THE ADVENT OF THE MESSIAH
PART V
THE BIRTH OF THE MESSIAH
We fly to your patronage, O holy Mother of God,
despise not our petitions in our necessities, but deliver us from all dangers.
O ever glorious and blessed Virgin.
This prayer, entitled in Latin, Sub Tuum
Praesidium, which means "Under Your Protection," is the oldest, most
complete ancient prayer to the Blessed Virgin Mary. It is dated to circa 250AD(1)
The gates of a blessed eternity, closed after the
first sin, and guarded by an angel with a flaming sword, are at last to be
opened for the triumphal entry of the Savior of the world.<
Blessed Ildefonso Schuster
In giving birth you kept your virginity; in your Dormition
you did not leave the world, O Mother of God, but were joined to the source of
Life. You conceived the living God and, by your prayers, will deliver our
souls from death.
Byzantine Liturgy, Troparion, Feast of the
Dormition, August 15th
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Click for The interior of the
Basilica of the Nativity in Bethlehem. The exterior of the Basilica of the Nativity in Bethlehem. The church was built over the site of Jesus' birthplace. To the right and left of the altar is the entrance to the birth cave. |
The site where Jesus was born in Bethlehem |
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The answers to the questions are at the end of the lesson.
Matthew 1:1-17: Jesus' Royal Lineage and the Angel's Revelation to Joseph:
1 The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of
David, the son of Abraham. 2 Abraham became the father of Isaac, Isaac the father
of Jacob, Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers. 3 Judah
became the father of Perez and Zerah, whose mother was Tamar. Perez became the
father of Hezron, Hezron the father of Ram, 4 Ram the
father of Amminadab. Amminadab became the father of Nahshon, Nahshon the
father of Salmon, 5 Salmon the father of Boaz, whose mother was Rahab. Boaz
became the father of Obed, whose mother was Ruth. Obed became the father of
Jesse, 6 Jesse the father of David the king.
David became the father of
Solomon, whose mother had been the wife of Uriah. 7 Solomon
became the father of Rehoboam, Rehoboam the father of Abijah, Abijah the father
of Asaph. 8 Asaph became the father of Jehoshaphat, Jehoshaphat
the father of Joram, Joram the father of Uzziah. 9 Uzziah
became the father of Jotham, Jotham the father of Ahaz, Ahaz the father of
Hezekiah. 10 Hezekiah became to father of Manasseh, Manasseh the
father of Amos, Amos the father of Josiah. 11 Josiah
became the father of Jechoniah and his brothers at the time of the Babylonian
exile.
12 After the Babylonian exile, Jechoniah became the father of Shealtiel, Shealtiel the father of Zerubbabel, 13 Zerubbabel the father of Abiud. Abiud became the father of Eliakim, Eliakim the father of Azor, 14 Azor the father of Zadok. Zadok became the father of Achim, Achim the father of Eliud, 15 Eliud the father of Eleazar. Eleazar became the father of Matthan, Matthan the father of Jacob, 16 Jacob the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary. Of her was born Jesus who is called the Messiah [Christ]. 17 Thus the total number of generations from Abraham to David is fourteen generations; from David to the Babylonian exile, fourteen generations; from the Babylonian exile to the Messiah, fourteen generations.
Question 1: Which of the Gospels contain the birth narratives of Jesus and which Gospels list Jesus' genealogy? (answer)
St. Matthew begins his Gospel with Jesus' genealogy. These important genealogical lists in the Gospels of St. Matthew and St. Luke were what the Jews were looking for as proof that Jesus was indeed the promised Messiah who was a descendant of both father Abraham and King David. In Hebrew, such a genealogical list is called a toledoth. The value of the Old Testament genealogies is that they provide proof of Jesus' ancestry. The Redeemer-Messiah, who Deuteronomy 18:17-19 foretold was to come as God's supreme prophet, had to be an Israelite descended from Jacob/Israel. God told Moses to tell his people: From their own brothers, I shall raise up a prophet like yourself... (Deuteronomy 18:18). The Messiah also had to be a descendant of the great King David and the heir to the eternal Davidic covenant, according to the holy prophets like the 8th century prophet Isaiah (Isaiah 7:14; 11:1-12) and the 6th century prophets Jeremiah and Ezekiel (cf., Jeremiah 23:5-6; 33:14-18; Ezekiel 34:23-24; 37:24-28).
Question 2: St. Matthew began his genealogy by naming what two men in what order and why? (answer)
These two men are the most important ancestors of the Messiah who shared a physical and spiritual bond in lives separated by about 1,000 years (see Genesis 22; 2 Samuel 24:10-25; 2 Chronicles 3:1). Abraham was the "father" of the Israelites. It was to Abraham that God made covenant promises that wouldn't reach fulfillment until the coming of the Messiah and His universal Kingdom.
David was the descendant of Abraham, and it was from David's family line that the prophets foretold the Messiah would come (Isaiah 11:1-12; Jeremiah 23:5-6; Ezekiel 37:25b-26, etc.). Both men were chosen by God to play an important role in salvation history, and both men had visionary experiences on Mt. Moriah in Jerusalem that involved sacrifice. In obedience to God, Abraham offered his son beloved Isaac in sacrifice, and David offered himself and the eternal covenant God had promised him for his family if God would spare David's people from a plague.
