" ... What think ye of Christ? whose son is he? ... " ~ Matthew 22:42

This question may will be asked of all men. What does one think of Christ? Whose son is he? We have been looking into that very question. And thus it seems important, that while the topic of the entire text is that of the descent of Jesus Christ from King David as well as Joseph of Egypt, that in one place, the whole of the genealogy and ancestry of Jesus Christ be set forth. Thus is the purpose of this appendix, which will concern itself with three particular ancestral lines in Jesus being the Son of God, in Jesus being the Son of David and in Jesus being the Son of Joseph.

" ... Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God." ~ Matthew 16:16

When Jesus Christ asked his diciples the similar question as in (Matthew 22:42) as to whose son was he, it was Peter who did answer most appropriately as the spirit of revelation from the Father had revealed it unto him. Jesus is the Christ! He is the Son of the living God!

Jesus' ancestral linage is one which directly links him to heaven. He is the literal and immediate Son of God the Father, the Only Begotten Son of God the Father in the flesh of all the children of God pertaining to the generation of Jesus Christ from the beginning.

In respect to this parenthood, one ought to set forth a few particulars. First Mary was a virgin before the conception of Jesus in her womb and Mary was still a virgin after the conception of Jesus in her womb. The birth of Jesus was a 'virgin birth'. Mary had never known man. If science today can artificially inseminate a woman with the level of skill and knowledge that they have, certainly God the Father can perform such and likely far less crudely thay that of the course of men by and in the power of the overshadowing of the Holy Ghost.

As miraculous as it may seem to some, Mary was with child, the child was that which was 'genetically' of God the Father. And yet she was a virgin. Thus is the power of God. And for whatever purpose of perhaps bring Mary into the presence of God for such to have taken place, the Holy Ghost was bestowed upon her that she might endure that presence, as she was carried away in the spirit for a space of time for the heavenly process of the conception to take place.

So thus so endowed as the Son of God, Jesus Christ possesed the power over death and the grave. Yet as son of Mary, he also had the capacity of death. Yet no man could that the life from him, he would freely give it. And though he had power over the forces of man, he would condescend to be so inflicted by the hand of men until there had been sufficent cause placed upon him unto his death.

In short when Jesus was mocked upon the cross, that if he were the Son of God, he could have come down off the cross and saved himself, the irony in that is that he could have. He had that power to do so. Yet he suffered it to be as it was, for it was the cause for which he came into the world to so suffer death for the sins of man, that man might be redeemed, saved and live again through the atonement and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Now there are a number of considerations to consider in the genealogy of Jesus Christ in respect to him being the Son of David. And the least of these is not the fact that David will also be shown to be the son of Jospeh of Egypt. But that ancestry will be left for that section which deals with Jesus being the Son of Joseph and Epharim which will follow later.

But for now the primary question seems to be how to reconcile the two genealogies of Jesus as given in the New Testament, in the Gospel of Matthew and the Gospel of Luke. The first point of reconciliation is taken from Elder James E. Talmage's "Jesus the Christ", page 81, wherein he states that Joseph and Mary were cousins and that Jacob and Heli were brothers. This would make the genealogy of Joseph and Mary practically the same. And it would mean that he who Matthew calls 'Matthan' (Matthew 1:15) is one and the same person with he who Luke calls 'Matthat' (Luke 3:24). And while Luke makes Levi the father of Matthat, Matthew makes Eleazar the parent of Matthan. This condition occurs in Jewish families when a 'brother' (cousin or kinsman) raises up seed to his deceased kinsman by the practice of 'Levirate Marriage' (Deuteronomy 25:5-10 & Ruth 4:5 & 10).

And thus agreeing with Elder Talmage, the next question is to attempt to ascertain who of Jacob and Heli were the particular fathers of Joseph and Mary. In this consideration, one might well consider that while any surviving son may well show his 'bloodline lineage' back to father after father even until Adam; the vast majority of any one particular line of descent, particularly within Royal linages, will always have a number of heirship brakes in that eventually the inheriting senior line will become extinct and the heirship fall to another. And likely in the history of Israel it will be to the heir of a 'Levirate Marriage'. Thus the cases of the 'Levirate Marriages' will be presumed to be on the part of the 'Royal Ancestry' which is Matthew's genealogy, for Matthew is the one who does set before the eyes of the Jews Jesus' right to the lineage of the Royal House of David. And the direct line lineage from bloodline father to son will be presumed to be that of Luke's genealogy, which is not particularly as concerned with setting out the Royal House of David before the Gentiles as he is in setting out the right of 'covenant' inheritance through Jesus' lineage not only back through David, but to Abraham and even Adam. Therefore, this would make Jacob the actual father of Mary and Heli the actual parent of Joseph.

Having presumed Mary to be the daughter of Jacob would make her a princess in Israel, a daughter of the Royal line, and apparently the heir in female form. It would also imply that Jacob had no sons and thus the right to the throne would either be lost or pass to a grandson, who would be Jesus Christ. And while Joseph's marriage to Mary would make him to be considered Jacob's son, the rightful heir to the throne would be the first born son of Mary. Now this would be a case of a 'Zelohaphad Adoption' (Numbers 36:8-9). That is, every daughter in Israel who has no brother to inherit, stands heir to the family inheritance, which the right of the Royal Lineage would be, must seek to marry someone within her father's tribal family clan, so that no such rights of inheritance may pass from that tribal family to another family or tribe.

The purpose of the 'Zelohaphad Adoption' is to the same end as the 'Levirate Marriage', but it is accomplished in a differing manner. In a 'Levirate Marriage' the firstborn son become the heir of the dead regardless of the tribal affiliation of the near kinsman. But in order to obtain the same end in a 'Zelohaphad Adoption', both the husband and the wife must be of the same family clan in order to preserve the right of inheritance among the living through the wife as opposed to the dead husband as in 'Levirate Marriages'.

The fact that the right was preserved in and through Mary's right becomes quite significant, for it is in this that Jesus has a direct parental right to the Royal House of David through his mother. That is the 'woman' Mary is his one true parent in the flesh by whom the right of the Royal House of David did come.

Descent Back to Zorobabel

Now Zorobabel or Zerubbabel was the noted Governor or 'Pekhah' of Jerusalem, representing the Royal House of David during the rebuilting of the temple. He was the legal heir of King Jehoiachin, reportedly the 'son of Pedaiah' (1 Chronicles 3:16-19) who was a younger son of King Jehoiachin who seems to have performed a 'Levirate Marriage' in behalf of his elder brother and heir Sheltiel (Salathiel), who is the more 'well known' Royal Heir through whom the ancestry was preserved. Even Luke's account names Shethiel as the 'bloodline' ancestor instead of his younger performing redeeming brother Pedaiah so famous was the lineage. So Shethiel is the Royal 'parent of right' by the Law of God, Pedaiah raising up seed to his deseased brother who was most likely the true father of Zerubbabel by blood. Thus the legal right to the throne would have again came down through a 'Levirate Marriage', but this time by actual brothers of the same father Jehoiachin. Zerubbabel is also known by the name of 'Sheshbazzar', which is his Persian name (Ezra 1:8). Zerubbabel had at least the two sons whose lineage is reported in Matthew and Luke. Abiud was the eldest and heir to the Royal Lineage and is thus reported in the Matthew genealogy. Abiud's younger brother, another son of Zerubbabel, was Rhesa, who was the bloodline ancestor to Joseph, the husband of Mary.