Genealogy of the Lord Jesus Christ.

(Mat. 1:1-17 and Luke 3:23-38).

        The earthly genealogy of the Lord Jesus Christ is contained in two Gospels — from Matthew and from Luke. Although both give witness of Christ’s origin from David and Abraham, the names listed in the two do not always coincide. As St. Matthew was writing for the Jews, it was important for him to prove that in accordance with the Old Testament prophecies, the Lord Jesus Christ did emanate from Abraham and David. Consequently, he begins his Gospel with the Lord’s lineage and moreover, takes us from Abraham and brings us to “Joseph the husband of Mary, of Whom was born Jesus Who is called Christ.” Invariably, the question arises: Why does the Gospel gives Joseph’s lineage and not that of Blessed Virgin Mary’s? Because the custom of the Jews was not to maintain any genealogy on a mother’s side. However, because Blessed Virgin was undoubtedly the only child of Joachim and Anna, then in accordance with the demands of the law of Moses, She had to marry a relative from the same race, tribe and descent. As Joseph was from the same tribe as David, it follows that She too was from the same descent.

        Saint Luke placed another task before himself — that the Lord Jesus Christ belongs to the whole humanity and appears as the Saviour of all people. That’s why he traces Christ’s genealogy from Adam right up to God Himself. However, this tracing differs somewhat from that of Saint Matthews. As an example, according to Matthew, Joseph — nominal father of our Lord — is the son of Jacob, while according to Luke, he is the son of Elias. Similarly, Salathiel, father of Zerubbabel and mentioned by both Evangelists, according to Saint Matthew — is the son of Jeconiah, while according to Saint Luke — son of Neri. Julius the African, a renowned intellectual of ancient times, explains this variance superbly through the code of living, whereby, if one of the brothers dies childless, the other brother has to take his wife for himself, and “The first child she bears, will remain with his brother’s (deceased) name, so that it is not erased in Israel” (Deuter. 25:5-6). This law extended not only to the immediate relatives, but also to stepbrothers, which in fact were Jacob and Elias. While they had different fathers, they had the same mother, Esther. Thus, when Elias died, Jacob restored his brother’s lineage by marrying his widow and fathering Joseph. This is where the difference came about, as Saint Luke traces the origins of Joseph through Rhesa, son of Zerubbabel and Elias, while Saint Matthew — through Abiud, the other son of Zerubbabel, and Jacob.

        It is not by chance that Saint Matthew includes in the Lord’s lineage, women that were formerly heathens or even sinners. He wanted to show that God, having not been abhorred to include such women to His chosen race, is not loathe to summon heathens and sinners to His Kingdom: a person is not saved by his personal achievements but through the power of the purifying grace of God.