The Son of David

There’s an interesting thing about Jesus’ lineage: Matthew lists one lineage, Luke lists a very different lineage. It is generally believed that Matthew lists Jesus’ lineage as the adopted son of Joseph, and Luke His lineage as the son of Mary. Both list Jesus as a descendent of David (Matthew 1:1, Luke 3:31). So, regardless of why there are two different lineages listed for Jesus in Scripture, He was definitely a descendent of David.

Still, once Jesus asked the Pharisees, about the prophecy concerning Christ, whose son is He? They replied that the Christ would be David’s son (or descendent). Jesus then asked why is it that David referred to the Christ as Lord, if Christ was his son (The reference is the 110th Psalm, verse 1, by the way). They had no answer for that. Of course, this was not evidence that Christ wasn’t the son of David, only that the Pharisees understanding of Messianic prophecy was, at best, incomplete.

A wise friend of mine once told me that he couldn’t teach me what I already knew. I told him that, if I already know, then I don’t need him to teach me. Therein lies the problem. If I already know, then I think I don’t need to learn, so I won’t. It’s entirely possible that what I might be able to come to a better understanding if I am willing to set aside what I already know and learn something new. I am honest enough to admit that there have been more than a few times when someone has shared with me a Bible verse that I had heard and/or read many times before, but what that person had to say about it gave me a better understanding.

So, here we have the Pharisees, trying to prove Jesus wrong, and Jesus, at least in this instance, just trying to get them to at least question their own beliefs. If they think they understand who the Messiah is to be, but their understanding excludes Jesus as the Christ, then there is something wrong with their understanding. Until He can get them to at least question their own beliefs, there is not a snowball’s chance that they can ever actually understand what they mistakenly believe they already understand.
There were exceptions, of course. Nicodemus came to Jesus by night, because he wanted to know. He had seen enough of Jesus’ ministry with his own eyes to realize that a lot of what he had been brought up to believe was in error. He came by night, because he didn’t want the other Pharisees to know that he disagreed with them. Jesus seemed to understand that, because He didn’t ostracize Nicodemus for his cowardice, but he didn’t exactly spell out for Nicodemus what he should believe, either. I don’t think that Nicodemus was the only exception, although I must admit that I don’t know of any others mentioned in Scripture. Perhaps the reason that Jesus didn’t scold him for his lack of courage was because he was the only Pharisee brave enough to actually talk to Jesus, and to try to learn from Him.

But, to go back to the original question of the lineage of Christ; it isn’t really important who Christ descended from (particularly on Joseph’s side), although his lineage does show that He was part of a royal bloodline, on Mary’s side as well as Joseph’s. Of course, if Judea had been self-governing at the time of Christ, then, by all rights, He should have been king (his adoptive status notwithstanding). The important thing was that He was sent by God to be the propitiation of our sins.