Carson
In Eastern countries then, as they still do now, parents arranged marriages for their children. This was the case between Mary and Joseph. They would have followed this custom. There was no such thing in the Bible as the modern concept of "falling in love," or "dating." Parents of the Bride were very careful to look for a suitable husband for their daughter, and on the other side parents of the Bridegroom were very careful to look for a suitable bride for their son. All this can be borne out in Genesis chapter 24, as Abraham's servant goes out in search for a bride for Isaac (who incidentally does not marry until 40 years of age). Patience is a virtue. The parents would find out all they could about the prospective spouse of their child. This would even include the family history--their genealogy. What kind of family did he/she come from? Who were their ancestors? This was all important information that both Joseph and Mary would not have been ignorant of.
They would have been knowledgeable of the information given in the genealogies in Matthew one (of Joseph), and in Luke two (of Mary), not because it is written there, but because it was their obligation to know about these things before they got married. It would have been common information to them.
Now look at the information given. First look at the information given in Matthew--the genealogy of Joseph:
Joseph was indeed of the line of David. That is why they went to Bethlehem, the city of David when the census was taken (Luke 2:1-4).
But Joseph and Mary knew that any child born of Joseph would never be able to inherit the throne of David. That would be an impossibility. You see, back in the days of Jechoniah's reign, Jechoniah had brought a curse upon himself:
Jeremiah 22:24-30
24 As I live, saith the LORD, though Coniah the son of Jehoiakim king of Judah were the signet upon my right hand, yet would I pluck thee thence;
25 And I will give thee into the hand of them that seek thy life, and into the hand of them whose face thou fearest, even into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, and into the hand of the Chaldeans.
26 And I will cast thee out, and thy mother that bare thee, into another country, where ye were not born; and there shall ye die.
27 But to the land whereunto they desire to return, thither shall they not return.
28 Is this man Coniah a despised broken idol? is he a vessel wherein is no pleasure? wherefore are they cast out, he and his seed, and are cast into a land which they know not?
29 O earth, earth, earth, hear the word of the LORD.
30 Thus saith the LORD, Write ye this man childless, a man that shall not prosper in his days: for no man of his seed shall prosper, sitting upon the throne of David, and ruling any more in Judah.
--Verse 30, in the strongest language possible, says that the descendants of Jeconiah will be childless, that his seed shall not prosper, none of his seed shall prosper, and none shall ever sit on the throne of Judah. This was the curse against Jechoniah.
In 2Sam.7:16, the Lord had made a promise to David: "Thine house and thy kingdom shall be established forever before thee: thy throne shall be established forever."
Several generations Jechoniah was cursed. This physical link was cursed by God.
Joseph, the legal father of Jesus was of this cursed line.
Mat.1:12 "And after they were brought to Babylon, Jechonias begat Salathiel; and Salathiel begat Zorobabel;"
The only solution to this problem was that Mary herself was a descendent of Nathan, another son of David (Luke 3:31), who was not of that cursed line.
There was no other way that the Lord Jesus could have escaped that curse. The fulfillment of Isaiah's prophecy of the virgin birth is the only way the Lord could be true to His promise to David and His curse on Jehoiachim.
Gabriel addresses Mary with "Hail!" which was not an uncommon greeting.
He says that Jesus "will be called the Son of the Most High," which signifies divine sonship--a quality that the Davidic Kings beginning with Solomon shared.
The Lord God will give Jesus the throne of His father David.
He will have a "kingdom" of which "there will be no end."
It is not any wonder that Mary exclaimed:
Luke 1:34 Then said Mary unto the angel, How shall this be, seeing I know not a man?
--She did not know a man, could not know a man, that would be a rightful heir to the throne of David, and whose descendant, as previously described to her would be:
Luke 1:32 He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David:
--There was no possibility that Joseph could father such a child. Not just any one could do this. She did not know a man who could do this. She was completely bewildered: Why? She had not know a man sexually, period. She had not known a man, and could not know a man of the right calibre--that would produce a child that would the rightful heir to the throne of David, because Joseph was of a cursed line.
