Gospels Part 064
Both Luke and Matthew record detailed genealogies of the family lineages leading up to Jesus Christ. What is their significance?
We’ll continue in the Harmony of the Gospels with the genealogy of Jesus Christ as recorded by Luke. As noted in A Harmony of the Gospels: The Life, Ministry and Teachings of Jesus Christ, the genealogy Matthew records is the legal genealogy through His stepfather Joseph. Luke’s is the physical genealogy through His mother Mary.
Let’s notice some key points, beginning with Luke 3:23:
“So Jesus, when he began his ministry, was about thirty years old” (New English Translation [NET]).
The instruction in Numbers 4:46-47, where 30 is the age at which a Levite began his priestly service:
“All who were numbered of the Levites, whom Moses, Aaron, and the leaders of Israel numbered, by their families and by their fathers’ houses, from thirty years old and above, even to fifty years old, everyone who came to do the work of service and the work of bearing burdens in the tabernacle of meeting
. . . ”
We see that Jesus’ timing is consistent with the instruction He Himself had given regarding the Levites in the Pentateuch some 14 centuries earlier. Jesus starts His ministry at the same age as the Levitical priests were when they started their service. Here, we see the consistency and continuity in the way God does things.
Continuing in Luke 3:23:
“He was the son (as was supposed) of Joseph, the son of Heli” (NET).
Luke draws attention to a distinction here, noting that Jesus would’ve been thought to be the son of Joseph, but He wasn’t—as we will cover shortly when we reach that point in the story. There we will see that Jesus’ true Father was God the Father and His stepfather was Joseph. Luke tells us clearly that Joseph was not Jesus’ physical father as the one who conceived Jesus with Mary.
Luke also writes here that Joseph was “the son of Heli.” Joseph was actually the son-in-law of Heli. Luke’s pattern in this genealogy is to write “Joseph of Heli of Matthat of Levi,” and so on— “son of” being inserted by translators as implied but not explicitly stated. So, Luke does not explicitly say that Joseph was the son of Heli, whereas Matthew does explicitly state that Jacob was the father of Joseph. This is a major reason for understanding that in Luke we are seeing the genealogy of Mary rather than Joseph.
Luke goes on to record Jesus’ genealogy through Mary in Luke 3:24-38: He works backward all the way to Adam:
“[Heli was] the son of Matthat, the son of Levi, the son of Melchi, the son of Jannai, the son of Joseph . . . the son of Shem, the son of Noah, the son of Lamech, the son of Methuselah, the son of Enoch, the son of Jared, the son of Mahalalel, the son of Kenan, the son of Enosh, the son of Seth, the son of Adam, the son of God” (NET).
Most of these names are unremarkable, but we should note several names that are significant. In verse 31 we see that Mary, and therefore Jesus, is a descendant of King David through David’s son Nathan. In Matthew 1:6 Joseph is recorded as being a descendant of David through his son Solomon, who followed David as king. We see a divergence between Luke’s genealogy and Matthew’s—Mary is a descendant of David through Nathan, while Joseph is a descendant of David through Solomon. Notice also in verse 34 that Mary, and therefore Jesus, are also descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Matthew records this in Matthew 1:1-2.
Why is this significant? Why do we have these genealogies showing Jesus’ family lines through both Mary and Joseph?
The answer is this: To prove the fulfillment of Bible prophecy which long foretold that the Messiah would be a descendant of Abraham as well as a descendant of David. Jesus was a physical, biological descendant of Abraham and David through His mother Mary, but also a legal descendant of Abraham and David through His stepfather Joseph—legal genealogies in that culture being traced through the father’s line.
We’ll go into that in more detail next time when we discuss Jesus’ genealogy as recorded by Matthew.
© 2026 Scott Ashley. All rights reserved. Used with permission.
UYA Team | uya@ucg.org
United Young Adults (UYA) primarily serves the 18–32-year age group for the United Church of God. There are three main areas of contribution to the lives of the young adults: Promoting Spiritual Growth, Developing Meaningful Relationships and Making the Most of Your Talents. The Know Your Sword series is a daily expository message introducing God’s Word from a trusted perspective.
Course Content
Scott Ashley
Scott Ashley was managing editor of Beyond Today magazine, United Church of God booklets and its printed Bible Study Course until his retirement in 2023. He also pastored three congregations in Colorado for 10 years from 2011-2021. He and his wife, Connie, live near Denver, Colorado.
Mr. Ashley attended Ambassador College in Big Sandy, Texas, graduating in 1976 with a theology major and minors in journalism and speech. It was there that he first became interested in publishing, an industry in which he worked for 50 years.
During his career, he has worked for several publishing companies in various capacities. He was employed by the United Church of God from 1995-2023, overseeing the planning, writing, editing, reviewing and production of Beyond Today magazine, several dozen booklets/study guides and a Bible study course covering major biblical teachings. His special interests are the Bible, archaeology, biblical culture, history and the Middle East.