The visionary experiences of Abraham and David on Mt. Moriah:
According to St. Matthew's toledoth, Jesus is also the descendant of Isaac the son of Abraham and Solomon the son David (Matthew 1:2, 6-7). Jesus, on the slope of Mt. Moriah, will offer Himself as a sacrifice for His people, just as David offered himself as a sacrifice for his people. Jesus will become the "substitute" sacrifice that Abraham offered God in place of his beloved son Isaac when Abraham prophetically uttered the statement: My son, God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering [the sacrifice] (Genesis 22:8).
St. Matthew organized his toledoth around the Hebrew gematria (letter number equivalent) of the spelling of David's name in Hebrew that has a value of the number fourteen: DVD = 4 + 6 + 4 = 14 (ancient Hebrew was written only with consonants). He divided the names of the genealogy into three sets of 14 generations which totaled forty-two generations: 17 Thus the total number of generations from Abraham to David is fourteen generations; from David to the Babylonian exile, fourteen generations; from the Babylonian exile to the Messiah, fourteen generations.
In order to have a total of forty-two generations, Matthew had to drop three king names from the genealogy (the three kings who came between Jehoram/Joram and Uzziah; see chart below), and he had to use Jechoniah's name twice, once at the end of the second set and also at the beginning of the third set (verses 11 and 12).
| Jehoram (Joram) 848 - 841 |
| Ahaziah 841 |
| Queen Athaliah (mother of Ahaziah, dau. of Ahab and not a Davidic heir) 841 - 835 |
| Jehoash 835 - 796 |
| Amaziah 796-781 |
| Uzziah (Azariah) 781 " 740 |
The division of the names in St. Matthew's genealogy was an intentionally formulated plan. In addition, you can also view the fourteen generations as three sets of 2 times 7 names, with Jesus' name completing the last set in verse 16. For a chart on the pattern of this genealogy see "Matthew's Toledoth"
In every generation, St. Matthew listed the father and his son except in the last generation where he writes: 16 Jacob the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary. Of her was born Jesus who is called the Messiah [Christ]. It is significant that all the other names are of fathers and their sons, but the genealogical list names no son for Joseph. The absence of a son for Joseph is Matthew's statement that Jesus is not Joseph's biological son. Jesus is only the biological son of Mary.
Matthew 1:18-25 ~ An Angel appears to Joseph
18 Now this is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about. When his mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph, but before they lived together, she was found with child through the Holy Spirit. 19 Joseph, her husband, since he was a righteous man, yet unwilling to expose her to shame, decided to divorce her quietly. 20 Such was his intention when, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, "Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary your wife into your home. For it is through the Holy Spirit that the child has been conceived in her. 21 She will bear a son and you are to name him Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins." 22 All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: 23 "Behold, the virgin shall be with child and bear a son, and they shall name him Emmanuel," which means "God is with us." 24 When Joseph awoke, he did as the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took his wife into his home. 25 He had no relations with her until she bore a son, and he named him Jesus.
Question 3: According to most Bible translations, what is as Joseph's profession? See Matthew 13:55. (answer)
Joseph was a trained artisan. The Greek word for Joseph's occupation in Matthew 13:55 is tekton. A tekton was an artisan trained to work with hard materials like wood, stone, or metal. As a young girl, Mary was betrothed to the tekton Joseph of Nazareth. A betrothal in ancient Judea was much more than our modern concept of a marriage engagement. In a betrothal, when the groom or his family paid a bride price, and the girl's family provided a dowry, the two parties signed a marriage covenant and the couple was considered married in every sense except the ratification of the marriage covenant in a ceremony and consummation of their union. The ratification of the marriage covenant occurred when the groom took the bride to his home, and their families and friends celebrated their marriage in a seven-day feast, with the physical consummation of the union taking place on the first night (Genesis 29:27; Judges 14:12; Tobit 8:20, 27). Even before the completion of the marriage ritual, the betrothed woman called her betrothed "husband," and he referred to her as "wife." To dissolve a betrothal contract required an official rite of divorce, submitted by the husband to the local Sanhedrin (Jewish Law Court).
When Mary left for Judea to visit Elizabeth, she was betrothed to Joseph (Luke 1:27), and when Mary returned to Nazareth in the third month of her pregnancy as the ancients counted (the second month as we count), her pregnancy was probably beginning to show. At some point, Joseph was shocked to discover that his betrothed virgin was with child. A Jewish girl who broke her betrothal through an attachment to another man was considered to have committed adultery. Scripture states that Joseph was a "righteous" man. Under the obligations of the Sinai Covenant, what determined if a covenant member was righteous or not was his or her obedience to the covenant with Yahweh according to the commands and obligations recorded in the Law (Exodus 19:5; 24:4; 34:27; Leviticus 26:3-16; Deuteronomy 11:13-11; 28:1-2). When Joseph discovered that Mary was with child, as a righteous man, he could not accept her as a wife.
