In
the gospels Jesus is depicted as human and spiritual; man and God. Most of us, as Christians, believe that. Believing it and, defending it, is quite different. Being a Christian literally hinges on us believing that Jesus is both God and man. We are going to go a little deeper into the scripture to help us understand that a little more.
A remarkable illustration of tis is seen in the two (2) genealogies of Jesus. Note, first, in which two (2) of the four (4) gospels they are found, for this is significant.
- In Matthew God says to us, “Behold thy King” (Zechariah 9:9)
- In Mark He says, “Behold My Servant” (Isaiah 42:1)
- In Luke He says, “Behold the Man” (Zechariah 6:12)
- In John He says, “Behold your God” (Isaiah 40:9)
Therefore it is that we have two genealogies, and not more than two. And that is why we have one in Matthew giving the Royal genealogy of Jesus as King; and one in Luke giving the Human genealogy of Jesus as Man.
Matthew’s, therefore, begins with Abraham, and comes down to Joseph, the son of Heli; while Luke’s starts from Joseph, and goes up to Adam and God.
In Matthew, after David, we have his son Solomon; while in Luke we have another son, Solomon’s elder brother, Nathan. From this point, therefore, we have two lines. One (Matthew) gives the royal and legal line through Solomon; the other (Luke) gives the natural and lineal line through Nathan.
The former is the line according to legal succession; the latter is the line according to natural descent. The former was the result of the will of God in choosing Solomon, a younger son; while the latter was the result of the will of man, and in the order of human birth. Both lines meet in Joseph, the son of Jacob by birth, and the son of Heli by marriage with Mary, Heli’s only daughter.
The two lines are united and exhausted in Jesus Christ; for by His death they both became extinct, and thus He was the King of Israel by right; became, and was declared to be, the son of God by resurrection from the dead (Romans 1:4; Psalm 2:7; Acts 13:33 and Hebrews 1:5, 5:5).
In Isaiah 11:2 the prophet tells us the Christ would be perfect man and, perfect God.
Bibliography: From Genesis to Revelation: An Outline of The Bible’s Whole Contents – Mildred Berry