If the Messiah is supposed to be a descendant of King David, how is any Jew today going to prove that they are a direct descendant of David, since all the genealogical records have been destroyed?
The following is an excellent video proving that Joseph and Mary were both direct descendants of David.
In the books of Matthew and Luke two different genealogies are purposely presented.
From Joseph to King David, Matthew gives an incomplete genealogy of Joseph, simply proving that Joseph was a direct descendant of David. (For example, Matthew omits three consecutive kings: Ahaziah, Jehoash, and Amaziah. We should not be surprised at this since they were wicked kings.)
The Jews are called sons of Abraham. This means nothing more than that they are descendants of Abraham. (It does not mean that Jews are lying about who their real father is.) Clearly Matthew's genealogy is incomplete, showing only the significant people.
Luke gives the genealogy of Mary going back to King David, showing that she was a direct descendant of David.
“Now Jesus himself was about thirty years old when he began his ministry. He was the son, so it was thought, of Joseph,” (from the genealogy found in Luke 3)
“...so it was thought”
If you are trying to prove Jesus was a direct descendant of David, and you’re also saying his was a virgin birth, you’d have to prove his ancestry through his mother.
The first few chapters of Luke tell the story of Jesus birth from Mary’s perspective (Matthew clearly tells it from Joseph’s). Since much of the beginning of Luke is about Mary, it makes sense that the genealogy in Luke is Mary’s.
This leads me to a question for my Jewish brothers.
If Mary was an only child, would Joseph be considered the legal heir of Heli (Mary’s Father) according to Jewish law? And if so, would that make Joseph like an adopted son of Heli? (See Luke 3:23)
In the video they mention that King David is counted twice in Matthew. This makes sense since he is the central figure in the genealogy.
If I have a grandson, will he be the sixth generation from my grandfather? Or the fifth?
Let’s count. My grandfather (1), my dad (2), me (3).
Ok, so there’s three to me. How many to my grandson? Me (1), my son (2), my grandson (3).
I got six because I was counted twice. Matthew got 14 generations by counting King David twice.
If you’re a Jew, you owe it to yourself to look into Yeshua. Don’t be like the man who missed his train and is still waiting for it to come.
Jews and Christians can learn a lot from each other (see here, see also).
What Jews and Christians can learn from each other