Final answer:
The genealogy of Jesus is detailed in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke, with Matthew presenting 42 generations in three sets of 14, and Luke listing 77 generations. Both accounts are theological in nature and seek to establish Jesus' Davidic lineage.
Step-by-step explanation:
Genealogy of Jesus in the Gospels The genealogy of Jesus is structured in the Gospels according to two accounts provided by Matthew and Luke, which differ in some details. Matthew’s genealogy, found in the first chapter of his Gospel, traces the ancestry of Jesus from Abraham to Joseph, his legal father, presenting a total of 42 generations divided into three sets of 14. The significance of this number is often attributed to the practice of gematria, a system of assigning numerical value to a word or phrase, in which the name ‘David’ sums to 14. Luke, on the other hand, traces the ancestry of Jesus from Joseph all the way back to Adam, listing 77 generations. The genealogies underscore the belief that Jesus, as the Messiah, is a fulfillment of Jewish prophecy, rooted in the history of the Jewish people. While both genealogies serve to establish Jesus' Davidic line, they also reflect the theological purposes of their respective authors within the context of the Christian tradition.