Question 4: Since Mary never claimed to have been attacked, if Joseph made her condition known to the Jewish court, what verdict would Joseph receive and what penalty could she have faced under the Law? See Leviticus 20:10; Deuteronomy 22:22-29 and John 8:1-5. (answer)
Joseph did not want to see Mary publically disgraced, but since he also did not want an unrighteous wife who bore another man's child, he sought to set the betrothal contract aside privately. It was not too difficult for a man to break a betrothal by obtaining a rite of divorce. All he had to do was to declare the woman "unfit" (Deuteronomy 24:1-4), a condition of the Mosaic Law that Jesus would later denounce (Matthew 19:3-9).(2)
Some Biblical scholars suggest that Joseph's decision to divorce Mary stemmed from his feelings of inadequacy in parenting the future Messiah, assuming that Mary had told him that she was going to bear the Messiah. There is no basis for this interpretation. First, if he knew Mary's pregnancy was through divine intervention, he would have been acting contrary to God's divine plan in rejecting his espoused virgin who he was destined to wed by abandoning her and not offering his protection. Second, the definition of "righteousness" under which Joseph lived demanded that he, as a member of God's holy covenant people, not become ritually defiled through marriage to a loose woman. It was completely in character for Joseph, as a righteous Jew who was not yet aware of God's plan, to decide to set Mary aside but without publically condemning her. Also, there is nothing in the angel's revelation to Joseph to suggest that he already knew the unique condition of Mary's pregnancy. God solved Joseph's problem by sending an angel to reveal in a dream that the Holy Spirit conceived the child in her womb, and her son was the promised Redeemer-Messiah and the one destined to save His people from their sins (Mt 1:21).
22 All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said
through the prophet: 23 "Behold, the virgin shall be with child and bear a
son, and they shall name him Emmanuel," which means "God is with us."
The Scripture passage and the
prophet referred to in verse 22 is the 8th century BC prophet Isaiah,
and the prophecy that the inspired writer says has been fulfilled in Mary and
Jesus is Isaiah 7:14 in the Septuagint Greek translation: Behold, the virgin
shall be with child and bear a son, and they shall name him Emmanuel. You
might ask, why is it that the prophecy in Isaiah 7:14 records that the virgin's
son would be called Emmanuel (Hebrew = immanu-el) "God-with-us"
when Joseph and Mary were commanded to name the child Jesus (Yahshua in Hebrew
and Yehoshua in Aramaic)? Scripture does not say the child is to be "named," but
only that he will receive the title (called) "God-with-us." Jesus will refer
to Himself this way after His Resurrection in Matthew 28:20 when He promises: And
look, I am with you always; yes, to the end of time, a promise He fulfills
as "God-with-us."
24 When Joseph awoke, he did as the angel of the Lord had
commanded him and took his wife into his home. 25 He had
no relations with her until she bore a son, and he named him Jesus.
The English translation: He
had no relations with her until she bore a son gives the wrong impression
of Mary's continued virginity. The Greek word heos, sometimes
translated "until" or "till" does not mean "until" as we use the word to mean a
condition did not exist but later the conditioned changed. Instead, the Greek
word heos was an adverb of continuance meaning that a condition did not
exist in the past and continued in the same way into the future. The Greek word heos (pronounced heh'-oce) and the
corresponding Hebrew word ad, is used as an adverb, preposition, or
conjunction meaning "continuance, even, length as to time, until or til."(3)In the Bible, there are several passages where the Greek word heos
is an adverb of continuance used to mean that some action did not happen up to
a certain point; it does not imply that the action did happen later, which is
the modern sense of the word "until." Some examples from Scripture (in these examples
the word in the Hebrew text is ad, and in the Greek Septuagint
translation of the Old Testament the word is heos):
It has always been a teaching of the Church that Mary remained a virgin her entire life, and she had no other children other than Jesus, as testified to by the Church Fathers:
Question 5: Why are passages in Matthew 12:46, Mark 3:31, Luke 8:19, and Acts 1:14 problematic concerning Mary's continuing virginity? (answer)
These verses mention that Jesus had "brothers and sisters" using the Greek words adelphos/adelphe: "brother or sister from the womb," meaning from the same mother (delphus is "womb" in Greek). However, in Hebrew, there were no separate designations for siblings, or half-brothers, or step-brothers. It is true that the Greek word used to designate Jesus' family relations is adelphos/adelphoi (plural); however, this does not mean these are Mary's children by birth. In the New Testament, the Greek word adelphos is not used in the Greek sense; its use is instead in the Hebrew sense that a "brother" is a full brother, a half-brother, a step-brother, a kinsman, a countryman, or a member of the covenant family.
A few examples of the use of the Greek word adelphos (adelphoi, in the plural for "brothers" or "brothers and sisters"), meaning "brothers" not in the context of siblings born of the same mother:
In fact, the word adelphos/adelphoi is the only word used for "brother/brothers" in the entire New Testament just as adelphe (sister) is the only word used for Christian women or kinswomen.(5)For more information see the document: "Did Jesus have Brothers and Sisters."
