JESUS: WHEN GOD WALKED AMONG MEN
Saturday, March 20, 2010
PREFACE AND PURPOSE
All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works. 2 Timothy 3:16-17
Throughout my I have harmonized passages from the four Gospels to support a point or theme. I often find putting these passages together as a narrative gives a fuller picture of what happened at the time. It also clears up some of the supposed conflicts between the four writers. As one of my New Year Resolutions for 2009, I decided to do my own narrative harmony and commentary of the New Testament.
You might ask, why? Harmonies of the Gospel exist, isn't this just reinventing the wheel?
I have two reasons. The first is dissatisfaction with harmonies I have. They take the four Gospels and put them in four columns on the page aligning the various texts in chronological order. This makes for choppy reading that is sometimes distracting. I found one harmony several years ago that integrated the Gospels into narrative form. It was called The Life of Christ in Stereo. My only problem is the text used isn't from the more popular translations, but a translation made by that particular author.
I had intended originally to use the New International Version of the Bible for my Scriptural texts; however, there are limitations to use of the NIV as it is under copyright, Therefore, I have chosen to use the King James Version, which is in the Public Domain. I have not altered the KJV from the original, except for minor changes from Old English convention to Modern English. For example, changing “thee” and “thou” to “you” or “thy” and “thine” to “your”. In very rare instances an archaic word may also have been altered to the modern equivalent, such as “privily” to “privately”.
My second reason is the more important to me. I feel if I put together my own harmonized narrative of the Gospels it will help me understand God's Word better. As I put the passages together, I look into the context of the times and the relationship of the narrative to other books of the Bible. This way I expect to learn a lot more than I currently know.
I pray for wisdom and insight, and that I don’t wander astray in my comments; however, I am not a Gospel writer and make no claim of infallibility. My commentary is my expressed opinion and I am certainly capable of error. Consider what I say, but follow it up with your own research and study before accepting it as fact. Many of the peripheral details of Jesus’ life, such as the date of his birth and death, what happened to Joseph, or exactly where was he baptized, are subject to conjecture and have been argued for centuries. I have incorporated my own viewpoint into my narrative, but such are strictly my opinion and do not claim to be definitive, correct or settle any long-running debate on such matters. These issues are not substantive to the fact of Christ Jesus’ existence, purpose, virgin birth, miracles, death, burial or resurrection; or to the purpose and will of God in His life or to the need and way to salvation for humankind. These side issues in no way alter, disprove or change the facts of Jesus’ ministry or the events of his life as presented by the Gospel writers. The issues discussed about exact dates and some other details in Jesus’ life are no different than those of any other ancient history, except scholars have often consented to an undeterminable fact about other characters of history and ignored conflicting evidences (See “Problems with Dates and Place”).
I expect it will take me some time to complete this study begun early in 2009 .As I write this preface it is nearly one quarter of a year into 2010. My narrative is 136 pages long containing 32,660 words and has only reached the very beginning of Christ’s first ministry. There is no rush. The purpose is to understand the life of Christ better, to be more able to tell other people about the Good News and to draw myself ever nearer to the Lord.
Putting this out as a Website (www.nitewrit.info) places my progress and resolve under other eyes. I do this making you, Gentle Reader, my conscience and my encourager.
A PROBLEM WITH DATES
Portrait of Shakespeare by Martin Droeshout, 1623
When was William Shakespeare born and when did he die? What did he look like?
These should be pretty knowable things. After all, Shakespeare breathed his last less that 400 years ago and nearly 1,600 years after Jesus Christ was crucified. This is not ancient history. Shakespeare lived after 1500 AD; the year generally considered the beginning of modern civilization.
There is his familiar likeness above and schoolbooks tell us he was born on April 23, 1564 and died on his fifty-second birthday, April 23, 1616.
Except we really don’t know for certain what he looked like and those birth-death dates, which are probably close and possibly correct, are merely conjecture, not established fact. The portrait above appeared on a Folio of Shakespeare’s work seven years after the playwright’s death rendered by a man who, in all likelihood, had never seen Shakespeare. Every likeness since has been based on that portrait. There is no written description of Shakespeare’s looks or contemporary portrait in existence. (There have been a couple of paintings unearthed in recent years with claims of being made during Shakespeare life, but these are not authenticated.)
The portrait on the right is known as the “Chandos portrait”, after the
former owners, the Dukes of Chandos. The painting has been attributed to John Taylor, but also to Richard Burbage. No one really knows if it was either or someone else. It is believed to been painted from life between 1600 and 1610 – it is believed, but not certain. It fact, it isn’t even absolutely certain subject is Shakespeare, although the National Portrait Gallery feels it probably is -- meaning it possibly isn’t. It is noted that subsequent, posthumous portraits of the author were most likely based on the Chandos Portrait.
As to the dates, his birth has been conjectured as April 23, 1564 because there is a baptism registry at Holy Trinity Parish Church in Stratford dated April 26, 1564. Since it was a common practice to baptize three days after birth, it is assumed his birthday was on the 23rd. However, common practice is not certainty. Infants were sometimes baptized on the day of birth and sometimes not baptized until months later.
