Does the Lineage of Christ Matter?

Is it important for one to reflect upon the ancestry leading up to the Birth of Christ? Or, should one simply be content that God the Father sent Christ to enter time by taking on flesh in the womb of the Blessed Virgin Mary?

It is clear, that God chose a people to be His own:

For you are a people holy to the LORD, your God; the LORD, your God, has chosen you from all the peoples on the face of the earth to be a people specially his own. It was not because you are more numerous than all the peoples that the LORD set his heart on you and chose you; for you are really the smallest of all peoples. It was because the LORD loved you and because of his fidelity to the oath he had sworn to your ancestors, that the Lord brought you out with a strong hand and redeemed you from the house of slavery, from the hand of Pharaoh, king of Egypt. Know, then, that the LORD, your God, is God: the faithful God who keeps covenant mercy to the thousandth generation toward those who love him and keep his commandments….[1]

It was the Divine Prerogative for God to choose a people specially His own. And, although He chose the Israelites – His choice was not exclusionary to the rest of mankind. And, while all men descend from a specific people, that does that mean that any individual race has been excluded or barred from Eternal life due to bodily heritage. 

This being so, one’s lineage is central to the Jewish Faith:

Genealogies hold a significant place in the biblical narrative, particularly within the Jewish tradition. They serve not only as historical records but also as theological affirmations of God’s promises and covenants with His people. The genealogies in the Bible are meticulously detailed, reflecting the importance of lineage, heritage, and identity among the Israelites.

 

In the Jewish context, genealogies were essential for several reasons. They established tribal affiliation, which was crucial for land inheritance, priestly duties, and fulfilling specific roles within the community. For instance, only those who could trace their lineage to Levi could serve as priests (cf. Num 3:6-10). Genealogies also affirmed the fulfillment of God’s promises, such as the Abrahamic covenant, which promised that Abraham’s descendants would become a great nation (cf. Gen 12:2).[2]

 

Thus, lineage, heritage, and identity are both foundational and fundamental to the Jewish people. And, knowing one’s lineage, secured the promises and covenants God made with this people. For example, only those who could trace their ancestry to Levi, were consecrated to the Levite priesthood.

Accordingly, God’s sovereignty is over all peoples and nations:

Although the Old Testament focuses heavily on Israel, it repeatedly affirms that God reigns over every nation and people. Psalm 24:1 declares, “The earth is the LORD’s and the fullness thereof, the world and all who dwell therein.” From the outset, Scripture recognizes that God is not a territorial deity limited to one land; He is the Creator of all.

 

Genesis itself highlights every human being as bearing the image of God (cf. Gen 1:27). This foundational truth underscores that God’s heart and sovereignty are not confined by ethnicity or geography. In fact, when God calls Abram (later Abraham), the promise is breathtakingly global: “All the families of the earth will be blessed through you (cf. Gen 12:3).[3]

So, if God is not confined by ethnicity or geography, why did He specifically select the Israelites to be His chosen people?

Rather than excluding the rest of humanity, God’s choice of Israel served a unique redemptive plan by which all nations might come to know Him. Deuteronomy 7:7-8 clarifies that God did not choose Israel because of their numerical strength or moral superiority. Instead, He selected them in keeping with His covenant with Abraham and because of His own divine love.

God’s plan was to create a distinct people who, through their relationship and covenant with Him, would serve as a beacon of light to all others. Israel was to be a “kingdom of priests and a holy nation” (cf. Exo 19:6), acting as a mediator between God and the surrounding peoples, demonstrating His holiness, love, and faithfulness.[4]

Through the covenant God made with this people, He would fulfill His unique redemptive plan by which all nations might come to know the One True God.

Within the Gospel accounts, there are two Genealogies. The Gospel of Matthew, 1:1-17, which traces the lineage of Christ, the Messiah, beginning with Abraham, to St. Joseph and the Blessed Virgin Mary – of whom Jesus was born who is called the Messiah. While the Gospel of Luke, 3:23-38, begins with Christ and works backward to Adam, who was directly created by God the Father, who formed him from the dust of the earth. 