Luke 2:1-7 ~ The Birth of the Messiah in Bethlehem
1 In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that the whole world should be enrolled. 2 This was the first enrollment, when Quirinius was governor of Syria. 3 So all went to be enrolled, each to his own town. 4 And Joseph too went up from Galilee from the town of Nazareth to Judea, to the city of David that is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and family of David, 5 to be enrolled with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child. 6 While they were there, the time came for her to have her child, 7 and she gave birth to her firstborn son. She wrapped him in swaddling clothes and laid him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.
There is a problem with what is historically known about the census when Quirinius was the Roman governor of Syria (Luke 2:2). The 1st century AD Jewish priest and historian, Flavius Josephus, recorded that Cyrenius Quirinius was ordered to conduct a census about the time Archelaus, the son and successor of Herod the Great, was deposed and exiled by the Romans (Antiquities of the Jews, 17.13.5). Scholars date Archelaus' banishment to 6 AD. However, St. Luke wrote that this was the "first census" in verse 2. That there is no historical record of an earlier census does not mean that a census in about 3/2 BC didn't take place. In the pursuit of the historical record, it is always wise to remember that "absence of evidence is not evidence of absence."(6)
According to St. Luke, the Roman census required that heads of households to register in their hometowns. Joseph fulfilled the prophesy when he took Mary to Bethlehem in Judea for the birth of Jesus. The prophet Micah wrote in the 8th century BC: But you Bethlehem Ephrathah, the least of the clans of Judah, from you will come for me a future ruler of Israel whose origins go back to the distant past, to the days of old (Mic 5:1 NJB).
Question 6: In addition to Micha's prophecy, what else is significant about the town of Bethlehem? See 1 Samuel 16:1, 12-13; 2 Samuel 7:12-16; 23:5; 2 Chronicles 13:5; and Psalm 89:2-5. (answer)
A question often asked is, "Why did Joseph take Mary with him to Bethlehem instead of leaving her in Nazareth?" The journey from the Nazareth in the north to Bethlehem, just a few miles from Jerusalem, would have been extremely difficult for a woman almost forty weeks pregnant. The Romans were careful to keep a record of all those who had a claim to the royal bloodline of the previous rulers of a Roman province. These claimants were a potential source of rebellion either by possibly leading a rebellion against Roman rule themselves or by being used as pawns by insurrectionists. Usually, claimants who were a threat were murdered, as in the case of the last member of the ruling Hasmonean family of Judea, John Hyrcanus II and his teenage grandson Aristobulus. Bishop Eusebius recorded (4th century AD) that in the reigns of the Roman Emperors Vespasian (69-79AD), Domitian (81-96AD), and Trajan (98-117 AD) that the Roman governor of Judea was commanded to search for any descendants of King David still living in the province.(7) Considering the Roman attitude toward the families of past rulers, it was perfectly reasonable that Joseph, as a descendant of King David, and his pregnant wife, who was carrying the next Davidic heir, should be required to register not only for the Roman tax but to be examined by the authorities as to their "threat-status."
The etymology of the Hebrew word "Bethlehem is itself prophetic: in Hebrew bet means "house/place" and lehem means "bread." The name of the village was, "house/place of Bread." The village of Bethlehem is also the birthplace and ancestral home of King David (Ruth 1:19, 22; 2:4, 11; 1 Samuel 16:1, 4, 18; 17:15, 58; 20:6, 28), and the place where the Prophet Malachi prophesized the Davidic Messiah was to be born (Malachi 5:1).(8) How fitting a birthplace Bethlehem was for He would become the "Living Bread" come down from heaven (John 6:33-35, 51). And how fitting it is that every true church of the New Covenant in which the miracle of transubstantiation takes place becomes a "house of the Living Bread!"(9)
6 While they were there, the time came for her to have her child, 7 and she gave birth to her firstborn son.
Luke 2:7 states that Mary gave birth to a son, her "firstborn." In ancient times, the title "firstborn" emphasized the dignity and rights of the first male child born from a woman's womb. Usually, the "firstborn," re'shyt in Hebrew, was the title of the son by the senior wife and the designated heir. It was the right of the "firstborn" heir to inherit a double portion of the father's wealth and property, as well as the spiritual blessing as the father's successor and head of the extended family (i.e., Isaac the son of Abraham and Sarah).(10)But after the Exodus liberation every "firstborn son" had to be redeemed by sacrifice and a redemption tax since every man and animal that was the first from the womb belonged to God (Exodus 13:11-15; Numbers 18:15).
However, Jesus is the firstborn son in a much more significant sense that is independent of either paternal rights or biological birth. Writing in the 8th century AD, St. Bede expressed the views of the Fathers and Doctors of the Church concerning the title of "firstborn" as applied to Jesus. He wrote: "Truly the Son of God who was made manifest in the flesh belongs to a more exalted order not only because he is the Only-begotten of the Father by virtue of the excellence of his divinity; he is also firstborn of all creatures by virtue of his fraternity with men: concerning this [his primogeniture] it is said: For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brethren' [Romans 8:29]. And concerning the former [his being the Only-begotten] it is said we have beheld his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father' [John 1:14]. Thus, he is only-begotten by the substance of the Godhead, and firstborn through his assumption of humanity; firstborn by grace, only-begotten by nature. This is why he is called brother and Lord: brother, because he is the firstborn; Lord, because he is the Only-begotten" (The Gospel of Luke, The Venerable Bede).