Somewhat the same reasoning is used in establishing his death. His burial is registered in the same Stratford Church as April 25, 1616. How long before his funeral did he die? Well, April 23 makes for a convenient date because it is St. George’s Day and St. George is the Patron Saint of England. What better date for England’s greatest writer to have been both born and died? Of course, there has been a long debate if Shakespeare actually wrote those plays that earned him that accolade.
The death of Julius Caesar occurred on the Ides of March (the 15th), 44 BC or at least that is the preponderance of acceptance (notice I said acceptance, not evidence). There may be one problem if the writings of Pliny the Elder are accurate. Pliny was born the closest to the death of Julius than the other ancient historians, especially Plutarch, who we depend upon. Plutarch was born in 46 AD and Pliny was born in 23 AD.
According to Pliny there was a solar eclipse in the year of Julius’ death sometime after he was dead. There were no visible solar eclipses in the Roman Empire during 44 BC or the immediate years around it. There was such an eclipse in August 49 BC.
Pliny also quotes Augustus Caesar as saying he saw, soon after Julius’ death, a comet in the northern skies over a period of seven days. Such a comet was recorded in 49 BC, but not in 44 BC. So was Julius Caesar actually assassinated in 49 BC instead of 44 BC?
I don’t know? Can we rely on the writing of one ancient historian? (Unlike other issues discussed throughout this document where multiple sources support the statements made, I have only found one source so far claiming that Julius Caesar died in 49 BC, Biblical Chronology. The information about solar eclipses and comets is supported elsewhere, but that these occurred during the year of Caesar’s death seems to rely mainly on the writings of Pliny the Elder. I would want further documentation on this one. The picture of Julius Caesar used here is part of a statue by Nicolas Coustou done in 1696. Did Julius really look like this?)
We do know Julius Caesar was stabbed to death by 23 men and his last words were, “Et tu Brute?” Right?
Well, maybe, maybe not. We really aren’t sure of Julius’ last words. Suetonius wrote they were “You too, child?” Plutarch wrote Julius uttered no last words. It was Shakespeare who put the words “Et tu Brute” into Caesar’s mouth, you know the guy who may or may not have been born and died on April 23 and may or may not have written “Julius Caesar”.
How many men assassinated Julius Caesar? One credible source says 23 men, another says 37 did and yet another says 60 men were involved. More honest accounts admit the number isn’t known.
Let’s step back even further in our list of great men to Alexander the
Great. We hear much about this man with little question as to the veracity of the accounts of his life. It is interesting that critics attack the accuracy of biographies of Christ’s life because they were written dozens of years after his departure, but except willingly the biographies of Alexander written 500 years after his death. (To this day, exactly how Alexander died is uncertain.) His date of birth is categorically given as either July 20 or 21 of 356 BC. This is based on Alexander being born on the Hecatombacon Sixth of the Athenian Festival Calendar. However, the Athenians were very sloppy calendar keepers or we should say calendars, for they had a second calendar for the political year. Hecatombacon was the first month of the Festival calendar and in theory began on the first new moon after the summer solstice. We say theoretically because the astrological, civil and religious calendars did not agree on when the months began, how many there were in a given year or how many days long they were. Despite the statement that Alexander was born on July 20 or 21 of 356 BC, the truth is it is impossible to really know.
This raises the subject of our own modern calendar and the birth of Jesus, whom it is supposedly based upon. After all, BC stands for “Before Christ” and AD is short for “Anno Domini”, which means “In the Year of Our Lord”. (You will notice I stand by these designation rather than the more recent attempts to secularize the division by using BCE “Before the Common Era” and CE “Common Era” (although these designations still have their division based on the life of Christ, but don’t tell the secularists who deceive themselves into believing changing the name changes the facts.)
It is problematic establishing conclusive dates, especially dates in ancient history. Obviously we can have difficulties because there was not always a standardized calendar, as we have seen with the Greeks. Various countries and people had their own means of counting time. The Jews and Romans, for instance, based their calendars on moon cycles, while we use a calendar today based on the earth’s orbit of the sun.
The standardized worldwide calendar of our time is called the Gregorian calendar. There was a partially standardized calendar prior to the Gregorian called the Julian calendar. Although both are based on the revolution of the Earth around the Sun, they did have a slight difference in the count of days and had to be adjusted. Both require a leap year every four years. However, leap years were erroneously added every three years early in the use of the Julian and this over time resulted in a loss of ten days.
Although the Gregorian corrected some of the errors of the Julian calendar, it presented some problems of its own. Years in the Gregorian were dated from the birth of Christ. Years after his birth were counted forward and those before his birth were counted backward. The span of someone who lived in AD would be shown as 1900-1970 AD, while a person born in BC would be shown as 1970-1900 BC. There is no year zero, which further adds confusion. Some people think 2010 is the first year of a new decade, but in reality it is the last year of the current decade; 1999 was not the last year of the previous century, 2000 was. Our current century began on January 1, 2001.
Furthermore, 1 AD is not correct as the first year of Christ’s life, which is a matter of considerable dispute.
The Julian and Gregorian Calendars are not that old relatively. The Roman’s had a rather messy Calendar up to Julius Caesar. One big problem with it was politicians and others would change it to curry favor, thereby making exact dating difficult. This Calendar had become such an unreliable tool by the time of Julius Caesar that he had a new Calendar created. This was the Julian calendar. It was created in 46 BC and went into use in 45 BC. This was replaced by our modern calendar in 1582 under the auspices of Pope Gregory XIII, for whom it is named.
