A few reflections about Yeshua's Davidic bloodline starting from the Gospel of Mark

N.B: The subject I am speaking about is very complex. On some points, it requires rabbinic expertise and probably access to ancient resources from the 1st century. In no way I do pretend to be an expert. I confess my ignorance on many points. No matter if the arguments and sources quoted in this article appear to be convincing or not, I know that Yeshua is the Messiah of Israel and as such, Maschiach ben David. Of that I am sure, for He encountered my path. 

Yeshua, our Messiah never encouraged people to recite verses like parrots. On the contrary, He is always appealing to people's intelligence and pushes them to question Scriptures.
The Jewish mind perfectly knows that Scriptures are aimed at debatting, which also often allows a wide range of interpretations, depending, of course, on the portion of Scripture one is studying and on the specific context it refers to.
In Mark, Chapter 12, verses 35 to 37, Yeshua raises an important question:

"How can the scholars say that the Maschiach is the Son of David? 
Did not David say by the Holy Spirit ( Tehilim 110:1): "Hashem said to my master: "sit at my right hand until I make your enemies your footstool."
David himself calls him " master", so how can he be his son?"


The words above are a clear allusion to our Messiah's Davidic ancestry.

• Even blind people and foreigners called Him "Son of David"

The Gospels report ( Luke 18:28; Mark 10:47 and Matthew 20:29) the story Yeshua healing a blind man. To be heard, the man shouted out loudly: "Yeshua, Son of David, mercy me!"

There is another report of the woman from Kena'an requesting deliverance from demons for her daughter:

"A Kena'ani woman was coming out from these regions, saying:

Be gracious, my master, son of David, because my daughter is terribly afflicted by a demon" Matthew 15:22 Delitzsch Hebrew Gospels

• During his encounter with the angel, Yosef, Yeshua's adoptive father, is called: "Son of David" as well. This is indeed a detail of importance.

Yosef was thinking about repudiating Miryam secretly, but an angel apostrophed him in a dream:

"He was thinking this way, but then an angel appeared to him in a dream, saying: "Yosef, son of David! Do not be afraid to take Miryam your wife, for what has been formed within her is from the Holy Spirit."

Note that the angel is calling Miryam "wife" while she is engaged, and this is no coincidence. 

A Jewish ceremony of engagement known as Kiddushin is as binding as marriage. It is a very SERIOUS matter. When two people are engaged, they are promised to each other and should respect their engagement. Yosef thought that he had been betrayed and he intended to secretly repudiate Miryam ( of whom he thought she had been guilty of adultery). You will learn more about the subject from the following resource.

However the angel will confirm what Miryam probably already told Yosef before, that she kept pure and that the holy being (Yeshua) who was conceived is of the Holy Spirit.

• As a matter of fact: after Yeshua was born, Yosef and Miryam had a true marriage. They were husband and wife to each other. Officially, Yeshua was named "Yeshua ben Yosef", and as such, He inherited his adoptive father's lineage.

In the town of Nazareth, Yeshua was considered as Yosef's son. We can notice it from the derogatory statements people are making about Yeshua at the synagogue of Nazareth, after he read the prophetic scroll of Isaiah:

"Where did this man get this wisdom and these mighty works? Is not this the carpenter's son? Is not his mother called Miryam? And are not his brothers Yaa'kov, Yosef, Shim'on and Yehudah? And are not all his sisters with us?" Matthew 13:54-55

We can assume that, Nazareth being a little village in the first century, that gossips probably circulated about Yeshua's virgin birth. Some people were probably in disbelief, while some others probably also never heard about the miraculous event and Gabriel's visitation to Miryam. But everybody would consider Yeshua as the " carpenter's son", so Yosef's son.
His civil name was Yeshua ben Yosef.
Through his bloodline, Yosef was a descendant of King David.

However, Yosef's genealogy, as shown in the Gospel of Matthew is quite puzzling, because it clearly shows that Yosef was a descendant of king Jeconiah, the cursed king ( Jeremiah 22: 24-30). This detail would immediately disqualify Yosef to claim King David's throne.
It also means that none of his descendants would be able to.
However, the following article offers a specific resolution to king Jeconiah's curse.
One  other main objection about Yeshua being entitled to David's throne in orthodox Judaism is that Yeshua being Miryam's son and not Yosef's son in the flesh, Yeshua could not claim Yosef's Davidic bloodline anyway.

The Torah determines one's Jewish identity bu the mother, yet tribal membership proceeds from the father. 
However, when the father is childless, the person that is closest to him will inherit from him.
Here are a few examples of exceptions:

• Had Abraham died before having children, Eleazar of Damascus would have been the legitimate successor for Abraham's kingdom, despite the absence of genetic link between the two men.
• Two of Yosef'sons ( in Genesis) were adopted by Yaa'kov and inherited from him.
• we must also be aware of the law of levirate (Deuteronomy 25:5) that allows a dead, childless man's brother to marry his widow in order to have children.  These children will be entitled to the brother's inheritance. Some Messianic believers have assumed that the two different genealogies in Luke and Matthew are both about Yosef, but that "Heli" in Luke is probably the deceased brother.

However, another Messianic person pointed out in his article that Miryam was called "daughter of Heli" in the Talmud ( I was unable to find the Talmudic reference).

Have a look at the arguments he develops in his article.

Prophecies about the Messiah's Davidic bloodline

The Tanach contains very clear prophecies on this subject. Here are a few:

• "Behold, the day come, said the Lord, that I will raise unto David a righteous shoot, and he shall reign as king and prosper, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land." Jeremiah 23:5
• "And I will set up one shepherd over them, and he shall feed them, even my servant David, he shall feed them and he shall be their shepherd." Ezekiel 34:23
• "And there shall come forth a shoot out of the stock of Jesse and a twig shall grow forth out of his roots." Isaiah 11:1

Finally, here is Hashem's prophecy to King David:

"When your days are fulfilled, and you shall sleep with your fathers, I will set up a seed after you that shall proceed out of your body, and I will establish his kingdom." 2 Samuel 7:12

Jewish gematria: David ben Yishai and Yeshua, a perfect match

According to you, what are the odds for David ben Yishai and Yeshua to be a perfect match in gematria? 

While doing my research about Yeshua's Davidic lineage, I came across the image posted above. I had prayed for Yeshua to help me in my quest and the image just showed up on google.

Maschiach ben David, which is spoken of in the 15 th blessing of the Amidah, refers to our Adon Yeshua

It becomes very obvious that the 15th blessing is about Yeshua once we replace "Salvation' with its very Hebrew meaning, Yeshua.

"Speedily cause the offspring of David, your servant to flourish and lift up his glory by your divine help because we wait for your YESHUA all the day.

Blessed are you, o Lord, who causes the strength of YESHUA to flourish".

Blessed be Yeshua, the Son of David, our Messiah, for ever and ever.

Amen

Copyright© by Isabelle Esling