The Church has always taught that Jesus' entrance into the physical world through Mary's womb was like "light passing through glass," with Mary retaining her virginity all of her life and with Jesus' birth sanctifying her virginity. In the Profession of Faith and the Eucharistic Prayer, we publically profess this belief. For example, Eucharistic Prayer I (the oldest) reads: "In union with the whole Church we honor Mary, the ever-virgin mother of Jesus Christ our Lord and God."
From the earliest centuries of Christianity, it has always been a teaching of the Church and is a defining dogma of Catholic faith, that Mary remained a virgin after Christ's birth and her entire life. As you may recall, Isaiah's prophecy in Isaiah 7:14 wasn't that just "a virgin" would conceive but "the virgin" [ha almah in Hebrew] would conceive and bear a son. It was the testimony of the Fathers of the Church, like the great Archbishop of Constantinople, St. John Chrysostom (AD 344/354-407) that the Christ was born "not injuring the honor of virginity" and that "the Virgin remained inviolate" (Homilies on St. Matthew, 4).
In addition to Mary's bodily integrity remaining intact, the Church Fathers of the West also wrote that she did not experience the usual pains of childbirth. The Fathers of the East also focused on this aspect of Jesus' birth by teaching that in this cosmic event of supreme joy, there could be no pain. Reflecting the teachings of both the Eastern and Western early Church Fathers, the Vatican II document, Lumen Gentium states: "then also at the birth of Our Lord, who did not diminish his mother's virginal integrity but sanctified it, the Mother of God joyfully showed her firstborn Son to the shepherds and the Magi" (The Documents of Vatican II, Lumen Gentium, 57). The Fathers of the Church taught that Mary did not suffer pain in childbirth because pain in childbearing was a curse of the Fall (Genesis 3:16), but as the Immaculate Mother of the Word made flesh Mary was free from all sin and concupiscence, and so it follows that her childbearing would be free of such a consequence of sin.
It is a dogma (profound truth) of the Church that Mary remained a virgin after the birth of the Savior and throughout her entire life. The Church restated this dogma in the documents of the last great council of the Church, Vatican II: "Joined to Christ the head and in communion with all his saints, the faithful must in the first place reverence the memory of the glorious ever-virgin Mary, Mother of God and of our Lord Jesus Christ. And in regard to her perpetual virginity: This union of the Mother with the Son in the work of salvation is made manifest from the time of Christ's conception up to his death [...] then also at the birth of Our Lord, who did not diminish his mother's virginal integrity but sanctified it, the Mother of God joyfully showed her firstborn Son to the shepherds and the Magi" (Dogmatic Constitution on the Church, Lumen Gentium, 52, & 57, Vatican II).
There are four Marian Dogmas that one must believe to be Catholic:
7bShe wrapped
him in swaddling clothes and laid him in a manger, because there was no room
for them in the inn.
The word translated "inn" is the
Greek word kataluma, rather than the typical Greek word for "inn," pandocheion,
as translated in Luke 10:34 in the story of the good Samaritan who takes
the wounded man to a house that took in overnight guests. The Greek word kataluma,
is correctly translated as "room" or "living space," in the NJB translation of
this passage and Luke 22:11 where the Apostles Peter and John find the prepared
"room" [kataluma] for the Last Supper.(11)
That there was no room for Joseph and Mary in a house may indicate that there was no entirely separate living space in Joseph's family home in Bethlehem for a woman to give birth without rendering the other members of the household ritually impure. Any issue of blood or bodily fluids contaminated anyone who came in contact with it or was near the contamination (Leviticus 12:1-8). Those persons considered capable of causing ritual pollution were to stay outside normal living areas (Numbers 5:1-3). Purification required bathing in the ritual pool called a mikveh, with ritual purity restored at sunset, which begins a new day (Leviticus 15:46; Numbers 19:22; Deuteronomy 23:11). Contamination by coming in contact with a dead person required a seven-day ritual purification (Leviticus 12:1-8; 15:19-30; Numbers 19:10-22). One was in effect "excommunicated" from the community until the contamination was ritually purified.
According to Church tradition, the place Joseph found for Mary to give birth was a cave that served as a shelter for domestic animals. As soon as He was born, Mary wrapped Jesus tightly in strips of cloth and then placed Him in the animal's feeding trough, usually referred to as a manger (from the Latin manducare, "to eat," the etymology of the French verb: manger, "to eat"). From our modern perspective, we find it bizarre that Jesus should be born in a space that housed animals, but in the ancient world (and in third world countries today) it was common for humans and their livestock to share living quarters at night. It wasn't until recent times (in the span of human history) that humans and their animals began to live in separate quarters. The animals that were sent out to graze during the day were led into enclosures or caves at night, and livestock that was part of domestic daily life, like the milk cow or the household goat and the chickens, were kept in the front part of the house at night while the family slept in the rear. The house protected the valuable animals from predators, and in the winter months, the animals provided additional warmth for the humans.