One of those fringe issues that divert people’s attention to the Gospel truths about Jesus is the debate over his birth date. Information given by Luke and Matthew about certain personages is often used to try and pinpoint the year.
In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. (This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was {governor} of Syria.) And everyone went to his own town to register. Luke 2:1-3
After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem and asked, "Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star in the east and have come to worship him." Matthew 2:1-2
There isn’t much doubt that Caesar Augustus, Quirinius and Herod the Great were contemporaries around the period where BC ended and AD began. However, one question raised is the status of Quirinius during the time prior to 1 AD. It is accepted that Publius Sulpicius Quirinius was Governor of Syria by 6 AD, but not earlier. Remember though, we are dealing with ancient times fraught with questionable histories and dating procedures, not to mention missing or unknown records. Still, there are several possible answers to the Quirinius Question.
The word translated in Scripture as “governor” was “hegemon”, which means “ruling officer or procurator”. Quirinius did not become actual governor {legatus – different word} until later, but there is no reason to dispute Luke calling him a ruling officer at this time. Quirinius was serving in an official governing position in the last decade of BC (and there were many censuses taken during this period of time, any number of which could have been this one).
Other legitimate possibilities have their defenders. One is that Quirinius served as governor more than once and there is archeological evidence to the effect he did so serve during the later years of BC. A second proposition is there was another man named Quirinius. (Names are another area of confusion in ancient times and two people are often mistaken as one and the same. Sometimes one individual is also thought to be two different individuals because they went by more than one name.) Another argument is that Luke’s Greek was translated wrongly and should have been translated as “before Quirinius was governor of Syria.” Yet, another argument is that Jesus was actually born between 5 and 8 AD. This argument hinges on the theory that Herod the Great died in 8 AD, not 4 BC and there are proponents who make a case for 8 AD. (Personally, I am not among those who place Christ’s birth that late.)
Now, why does Herod’s death date come into the discussion? Because Herod (pictured right as portrayed in “The Bible Series on History”) was alive
when Jesus was born according to Matthew. It was commonly accepted that Herod died in 4 BC and thus estimated that Jesus was born in 5 or 6 BC. (It is sometimes assumed Jesus must have been a child about two years old when the Magi visited and told Herod when the Star first appeared. Why? It was assumed so because Herod ordered all boys in Bethlehem up to the age of two to be killed. This is only conjecture. Herod may very well been playing it safe, overkill as it were, and Jesus may have still been an infant when the Magi came. I personally believe Jesus was closer to two.)
But nothing is set in stone when we deal with dates two thousand years ago. So when did Herod die? Well, pick a year: 6 BC, 4 BC, 1 BC or 8 AD. In many reference books it will say he died in 4 BC. However, more recent evidence suggests he died in 1 BC.
Part of the difficulty is much about Herod relies upon the works of Titus Flavius Josephus (37 – 100 AD – pictured left). Josephus wrote a twenty-volume history called “The Antiquities of the Jews” and an eight-volume history called “The War of the Jews”. Josephus wrote two accounts concerning the life of Herod the Great, but these contain inconsistencies and discrepancies on events and the age of Herod at the time events occurred.
There are very good arguments based on known information that Herod died later that 4 BC and I am leaning toward the persuasions that he died in 1 BC. (You can find more information supporting this in the Catholic Encyclopedia, in Novum Testamentum by Andrew E. Steinmann or at www.bethlehemstar.net among others. (I recommend bethlehemstar as a very thought provoking theory that Christ was born in June of 2 BC, the Magi arrived in Bethlehem in December 2 BC (on the 25th no less) and that Herod died in 1 BC.)
I believe all the swirling debates over dates are inconclusive, circumstantial and speculative, and do not affect the truth or accuracy of Scripture. I trust the Scriptural account more than any questionable opinions written by men, including my own. I take the stand the account of Jesus’ life is true and accurate according to the Word of God. We should concentrate on the story of salvation, rather than be diverted into irresolvable bickering over dates. There exists enough evidence to support any apologetic of supposed conflicts within the Bible to render criticism mote and inconsequential.
One final consideration, in looking backward from a distance, we mustn’t forget contemporary acceptance. Certainly we have record of those enemies of Christ who brought accusations against him, the Apostles and the early Church. These included calling Jesus and his Disciples drunkards, claiming Jesus was the illegitimate son of a Roman soldier and spreading a rumor his disciples stole the body from the tomb. These are smear campaigns much as we see today between political opponents. There are theological debates and arguments within the church over procedural and devotional matters. But there isn’t dispute over historic facts.
Luke addressed both his Gospel and Acts to Theophilus, for instance (refer to “Luke’s Introduction” ). If Luke’s information about the personages mentioned or issues such as the census were incorrect, Theophilus most likely would have caught the error and informed Luke of it. Why would Theophilus be receptive to a second volume, Acts, if he saw major errors of recent history in the first volume?
