Whether Christ Took Flesh of the Seed of David?
Objection 1: It would seem that Christ did not take flesh of the seed
of David. For Matthew, in tracing the genealogy of Christ, brings it
down to Joseph. But Joseph was not Christ's father, as shown above
(Q. 28, A. 1, ad 1, 2). Therefore it seems that Christ was not
descended from David.
Obj. 2: Further, Aaron was of the tribe of Levi, as related Ex. 6.
Now Mary the Mother of Christ is called the cousin of Elizabeth, who
was a daughter of Aaron, as is clear from Luke 1:5, 36. Therefore,
since David was of the tribe of Juda, as is shown Matt. 1, it seems
that Christ was not descended from David.
Obj. 3: Further, it is written of Jechonias (Jer. 22:30): "Write this
man barren . . . for there shall not be a man of his seed that shall
sit upon the throne of David." Whereas of Christ it is written (Isa.
9:7): "He shall sit upon the throne of David." Therefore Christ was
not of the seed of Jechonias: nor, consequently, of the family of
David, since Matthew traces the genealogy from David through
Jechonias.
_On the contrary,_ It is written (Rom. 1:3): "Who was made to him of
the seed of David according to the flesh."
_I answer that,_ Christ is said to have been the son especially of
two of the patriarchs, Abraham and David, as is clear from Matt. 1:1.
There are many reasons for this. First to these especially was the
promise made concerning Christ. For it was said to Abraham (Gen.
22:18): "In thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed":
which words the Apostle expounds of Christ (Gal. 3:16): "To Abraham
were the promises made and to his seed. He saith not, 'And to his
seeds' as of many; but as of one, 'And to thy seed,' which is
Christ." And to David it was said (Ps. 131:11): "Of the fruit of thy
womb I will set upon thy throne." Wherefore the Jewish people,
receiving Him with kingly honor, said (Matt. 21:9): "Hosanna to the
Son of David."
A second reason is because Christ was to be king, prophet, and
priest. Now Abraham was a priest; which is clear from the Lord saying
unto him (Gen. 15:9): "Take thee [Vulg.: 'Me'] a cow of three years
old," etc. He was also a prophet, according to Gen. 20:7: "He is a
prophet; and he shall pray for thee." Lastly David was both king and
prophet.
A third reason is because circumcision had its beginning in Abraham:
while in David God's election was most clearly made manifest,
according to 1 Kings 13:14: "The Lord hath sought Him a man according
to His own heart." And consequently Christ is called in a most
special way the Son of both, in order to show that He came for the
salvation both of the circumcised and of the elect among the Gentiles.
Reply Obj. 1: Faustus the Manichean argued thus, in the desire to
prove that Christ is not the Son of David, because He was not
conceived of Joseph, in whom Matthew's genealogy terminates.
Augustine answered this argument thus (Contra Faust. xxii): "Since
the same evangelist affirms that Joseph was Mary's husband and that
Christ's mother was a virgin, and that Christ was of the seed of
Abraham, what must we believe, but that Mary was not a stranger to
the family of David: and that it is not without reason that she was
called the wife of Joseph, by reason of the close alliance of their
hearts, although not mingled in the flesh; and that the genealogy is
traced down to Joseph rather than to her by reason of the dignity of
the husband? So therefore we believe that Mary was also of the family
of David: because we believe the Scriptures, which assert both that
Christ was of the seed of David according to the flesh, and that Mary
was His Mother, not by sexual intercourse but retaining her
virginity." For as Jerome says on Matt. 1:18: "Joseph and Mary were
of the same tribe: wherefore he was bound by law to marry her as she
was his kinswoman. Hence it was that they were enrolled together at
Bethlehem, as being descended from the same stock."
Reply Obj. 2: Gregory of Nazianzum answers this objection by saying
that it happened by God's will, that the royal family was united to
the priestly race, so that Christ, who is both king and priest,
should be born of both according to the flesh. Wherefore Aaron, who
was the first priest according to the Law, married a wife of the
tribe of Juda, Elizabeth, daughter of Aminadab. It is therefore
possible that Elizabeth's father married a wife of the family of
David, through whom the Blessed Virgin Mary, who was of the family of
David, would be a cousin of Elizabeth. Or conversely, and with
greater likelihood, that the Blessed Mary's father, who was of the
family of David, married a wife of the family of Aaron.
Again, it may be said with Augustine (Contra Faust. xxii) that if
Joachim, Mary's father, was of the family of Aaron (as the heretic
Faustus pretended to prove from certain apocryphal writings), then we
must believe that Joachim's mother, or else his wife, was of the
family of David, so long as we say that Mary was in some way
descended from David.
Reply Obj. 3: As Ambrose says on Luke 3:25, this prophetical passage
does not deny that a posterity will be born of the seed of Jechonias.
And so Christ is of his seed. Neither is the fact that Christ reigned
contrary to prophecy, for He did not reign with worldly honor; since
He declared: "My kingdom is not of this world."
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