Introduction to the Gospel

Birth and Childhood of Jesus

Examination of the Text

• General
• total of 95 names in combined list from both accounts
• Joseph is normally considered the adoptive father of Jesus, Mary being a virgin according to Matthew 1:18-25.
• Other related genealogies in the Bible
• Genesis 5:1-32
• Genesis 11:10-26
• Ruth 4:18-22
• I Chronicles 1:1-34
• I Chronicles 2:1-15
• I Chronicles 3:5-19
• Haggai 1:2
• Matthew
• Word translated generation can also be translated genesis (vs1)
• Genesis 2:4-7 "generations of the heavens and of the earth..."
• Genesis 5:1 " book of the generations of Adam..."
• Emphasis on Jesus as the long awaited Jewish Messiah
• Four women included
• Thamar (vs 3): Mother of twins Perez and Zerah by her father-in-law
• Rahab (vs 5): Jericho woman who helped the spies
• Ruth (vs 5): Moabite wife of Boaz
• Bathsheba (vs 6): wife of Uriah prior to David
• Two-fold purpose
• show continuity and order of God's purpose among his people
• call of Abraham (vs 2)
• establishment of the kingdom (vs 6-7)
• return from Babylonian exile (vs 11)
• birth of Jesus Christ (vs 16)
• place Jesus in the legal line of the king promised to God's people
• Descendants grouped in 3 sets of 14 each
• obviously incomplete when compared to Old Testament listings
• 3 generations missing after Uzziah (vs 9) according to I Chronicles 3:11-12 (where Uzziah = Ahaziah).
• Stresses continuity between Old Testament and the new work God began in Christ
• Emphasis on the royal line of David
• Psalm 89:3-4
• Psalm 132:11-12
• Acts 2:30
•  It was promised to Abraham that Christ should descend from him (Gen. 12:3;

22:18), and to David that he should descend from him (2 Sa. 7:12; Ps. 89:3, etc.; 132:11); and therefore, unless it can be proved that Jesus is a son of David, and a son of Abraham, we cannot admit him to be the Messiah.
• Luke
• Purpose:
• to establish that Jesus was legally a descendant of David
• to assign Jesus a place in the Jewish branch of the human race

• Luke 3:23 "...being (as was supposed) the son of Joseph..."
• Parenthetical phrase commonly understood as indicating that people merely thought Jesus was the son of Joseph.
• Some people speculate rather that the phrase indicates a confirmation of the opinion that Jesus was the son of Joseph.
• One of the genealogies was that of Mary
• Both genealogies declare themselves to be of Joseph
• Matthew 1:16 "Jacob begat Joseph the husband of Mary..."
• Luke 3:23 "Jesus...son of Joseph, which was the son of Heli..."
• This theory suggests that the lineage in Luke is actually that of Mary, and that the true meaning of the text is that Joseph is the son of Heli by marriage -- that is, Joseph is actually the son-in-law of Heli.
• Genealogy of Mary
• According to church tradition, her parents were Joachim and Anne
• The name Joachim  is a variation of the name Heli (each name includes a variation of the Divine Name -- Yahweh in Joachim, Eli or Eliachim in Heli -- Eliachim, i.e. Jeho-achim). His name means "God Prepares."
• Joachim is believed to have been a descendant of David, thus assuring that Jesus also is of the physical human lineage of the house of David and rightful heir to the Royal Throne.
• Anne is believed to have been a descendant of Aaron, thus assuring that Jesus is also of the physical human lineage of Aaron and rightful heir to the Levitical Priesthood.
• Mary is expressly called the daughter of Heli in the Talmud
• Explicit Divine Promise to David
• 2 Samuel 7:12  "I will set up thy seed after thee which shall proceed out of thy bowels"
• Acts 2:30 "that of the fruit of his loins, according to the flesh, he would raise up Christ."
• Early Church Documentation
• Talmud
• Gospel of James
• Gospel of the Nativity of the Blessed Mary
• Book of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary and of the Childhood of the Saviour (Pseudo Matthew)
• St.John Damascene (hom. I. de nativ. B.V., 2, P.G., XCVI, 664),
• St. Gregory of Nyssa (P.G., XLVII, 1137),
• St. Germ. of Constantin. (de praesent., 2, P.G., XCVIII, 313),
• pseudo-Epiphan. (de laud.Deipar., P.G., XLIII, 488),
• pseudo-Hilar. (P.L., XCVI, 278),
• St. Fulbert of Chartres (in Nativit.Deipar., P.L., CLI, 324)
• Large quantities of other speculations exist through the centuries regarding the relationship of Mary to other Biblical personalities, primarily through Anne.
• Theory of Lord Arthur Hervey (derived from Grotius)
• Matthew gives the genealogy  in the line of natural descent
• Luke gives the genealogy in the line of royal inheritance
• Jacob is the father of Mary, and Heli is the father of Joseph
• Mary is the first cousin of Joseph, thus both share the same genealogies
• Jechoniah (Father of Salathiel in Matthew 1:12) was childless according to Jeremiah 22:30, and the royal line was transferred from the Solomonic to the Nathanic line.  Thus, Salathiel (son of Neri in Luke 3:31) was the natural son of David via David's son Nathan whose descendants are named in Luke, while being the heir to the royal crown through David's son Solomon whose descendants are named in Matthew.
• Salathiel had one son, Zorobabel, who had two sons, Abiud and Rhesa.  The descendants of Abiud continue the royal lineage, while the descendants of Rhesa continue the natural lineage.
• Matthan in Matthew 1:15 is the same person as Matthat in Luke 3:24.
• Matthan (Matthat) had two sons, Jacob and Heli
• Jacob is the father of Mary and Heli is the father of Joseph
• Joseph married Mary, re-uniting the natural line and the royal line in their son Jesus
• Mary's line is both natural and royal
• Joseph's line is natural only, but becomes royal by his marriage to Mary
• Interruptive location of Luke's genealogy
• Possibly originally the beginning of Luke as in Matthew, with the birth stories added later in front
• Possibly because ancient writers did not use footnotes to append material to main text

• Discover more about each person named in the genealogies
• Spouses of the people named
• Genealogy of Mary and Immaculate Conception
• Virgin Birth
• Other related genealogies in the Bible

Updated:   Wednesday, March 06, 2013 at 03:55 AM

 

 

Status of Gospel Harmony Project Preparing study notes on a weekly basis for the current 6 pm Sunday Eve. Bible Study at Mt. Carmel UMC Section groupings are complete until linking to individual event pages is finished Setting up event pages and linking the section groupings to them Several sections of events have pages with notes from previous preaching occasions

 

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