Who, REALLY, Was the Father of the Messiah?

One of the most commonly used verses for the defense of the Marilolaters' virgin-birth belief is Luke 3:23. They make the claim that this verse refers to Joseph's genealogy through another line, which is a totally incorrect self-interpretation, a deliberate distortion, or they are ignorant of what the scriptures say about the Messiah's father, Joseph. We need to first review who Yeshua the Messiah really is -- not in relation to his ministry but in regard to his ancestry.

Before we continue on with this subject, the following is the verse we are talking about from Luke 3:23:

"Yeshua was about thirty years old when he began his public ministry. It was supposed that he was a son of Yosef [Joseph] who was of Eli [Heli]" (Jewish New Testament).

This verse certainly makes it appear that Joseph was the son of Eli (or Heli) and that the Messiah was only the "supposed" son of Joseph. But if we look closely we see that in the Old Testament and the gospel of Matthew that the Chosen One of YEHOVAH God would come from the lineage of the Davidic kingship. Luke's genealogy is certainly not the succession line of kings from David, regardless of all the weak explanations put forward to try and justify the ideology of the virgin-birth belief. Matthew's lineage IS of the Davidic kingship but Luke's is not.

We will now return to the question of who the Messiah was descended from. When the wise men came seeking the person of the star they had seen, they went to Jerusalem and appeared before Herod seeking this person. We read the account in Matthew 2:1, 2:

"After Yeshua was born in Beit-Lechem [Bethlehem] in the land of Y'hudah [Judea] during the time when Herod was king, Magi from the east came to Yerushalayim [Jerusalem] and asked, 'Where is the newborn King of the Jews? For we saw his star in the east and have come to worship him" (ibid.)

The wise men may not have known the exact location where to find the infant, however, but they were not in doubt as to the role of this child in regards to his lineage: "Where is he that is born King of the Jews?" Not only did they know this child would be a king, but they referred to the title that would be given to him on the tablet which described the crime Yeshua the Messiah would be crucified for by the Romans: "King of the Jews." Turning to Matthew 27:11, we read:

"Meanwhile, Yeshua was brought before the governor, and the governor put this question to him: 'Are you the King of the Jews?' Yeshua answered, 'the words are yours'" (Jewish New Testament).

In the same chapter, the Roman soldiers mocked the Messiah as royalty in verses 28 and 29:

"They stripped off his clothes and put on him a scarlet robe, wove thorn-branches into a crown and put it on his head, and put a stick in his right hand. Then they kneeled down in front of him and made fun of him: 'Hail to the King of the Jews!'" (ibid.)

Further on, in verse 37, where they crucified the Messiah, they set up over his head the tablet which was written in three languages describing his crime: "Above his head they placed the written notice stating the charge against him, THIS IS YESHUA THE KING OF THE JEWS." As the Messiah hung upon the tree suffering, he was continually mocked (verses 41, 42): "Likewise also the chief priests mocking him, with the scribes and elders said, He saved others; himself he cannot save. If he be the King of Israel let him now come down from the cross, and we will believe him."

Now turn back to chapter 21, verses 4, 5, and 9:

"This happened in order to fulfill what had been spoken through the prophet , 'Say to the daughter of Tziyon [Zion], "Look! Your King is coming to you, riding humbly on a donkey, and on a colt, the offspring of a beast of burden"'...The crowds ahead of him and behind shouted, 'Please! Deliver us!' to the son of David; 'Blessed is he who comes in the name of Adonai!' 'You in the highest heaven! Please! Deliver us!'" (Jewish New Testament. See Zechariah 9:9; John 12:15; Mark 15:1 to 32; Luke 23:1 to 3, 37, 38; John 18:33, 37, 39 and 19:3, 12, 14, 15, 19).

What was the purpose of mentioning all these verses relating to the Messiah as being the "King of the Jews"? Because it is very important that we establish his ancestral line of kingship (and it is not done through the genealogy of Luke since it is not the succession line of the Davidic kingship). Regardless of all the unsound explanations made by those opposed to the truth of Joseph being the legitimate father of the Messiah, the fact remains that scriptures teach that the Chosen One (the Messiah) of YEHOVAH God would be of the seed of the line of David:

"Therefore, since he was a prophet and knew that God had sworn an oath to him that one of his descendants would sit on his throne, he was speaking in advance about the resurrection of the Messiah..." (Acts 2:30-31).

Men make a liar of YEHOVAH God, because YEHOVAH did not say that the line would run through the ovum (egg) of a woman, but through the seed of man, and all these previous verses tell us that the seed would descend through the Davidic line. Though Mary may have been connected with David through his son Nathan, she was not connected through the succession of kings. Mary was a cousin to Elisabeth (Luke 1:36) who was from the lineage of the priesthood, thus making Mary's father or mother a sister or brother to one of Elizabeth's parents.

Now return to Luke 3:23 and the words which read, "...Joseph, which was the son of Heli." Joseph cannot be the son of both Jacob and Heli. Therefore, since Luke's genealogy is not a continuous line of the king's line, Joseph then is the son-in-law of Heli, because Luke's genealogy does not fill Joseph's lineage as does Matthew's. Read Luke 2:4:

"And Joseph also went up from Galilee out of the city of Nazareth, into Judaea unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem; (because he was of the house and lineage of David)."

Joseph was not only of the house of David, but he was also of the direct lineage of David. Therefore the Messiah, through Joseph, was by the seed of man a direct descendant of David and, therefore, heir to the throne. However, this was not through Luke's genealogy, because after David Luke's version of the lineage detours in a different direction -- away from the kingly succession with David's son, Nathan. Mary's body would not carry the biological seed of the male organ, although we do not deny that she was blessed among women since she had the privilege of being the wife of a man who did carry the biological seed down from David that would result in her giving birth to the Promised One of YEHOVAH God. To end this portion of the discussion, Joseph was the son of Jacob and the son-in-law to Heli. Mary was related to a priestly family through her family's kinship with Elisabeth's family.