The houses in the Holy Land were often natural caves, many of which were enlarged by carving out additional space in the limestone. The hill country of Judea was riddled with limestone caves that could provide protection from the elements and was both cool in the summers and warm in the winters. When St. Helena, the mother of the first Christian Roman Emperor, Constantine I, went to the Holy Land to identify the holy sites associated with Jesus and the birth of Christianity, the Christian Bishop of Jerusalem immediately took her to both the site of Jesus' crucifixion and burial and the place of his birth in Bethlehem. Wanting to discourage Christian veneration of these sites, the Romans had erected pagan Temples over the places that were sacred to Christians. Their efforts only helped to mark the holy sites and preserve them in the memory of the Christian community for three hundred years. St. Helena ordered the building of the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem over the birth cave of Jesus.
Luke 2:8-12 ~ An angel appears to the shepherds in the fields
8 Now there were shepherds in that region living in the fields and keeping the night watch over their flock. 9 The angel of the Lord appeared to them and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were struck with great fear. 10 The angel said to them, "Do not be afraid; for behold, I proclaim to you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. 11 For today in the city of David a savior has been born for you who is Messiah and Lord. 12 And this will be a sign for you: you will find an infant wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger."
The night of Jesus' birth in Bethlehem, a choir of angels announced the birth of the King of Kings to a group of humble shepherds watching their flocks. God has always had a special love for shepherds from Abel to David, and these humble shepherds were the first to receive the "good news" that the promised Messiah-Redeemer had arrived. It is a sign that the salvation that Christ brings to us is offered freely to everyone without distinction of status or race, as St. Paul stated in Colossians 3:11 ~ Here there is not Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free man, but Christ is all, and in all.
Shepherds kept the lambs for the twice-daily liturgical worship service of the Tamid at the Jerusalem Temple in fields between Jerusalem and Bethlehem. Perhaps these were the shepherds who kept the lambs sacrificed daily for the sins and sanctification of the people. Perhaps the shepherds of the Tamid lambs were the first to look on the face of Him who would one day become the only pure sacrificed Lamb of God for the sins of humanity, thereby cleansing and elevating all men and women to a restored communion with God the Father. Perhaps it was the very cave in which they kept their animals on dreary, cold. and rainy nights that became the birthplace of the Messiah; He who was to be the perfect, unblemished Lamb of sacrifice which father Abraham had promised: "Yahweh Himself will provide" (Genesis 22:8). See the e-book, "Jesus and the Mystery of the Tamid Sacrifice"
In Jesus' birth, His divinity and humanity were perfectly manifested in the tiny baby in Mary's arms. How perfect was God's plan that He who would feed the world spiritually in the transformation of bread and wine into His Body and Blood, should be placed as an infant in a manger, a feeding trough? The Advent of the Son of God would culminate in the formation of the eighth covenant of salvation history that is the eternal New Covenant in Christ Jesus (see the chart on Yahweh's Covenants
Seven covenants had preserved the "holy seed" promised in Genesis 3:15 before the coming of the Messiah. The symbolism of numbers in Scripture designates seven as the number of completion and perfection. The Old Covenant would be fulfilled and completed in the coming of the Son of God. In His perfect sacrifice, He established the eighth and last covenant of the New Covenant people of God. In the significance of numbers in Scripture, eight is the number of salvation, redemption, and re-birth. It is also the number of Jesus name in Greek, the language of the New Testament. The gematria of Iesous in Greek is a trinity of eights = 888.(12)
Luke 2:12-14 ~ 12 "And this will be a sign for you: you will find an infant wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger." 13 And suddenly there was a multitude of the heavenly host with the angel, praising God and saying: 14 "Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests."
The angel promised the shepherds a "sign." In Scripture, a "sign" is always something concrete; it is a visible indicator of the greater spiritual blessing from God. Some other examples of "signs" in Scripture:
After announcing the birth of the Son of God, the angels began a song of joy. The second line of this hymn is translated two ways: "on earth peace for those He favors," or "on earth peace among men of good will." The translation "peace to men of good will" or "peace on earth and God's favor towards men" does not render the sense of the Greek which makes the "peace" dependant upon man's response to God (see New Jerusalem Bible page 1691, note f).
Question 7: In their hymn of praise in verse 14, the angels make a petition to God; the fulfillment of the petition depends on what action from human beings? (answer)
The reconciliation about which the angels hopefully sing is not a result of anything human beings have merited but is solely reliant on God's merciful response to an individual's repentance and desire to be restored to fellowship with his Creator. Such reconciliation will bring true peace on earth. The child Jesus is the means of this hoped-for reconciliation.
The song of glory the angels sang to God after their announcement to the shepherds inspires the hymn of the "Gloria" in our earthly liturgy. The Gloria hymn is of great antiquity and is among the earliest of all Christian hymns. There is no phrase in it which does not also appear either from the Gospel of St. Luke, the epistles of St. Paul or in the letters of St. John. We glorify God by recognizing the glory He already has that is manifested in heaven. Therefore, we can also say, as we do in the Gloria, "We praise you for your glory;" that is, for the glory which is already God's, not the glory we give him.
