LUKE 3: 23-27 gives Jesus a whole different lineage, which brings him to his Birth, starting with the fact that it notes
his earthly father, Joseph, was the son of He-li… But this could be as simple as taking a different route through the branches of Jesus’ family tree… Who was He-li? Joseph’s mother? Joseph’s grandfather on his mother’s side??? With some names that differ so from those used widely today, it is difficult to tell, and therein they ‘grey area’ could lie the apparent discontinuity error’s redemption…
The three phases that Matthew tells of are the fourteen generations from Abraham’s birth to David’s, the fourteen generations from David’s birth until the migration/exodus to Babylon, and the final fourteen generations until Christ’s Birth.
Joseph is mentioned only as Mary’s husband, a fact made official only after Mary learned she was with child, and Joseph chose not to abandon her to a cruel fate for her apparent indiscretion out of wedlock… And this is confirmed by the visit Joseph has from the Angel of the Lord, telling him a story so wide in its ramifications, that the child within Mary is ‘seeded’ by the Holy Ghost, indicating the Lord our God… And, when this revelation was told to Joseph, it was made clear also, that Mary was still a virgin… I hope I have the interpretation of ‘physical’ correct (!?)… Or is the question meant to set me wondering if Joseph at all be the man whom took Mary as his wife..? The differing family trees of Matthew & Luke’s telling could highlight confusion on this point, perhaps born of the fact that Joseph’s role in Mary and Jesus’ life was undefined..! The inter-testament period, as this Study’s guidelines hint, could easily have contributed to the confusion surrounding the matter of debate. The New testament is a ‘continuation’ of the story, a ‘sequel’ of the telling of the life of the Lord (Father, Son, and Holy Ghost…)… It is as if a group of writers’ sat down to record the magnificence of this story, as writers’ of today would be inspired to tell any great true life story (and to believe this is a matter of Faith…)… BUT, perhaps, these writers’ made their lives easier by saying, ‘This group in the red corner shalt write that chapter, and whence they are done, that group over there in the blue corner shalt begin work on the second of the Telling…’… Like a two-parter being made of a television show by a company of writers’ and producers’, the work was split, or deemed unfinished by the second group who stumbled upon the story, and so, was added to… Of course, some ‘loop-holes’ and ‘bloopers’ may appear! It happens in the telling of all great stories to be told, fact or fictional, grounded in the reality or the fantastical… And, as ever, it is up to the viewers’ of free mind and will to choose what to believe, which to base their appreciation and understanding on, and that which it is their right to disregard… Interpretation is, and has proven to be, with the Bible, the name of the ‘game’ in so many ways… Each letter of every word, and each sentence of every verse that goes into the completion of a chapter, all of it is a thread of the story… And, the Lord, sometimes, I fancy, puts these discontinuities in, so that we may rise above and overcome them, so that we are made to think, and accept, and stay true to the general and most important message of the Bible; (as members of the Human Race -His people- Learned of His Ways…) to embrace our fellow man. Perhaps, that is Why the Lord chose us? He wanted to see if we could get the balance between thinking for ourselves, and encompassing all the possibilities, with a developing moral core, born of all the right things… Despite the differing styles, interpretations, discontinuities, etc, which are often seen as depreciating obstacles on the one true path, a convergence of all the others’… He chose his Disciples, Prophets, Apostles, teachers and preachers, ALL, precisely because He KNEW/KNOWS the ‘predictability’ of our essence, our instinct, our Human Nature… He knew, or hoped, and still hopes, that we would do, naturally, without realising, what He had hoped when unfolding the story to be told… It is all part of the Plan, perhaps??? That, despite everything, we ‘get it’ in the end, and then will come the time when we realise that our own world and our own selves can become reflections/ingredients in creating the Garden of Eden we so foolishly demolished before… Because, what I think God might really hope for us, is that, with the ‘wholeness’ of his teachings, we create building blocks to birth a 2nd Paradise, an extension of His Kingdom… A Reflection of His Teachings, of the Word… That we grasp what really is possible, is, musing, His Hope for us… The building of this reflection, this extension of His Kingdom Paradise, the fact that we realised it is possible, and, therefore, chose to and are live (ing) in it (or choosing to live in it meaning that we have realised the possibility of it! I.E we have REALISED it..!)… This would mean that we have fulfilled his reason for Creating us…