9. Grace

9.  Coniah/Jehoachin/Jeconiah (Shealtiel) 

Matthew and Luke's genealogies diverge from David until they mysteriously converge again with the obscure Shealtiel and his son Zerubbabel. Was Shealtiel the son of Neri, as Luke suggests, or of Jeconiah, as Matthew claims? Add into the mix an obscure prophecy of Jeremiah, and the mystery deepens. 

Jeconiah/Jehoachin/Coniah was one of the last kings of Judah, before the Babylonians effectively ended the Davidic kingship. Jeconiah himself ended his life in exile in Babylon. Jeremiah told him that he would be remembered as childless and that none of his children would become a Davidic king. 

Scripture is silent on the answer to this conundrum, although we've already considered the tradition that Matthew's is Joseph's family tree rather than Jesus's biological virgin mother Mary in Luke. That still doesn't explain why the family trees converge on Shealtiel and Zerubbabel. Personally, I don't think it beyond the realms of possibility that Jeconiah adopted Shealtiel as the orphaned son of Neri. 

In that case, Matthew would record Jesus's official, legal lineage; whilst Luke would record his actual biological line. However we seek to understand Jesus's genealogy, it is admittedly one of the more difficult passages in Scripture. I'll let my old pastor Geoff Thomas have the final word on the matter: 'a useful distinction is made between the absence of errors in the Bible (which we affirm), and the absence of difficulties (which we deny).' 

'God, we admit that there's portions of Scripture that we find hard to understand. Thank You however that it is understandable enough to be trustworthy. May we trust in You as You deserve, for Jesus's sake, amen' 

Do you ever assume you're beyond God's grace? How does the story of Jeconiah encourage you? 

Matthew 1:12, Luke 3:27, Jeremiah 22:24-30, 

2 Kings 25:27‭-‬30