless God, that in a
dying world we are able to tum to a
living Saviour.- Let our main care
be, to be one with Christ and Christ
with us. Joined to the Lord Jesus by
faith we shall rise again to live for
evermore. "-Bishop J.e. Ryle,
ExpOSitory Thoughts onWe, pg. 104f.
SECOND, ifany generation of men
and women had the talent and the
resources to accomplish salvation for
mankind and his culture, this list of
people should have-but they totally
failed. ANEWBEGINNINGwascalled
for! Man in the image of God became
impotent by sin. A God-man Restorer
was needed. He came as the son of
Abraham, David and Maly- the
Saviour of the world. Receive Him
todayas your Redeemer and Recreator.
Bow before Him in submission and
obedience as your God. Make all your
days, especially your weekly sabbaths,
to be continual celebrations of the
glorious salvation we have through
faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.
2If Luke is recording Jesus'
genealogy to make the point that
Jesus does in fact belong to the human
race, and if that genealogy is that of
Joseph.Jesus' ADOPTED father, then
Luke falls to make his case. But, if
Luke's genealogy of Jesus is that of
Mary, who was Jesus' birth-mother,
Luke does make his point. Jesus was
virgin born, but He was born. He is
fully human. He is one with us in our
humanity.
JIn Luke 1 :32, 69, Luke includes
material in his Gospel in which Mary's
descent from David is clearly implied.
Moreover, if both Luke and Matthew
present Jesus' genealogy through
Joseph then Joseph would have two
fathers! Jacob according to Matthew
1;16and Heliaccordingto Luke 3:23.
For more on this argument, read
Hendriksen on Luke pages 222-225.
<The names "Zerubbabel" and
"Shealtiel" occur both in Luke and in
Matthew, Mat. 1:12. In Matthew,
Shealtiel is called the son ofjechoniah
or Jehoiachin, while Luke calls him
the son ofNeri. This can be explained
from the fact that J echoniah had no
child of his own, being under God's
curse.Jer. 22:30, and so Shealtiel, the
son of Neri, was regarded as his
legitimate heir. No one can charge
either genealogy with error, "There
are different possible explanations as
to why their lists make contact with
Shealtie1 and Zerubbabel and then
again separate as far as David, e.g., as
a result of leveret marriage, adoption
of heirs , etc. Matthew and Luke both
had excellent opportunities of access
to the right genealogical tables. "-
Geldenhuys
'Mary's relationship to David is
traced through David's son, Nathan,
while Joseph's is traced through
David's son Solomon, Matt. 1:6 The
two lines of Mary and ofjoseph cross
in Zeru bbabel and Shealtiel, Matt.
1:12. There are problems in
connection with Rhesa, Neri, Cainari,
and others. Compare I Chron. 1:1-4,
24-26; 2;3-5, 9-15; Ruth 4:18-22.
September, 1994 lHE COUNSEL of Chalcedon t- 9
"Matthew's genealogy of Jesus
consists of three groups of fourteen.
In the first we ate given the ORIGIN
of David's dynasty; in the second, the
RISE AND DECLINE of David's
dynasty; andin the third, the ECLIPSE
of his dynasty. Therfore, according to
Matthew, Jesus is the climax of the
three fourteens, which are obviously
symbolic. According to Hendriksen,
"seven" in the Bible indicates the
totality of things created by God.
"Fourteen" also brings out this idea.
timeS fourteen is forty-two.
"This number is equal to six sevens,
and i=ediately introduces the
seventh seven, reduplicated
completeness, perfection. Since, in
the genealogy as offered by Matthew,
Jesus Christ is mentioned at the close
of the entire list of three fourteens or
six sevens, and since the evangelist
does not stOP there but continues the
beautiful story of this Savior, we
cannot be far wrong when we say
that he piCtures Him as the One who
not only completes or fulfills the old,
but also definitely ushers in the
new.-Jn Him the old and the new
meet. He is the Alpha and the Omega,
the beginning and the end, the heart
and center of all. Apart from Him
there is no salvation. Heis the Messiah, .
