The New Testament service is simply to bring forth Christ. In the beginning of the New Testament, there is the wonderful case of Mary and Joseph, showing us that the matter of bringing forth Christ can only be accomplished through coordination.
The genealogy of Christ is a record showing us how Christ is brought forth. The coordination to accomplish the bringing forth of Christ can be seen in the two genealogies of Christ, one in Matthew and the other in Luke. These two genealogies, however, are different. How could one person have two different genealogies? This seems impossible, but our Lord Jesus Christ is a wonderful person. He has two genealogies because one is of Joseph, and the other is of Mary. These two sides coordinate together to bring forth Christ.
Concerning these two genealogies, Bible teachers have varying opinions. Nevertheless, there is no doubt that one of these genealogies is of Joseph, and the other of Mary. Because of all the prophecies concerning the birth of Christ, many matters are involved. Therefore, genealogies on both sides are required to fulfill all the prophecies.
It is not easy to understand these two genealogies. We do have an expository note written on the first seventeen verses of Matthew 1, published in Chinese in 1936. It is a booklet of thirty-four pages on the genealogy in those verses, pointing out that the genealogy in Luke is no doubt that of Mary’s father and has something to do with Numbers 27. This chapter tells us that according to the law, when an Israelite dies without a son, his daughter becomes the heir. Then, after the daughter marries, according to law, her husband becomes the legal heir of her father. He is really the son-in-law.
Luke 3:23 tells us that Jesus was the son of Joseph, “as was supposed” (KJV). However, the phrase “as was supposed” is not a proper translation. The Greek word here means “according to law.” The Concordant Literal Translation translates Luke 3:23 in this way. As far as I know, this is the only translation that translates this phrase properly, and it even refers to Numbers 27:8. Even this law given by Moses was a preparation for the birth of Jesus.
If we read the record of the genealogy in Luke, we see that it starts with God and ends with Jesus. God eventually becomes incarnated as Jesus through the means of all these people. When God can get through the proper human beings, He becomes incarnated as Jesus. Jesus is God incarnated. He is Emmanuel, God with man. This is the incarnated God, God mingled with man. In Jesus, there is God as well as man, and man as well as God.
Matthew’s genealogy begins with Abraham. In Genesis 22:18a God promised that Christ would be the seed of Abraham through whom the earth will be blessed. This promise is fulfilled in Galatians 3:16 and 14. Following Abraham, there are Isaac, Jacob, and Judah, and eventually, Jesse, and David. It is after David in the genealogy that there are many complications. Matthew’s genealogy follows the line of one of David’s sons, but Luke follows that of another. First Chronicles 3:5 tells us that Nathan and Solomon were born of the same parents, David and Bathsheba. Bathsheba had four sons by David: Nathan was the third, and Solomon was the fourth. The genealogy in Matthew follows the line of Solomon to Christ, whereas the one in Luke follows the line of Nathan to Christ.
In the line of Nathan, the genealogy in Luke eventually comes to Heli, who was Mary’s father and Joseph’s father-in-law. Luke 3:23 says that Joseph was the son of Heli, as was supposed. This means that he was reckoned his son according to the law. It may have been that Heli died without a son, and therefore his daughter’s husband, Joseph, became his son according to law. Actually Joseph was a son in life to Jacob who was a descendant of Solomon, as recorded in Matthew (1:16, 7).