The book of Revelation gives us the vision of the heavenly, angelic choir (Revelation 7:11) and the Saints in Heaven joining together (Revelation 7:9) to sing a cosmic hymn of praise to the glory of God (Revelation 7:12). Just as we sing our hymns of praise to God in the Sanctuary during the Mass, St. John saw the angels and saints singing hymns of praise to God in the heavenly Sanctuary as they stood before His throne. St. John wrote: After this I had a vision of a great multitude, which one could not count, from every nation, race, people, and tongue. They stood before the throne and before the Lamb, wearing white robes and holding palm branches in their hands. They cried out in a loud voice: "Salvation comes from God, who is seated on the throne, and from the Lamb." All the angels stood around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures. They prostrated themselves before the throne, worshiped God, and exclaimed: "Amen. Blessing and glory, wisdom and thanksgiving, honor, power, and might be to our God forever and ever. Amen" (Revelation 7:9-17 NJB).
In the Mass, our hymn of praise to Christ begins with our words: "Glory to God in the highest," coming directly from Scripture in the first words sung by the angelic choir that greeted the birth of Jesus (Luke 2:14). In the "Gloria" of the Mass, we not only recall the praise of angles at the birth of Jesus, but our song is a foreshadow of the praise we will give God once we have entered into His Glory when we join the angles and the Saints who have gone before us in singing "Glory to God in the Highest!"
Luke 2:15-20 ~ The
Shepherd seek out the Christ-child
15 When the angels went away from them to heaven, the
shepherds said to one another, "Let us go, then, to Bethlehem to see this thing
that has taken place, which the Lord has made known to us." 16 So they
went in haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the infant lying in the manger. 17 When
they saw this, they made known the message that had been told them about this
child. 18 All who heard it were amazed by what had been told
them by the shepherds. 19 And Mary kept all these things, reflecting on them in
her heart. 20 Then the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising
God for all they had heard and seen, just as it had been told to them.
The coming of the promised Redeemer-Messiah is the hinge upon which all human history turns, and yet God orchestrated the events so that they took place quietly with the only witnesses being a humble man and woman, lowly shepherds and the animals that looked upon the birth that was the beginning of a renewed creation. The response of the shepherds to the announcement of the angels is beautifully endearing. How touching it is that without the slightest hesitation the shepherds ran immediately to the Christ-child. Would that all of us would respond with such enthusiasm to God's call to grace!
Scripture records that Mary "kept all these things, reflecting on them in her heart." This verse tells us a great deal about Mary: about her serenity, her intelligence, her faith, and her love for God. She thoughtfully considered everything that had happened from the visit of the angel announcing the birth of her son to the fulfillment of the promise. She contemplated all these wonderful events in her own quiet humility and stored this knowledge and these experiences in the tender recesses of her heart. Her response is a lesson to us all to carefully treasure God's revelation of Himself to us in our prayer life and our daily lives in the company of others. Mary's intimate and quiet spirituality is a model of Christian faith.
Luke 2:21 ~ When eight days were completed for his circumcision,
he was named Jesus, the name given him by the angel before he was conceived in
the womb.
The birth narrative in St.
Matthew comes to an end with Joseph's obedience to the God's revelation through
His angel/messenger. Joseph takes Mary into his home and when the child is
born, he gives Mary's son the name revealed to him by the angel. In naming
Jesus, Joseph acknowledges the child as his legal son (see Matthew 1:24-25). The
birth narrative in St. Luke's Gospel comes to an end with Jesus' brit, His
circumcision and naming ceremony in obedience to the Law of the Covenant
(Genesis 17:9-14; Leviticus 12:3). From the first week of His birth, Jesus perfectly
kept all the precepts of the Law of the Old Covenant He had come to fulfill.
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Picture of the Basilica of the Nativity in Bethlehem. This church was first built by Queen Helena, mother of the first Christian Roman Emperor Constantine in the 4th century. It was later rebuilt by the Christian Emperor Justinian in the 5th century. |
Endnotes:
1. Introduction to Mary: The Heart of Marian Doctrine and Devotion, page 27.
2. The question remains, why did God
allow Moses' amendment to the laws concerning divorce? Sometimes God allows
what is an imperfect practice to prevent a greater sin. It may be that since a
man could not take a younger wife so long as his older wife was still living
that the older wives were dying of "accidents" under suspicious
circumstances. In India today, when a family wants to rid itself of a son's
wife when the marriage to another girl will bring a much bigger dowry the
unwanted brides often die of suspicious "kitchen fires." Jesus raised the bar
on what was required in the New Covenant in Matthew 19 and tied such obedience
to the sacrament of marriage to salvation in Matthew 19:12 for those who accept
marriage as a vocation and those who accept celibacy for the sake of the
Kingdom.
3. Thayer's Greek-English Lexicon;
Brown, Driver, page 268; Briggs Hebrew-English Lexicon, page 723-24.
4. All quotes are from The Faith
of the Early Fathers, volume I
5. See Strong's Exhaustive
Concordance of the Bible, pages 151-152.
