When Jesus was born, there were no trumpets or fanfare. There were no armed guards protecting the route to His nursery. There were no silk sheets to wrap him in. His mother was not a queen, and his father wasn’t royalty. What scripture does make clear, however, is that His birth satisfied prophecy and aligned Jesus with the will of the Father to act as the atonement of our behalf.

Jesus’ lineage is broken down by the Church of the Great God and explained, “The genealogy in Matthew 1 is clearly that of Joseph, Mary’s husband. Matthew records it for legal purposes. He is writing to prove to the Jews that Jesus is the Messiah, and the Jews’ custom in keeping records is to trace descent through the father. Legally, the Jews of Jesus’ day looked on Jesus as a son of Joseph (John 6:42). Also, Joseph’s lineage is given to emphasize the fact that Jesus had been born of a virgin. Because of a curse that God placed on one of Joseph’s ancestors, Jesus could never sit upon the throne of David if Joseph had been His natural father.

Jechonias (Matthew 1:11-12), called Coniah in Jeremiah 22:24-30, was so evil God cursed him and his descendants, saying, “Write this man down as childless, . . . for none of his descendants shall prosper, sitting on the throne of David, and ruling anymore in Judah” (verse 30). Jeconiah, as his name is spelled in the Old Testament, had children (I Chronicles 3:17), but he was childless insofar as none of his descendants ruled as king over Judah.

How, then, could Jesus be a descendant of David and qualify to sit on the throne? Enter the genealogy in Luke 3, which is Mary’s. According to Jewish usage, Mary’s ancestry is given in her husband’s name. The original Greek merely says Joseph was “of Heli” or Eli (verse 23). In fact, since Joseph’s father is said to be Jacob in Matthew 1:16, Heli is most probably Mary’s father. Joseph, then, is his son-in-law.

Unlike Joseph’s lineage, there was no block in Mary’s genealogy to Jesus sitting on the throne of David. Mary’s descent from David comes through his son Nathan, not Solomon or one of David’s other children (Luke 3:31). To fulfill His promise to establish David’s throne forever, God honored Nathan by making him the ancestor of the promised King who would sit on David’s throne throughout eternity (Luke 1:31-33).

But how could Mary transmit David’s royal inheritance—the right to the throne—to her Son, since all inheritances had to pass through the male line? According to Israel’s law, when a daughter is the only heir, she can inherit her father’s possessions and rights if she marries within her own tribe (Numbers 27:1-8; 36:6-8). There is no record that Mary had any brothers to inherit her father’s possessions and rights. Thus, Joseph became Heli’s heir by marriage to Mary, inheriting the right to rule on David’s throne, even over Judah. This right then passed on to Jesus.

Both genealogies had to be recorded to establish Christ’s right to rule on David’s throne. Joseph’s genealogy shows that Christ was a legal descendant of Jeconiah and thus legally could not sit on the throne of David in the nation Judah by inheriting the right solely through Joseph.

Further, the genealogies prove the virgin birth: The curse on Jeconiah’s line would have passed on to Christ if He were Joseph’s natural son, but He was not—He was the Son of God the Father, begotten by the Holy Spirit.

Jesus was Mary’s son descended from Nathan. Jesus can inherit rule over Judah because of Mary’s marriage to Joseph, whose genealogy shows he was Heli’s son-in-law.

God’s plan and purpose for Jesus’ birth included all of the heritage of Mary, his mother, and Joseph her husband. As seen in scripture neither Mary nor Joseph led sinless lives, their ancestors didn’t lead sinless lives. Jesus, God’s perfect, sinless son was born into the lowliest of states, among sinners, and all of this was according to God’s plan. Though, he wasn’t regarded by the world as the worthy and mighty king that He is, He was regarded by Heaven as such. Scripture tells us that a host of angels announced His birth to the shepherds who then came to worship Him. Later, in Jesus’ life when He was baptized by John, “the Holy Spirit descended in bodily form like a dove upon Him, and a voice came from heaven which said, ‘You are My beloved Son; in You I am well pleased’ (Luke 3:22).” While Jesus’ beginnings were certainly humble, His rule and reign are certainly worthy to be praised. John writes in the book of Revelation (5:13) that, “every creature which is in heaven and on the earth and under the earth and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, I heard saying: ‘Blessing and honor and glory and power Be to Him who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb, forever and ever!”

The week before Jesus’ birth Mary and Joseph were traveling to Bethlehem from Nazareth. “And it came to pass in those days that a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. This census first took place while Quirinius was governing Syria. So all went to be registered, everyone to his own city. Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judea, to the City of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, to be registered with Mary, his betrothed wife, who was with child. So it was, that while they were there, the days were completed for her to be delivered. And she brought forth her firstborn Son, and wrapped Him in swaddling cloths, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn (Luke 2:1-7.).” God, born in a stable, wrapped in rough cloth, and laid in a feeding trough had come to save the world from sin.