In the Old Testament, it was long prophesied that the Messiah would come from the lineage of King David, the son of Jesse. And, this due to the covenant God made with him:

[W]hen your days have been completed and you rest with your ancestors, I will raise up your offspring after you, sprung from your loins, and I will establish his kingdom. He it is who shall build a house for my name, and I will establish his royal throne forever. I will be a father to him, and he shall be a son to me. If he does wrong, I will reprove him with a human rod and with human punishments; but I will not withdraw my favor from him as I withdrew it from Saul who was before you. Your house and your kingdom are firm forever before me; your throne shall be firmly established forever.[5]

Both genealogies include King David, but the genealogy in the Gospel of Matthew specifically states: The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham. And, not only did God choose King David from amongst the sons of Jesse, but David was also:

…[P]ar excellence the king “after God’s own heart,” the shepherd who prays for his people and prays in their name. His submission to the will of God, his praise, and his repentance, will be a model for the prayer of the people. His prayer, the prayer of God’s Anointed, is a faithful adherence to the divine promise and expresses a loving and joyful trust in God, the only King and Lord (cf. 2 Sam 7:18-29). In the Psalms David, inspired by the Holy Spirit, is the first prophet of Jewish and Christian prayer. The prayer of Christ, the true Messiah and Son of David, will reveal and fulfill the meaning of this prayer.[6]

Within his commentary on the Gospel of Matthew, Dr. William Barclay, a Christian Theologian, speaks of three sections and three stages within the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham. The first section of fourteen generations is from Abraham to David, the second section of fourteen generations is from David to the Babylonian Exile, and the third section of fourteen generations is from the Babylonian exile to the birth of Christ. These correspond to three stages in the spiritual history of mankind. The first stage, Man was born for greatness; the second stage, Man lost his greatness; and the third stage, Man can regain his greatness.

These stages are a part of Salvation History: Adam and Eve were created in a state of original holiness and justice, in perfect harmony, friendship, and communion with God. Then Adam and Eve disobeyed God and ate from the forbidden tree (the tree of the knowledge of good and evil). And, in so doing, lost their original holiness and brought sin and death into the world (the fall of man). Leading up to, God the Father sending His Only Begotten Son to offer His life in sacrifice, that the Lord redeem sinners and reconcile all things to Himself (restoring all creation to right relationship with God).  

One of the most noteworthy features of these two genealogies, is the inclusion of the names of women. This was not at all common for the day, genealogies typically traced male lineage alone. So, what does their inclusion suggest:

Tamar disguised herself as a prostitute to compel Judah to fulfill his family’s levirate duty, secure an heir, and thus preserve the promised Messianic lineage—an act validated by ancient Near-Eastern law, confirmed by archaeology, and affirmed by Judah’s own confession of her righteousness.[7]

Rachab, or as the Old Testament calls her, Rahab, was a harlot of Jericho (cf. Jos 2:1-7).

Ruth was not even a Jewess; she was a Moabitess (Rut 1:4), and does not the law itself lay it down, “An Ammonite or a Moabite shall not enter into the congregation of the Lord; even to their tenth generation shall they not enter into the congregation of the Lord for ever” (cf. Deu 23:3)?

 

…Bathsheba, the mother of Solomon, was the woman whom David seduced from Uriah, her husband, with an unforgivable cruelty (cf. 2 Sam 11 and 12).[8]

First, out of these four women only one was Jewish: Tamar was a Shemite, Rahab a Canaanite, Ruth a Moabite, and Bathsheba a Jew. A child born of a Jewish father, and mother who was a non-Jew, would be considered a Gentile. However, if the mother was Jewish, regardless of the fathers decent, the child would be considered a Jew.

Second, an ancient lineage, does not normally include a sinful member, as it would weaken the righteousness of the genealogy. This said, all men are sinners, and these women are not the only sinners listed in the genealogy: Judah, King David, King Solomon, King Joram, and King Manasseh being the more notable.   

It is precisely here, that one can see the greatness of God. Christ, the sinless God-Man, entered time by taking on flesh in the womb of the sinless Virgin Mary – while also possessing a lineage to sinful men and women. Thus, one must conclude, that the Son of the living God, can transform all who remain open to choosing Him in Faith – through the saving power of His grace:

Hence, now there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus has freed you from the law of sin and death. For what the law, weakened by the flesh, was powerless to do, this God has done: by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for the sake of sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, so that the righteous decree of the law might be fulfilled in us, who live not according to the flesh but according to the spirit. For those who live according to the flesh are concerned with the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the spirit with the things of the spirit. The concern of the flesh is death, but the concern of the spirit is life and peace.[9]