Jesus’ Messiah credentials

Jesus cannot be the Jewish Messiah because he is not a descendant of David on the father’s side. Check it out in Matthew 1, where we learn that though Mary’s husband Joseph is in the line of David (verse 16), he is no blood relation to Jesus but merely a stepfather.

So argued rabbi and scholar Jacob Immanuel Schochet in a 1995 debate with Messianic Jewish scholar Dr. Michael Brown.

Rabbi Schochet is correct in that the Old Testament claims that Messiah will come from David:

“I have made a covenant with my chosen one; I have sworn to David my servant: I will establish your offspring forever, and build your throne for all generations” (Psalm 89:3–4, ESV).

But if he were correct that Jesus’ pedigree disqualifies him as Messiah, then it would be very strange indeed for Matthew, a Jew, to start his gospel with this embarrassing genealogy disproving the very thesis he is supposedly trying to plead. Nevertheless, in writing to Jews to make his case to Jews, Matthew unabashedly leads with 17 verses of “begats” that he evidently considers to establish Jesus’ credentials as the Messiah. The list ends thus:

“… and Jacob the father of Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom Jesus was born, who is called Christ.”

Luke’s genealogy likewise does not conceal that Jesus was only “supposed” to be the son of Joseph (Luke 3:23). This would be an improbable admission if he thought this fact were problematic for establishing Jesus’ claim as Messiah.

Dr. Brown responded to Rabbi Schochet that the rule of paternal descent finds an exception in cases where the male or father dies and only women are left. Then tribal affiliation comes through the women. This is based on the incident regarding Zelophehad’s daughters, who were the only living heirs of their father:

“And you shall speak to the people of Israel, saying, ‘If a man dies and has no son, then you shall transfer his inheritance to his daughter’” (Numbers 27:8, ESV).

But consider how Jesus not only meets but exceeds Rabbi Schochet’s and Orthodox Judaism’s expectations of the Messiah. For the Messiah is not only to be a descendent of David but also greater than David. How can he be greater? The answer is hinted at in a story in Genesis, in which a mysterious high priest named Melchizedek rides into history and out again, staying just long enough to bless Abraham (Genesis 14:18–20). Little is known of that priestly foreshadowing of the Messiah except the following:

“He is without father or mother or genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but resembling the Son of God he continues a priest forever” (Hebrews 7:3, ESV).

Jesus, realizing that His Messiahship is a conundrum refuted by many, confronts the riddle of his preeminent stature head-on:

“But he said to them, ‘How can they say that the Christ is David’s son? For David himself says in the book of Psalms, “The Lord said to my Lord, Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool.” David thus calls him Lord, so how is he his son?’” (Luke 20:41–44, ESV)

Indisputably, fathers are always greater than their sons in terms of the respect due a father by his son. The only possible exception can be if the son in fact pre-exists the father—which has only happened once in history. Moreover, the son can only be called “Lord” by his own father if he is greater than the lords and kings of earth.

There are various understandings of the different genealogies of Matthew and Luke. But the redundancy of genealogy is surely to press the point that on both sides of his family tree, Jesus is qualified to be Messiah: on the side of Joseph, a descendent of David, and on the side of his mother, impregnated not by human seed but by the eternally pre-existing Holy Spirit himself. At Christmas this year, we may stop to consider what Jesus Himself bids us consider:

“I tell you, something greater than the temple is here” (Matthew 12:6, ESV).