The bible tells us that it was “supposed” that Jesus was the son of Joseph (Luk 3:23). It was supposed by all the people that Jesus was the son of Joseph, because he WAS exactly that: the biological son of Joseph. However, the author of Luke tells us that contrary to popular opinion Jesus was not actually the son of Joseph, but of the “holy ghost”.
Luke’s Genealogy
The Church would like us all to believe that the genealogy in Luke is actually of Mary. The reason for this is that for Jesus to qualify as the Messiah, he needs to be a biological descendant of king David and the genealogy in Luke can be followed up to David (However, so can the genealogy in Matthew — but this would make it necessary for Joseph to be his biological father).
Therefore, they teach that Jesus’ true genealogy is the one in Luke. They say that Eli was actually Mary’s father, but church historical tradition shows us that Mary’s father was Joachim, so they say that Eli was just another name for Joachim.
Messianic Lineage of King Solomon
However, messianic prophecy says that King Solomon had to be in the messianic lineage and that lineage is the one in Matthew which ends with Joseph. Therefore, Joseph would have to be Jesus’ biological father. This creates a problem since the virgin birth doctrine says that Mary was impregnated by the “Holy Ghost”. (“Oh, what a tangled web we weave, when at first we practice to deceive.”)
Who was Joseph’s biological father?
Luke also tells us that Joseph’s father was Eli. However, Matthew tells us that Jacob was Joseph’s father.
This seems like a contradiction.
What makes things complicated is that the theory that the church fathers passed down to us was that Eli was Mary’s father, since he was of royal descendant. This is because Jesus had to descend from king David in order to qualify as the Messiah.
And Jesus himself began to be about thirty years of age, being (as was supposed) the son of Joseph, which was the son of Heli (Mat 1:16)
And Jacob begat Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ. (Luk 3:23)
Jesus disqualified through Eli
To make things even more complicated yet, Jesus’ relatives tell us that Eli died childless. So neither Joseph nor Mary could be begotten of Eli. So that eliminates Jesus qualifying as Messiah through the lineage on the side of Eli.
Also, that shoots down the theory that the genealogy in Luke is of Mary. Therefore, the only other way that Jesus could qualify as the Messiah is if Joseph was his flesh and blood, biological father. Eli having died childless…
Jesus disqualified through Mary’s side
The bible tells us that Mary’s cousin, Elisabeth, was a Levite. James, the brother of Jesus, tells us that Joachim, who was a priest, and Ana were the parents of Mary. Priests could only be Levites, and Mary’s father was a priest. So that makes Mary a Levite.
Therefore, Jesus could not qualify as the Messiah through Mary’s side of the family anyway, and that also refutes the theory that Mary’s father was Eli. Besides, to complicate matters, if they were both children of Eli, they would be brother and sister. What’s more is that tribal affiliation was through the father only anyway, and never the mother.
There was in the days of Herod, the king of Judaea, a certain priest named Zacharias, of the course of Abia: and his wife was of the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elisabeth. (Luk 1:5)
Mary was of the tribe of Levi
Mary herself was not of the tribe of Judah but of the tribe of Levi; her father being a priest of the name of Joachim . (https://www.orthodox.cn/patristics/apostolicfathers/mary.htm) (UPDATE: note to the reader: if you look up this quote, you won’t find it — it has been removed and changed. But this quote was there 12 years ago when I first wrote this article)
The truth is that Joseph was the biological father of Jesus
The only explanation for Joseph appearing as the descendant in both genealogies, of Matthew and Luke, is that he was the physical son of Jacob and the “step” son of Eli. This is because Jacob and Eli were brothers. When Eli died and left no physical heir, according to custom, Jacob being the brother of Eli, married his widow and she bore Joseph — this is known as a levitate marriage.
Eli and Jacob were thus uterine brothers. Eli having died childless, Jacob raised up seed to him, begetting Joseph, his own son by nature, but by law the son of Eli. Thus Joseph was the son of both. *
Joseph had two fathers (as it were), Jacob and Eli, his mother being the widow of Eli. Joseph was of the tribe of Judah. Mary’s parents were Joachim and Ana of the tribe of Levi.
Jesus’ biological father was Joseph and his mother was Mary.
Jesus’ grandfather was Jacob who was a direct descendant of Solomon and King David.
Joseph was the Biological Father of Jesus
Joseph, now awake, did as the angel directed him, and went in to Mary his espoused bride. In her womb she conceived the Holy One. (Gospel of the Nazirenes 2:12)
And Yeshua was beginning his thirtieth year, being by physical body indeed the Son of Joseph and Mary (Gospel of the Nazirenes 8:8)
“We have found Him, of whom Moses in the Law and the Prophets did write. He is Yeshua of Nazareth the son of Joseph and Mary. (Gospel of the Nazirenes 10:8)
God begat Jesus spiritually at his baptism
Joseph begot Jesus in the physical sense. But Jesus was begotten by God in a spiritual sense on the day of his baptism, and not a physical begetting at his birth, as we are told by the church fathers. This is confirmed by the Gospel of the Hebrews:
After saying many things, this Gospel continues: “After the people were baptized, Jesus also came and was baptized by John. And as Jesus came up from the water, Heaven was opened, and He saw the Holy Spirit [God] descend in the form of a dove and enter into Him. And a voice from Heaven said, ‘You are my beloved Son; with You I am well pleased.’
And again, ‘Today I have begotten You.’ “Immediately a great light shone around the place; and John, seeing it, said to Him, ‘Who are you, Lord? And again a voice from Heaven said, ‘This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.’
Then John, falling down before Him, said, ‘I beseech You, Lord, baptize me!’ But He forbade him saying, ‘Let it be so; for thus it is fitting that all things be fulfilled.’” (Gospel of the Nazirenes)
and also in the Gospel of the Nazirenes:
And Yeshua, when He was baptized, went up straight way out of the water; and the heavens opened to Him, and a bright cloud stood over Him, and from behind the cloud twelve rays of light, and then in the form of a dove, the spirit of God descending and lighting upon Him. A voice from heaven, sounded, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; this day have I begotten you.” (Gospel of the Nazirenes 8:2)
What the church fathers didn’t want you to know about Jesus:
The unfortunate thing about our bibles today is that in 3 of the gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke the words: “this day have I begotten you” at Jesus baptism, have been purposely taken out and replaced by another phrase. This is because they knew that if this was left in it would cause a contradiction with their stories that Jesus was the son of the “holy ghost” and Mary was a virgin when Jesus was born.
The truth is that Joseph was the biological father of Jesus, and not the “holy ghost” as we are told in the bible (which is an obvious forgery). The prophecy appears to be fulfilled at Jesus’ baptism that he became as a son to God and God was as a Father to him — because of this messianic prophecy:
- I will be his father, and he shall be my son. (2Sa 7:14)
* (Eusebius of Caesarea, Historia Ecclesiae, 1:7:11, 1:7:13-14) (Church History)
Next: Who Was Jesus Part 1 | The Real Genealogy of Jesus