Question 2 – Who is Joseph’s father? Is it Heli or Jacob?

Luke 3:23 NKJV - "Now Jesus Himself began His ministry at about thirty years of age, being as was supposed the son of Joseph, the son of Heli"

Matthew 1:16 NKJV - "And Jacob begot Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus who is called Christ."

Answer:

According to Mat 1:16, we know that Jacob begot Joseph. So the paternal father of Joseph is Jacob. As per Luke 3:23 Joseph is considered the son of Heli like Lord Jesus is son of Joseph though Joseph is not paternal father of Jesus, in the same way Heli is not the paternal father of Joseph, but considered as son of Heli.

Both Mathew and Luke wrote genealogy of Jesus and had written same ancestral lineage up to David and then differed.  Mathew’s is about genealogy considering Joseph. But Luke’s gospel is about genealogy considering Mary. This is written like this by the inspiration of Holy Spirit to avoid questions about Jesus birth in the dynasty of David. Both gospels state that Jesus is born in the dynasty of David in the tribe of Judah as per Mathew 1:2, Luke 3:34, Mathew 1:6, Luke 3:32.

Heli must be considered as father of Mary. According to the customs and traditions of Judah, the son-in-law is also addressed as the son. They give value to the son-in-law as the son.  Saul addressed his son-in-law as David, my son, in many times in the Holy Bible. Based on this, Heli is the father-in-law of Jacob.

                Luke should have written Mary’s name instead of Joseph but in general genealogy considers only male, that is the reason for using Joseph’s name in place of Mary.