We mustn’t lose sight that when Luke and the others wrote their accounts and letters there were those alive familiar with the facts. If a biographer of John F. Kennedy wrote that Mark Chapman assassinated him in Denver in 1959, there would be many, many people quick to complain to the publisher about these errors because they had been alive at the time and remembered it was Lee Harvey Oswald in Dallas in 1963. Subsequent editions of the biography would correct this or the book would soon be assigned to the junk heap and oblivion. Why would we think grievous errors in Luke or by any other Gospel writer on the daily news of their times would escape contemporary notice?
INTRODUCTION
Adam and Eve by Raphael (Raffaello Santi of Urbino), 1509-1511.
When God created Adam and Eve the world was good. They fell into disobedience and sin was brought into the world. This tainted everything and brought death to all. But before the creation God had a plan in place to restore mankind. Even as he put a curse on the world, he made this promise of a future redeemer:
And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed; it shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel. Genesis 3:15
Although created by God, Adam and Eve inclined toward their own desires and by listening to Satan man became the Devil’s adopted offspring. But there would be a future offspring of woman, one not of any man, who would eventually crush the head of evil. His name would be Jesus.
However, in those early times, men grieved God so much by their depravity he considered wiping all off the face of the Earth. Still, he remembered his promise of The Redeemer and God never breaks a promise. God found one righteous man and his family to save a sample of each living creature. Noah was not the promised Redeemer of course. Noah did not redeem mankind. He merely preserved it and allowed it to start anew. The sinful nature that began with Adam was preserved along with mankind and the promise of a coming Redeemer was still needed.
Among the survivors, of the Flood God had used to destroy his creation were Noah’s three sons. All the people living upon the planet today descended from those three.
The inhabitants of what we call the Middle East basically descended from Shem. Thus they are known as Semites. Shem’s grandson was Eber. Jewish tradition holds that Eber refused to help in the building of the Tower of Babel and he was allowed to retain his own language, the original language of mankind. Eber’s descendents were Eberites. However, the name Eber was sometimes shown as Heber (I had an Uncle Heber named for him) and in time his descendents and their language was called Hebrew. A further descendent of Eber was Abrams, who was renamed by God as Abraham. He was to become the great patriarch of the Hebrews and they were God’s Chosen people from whom the Redeemer would one day come and they were to show God’s way to the world. (The name Jew referred to those of the Tribe of Judah, but the name eventually came to mean all those of the Hebrew faith.)
Despite the fresh start, as the population grew, people again turned to wickedness, even the Chosen People. God sent prophets to warn them and call them to repentance, but they ignored and sometimes even killed these messengers. Finally, God dispersed the Hebrews and sent many into captivity in Babylon. The country of Israel and Judah was taken from them and Jerusalem and the temple destroyed. The Law itself was lost to the people for decades.
In 539 B.C., King Nabonidus surrendered Babylon to the Persian King Cyrus without a fight. Within the year, the first Jews were allowed to return to their former homeland. By 516 B.C. a new temple had been built.
Ezra, accompanied by about 5,000 former exiles, arrived out of Babylon in 458 B.C. Nehemiah was overseeing the building of a reconstructed wall around Jerusalem, and after its completion in 445 B.C., Ezra stood and read the Law of Moses to the assembled people. (The Book of the Law had been rediscovered during construction.) Since the Law had been lost, the people were overjoyed at hearing it again. They forsook idols and returned to accepting the One and Only Mighty God.
Despite these incredible events, a mere 15 years later the Jews had strayed again. They were sacrificing blemished animals, showing their disrespect to God, and they were marrying foreigners. Why was it bad to marry foreigners? Because God had promised a redeemer and he had promised this redeemer would be a direct and unblemished descendent of Abraham and of David. If the Jews continued to marry with foreigners that ancestry would be lost and God’s plan could not be fulfilled.
So in 430 B.C., God raised up a prophet named Malachi who warned the Jews of coming judgment if they didn’t repent. His prophecies came with assurances of God’s love for them and a promise of salvation. And so it was with these words in Malachi quoting God that the Old Testament comes to an end:
Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD: And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse. Malachi 4:5-6
We have 400 silent years between the Old and New Testaments; between the prophesies of Malachi and the Birth of Our Lord, Christ Jesus. Much changed in the world in those years.
Alexander the Great defeated Persia in 331 B.C. King Darius was killed by his own men. Alexander went on to rule the known world until 323 B.C., when he died under mysterious circumstances.
His empire was divided among four of his top generals and split into four sectors ruled thusly: Seleucus (Asia), Ptolemy (Egypt), Lysimachus (Thrace) and Cassander, son of Antipater over Macedonia/Greece. (Many think of Cleopatra VII [69 B.C. - 30 B.C.] as Egyptian, but she was Macedonian/Greek being the last Ptolemy ruler of Egypt, which upon her death became part of the Roman Empire. Her father was Pharaoh Ptolemy XII Auletes his sister, Cleopatra V Tryphaena, was most likely her mother. (Cleopatra VII was married to two of her own brothers, before having her famous liaisons with Julius Caesar and Marc Antony.)
The Jews, after Alexander, came under Seleucid rule. However, when the Seleucid King Antiochus defiled the Jewish Temple in 167 B.C. (a foreshadowing of the future Antichrist), Judah Maccabeus led a Jewish Army, which defeated the Seleucids. This began what is called the Hasmonean Rule of Palestine. However, in 63 B.C., the great Roman general Pompey captured Jerusalem and Israel once again lost its independence and came under Roman Rule.