David's true Antitype. And in the
course of redemptive history, as here
symbolized in its three great stages,
God's plan from eternity was being
perfectly realized." - Hendriksen,
MATTHEW, pg. no. n
When the Wicked SeiZe
a City by Chuck and
Donna McIlhenny is
stillavailabe for any
new subScription to
TheCounsel. . Please
mention this Ad.
. ll
3:23';3.8
!uUr fu4m ;Me bran mun!lltry, IDt!llU!lI
fuu!ll a:hnut t:r:tu lleu;rs nf age; heing sUJlfln!lle.MlJ f:lt:e
sou nf IDnsepIy, tire !lIounf '!ItH, tiye sou nf Jl1IIuttiyut,
f:lt:e !lIOU f:lt:e l5.Illt nf f:lt:e !lIOU nf
IDannui, f:lt:e snu nf IDnseplj-, tIre 5ttn nf Jl1IIuttttut:qius,
tire 50U nf !unns, tlj-t snn nf ulj-um, tqe !linn nf
;MesH, f:lt:e snn nf a:ggui,f:lt:e i50U nf Jl1IIuutiy, tire
snn nf tlj-t snn nl f:lt:e 5mt nf
IDII5Uly, f:lt:e !lIOU nf tIie. nf WOOu, f:lt:e 5lltt nf
Wmmmt, f:lt:e l?lnn nf t 5lltt nf
f:lt:e 5nn nf tqe !linn nf ed, f:lt:e !linn nf
Jl1IIeIc:qi, f:lt:e !linn :af J\Uhl, f:lt:e 5nn nf <fLll5ant, f:lt:e !linn
nf f:lt:e !linn nf f:lt:e !linn nf Wll5lj-uu, f:lt:e
Inn nf f:lt:e snn nf IDnrim, tlj-t 5nn nf
Jl1IIuttlj-ut, f:lt:e 5nn of 1fi.e,&i, f:lt:e Inn nf tire
Inn. lrf Wuhaq, f:lt:e Inn nf Wnseplj-,f:lt:e Inn nf Wttnn:tn,
f:lt:e snn nf '!Itlia:kint, tlj-t Inn nf c#Heleu, tlj-t Inn nf
tire l5.Illt nf f:lt:e l5.Illt nf utiyan,
f:lt:e snn nf JBufrW, tlj-t Inn nf IDesse, f:lt:e Inn nf
lrW, tire Inn nf tlj-t snn nf f:lt:e Inn
lrf alyslrmt, f:lt:e snn nf J\mmfumrzrh, f:lt:e snnlrf
tlye Inn nf f:lt:e 5lltt nf ;Mezrnn, f:lt:e Inn
nf J:eru, f:lt:esnn of IDuhaq, tire l?lnn nf IDumh, f:lt:e
l?lnn nf f:lt:e Inn nf f:lt:e Inn nf
'IDeraq, f:lt:e sou nf aqn:r, f:lt:e sou rtf f:lt:e l?lmt .
nf f:lt:e l?lmt nf J:eleg, f:lt:e snn nf f:lt:e Inn
nf f:lt:e Inn nf <fLuinun, f:lt:e snn nf
f:lt:e Inn nf f:lt:e Smt rif mtlf, f:lt:e
5lltt nf l1lroneclj-, f:lt:e Inn nf Jl1IIetlj-uselaly, f:lt:e 5llttnf
2.itmn:lj-, tiye Inn nf IDunh, f:lt:esnn nf f:lt:e
snn nf <fLuinan, f:lt:e Inn nf 2.it:ttnSlr, tlj-t sou nf
t:qt sttnnf !'JI:ant, tlj-t snn nf&inb..
10 '1' . THE COUNSEL of Chalcedon 'I' September, 1994