Apologetics: Debunking Deconstruction – Did Jesus Really Fulfill the Prophecies About His Lineage?

One of the things I’ve noticed being brought up by some who are opposed to Christianity or who have left the faith is the question about Jesus’ lineage. One of the things that people like to point out are the major differences in the two genealogies given in Matthew and Luke, ones that can’t be chalked up to just some random changes in the text. The only names that the two have in common are Shealtiel and Zerubbabel, and even then, those likely refer to two different people who have the same name. Even in the earliest manuscripts, they were obviously different. So, is this a contradiction? Is it proof that the Bible isn’t reliable? Or is there something else?

As always in these sorts of posts, there’s something else at play here. The Jews were meticulous record keepers, especially when it came to genealogies. Thus, it’s hard to believe that Matthew and Luke would make up a genealogy for Jesus to fulfill the prophecies about Him being the of the line of David when anyone with an idea of Mary and Joseph’s true lineage could find the mistakes. To fix this problem, there are two theories.

The first theory is an early one from Eusebius, an early church father. He thought that the reason they’re so different is because while Matthew was tracing the direct, biological lineage of Jesus, Luke was taking into account levirate marriage. For those of you who don’t know, levirate marriage was where if your husband died and didn’t leave behind a son, to keep the family name going and to keep the property in the family, your husband’s brother was obligated to marry you. Because of that, several of the people named were probably married to the same lady at different times, possibly producing offspring that were half-siblings. For example, according to this theory, Melchi (Luke 3:24) and Matthan (Matthew 1:15) were married to some lady at some point. One of them had a son with her, later died, and the other brother decided to marry her, and they had another kid. Then a similar thing happened with their sons, Heli and Jacob, and so the son (Joseph) while legally being the son of Heli would, biologically, be the son of Joseph.

Confusing? Yeah. Not technically necessary according to marriage laws for Melchi or Matthan to marry their sister-in-law after one of them died even though she had a son already? Also, yes. But if you’re skeptical on that account, there’s the second, more modern theory that Matthew is tracing Joseph’s line as Jesus’ legal father while Luke is tracing Mary’s line. This would make some sense as Joseph was also called the “son of Heli” by way of being married to Mary, Heli’s daughter. Either way, as both people were descended of David, it still makes Jesus the Son of David, thus fulfilling the prophecies about the Messiah being of the line of David.

Until next time,

M.J.