In 42 B.C., Mark Antony appointed Herod tetrarch of Galilee. The Jews resented him because he wasn’t a Jew. He was an Idumean with an Arabian mother. (Idumea was the Greek name for Edom, which bordered Judea on the south. This was a land populated by the descendents of Esau, Edom being another name of his. Esau was the brother of Jacob. The Edomites were perpetual thorns in the side of the Israelites. Given the history between Israel and Edom, it is no wonder the Jews were not happy to have Herod named their king.) During the Parthian War, Herod had to flee because the Jews sided with the Parthians. But after the war and order was restored, Rome reinstated Herod as the sole ruler of Judea. Thus in 37 B.C., Herod the Great was King of the Jews. He was ruling when Jesus was born.
During the Hasmonean Rule arose three important factions among the Jews: Pharisees, Sadducees and Essenes.
The Pharisees were spiritual leaders to the extreme. They not only embraced the Law, but also began to add to it their own interpretation and traditions. They did, however, believe in an afterlife, the judgment of the wicked and a coming Messiah.
The Sadducees were an elite priestly group, yet liberally embraced Greek ways into their lives. They insisted on a literal interpretation of the Law rejecting the ideas of the Pharisees, including resurrection. Their lives revolved around ritual and the Temple. They disappeared from history with the destruction of the Temple in 70 AD.
The Essenes didn’t like either of the other two groups. They became monks, moved to the desert and strictly obeyed dietary laws and being celibate. They are associated with the Dead Sea Scrolls.
During this time a body came into existence known as the Sanhedrin (sitting together). It was a ruling institution for the Jews, a sort of Supreme Court and legislature rolled into one. It consisted of 71 Jewish elders and was presided over by a President and a Chancellor. Members of the Sanhedrin did not gain a seat by election. The supplanted a sitting member on the council be establishing superior knowledge of the Law. (Nicodemus and Saul [Paul) held seats in the council at times.) Both Pharisees and Sadducees were members of this group.
Another group often mention is Scripture were the Scribes. These were akin to attorneys.
So when we come to the beginning of the New Testament and the birth of Jesus, the world is quite different than it was when Malachi talked of a coming prophet like Elijah. The Persian Empire has been replaced by the Roman Empire. The King of Judea is not of the line of David, but a non-Jew named Herod. The Jewish religion and tradition is not being directed by God’s chosen prophets, but is in the hands of the Pharisees, Sadducees and Essenes. It is also a time when many Jews are earnestly expecting the promised Messiah to come as a king that will defeat Rome and rule as David once did. This is the world at the time the Christ came.
LUKE’S INTRODUCTION
St. Luke by Simone Martini, Circa 1330
Luke 1:1-4
Forasmuch as many have taken in hand to set forth in order a declaration of those things, which are most surely believed among us, even as they delivered them to us, which from the beginning were eyewitnesses, and ministers of the word. It seemed good to me also, having had perfect understanding of all things from the very first, to write to you in order, most excellent Theophilus, that you might know the certainty of those things, wherein you have been instructed.
Luke also addressed the Book of Acts to Theophilus, the identity of whom is unknown. Several suggestions exist. One possibility is the name is a pseudonym since it literally means “lover of god”. Because Luke addresses him as “most excellent Theophilus” there is speculation that he was a Roman official. The statement of purpose, “that you might know the certainty of those things, wherein you have been instructed” makes me wonder if Theophilus was a fairly recent convert to the faith. It may be Theophilus was a pseudonym because being Christian might be a treat to his position.
There is also a theory this was Theophilus ben Ananus, who held the position of High priest from 37 to 41 AD This man was the son of Annas and the brother-in-law of Caiaphas. His son also served as the next to last High Priest before the destruction of the Temple by Rome in 70 AD. Archeologists uncovered an ossuary (burial place) bearing an inscription, “Johanna, granddaughter of Theophilus, the High Priest” [D. Barag and D. Flusser, “The Ossuary of Yehohanah Granddaughter of the High Priest Theophilus”, Israel Exploration Journal, #36 (1986), pp. 39-44]
(It is interesting it was Luke who mentions a Joanna (a variant spelling for Johanna) as one of the women following Jesus who went to the tomb on Resurrection Sunday. Is it possible these are one and the same person?)
ETERNAL EXISTENCE OF CHRIST AS THE SECOND PERSON OF THE TRINITY
The Trinity by El Greco (Domenikos Theotocopoulos), 1577
Genesis 1:1-4 and John 1:1-5; 9-13
In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life; and the life was the light of men.
And God said, “Let there be light:” and there was light. And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness. And the light shined in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not. That was the true Light, which lights every man that comes into the world. [The true light that gives light to every man was coming into the world. (NIV)]
He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not. He came to his own, and his own received him not. But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.
HISTORICAL GENEALOGY OF JESUS FROM ABRAHAM THROUGH JOSEPH
St. Joseph with the Jesus Child by Guido Reni, c. 1620-1630
Matthew 1:1-17
The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.
