On the two genealogies of Jesus

> On other thing I am confused about: Jesus' blood line. You say it
was
> maintained pure through the House of David and yet (according to
> scripture) it is Joseph who was related to that caste; not Mary.
>
> In other words, if Jesus was conceived of a virgin then Joseph
being
> of the House os David is of no account unless veiwed as an
adoption.
> I mean, his father is God, after all, how much more pure does it
get?
>
> Now the subject of adoption is a big thing in scriptures and this
is
> fine and satisfactory...unless one talks about purity of blood
lines.
>
> What am I missing here?
>
> ps. there are no traps or hidden agendas here. I did not get this
> line of questioning from an atheist web site....I ask you this in
all
> sincerity...

In Luke 3 is the other of Jesus' two genealogies in the Gospels. Luke 3 is his mother Mary's line, and you'll see she also is a descendent of David. (Heli is Mary's father, and Joseph is said to be Heli's son-in-law). Because Jesus was actually fathered by the Holy Spirit his genealogy will be different by default. He is related to Joseph's ancestry by law, but his bloodline is also pure from David through his mother Mary.

You'll notice that in the Matthew genealogy Joseph's own father (Jacob) 'begat' Joseph. That means Jacob is Joseph's biological father. In the Luke 3 genealogy Heli didn't 'beget' Joseph. Joseph is Heli's son by virtue of having married Heli's daughter, Mary. Joseph is Heli's son-in-law.

The Matthew genealogy is a genealogy of a King. This is the key to understanding the seeming dissimilarities. [It's not a matter, for God's sake, of any historical push for promoting Mary, seminary boys, it is the very Word of God, just learn to read it.] As the genealogy of a King it begins with the founder of the dynasty (Abraham) and comes down through time to Jesus.

The Luke genealogy is the genealogy of a man. It begins in the present and traces the man's ancestry back as far as it can go (to Adam, in the case of Jesus).

(And the Gospel of Matthew of course is the gospel that presents Jesus as a King; just as Luke presents Jesus as a man; -- and Mark presents him as a servant, and John presents him as God).

ps- If you question that Heli is Mary's father you then have to question the inspired accuracy of all Scripture. It really isn't difficult to see anyway. The word 'begat' in the Matthew genealogy makes it clear who Joseph's biological father is. Then, beyond that, the recognition that Jesus is the Son of God conceived of the Holy Spirit makes you realize that His genealogy will be different of necessity than any other human being's genealogy (i.e. Jesus just simply HAS to have His actual bloodline traced through his mother's side because His father was the Holy Spirit [in the mystery of the workings of the Godhead]). People who would question it all are people who don't believe Jesus is God to begin with or was born of a virgin and etc., etc. Once you do believe then the two genealogies really don't present any problem whatsoever, and are, as is the rest of Scripture, remarkably consistent and in the usual way that is revelatory and that increases valuation for it all...