The Ancient Witnesses

176 • The Ancient Witnesses: A Journey to Discover Our Sacred Roots

He asked me to compare this with the genealogy of Jesus in Luke’s Gospel, which begins Now Jesus Himself began His ministry at about thirty years of age, being (as was supposed) the son of Joseph, the son of Heli, the son of Matthat, the son of Levi… 3 “The two genealogies follow a different order,” I said. “Truly,” said the Bishop, “Luke begins with Joseph and traces his line all the way back to Adam, but Matthew begins with Abraham and goes forward in time down to Joseph.” “Some of the names are different too,” I added. “Agreed,” said Augustine, “Luke mentions Levi and many other priests, but not King Solomon. And you will find David’s name mentioned only once in Luke.” “Here in Matthew, David is mentioned three times, at least once as David the king” I said. “Therefore you can see,” said Augustine, “that Matthew traces Jesus’ genealogy through Solomon the king, following the order of the kings. But Luke is more concerned with the priestly line and character of the Lord. Both Gospels are needed, for the Lord Jesus Christ is the one true king and the one true priest—as king he rules us, as priest he atones for us.” “That’s interesting!” I said. “There’s more,” said Augustine, “for, in following the order of the kings, Matthew has preserved their mystical number.” “What number?” asked Cesar. “Notice,” explained Augustine, “that Matthew lists forty names, excluding Christ himself, spanning forty

3 Luke 3:23-24.