Abraham begat Isaac; and Isaac begat Jacob; and Jacob begat Judas and his brethren. And Judas begat Phares and Zara of Thamar; and Phares begat Esrom; and Esrom begat Aram And Aram begat Aminadab; and Aminadab begat Naasson; and Naasson begat Salmon And Salmon begat Booz of Rachab; and Booz begat Obed of Ruth; and Obed begat Jesse;
And Jesse begat David the king and David the king begat Solomon of her that had been the wife of Urias. And Solomon begat Roboam; and Roboam begat Abia; and Abia begat Asa. And Asa begat Josaphat; and Josaphat begat Joram; and Joram begat Ozias. And Ozias begat Joatham; and Joatham begat Achaz; and Achaz begat Ezekias. And Ezekias begat Manasses; and Manasses begat Amon; and Amon begat Josias. And Josias begat Jechonias and his brethren, about the time they were carried away to Babylon.
And after they were brought to Babylon, Jechonias begat Salathiel; and Salathiel begat Zorobabel. And Zorobabel begat Abiud; and Abiud begat Eliakim; and Eliakim begat Azor. And Azor begat Sadoc; and Sadoc begat Achim; and Achim begat Eliud. And Eliud begat Eleazar; and Eleazar begat Matthan; and Matthan begat Jacob. And Jacob begat Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ.
So all the generations from Abraham to David are fourteen generations and from David until the carrying away into Babylon are fourteen generations and from the carrying away into Babylon unto Christ are fourteen generation
LEGAL GENEALOGY OF MARY
Virgin with Child and Rosary by Bartolome Esteban Murillo, circa 1870
Luke 3:23b-38
[Jesus] being (as was supposed) the son of Joseph, which was the son [-in-law] of Heli. Which was the son of Matthat, which was the son of Levi, which was the son of Melchi, which was the son of Janna, which was the son of Joseph. Which was the son of Mattathias, which was the son of Amos, which was the son of Naum, which was the son of Esli, which was the son of Nagge. Which was the son of Maath, which was the son of Mattathias, which was the son of Semei, which was the son of Joseph, which was the son of Juda. Which was the son of Joanna, which was the son of Rhesa, which was the son of Zorobabel, which was the son of Salathiel, which was the son of Neri. Which was the son of Melchi, which was the son of Addi, which was the son of Cosam, which was the son of Elmodam, which was the son of Er. Which was the son of Jose, which was the son of Eliezer, which was the son of Jorim, which was the son of Matthat, which was the son of Levi. Which was the son of Simeon, which was the son of Juda, which was the son of Joseph, which was the son of Jonan, which was the son of Eliakim. Which was the son of Melea, which was the son of Menan, which was the son of Mattatha, which was the son of Nathan, which was the son of David. Which was the son of Jesse, which was the son of Obed, which was the son of Booz, which was the son of Salmon, which was the son of Naasson. Which was the son of Aminadab, which was the son of Aram, which was the son of Esrom, which was the son of Phares, which was the son of Juda. Which was the son of Jacob, which was the son of Isaac, which was the son of Abraham, which was the son of Thara, which was the son of Nachor. Which was the son of Saruch, which was the son of Ragau, which was the son of Phalec, which was the son of Heber, which was the son of Sala. Which was the son of Cainan, which was the son of Arphaxad, which was the son of Sem, which was the son of Noe, which was the son of Lamech. Which was the son of Mathusala, which was the son of Enoch, which was the son of Jared, which was the son of Maleleel, which was the son of Cainan. Which was the son of Enos, which was the son of Seth, which was the son of Adam, which was the son of God.
Why do these Gospel writers bother giving these genealogies? One reason is the Messiah had to be a descendent of Abraham, through Isaac, through Jacob through Judah. Another reason is God promised the Messiah would be a son of David, meaning a male of the line of King David. There were also legal implications. Matthew gives the genealogy of Joseph, showing he was a descendent of King David through David’s son Solomon. Luke gives Mary’s genealogy and we see she also descended from King David through his son Nathan. These genealogies establish that Jesus was of the tribe of Judah on both sides and also of royal blood on both sides. Although Jesus was not the natural son of Joseph, Joseph was legally recognized as his father and it was the father’s line that was important as far as the authorities of the law would have been concerned. At any rate, Jesus had an established claim to being an heir to David.
It is unusual though for Mary’s genealogy to be included. Why was it?
A study of these genealogies would probably yield many interesting facts. For one, there is an unusual inclusion of women in the record. Women were not generally counted in the genealogies, but there are five mentioned in the ancestry of Jesus.
The first mentioned is Tamar (traditional held to be a daughter of Shem.). She was the wife of Judah’s oldest son, Er, unfortunately Er was so wicked that God put him to death childless. As was the custom of the times, Judah then ordered his second son, Onan, to give Tamar a son to carry on the name of his brother Er. (A surrogate father, remember this practice when you read the question of the Sadducees to Jesus about who is married to whom in Heaven.) Onan was selfish. He didn’t want to father a child who wouldn’t carry his own name, so he practiced coitus interruptus. The result of this was Tamar didn’t get pregnant and Onan died.
Judah was running out of sons. He had a third, Shelah, but was afraid marrying Tamar might be the death of Shelah too, so since the boy was still young he told Tamar to wait until he was fully grown. But when he did grow up, it didn’t happen, most likely because Judah was still afraid Tamar was sure death. Of course, by withholding Shelah, Judah was breaking the laws of inheritance and being unfair to Tamar.
