Both Matthew and Luke have accounts of the conception and birth of Jesus; Mark and John do not. Even more, both Matthew and Luke have genealogies of Jesus, though these family lists are not similar, nor do they relate to anything else in the Gospels. But why a genealogy in the first place? Matthew’s purpose is clear. He has always been concerned to show that Jesus is the “fulfillment” of the promises made by God, and of the expect-ations of Israel. In constructing his genealogy, Matthew’s aim is to show that Jesus is the messiah, “son of David, son of Abraham”, a true-blooded Jew.

The genealogy is somewhat artificially compiled in 3 sets of 14 names (14 is a multiple of seven, a significant number in Semitic culture). It is divided at the two critical points of Israeli history: the foundation of the monarchy of David (around 1000 BC), and the collapse of the monarchy of Judah in the Babylonian invasion (587 BC). But the sym-metry of the list of names has been achieved by certain omissions in the first two lists.

Five women figure in the list of names – Tamar, Rahab, Ruth, Bathsheba and Mary — but no common principle governs their inclusion, unless it be that four of them were foreigners, and are now included in Israeli history. (This is less clear with regard to Bathsheba, and certainly not so with regard to Mary.)

The early Church was not concerned with the personal life of Jesus, with his family relationships and his lineage. They were concerned with one thing only: Jesus’s mission to proclaim the reign of God, and how in fulfilling this mission through his death and resurrection, he was proclaimed “Lord and Messiah”.

But as the disciples grew in number and spread to regions outside Palestine, a natural curiosity grew about the personal life of the Lord. Where was he born? Where did he grow up? What were his parents like ? The infancy narratives filled in this gap by speaking of Jesus’s miraculous birth, and how it fulfilled the promises made to Israel centuries before. In creating a ‘family tree’ for Jesus, both Matthew and Luke tell us that Jesus was human like us. He came from human stock, some of it fallible and corrupt (again, like many of us). So while truly divine by nature, Jesus was also truly human, with all that a human nature is prey to, except sin.

In this icon, the genealogy of Our Lord is represented as the tree of Jesse, out of which grows the Messianic branch (Is 11:1). At the lower part of the tree, at the top of the trunk, is depicted Adam, the first man created in the image of God; at the top of the tree is Christ, the Perfect second Adam, born to redeem and save lost mankind. Between Adam and Christ are portrayed the most significant in the human line of genealogy. The entwining branches and leaves represent the fourteen generations from Abraham to Christ. We also see, in the top of the icon, portray of the Holy Trinity. God the Father is depicted by a Divine Hand reaching down into human history. In the center, at the top of the tree, is Christ the incarnate Son of God. At the top right is represented the Holy Spirit, in the form of a dove. As for the shades of blue, they stand for the divine presence of God and for eternal light. The blues also stand for heaven and the greens for earth, as heaven and earth meet in genealogy of the Son of God.

Genealogy Sunday

Romans 1:1 -12
Salutation / Prayer of Thanksgiving
Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God, which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy scriptures, the gospel concerning his Son, who was descended from David according to the flesh and was declared to be Son of God with power according to the spirit of holiness by resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord, through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith among all the Gentiles for the sake of his name, including yourselves who are called to belong to Jesus Christ, To all God’s beloved in Rome, who are called to be saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is proclaimed throughout the world. For God, whom I serve with my spirit by announcing the gospel of his Son, is my witness that without ceasing I remember you always in my prayers, asking that by God’s will I may somehow at last succeed in coming to you. For I am longing to see you so that I may share with you some spiritual gift to strengthen you — or rather so that we may be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith, both yours and mine. Praise be to God always!

Matthew 1:1-17
The Genealogy of Jesus the Messiah
The Apostle said:
An account of the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah, the son of David, the son of Abraham. Abraham was the father of Isaac, and Isaac the father of Jacob, and Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers, and Judah the father of Perez and Zerah by Tamar, and Perez the father of Hezron, and Hezron the father of Aram, and Aram the father of Aminadab, and Aminadab the father of Nahshon, and Nahshon the father of Salmon, and Salmon the father of Boaz by Rahab, and Boaz the father of Obed by Ruth, and Obed the father of Jesse, and Jesse the father of King David. And David was the father of Solomon by the wife of Uriah, and Solomon the father of Rehoboam, and Rehoboam the father of Abijah, and Abijah the father of Asaph, and Asaph the father of Jehoshaphat, and Jehoshaphat the father of Joram, and Joram the father of Uzziah, and Uzziah the father of Jotham, and Jotham the father of Ahaz, and Ahaz the father of Hezekiah, and Hezekiah the father of Manasseh, and Manasseh the father of Amos, and Amos the father of Josiah, and Josiah the father of Jechoniah and his brothers, at the time of the deportation to Babylon. And after the deportation to Babylon: Jechoniah was the father of Salathiel, and Salathiel the father of Zerubbabel, and Zerubbabel the father of Abiud, and Abiud the father of Eliakim, and Eliakim the father of Azor, and Azor the father of Zadok, and Zadok the father of Achim, and Achim the father of Eliud, and Eliud the father of Eleazar, and Eleazar the father of Matthan, and Matthan the father of Jacob, and Jacob the father of Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom Jesus was born, who is called the Messiah. So all the generations from Abraham to David are fourteen generations; and from David to the deportation to Babylon, fourteen generations; and from the deportation to Babylon to the Messiah, fourteen generations. This is the truth. Peace be with you.

I’m not a Biblical scholar but I believe the author of this essay is wrong. Because the Messiah had to be a Jew with a certain genealogical lineage from David.

In the case of Matthew, the lineage of the House of David is shown through his mother Mary. You can get some explaining information here www.jesusdynasty.com which is a site of Dr. James Tabor of the U. of N. Carolina.

Miriam's role was not her
characteristics or value,
but her bloodlines to King David,
having no brothers and
the exception started by
the daughters of Zelophehad.

There are five things that are important here:
1. Miriam is a daughter who has no brothers
and is descended from King David.
2. Joseph is descended from King David.
But he is from a line prohibited to inherit.
3. The inheritance exception granted for
the daughters of Zelophehad
(These were daughters who had no brothers)
is in effect SEE: (Numbers 26, 27, 36; Joshua 17; 1 Chronicles 7).
4. If a woman who has no brothers marries
a man of the same tribe
She can inherit forever.
5. Joseph and Miriam are married
(each descended from King David)
thus providing Miriam with permanent inheritance
of the Kingship of David for her
to pass on to her son Yah'shua (Messiahship).

shalom b'SHEM Yah'shua HaMashiach

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