Genealogy of Jesus
Price & Associates Genealogical Services has more than 30 years experience helping people uncover their family history and discover their own ancestral roots. One thing we can learn from studying the genealogy of Jesus is that we are all descendants of kings and rulers, beggars and criminals, all caught up in webs of ancestry.
The genealogy of Jesus has been one of the most widely studied, questioned, and disputed family trees in history. The record of his lineage is given in two separate places in the New Testament, each giving a different account.
In the time of Jesus, the Jews maintained meticulous genealogical records. The primary reason for such care and attention to their genealogies was because property rights in Israel were linked to heritage. People who could not trace their family lines had no inheritance in the land of Israel, and you could be treated like a foreigner and outsider.
The other reason for such high interest in genealogy was biblical prophecy. God had promised a number of people that the Messiah would come through their lineage. The genealogy of Jesus was important to prove his descent.
There are two accounts of the genealogy of Jesus in the New Testament one in Matthew and one in Luke. However, there are a number of apparent discrepancies in the accounts that have been the subject of debate and speculation for centuries. Both Matthew and Luke give the same genealogy between Abraham and David, but from David to Jesus the lists are almost completely different.
Questions and Answers
One possible explanation for the difference is the audience each writer was targeting. Matthew was interested in showing the Jews that Jesus, in fulfillment of prophecy, was the descendant of King David. Luke was writing to the Greeks and had no such interest, which could also explain why Luke takes the genealogy of Jesus back even further all the way to Adam. Perhaps he wanted to show Greeks and Gentiles that everyone could be included in Christianity.
Another common explanation for the different genealogies is that Matthew was likely recording the lineage of Joseph, the legal father, while Luke recorded the physical genealogy of Jesus through Mary’s side.
But there are always more questions to ask. For example, why, if Matthew was so interested in the legal genealogy of Jesus, would he include the names of five women in his list? At the time, including the names of women in the genealogy of Jesus was unheard of. So why would he break with customs and traditions of the people he is specifically writing to? Some have speculated that this is the very reason Luke includes Joseph’s name, claiming that Mary’s name should be implied.
Learning and speculating about the genealogy of Jesus can be a challenge, and maybe even a little fun. But what about your own genealogy? What part of history do you fit into? Price & Associates has the resources and experience to help you learn about your own heritage. Contact us today to learn about our service packages that can help you uncover your own past.