Judah’s wife died and he went away or awhile in his grief. Tamar was impatient to have a child, so she went ahead of him, put on sexy clothes and waited by the road. He saw her there, paid her as a prostitute to sleep with him and as a result she finally got pregnant. He didn’t realize who she was, but he gave her some keepsakes.
A few months later Judah was informed his daughter-in-law was guilty of prostitution and was pregnant. He was going to have her burned to death for her sin, but she said, “Remember these keepsakes?”
Tamar was spared. Judah never slept with her again. She gave birth to his twin boys, Perez and Zerah. At the birth, a hand came out and the midwife tied a scarlet thread to the wrist before the hand was pulled back and Perez was born. Then the child with the scarlet thread finally came out and was named Zerah. Although Zerah was officially the first because of his hand, it is Perez who became the direct ancestor in this legal line of Jesus. (Read Genesis 38.)
The next woman mentioned as an ancestor of Jesus is Rahab. Rahab is a prostitute, not just playing one as Tamar had done, and she is not an Israelite. She lives in Jericho where Joshua has sent spies as he prepares to attack it. Rahab hides the two spies in her house and then aids their escape from her roof. In return, they tell her to tie a scarlet cord in her window. When the city is later sacked, this cord identifies Rahab and her family and keeps them safe. (Read Joshua 2.) Rahab later marries Salmon and becomes the Great-Great-Grandmother of King David.
Rahab was the mother of Boaz, which brings us to the third woman, Ruth. Ruth wasn’t Jewish either. She was a Moabite. The story of Ruth is a portrait of the Redeemer-King and a picture of our Savior. (Read the Book of Ruth.)
The fourth woman isn’t mentioned by name. She is identified as having been Uriah's wife. This, of course, is the infamous Bathsheba. The story of David and Bathsheba is hardly a stellar point in the life of King David. It involves seduction, adultery and murder. (You can read all about it in 2 Samuel 11.)
Tamar, Rahab and Bathsheba are not exactly the type of personage we might expect to be ancestors of The Christ, which probably teaches us we shouldn’t judge anyone by their ancestors.
The last woman mentioned is Mary.
We probably can’t leave the genealogies without mention of Jeconiah (also known as Coniah and Jehoiachim, the son of Jahoiakim). God put a curse on Jeconiah-Jehoiachim:
As I live, said the LORD, though Coniah the son of Jehoiakim king of Judah were the signet upon my right hand, yet would I pluck you thence; And I will give you into the hand of them that seek your life, and into the hand of them whose face you fear, even into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar, king of Babylon, and into the hand of the Chaldeans. And I will cast you out, and your mother that bare you, into another country, where you were not born; and there shall you die. But to the land whereunto they desire to return, thither shall they not return. Is this man Coniah a despised broken idol? Is he a vessel wherein is no pleasure? Wherefore are they cast out, he and his seed, and are cast into a land, which they know not?
O earth, earth, earth, hear the word of the LORD. Thus say the LORD, Write you this man childless, a man that shall not prosper in his days: for no man of his seed shall prosper, sitting upon the throne of David, and ruling any more in Judah. Jeremiah 22:24-30
Now we discover why it was important to include Mary’s genealogy. You see Joseph was a descendent of Jeconiah-Jehoiachim and ineligible to sit on David’s Throne because of the curse. Although Joseph was required to be recognized legally for Jesus’ inheritance, if he was the biological father of Jesus then Jesus would not be allowed to sit on David’s throne. However, Jesus was not Joseph’s son, was not of the bloodline of Jeconiah. Joseph descended from Solomon. Mary descended from one of David and Bathsheba’s other sons, Nathan. This made Jesus a blood descendent of David who was eligible to ascend David’s throne. Both genealogies mattered.
THE BIRTH OF JOHN THE BAPTIST FORETOLD
Angel Gabriel and Zechariah by Julius Schnoor von Carolsfeld, 1852-1860
[The Temple in Jerusalem B.C. 6]
Luke 1:5-25
There was in the days of Herod, the king of Judaea, a certain priest named Zacharias [which means YAHWEH Remembers], of the course [priestly division] of Abia [or Abijah]: and his wife was of the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elisabeth [Elisheva: meaning -My God is abundance]. And they were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless. And they had no child, because that Elisabeth was barren, and they both were now well stricken in years.
And it came to pass, that while he executed the priest's office before God in the order of his course, according to the custom of the priest's office, his lot was to burn incense when he went into the temple of the Lord. And the whole multitude of the people was praying without at the time of incense.
In 1 Chronicles 24, King David divided the priesthood into twenty-four orders. Zachariah was serving in the order of Abijah (Abia). This was the eighth in sequence of the twenty-four orders. Each order served in the temple twice a year for one week each time. They would move to Jerusalem and live together during their period of service.
People have attempted to date the birth of John and the birth of Jesus based on this information. (I admit I tried this myself.) However, dating is difficult. I am of the mind God choose to obscure the actual dates so we wouldn’t become fixed on dates and not the personage. (See “A problem with Dates.)
But since we know the orders served in rotation and Abijah was eighth in the rotation, we think we can pinpoint when Gabriel visited Zachariah and deduce John’s birth from that and then because John is six months older than Jesus, infer Jesus’ birthday.
