Mary's family bloodlines
Dear Brother in Christ,
I have searched the Bible for the lineage of Mary the mother of Jesus. I found her husband, Joseph, and his ancestors, as his line produced the long awaited Messiah. But I can't find any references to Mary. My pastor didn't know either and he suggested I ask a Catholic. I knwo that womenwere nto important back in the day of Jesus, but I would be very interested in seeing a family tree for Mary.
QUESTION from DeeAnn on May 25, 2004
ANSWER by Bro. Ignatius Mary, OLSM on June 1, 2004
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Dear DeeAnn: In biblical times one's genealogy was critically important to family identity. The place of residence was of secondary importance. Those genealogical trees were normally traced from the man's side of the family. This is why the genealogy of Jesus is traced through Joseph. We have no historical evidence for the names of Mary's parents. Their names and any other details come to us only through legend and tradition. But we know for a fact that Mary's was of the Line of David, because the Bible prophecies of Jesus said that he would be from the Line of David. Jesus could not be literally of the line of David through Joseph, however, because Joseph was not Jesus' blood-father. Thus Mary had to also be of the line of David. It is through Mary that Jesus was given human form and blood connection to the Line of David. Josh McDowell, the famous Protestant speaker who wrote the book, "Evidence the Demands a Verdict," points out this family tree issue between Jesus being the physical heir to the throne through Mary, and the legal heir to the throne through Joseph. He points to the family tree given in Luke 3 as one for Mary. There are two theories among biblical scholars on the meaning of the different genealogies of St. Matthew and St. Luke. Scholars are convinced that both genealogies are accurate and point to one of two theories to explain the differences between the two. First theory: both St. Matthew and St. Luke are listing St. Joseph's genealogy, but one follows the levirate law and the other does not. The levirate law is the one in Deut. 25:5-6 about if a man died without children, the brother would marry the dead siblings wife, and the first born of that union would be legally considered the son of the dead brother. Second theory: St. Matthew is giving St. Joseph's genealogy and St. Luke is giving that of the Virgin Mary. In this case the reference to Joseph is a reference to being a son-in-law to Heli, rather than his son. The Catholic Church does not sponsor either theory, however many scholars assert that this second theory does not have any good basis in the Gospel text. The bottomline, however, is that nevertheless Jesus had to be physically an heir to the throne (by blood) and a legal heir to the throne. Joseph gave Jesus the legal inheritance of the Throne, and thus the blood inheritance had to be through Mary also in the Line of David.
God Bless, |