Now read Matthew 1:16:

There is no doubt that Matthew, in his phrasing of "Ya'akov [Jacob] was the father of Yosef [Joseph]", leaves no question as to whose son Joseph was, and likewise there is no doubt as to the expression of words in "Yosef [Joseph], the husband of Miryam [Mary]." Where Luke's genealogy speaks of Joseph being "the son of Heli", Matthew uses a stronger quote in "Ya'akov [Jacob] was the father of Yosef [Joseph]." Matthew adds in his genealogy showing who Joseph was and shows it by his affirmative writing.

"And Joseph and his mother marveled at those things which were spoken of him."

Because of the phrasing of this verse, the skeptic may say "it does not say 'Joseph, his father.'" True, but there are plenty of other verses saying Joseph was the Messiah's father. His father and his mother marveled together of the things that were spoken of him. The following verse should eliminate any doubt from the skeptic's mind as to whose son the Messiah really was. Notice Luke 4:22:

"Everyone was speaking well of him and marveling that such appealing words were coming from his mouth. They were even asking, 'Can this be Yosef's [Joseph's] son?' (Jewish New Testament)"

When the Messiah came to his home city of Nazareth, in the synagogue he read to the congregation from scripture Isaiah 61:1 and added "This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears." Yeshua had told the people that he was the promised Messiah, but they found it hard to believe. Did they not know Yeshua? Was he not the son of a common man named Joseph? There was no question among those who knew him in childhood that he was the son of Joseph. It was because of this knowledge that they wondered at his words, him being the son of a common man.

Matthew, in chapter 13, verses 54 to 56, writes,

"When Yeshua had finished these parables, he left and went to his home town. There he taught them in their synagogue in a way that astounded them, so that they asked, 'Where do this man's wisdom and miracles come from? Isn't he the carpenter's son? Isn't his mother called Miryam [Mary]? and his brothers Ya'akov [James], Yosef [Joses], Shim'on [Simon] and Y'hudah [Judas]? And his sisters, aren't they all with us? So where does he get all this?'" (Jewish New Testament).

Again, we have another question: Because of Joseph's common background, that is, being a mere carpenter, and not a priest or a scribe, where did the Messiah gain all the wisdom that proceeded out his mouth? It appears these Judeans did not remember their scriptures very well. The spirit of the LORD (YEHOVAH) would have to be upon one to speak as he did. The scriptures had said that he, the Chosen One would not only be humble and meek, but so would his home environment around him be common. Joseph was a commoner, but blessed as his wife Mary was, for they had a large family of five sons as well as daughters. But let us not deter from the proof that his neighbors in Nazareth had NO doubt as to whom Yeshua's father was -- and there was no question that he, Joseph, was his legitimate father.

The Messiah referred to himself as the bread which came down from heaven prior to the Judeans making the previous comment. The bread of life spoken of in this chapter is the Word of YEHOVAH God, the manna from heaven. The children of Israel were given manna from heaven to save them when they hungered, but they died because they failed to continue in YEHOVAH's commandments -- even after YEHOVAH God supplied the manna and quail. But our salvation is of that bread which is in the Messiah, Yeshua. He, Yeshua, became the bread (or Word) of life from heaven, his bodily shell receiving the spirit -- not partially but fully. The Judeans did not understand what the Messiah was saying, but they did know where he physically came from. They knew his father and his mother, that is, they knew he was the son of a carpenter by the name of Joseph. In the last verse quoted, the Judeans were saying they knew Yeshua's father and mother from whom he had come by the flesh.

In the following verse of John 1:45, Philip states, without any expression of doubt, that Yeshua the Messiah was Joseph's biological son:

When Philip said "we've found the one," he spoke of the promised Messiah, King and Prophet of YEHOVAH God, who came from the city of Nazareth. He was of the seed of David through Joseph. From the book of Moses, in Deuteronomy 18:18, 19, we read,

"I will raise for them a prophet like you from among their countrymen; I will put my words in his mouth, and he will speak to them all that I command him. And whosoever does not listen to my words which he will speak in my name, I will hold that person accountable" (Dead Sea Scrolls Bible).

The last verse we will quote on Joseph's legitimacy as being the Messiah's father is from Matthew 1:20:

"But while he was thinking about this, an angel of Adonai [the LORD] appeared to him in a dream and said, 'Yosef [Joseph], son of David, do not be afraid to take..." (Jewish New Testament).

Notice how even the angel of YEHOVAH God addressed Joseph in the dream as "Yosef [Joseph], son of David." Yes, Joseph was the son of David, just as his son, Yeshua the Messiah, was called the son of David, being the son of Joseph by the seed of David. Another important script in Luke 2:4 reads:

Joseph was a Bethlehemite from the house of David, and when the angel appeared to him in a dream, the angel addressed him by name as "Yosef [Joseph], son (seed) of David." We are told he went to Bethlehem specifically to be taxed for the reason that he was of David's lineage. Every verse in this article on Joseph recognizes him as the LEGITIMATE FATHER OF THE MESSIAH, even the quote containing the "son of Heli." It was Joseph who fulfilled the promise made by YEHOVAH God to David, for he was by the seed of man, the son of David, his lineage being of the royal line. Mary, though blessed among women, does NOT fulfill the promise of the Messiah being descended from the royal line by way of seed or the succession line.