Isn’t Joseph the father of Jesus in Luke 3?
Question:
Sir,
Regarding your article about David being the father of Jesus. ( the human father, of course.)
You say that Mary, in the genealogy in Luke 3, is linked to David, but that is not so. Joseph is linked to David in both Matthew 1 and Luke 3. Or am I missing something? Joseph is mentioned in Luke 3:23. I don’t see Mary mentioned there. (Of course, both were Israelites.)
So if David was not the father of Jesus, then who was? If He was a descendant of David, then why aren’t we told who it was?
The Old Testament says that David is Jesus’ father. The New Testament tells us the same. The Book of Psalms tells us the same. People shouted at Jesus: “Thou Son of David!” after miraculous healings and, of course, when He rode into Jerusalem on a donkey.
Is the Bible wrong?
You see, if the Bible is not wrong, then it is right! Perhaps we should believe it?
That’s the trouble, people do not like to believe what the Bible tells them. (The Bible also says that Jesus is the Son of God, but the churches say Jesus is God or in a trinity or something equally foolish, which, therefore, contradicts the Bible. Indeed, they make God to be a liar or, to be kind, a deceiver!
What do you think ?
Thank you.
Answer:
I think that you want to believe that Jesus is not God so badly that you are willing to ignore what the Bible says.
Luke does not say that Jesus was the son of Joseph. It says, "When He began His ministry, Jesus Himself was about thirty years of age, being, as was supposed, the son of Joseph, the son of Eli, ..." (Luke 3:23). People assumed that Jesus was Joseph's son, but physically that was not true.
Matthew's account in Matthew 1 tells us that Joseph's father was Jacob who was a descendant of Jeconiah. Jeconiah was a descendant of David through Solomon.
Luke's account in Luke 3 tells us that Jesus descended from Eli, whose lineage traces back to David through his son Nathan.
Everyone has two parents and, thus, has two initial lineages. Matthew's account establishes that Joseph was in the lineage of the kings of Israel. Luke's account establishes that Jesus is connected with all of mankind by tracing his lineage all the way back to Adam. Thus, we conclude that Luke is tracing Jesus' ancestry back through his mother, which he indicates that while we traditionally start with the father, Joseph was only thought to be Jesus' father.
Understanding this is important in order to understand how God fulfilled His promise both to David and Jeconiah. See How could Jesus be the son of man, the son of David, and the son of God?
Jesus is the son of God because the Holy Spirit provided the seed that caused Mary to become pregnant. "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore, also, that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God" (Luke 1:35). Jesus is also the Son of God because of his relationship with God, the Father. "Therefore Jesus answered and was saying to them, 'Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, unless it is something He sees the Father doing; for whatever the Father does, these things the Son also does in like manner.
For the Father loves the Son, and shows Him all things that He Himself is doing; and the Father will show Him greater works than these, so that you will marvel'" (John 5:19-20). Unlike the rest of mankind whose have their beginning at conception, Jesus pre-existed his birth (John 8:58). In fact, John says that Jesus was a part of the creation of the world as God. "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being" (John 1:1-3).