We could if calendars were exact measurements. Traditionally, the priestly rotation began in the Hebrew month Nissan, which would be mid-March to mid-April. Zachariah’s division would have thus served at the end of Iyyar (mid-April to mid-May) and Marheshvan (mid-October to mid-November). This is the rub. The Jewish calendar was twelve months long, but based on moon cycles, not the rotation around the Sun. The year was 354 days long, 11 days shorter than our solar calendar. Periodically, the Jews added an extra month after Adar, to make up the difference. This result in extra service and caused the service periods to fluctuate from year to year. Without knowing a specific year, it becomes impossible to know exactly when Zachariah was serving when Gabriel appeared.
We do know Zachariah had the great honor of burning the incense that day. This was an honor a priest only received once in his lifetime and it was chosen by lot.
And there appeared unto him an angel of the Lord standing on the right side of the altar of incense. And when Zacharias saw him, he was troubled, and fear fell upon him. But the angel said to him, “Fear not, Zacharias: for your prayer is heard; and your wife Elisabeth shall bear you a son, and you shall call his name John [Yochanan: YAHWEH is gracious].
“And you shall have joy and gladness; and many shall rejoice at his birth. For he shall be great in the sight of the Lord, and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink; and he shall be filled with the Holy Ghost, even from his mother's womb. And many of the children of Israel shall he turn to the Lord their God. And he shall go before him in the spirit and power of Elias [Elijah], to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just; to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.”
And Zacharias said to the angel, “Whereby shall I know this? For I am an old man, and my wife well stricken in years.”
And the angel answering said to him, “I am Gabriel, that stand in the presence of God; and am sent to speak to you, and to show you these glad tidings. And, behold, you shall be dumb, and not able to speak, until the day that these things shall be performed, because you believed not my words, which shall be fulfilled in their season.
Gabriel had appeared in the Old Testament to Daniel to interpret visions (Daniel 8:15-17 and Daniel 9:20-22). He is to appear again to Mary to tell her she will give birth to Christ. He is considered one of the four archangels. The name Gabriel means “Strong Man of God”.
There are three Archangels named in the Bible. Gabriel, who seems to bring prophesy to humans each time he appears. The name means “Strong man of God”. The name appears four times, twice in Daniel and then Twice in Luke, where he appears first to Zachariah to announce he will father John the Baptist and then to Mary to tell her she will give birth to the Messiah. In Daniel 8 and 9, Gabriel explains to Daniel the meaning of future visions
(It is Islamic tradition that Gabriel visited Muhammad on Mount Hira and this meeting led to future revelations that became the basis of the Qur’an.)
The second Archangel is Michael, meaning, “who is like God”. Also Michael is first mentioned in Daniel, as well as in Jude and Revelation. He always seems to be engaged in battle with the Devil and his demons.
A CONTROVERSIAL THEORY
The Devil is the third named Archangel, the fallen one, who became known as Satan and the Dragon, among other names. There is one place, Isaiah 14:12, he is referred to as Lucifer, meaning “light-bearer” or “Morning Star”. However, the Hebrew word translated in the literal is “shining one” and it comes from a root that can mean boasting or boastful.
Compare “How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations!” Isaiah 14:12 to 2 Peter 1:19, “And we have the word of the prophets made more certain, and you will do well to pay attention to it, as to a light shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts.” The Greek translated “Morning Star” in English would be translated “Lucifer” in Latin, but the verse in 2 Peter refers to Christ. If we translate Isaiah 14 more literally we would get, “O shining one [or boastful one], son of the dawn!” Some make the case that the name Lucifer is another name applied to Christ as the Morning Star. That Satan’s name was Heylel, one who once bore the reflective light of the dawn; that is, Christ his creator, but boasted of it as if he were the light bearer and not simply its reflection.
And the people waited for Zacharias, and marveled that he tarried so long in the temple. And when he came out, he could not speak to them: and they perceived that he had seen a vision in the temple: for he beckoned to them, and remained speechless.
And it came to pass, that, as soon as the days of his ministration were accomplished, he departed to his own house. And after those days his wife Elisabeth conceived, and hid herself five months, saying, “Thus has the Lord dealt with me in the days wherein he looked on me, to take away my reproach among men.”
The people were wondering what was taking him so long. There are bells sews in the hem of his robe, so they probably heard him move about. (There is a myth that the priest had a rope tied about his ankle in case he died. This would allow people to pull him out of the place. This is not true and has no scriptural basis.) When he did come out there was no doubt he had seen a vision.
It is not certain how long afterward Elizabeth became impregnated. It is not certain which day Zachariah served. He would have to serve out his week and then travel home. This trip may have been a couple days long.
Elizabeth, who was a descendent of Aaron, and of the Priestly family of Levites, had never been able to have children. We don’t know if it was her problem or his, but in those times it was always considered the woman’s problem. There was a certain stigma to being barren, which is why she says God took away her reproach.
This has personal meanings for me. My wife could not have children (we lost seven) and she had been told it was impossible for her to have a child. When I became a Christian at age 34, with the prayer of a church and the mercy of God, we had three children. Miracles are very real to me because I experienced them.
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