6. Outside the mention of Pilate in
Sacred Scripture and the few comments made of him in the writings of Josephus,
Philo of Alexandria, and Tacitus, no artifact or inscription which offered
proof for Pontius Pilate's rule as governor of Judea existed until 1961 when a
few coins and an official Roman inscription naming Pilate was discovered in
Caesarea Maritima, the headquarters of the Roman governor of the province.
Many Bible scholars considered the story of King David to be a myth until a
stele (stone tablet with a carved commemorative inscription) was discovered in
1993/94 which named a King of Judah from "the house of David," proving David
was a historical figure.
7. Bishop Eusebius records that the
Emperor Domitian ordered that any descendants of Judah's King David were to be
arrested and killed (Church History, Book III.19.1). Information was
given to the Romans that the grandchildren of St. Jude belonged to the family of
David. These men were arrested and examined to determine if their descent from
King David might in the future prove to be a threat to his sovereignty in the
region of Judea. St. Jude was the author
of the Letter of St. Jude, and he was the brother of St. James Bishop of Jerusalem. Both St.Jude and St. James were kinsmen of Jesus. Jude's grandchildren
admitted that they were descendants of David. However, after questioning them
it was determined that they were just simple, poor peasants and no threat to
the Empire (Church History, Book III.20.1-8). This careful scrutiny of
any threat to Roman sovereignty from a province's past royal bloodline is
repeatedly recorded in the historical record. Eusebius also records that after
the Jewish revolt, the Roman Emperor Vespasian (69-79AD), also rounded up any
Jew who could claim a royal bloodline in Church History, Book III.12,
and Eusebius mentions the same act by the Emperor Trajan in chapter 32.
8. Dictionary of the Bible, page
92.
9. "Transubstantiation" is the name
the Church gives to the miracle that takes place when a validly ordained priest
repeats the words of Christ at the Last Supper and the congregation's gifts of
bread and wine are completely changed in substance into the substance of
Christ's Body and Blood, just as He promised in Mt 26:26-28; Mk 14:22-25; Lk 22:15-20. While belief in the miracle always existed since the times of the
Apostles and their disciples, the term itself was a later development. The
Eastern Fathers of the Church favored the expression meta-ousiosis, meaning
"change of being" (introduced in the 6th century). The Latin
Church applied the word transubstantiation, meaning "change of
substance" (trans = "so as to change," + substantia =
"substance"). This term was first incorporated into the creed of the Fourth
Lateran Council in 1215.
10. God, however, did not always recognize the designated
firstborn as the son fit to carry forth His plan for man's redemption as in the
case of Cain versus Abel, Ishmael versus Isaac, Esau versus Jacob, etc. In
each of these families, God designated the re'shiyt.
11. Resources: Thayer's Greek-English Lexicon; The Brown-Driver-Briggs
Hebrew and English Lexicon; Strong's Exhaustive Concordance..
12. Jesus' name in Greek is Iesous: I = 10, E = 8, S =
200, O = 70, U = 400, S = 200; to total 888.
Michal Hunt, Copyright © 2008, revised 2018 Agape Bible Study. Permissions All Rights Reserved.
Answers to the questions in the lesson:
Answer 1: Only the Gospels of Saints Matthew and Luke contain birth narratives of Jesus and list Jesus' genealogy. (return to queston 1)
Answer 2: Matthew's genealogy names David before Abraham who lived a thousand years after David. It is the link to the great King David that is the most significant genealogical link. (return to queston 2)
Answer 3: Most translations list Joseph's occupation as a carpenter. (return to queston 3)
Answer 4: For a betrothed woman to become pregnant by a man other than her betrothed was considered adultery. The court would have granted Joseph a divorce, and since adultery was a death penalty offense, Mary could have been stoned to death. (return to queston 4)
Answer 5: These Bible passages are problematic because they mention Jesus' brothers and sisters. (return to queston 5)
Answer 6: It was the home of the great King David with whom God made an eternal covenant and promised his heir an eternal throne. (return to queston 6)
Answer 7: The angels are petitioning for peace between God and the men and women who actively seek reconciliation with God. (return to queston 7)
Michal Hunt, Copyright © 2008, revised 2018 Agape Bible Study. Permissions All Rights Reserved.
Catechism references for this lesson (* indicates Scripture is
quoted or paraphrased in the citation):
Matthew 1:16 (CCC 437);
1:18-25 (CCC 497*);
1:20 (CCC 333-9; 437, 486*, 497);
1:21 (CCC 430, 437, 452, 1507*, 1846, 2666*, 2812*);
1:23 (CCC 497, 744)
Luke 2:6-7 (CCC 525*);
2:8-20 (CCC 486*, 525*);
2:8-14 (CCC 333*);
2:10 (CCC 333);
2:11 (CCC 437, 448*, 695*);
2:14 (CCC 333, 559*, 725*);
2:19 (CCC 2599*);
2:21 (CCC 527*)
2 Samuel 7 (CCC 709*);
7:14 (CCC 238*, 441*)
The Virgin Mary:
Christ's Mother by the power of the Holy Spirit (CCC 437,
456, 484-86, 723-26)
Mary Ever Virgin (CCC 499-501)
Immaculate (CCC 491-92)
The "new Eve" (CCC 411, 489, 726, 2618, 2853)