Joseph is a descendant of King David but is Mary also a descendant of David? If no, why is Jesus Christ called 'son Davids' if he was 'brought' by the Holy Spirit and if Joseph was not involved? Does 'son Davids' only mean the spiritual aspect or is there another aspect as well?

I apologize for the unusual words I used but I don't know the proper ones.

Thanks, Franz

-- Franz Waldhaeusl (waldhaeusl@euro-photo.net), April 25, 2000

Answers

Response to Why is Jesus called son Davids?

Dear Franz,
Son of David --singular--
Was known as the Messianic address, it means figuratively: Messias--

By God's own Will, the real and only Chosen One, ''Annointed'' Holy One of God is a descendant of David the King of Israel, father of King Solomon.

Jesus is descended by the flesh-- from this royal line. Both through his foster-father St. Joseph, and through his mother's line. He is nevertheless God's only-begotten Son, conceived by the Holy Ghost. This mystery is revealed to us, not by Mary or Joseph or the Apostles. (In which case, anyone who cared to dispute Christ's divinity could say it was an invention of men.) It is revealed in the Holy Gospel of Luke-- by the word of the Archangel Gabriel; speaking on behalf of God the Father. Angels are ''messengers.''

All the faithful people of Israel expected the promised Messias to be a son of the line of David. It was promised them in the Old Testament prophesy, and also the city of His birth, which is Bethlehem --called the City of David. Therefore, when He was addressed by this name, ''Son Of David''-- they were declaring Him the Messias.

He Himself knew He was the Son of God and the Christ. But all the time He kept the secret to Himself, He called Himself ''The Son Of Man''; which is another way of saying, ''The Promised One, The Messias.'' These titles were indirect ways of naming Him the Messias; He did not wish to be crowned a King in this world, so it was kept ''low key''-- not by the wishes of the people, but by His own preference. Yet, when the people addressed Him openly as ''Son of David''-- He knew and accepted it as the clear expression of their faith in Him as the Messias. They were calling Him --CHRIST /

-- Eugene Chavez (rechavez@popmail.ucsd.edu), April 25, 2000.

Response to Why is Jesus called son Davids?

Hello, Franz and Eugene.

Concerning whether or not the Blessed Virgin Mary was of the House of David ...
I have found that Bible scholars and theologians are of divided opinions on this. The Bible itself does not state explicitly to which house Mary belonged. The Church does not formally teach one way or the other about her roots in the Catechism, and I doubt that it taught formally about it in prior centuries.

It is clear that St. Joseph was a direct descendant of King David, because the angel calls him "son of David" in Matthew 1:20. Scholars who doubt that Mary was of the House of David say that Jesus was a "son of David" through his adoption by St. Joseph, an adoption that was a family secret. Jesus was thought, by His neighbors, to be the "blood son" of Joseph. But, even if they had known that He was not, He would have been called "son of David," so strong was the respect for sonship by adoption. These scholars call to mind the fact that Mary's kinswoman, St. Elizabeth, and her husband, St. Zachary (Zechariah), were both of the house of Levi (the priestly class), which they think indicates that Mary's parents may have both been of that house too. What better combination, they ask, for Jesus (prophet, priest, king par excellence) to have as earthly parents a man descended from the greatest king, David, and a woman descended from the line of the greatest priest and prophet, Aaron and Moses?

Those who believe that Mary was of the House of David say that they see hints of this in certain Gospel passages [for example, that Jesus was "descended from David according to the flesh" (Rom 1:3)], but I believe that they place most of their trust in the second-century Christian text known as the Gospel (or Protoevangelium) of James. This is an apochryphal work (not accepted as inspired by the bishops who established the scriptural Canon around 400 A.D.), which has nonetheless had quite an influence on Catholicism, giving us the names of Mary's parents (Sts. Joachim and Ann) and other ideas considered likely to be true by some of the Fathers of the Church. The Gospel of James explicitly states that Our Lady was a "daughter of David." I believe that supporters of this view state that Joachim was of the Davidic house, while Ann was of the Levitical house (and was thus related to St. Elizabeth).

As of now, I have not been able to make up my mind about this, though I am not letting it trouble me!

God bless you in these beautiful days of lilies.
John

-- J. F. Gecik (jgecik@desc.dla.mil), April 28, 2000.