I really enjoyed the book From Shadow to Reality. It gave me a more
global perspective for the whole Bible and tied up some loose ends for
me. I did have a question though about something you wrote. At one point,
you wrote that Jesus fulfills the prophecy of coming from the lineage of
Judah through his mother Mary. I had always believed that Mary was from
the lineage of Levi since her cousin Elizabeth is from the family of Aaron
and her husband was a priest (Luke 1:5, Luke 1:36) and that the lineage of
David/Judah was through Joseph (Luke 2:4). Have I read it wrong?

About Mary, as I understand it, Matthew gives the genealogy of
Jesus through Joseph, while Luke gives the genealogy of Jesus through
Mary. When one reads Luke, this is not obvious, but that is the consensus
of scholars who have looked at the genealogies, at least. Anyway, I have
assumed that Elizabeth?s husband was a Levite, but Elizabeth, the cousin
of Mary, was from Judah. I could be wrong, but that is what I have
concluded from my research.

John Oakes