Thoughts for the Day

Luke 1:26-27 In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary.

Here begins a conundrum.  If (A) Jewish tribal lineage is traced through the male line (which seems the case) and (B) Jesus had no earthly father (the virgin birth is fundamental to Christianity), how do we understand Jesus as the promised king from the line of David?  I’ve already alluded to the problem of taking a legalistic approach to Matthew’s genealogy of Jesus, and Luke’s (which we will not get to) fares no better.  But even if their every wrinkle could be ironed out, this conundrum would remain.  What are we to do with it?  Can there be an answer that doesn’t deny at least one of these statements?

Jesus, in conversation with some Pharisees, who come across as very keen to keep their understanding of scripture tidy, asked them point blank, ‘What do you think about the Messiah? Whose son is he?’.  They reply unhesitatingly the ‘Son of David’.  Jesus in response quotes psalm 110 and concludes, ‘If then David calls him “Lord”, how can he be his son?’  This stops them in their tracks.  They have no answer and no further questions.   Frustratingly, Jesus doesn’t explain it either, but I’m left sensing that the “what” of prophecy allows at least a little leeway for some unexpected “how”.  After all, it’s hardly unthinkable that tribal lineage rules would not have made provision for a once in history supernatural virgin birth.

Consider too Paul’s argument that we are children of Abraham through faith rather than biology, or John the Baptist’s statement that God could raise up children of Abraham from mere stones.  Strict genealogists would certainly struggle with those lineages!  And what about John the Baptist himself?  From Malachi we read “I will send you the prophet Elijah …” while Gabriel declares John will “go on before the Lord in the spirit and power of Elijah” and Jesus says of him “If you are willing to accept it, he is the Elijah who was to come.”  Perhaps that’s part of the answer too!  We do know Jesus was born into a Jewish family in the line of David, and, if we are willing to accept it, in a similar way, he is the promised King.