Mary, the mother of Jesus, was an ordinary but remarkable Jewish woman. God specifically chose her to give birth to Jesus, the Messiah of the tribe of Judah and of the lineage of David.
Luke 1:26-28,31,35: (NIV) “In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. The angel went to her and said, Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you. … You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. … 35…The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God.”
Both Mary and Joseph were direct descendants of Judah from King David’s line (Genesis 49:10, 2 Samuel 7:16, Matthew 1:1). Luke 1:32 indicates: “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.”
Luke 3:23-37 provides the names of the fathers from his mother Mary’s lineage, but the mother’s names are not listed. There is no biblical mention of the mother of Mary. However, like every living woman on earth Mary was directly descended from Eve in fulfillment of the promise in Genesis 3:15 that, “the seed of the woman would bruise (crush) the serpent’s head.”
However, the Matthew 1:1-19 account of Joseph’s lineage does include four mothers – Tamar, Rahab, Ruth and Bathsheba, perhaps in special mention of their historical roles.
Additional Resources about the lineage of Jesus:
Christian Questions Podcast
Episode #1312: “How Do We Know Jesus Is the Promised Messiah? (Part I)”
Jewish skepticism and key Old Testament identifiers of the Messiah
Preview Video
CQ Rewind Show Notes
Episode #1123 “Can Our Sins Ever Produce Blessings?”
Defining what brings us God’s favor and what does not
Preview Video
CQ Rewind Show Notes