DHK
Your logic, Carson, has a major fallacy in it, as it does not take in all the relevant Scripture here. If Mary had sexual relations with Joseph she would not have produced a son that would have produced as son who would have been called "the Son of the Most High," signifying divine sonship, and Mary knew this.
In Eastern countries then, as they still do now, parents arranged marriages for their children. This was the case between Mary and Joseph. They would have followed this custom. There was no such thing in the Bible as the modern concept of "falling in love," or "dating." Parents of the Bride were very careful to look for a suitable husband for their daughter, and on the other side parents of the Bridegroom were very careful to look for a suitable bride for their son. All this can be borne out in Genesis chapter 24, as Abraham's servant goes out in search for a bride for Isaac (who incidentally does not marry until 40 years of age). Patience is a virtue. The parents would find out all they could about the prospective spouse of their child. This would even include the family history--their genealogy. What kind of family did he/she come from? Who were their ancestors? This was all important information that both Joseph and Mary would not have been ignorant of.
They would have been knowledgeable of the information given in the genealogies in Matthew one (of Joseph), and in Luke two (of Mary), not because it is written there, but because it was their obligation to know about these things before they got married. It would have been common information to them.
Now look at the information given. First look at the information given in Matthew--the genealogy of Joseph:
Joseph was indeed of the line of David. That is why they went to Bethlehem, the city of David when the census was taken (Luke 2:1-4).
But Joseph and Mary knew that any child born of Joseph would never be able to inherit the throne of David. That would be an impossibility. You see, back in the days of Jechoniah's reign, Jechoniah had brought a curse upon himself:
Jeremiah 22:24-30
24 As I live, saith the LORD, though Coniah the son of Jehoiakim king of Judah were the signet upon my right hand, yet would I pluck thee thence;
25 And I will give thee into the hand of them that seek thy life, and into the hand of them whose face thou fearest, even into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, and into the hand of the Chaldeans.
26 And I will cast thee out, and thy mother that bare thee, into another country, where ye were not born; and there shall ye die.
27 But to the land whereunto they desire to return, thither shall they not return.
28 Is this man Coniah a despised broken idol? is he a vessel wherein is no pleasure? wherefore are they cast out, he and his seed, and are cast into a land which they know not?
29 O earth, earth, earth, hear the word of the LORD.
30 Thus saith the LORD, Write ye this man childless, a man that shall not prosper in his days: for no man of his seed shall prosper, sitting upon the throne of David, and ruling any more in Judah.
--Verse 30, in the strongest language possible, says that the descendants of Jeconiah will be childless, that his seed shall not prosper, none of his seed shall prosper, and none shall ever sit on the throne of Judah. This was the curse against Jechoniah.
In 2Sam.7:16, the Lord had made a promise to David: "Thine house and thy kingdom shall be established forever before thee: thy throne shall be established forever."
Several generations Jechoniah was cursed. This physical link was cursed by God.
Joseph, the legal father of Jesus was of this cursed line.
Mat.1:12 "And after they were brought to Babylon, Jechonias begat Salathiel; and Salathiel begat Zorobabel;"
The only solution to this problem was that Mary herself was a descendent of Nathan, another son of David (Luke 3:31), who was not of that cursed line.
There was no other way that the Lord Jesus could have escaped that curse. The fulfillment of Isaiah's prophecy of the virgin birth is the only way the Lord could be true to His promise to David and His curse on Jehoiachim.
Gabriel addresses Mary with "Hail!" which was not an uncommon greeting.
He says that Jesus "will be called the Son of the Most High," which signifies divine sonship--a quality that the Davidic Kings beginning with Solomon shared.
The Lord God will give Jesus the throne of His father David.
He will have a "kingdom" of which "there will be no end."
It is not any wonder that Mary exclaimed:
Luke 1:34 Then said Mary unto the angel, How shall this be, seeing I know not a man?
--She did not know a man, could not know a man, that would be a rightful heir to the throne of David, and whose descendant, as previously described to her would be:
Luke 1:32 He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David:
--There was no possibility that Joseph could father such a child. Not just any one could do this. She did not know a man who could do this. She was completely bewildered: Why? She had not know a man sexually, period. She had not known a man, and could not know a man of the right calibre--that would produce a child that would the rightful heir to the throne of David, because Joseph was of a cursed line.
DHK
