The Editor's Page
Gabriel’s Announcement To Mary (1)

“...Gabriel was sent...To a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary...And the angel said...behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS. He shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David....” (Lk. 1:26-32).

Question: In what sense was David the father of Jesus? “Concerning His Son Jesus Christ our Lord, which was made of the seed of David according to the flesh...” (Rom. 1:3). If the genealogy in Luke 3:23-38 is Mary’s as many believe, then Luke recorded the lineage of Jesus through her back to David. Many times people called Jesus the “...son of David...” (Lk. 18:38,39; Mk. 10:48). In Mark 12:35-37, Jesus asked, “How say the scribes that Christ is the son of David? For David himself said by the Holy Ghost, The Lord said to my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, till I make thine enemies thy footstool. David therefore himself calleth him Lord; and whence is he then his son?” In Heb. 2:14-17, it is said of Christ: “Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same...For verily he took not on him the nature of angels; but he took on him the seed of Abraham. Wherefore in all things it behoved him to be made like unto his brethren....”

The apostle Paul, who by the Holy Spirit said he was of seed of Abraham (II Cor. 11:22; Rom. 11:1), was one of the brethren Jesus was made like unto. If we can find how Paul was of the seed of Abraham, we can know how Jesus was of the seed of Abraham and how David was Jesus’ father. How was Paul of the seed of Abraham? The writer of Hebrews said, “Furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live?” For many years gospel preachers have correctly used this passage to show that the spirit of man comes from God and the flesh (body) of man comes from his parents. How was Paul of the seed of Abraham? He was of the fleshly lineage of Abraham. Did the spirit of Paul (the part of him made in God’s image) come from the fleshly lineage of Abraham? No, it came from God for He is the Father (creator and source) of spirits (Heb.12:9) and forms the spirit of man within him (Zech. 12:1). Did his spirit have anything to do with his being of the seed (lineage) of Abraham? NO!

If Paul was of the seed of Abraham, and that seed pertained to his body (flesh) rather than his spirit, what about Jesus Christ? When Jesus took on the seed of Abraham, what did He take on? He took on a fleshly body which was of the physical line of Abraham and David through Mary, but not through Joseph. Did the spirit of Jesus come through the physical lineage of Abraham, David, and Mary? No! The spirit of Jesus (The Word, John 1:1) came from heaven to dwell in that body (John 1:14). This is how David is the father of Jesus and Jesus is the son of David.

This harmonizes with “...a body hast thou prepared me” (Heb. 10:5). Notice three things:

1. “Thou” refers to God the Father

2. “me” refers to The Word (John 1:1)

3. “body” refers to that which descended from Abraham (Lk. 3:34) and David (Lk. 3:31) through the virgin Mary (Lk.1,2).

What “being of the seed of Abraham” and “being the son of David” do not involve: They do not involve a fleshly body descended from Abraham through David and the virgin Mary PLUS a spirit created by God, in His image, and formed in that body for The Word to inhabit (John 1:1-14). God did not make a person, like Adam (body, soul, and spirit), for the word to indwell. If God did make a man (body, soul, and spirit) for The Word to indwell, then questions arise: What is wrong with saying there were two spirits in the body of Jesus Christ? How do you know which spirit did what? What is the identity of the created spirit? Which spirit was tempted (Mt. 4)? Which spirit laid down its life for sinful men? Where is that spirit today?

In the body of Jesus Christ, there was only one spirit: The Word (John 1:1).