Week 7: The Genealogy and Infancy of Christ

Readings:

• Matthew 1:1-18
• Luke 3:23-38
• Luke 2:41-52

Resources:

• HG Bishop Youssef
  • Matthew 1 - https://soundcloud.com/his-grace-bishop-youssef/matthew-introduction-chapter-1-bible-study?in=his-grace-bishop-youssef/sets/matthew-bible-study
  • Luke 3:21-38 - https://soundcloud.com/his-grace-bishop-youssef/luke-3-21-38-bible-study-engarabic?in=his-grace-bishop-youssef/sets/luke-bible-study&si=8257fcaf1bf342d5ae9d553f452dd443
  • Luke 2:41-52 - https://soundcloud.com/his-grace-bishop-youssef/luke-2-41-52-bible-study
• Dr. Eugenia Constantinou
  • Genealogy in Matthew - https://castbox.fm/vb/213715232 

Quiz:

Material:

• Matthew 1: HG Bishop Youssef (Just the section titled "Genealogy of Christ")
• Luke 3b: HG Bishop Youssef (Just the section titled "Genealogy of Christ")
• The Blood Curse of Jeconiah
  • 2 Kings 24:8-12
    • Jeconiah reigned in Jerusalem for just three months and did evil in the sight of the Lord
    • During his reign, Nebuchadnezzar took Jerusalem and all of Judah captive
  • Jeremiah 22:24-30
    • God instructs Jeremiah to record a curse against Jeconiah - that none of his descendants will prosper or sit on the throne of David or rule in Judah
  • But this is problematic because he's the descendant of King David. We can imagine that the devil got excited about this... because on the one hand, the Old Testament keeps talking about how the Messiah will come from the Seed of David... but on the other hand, the Lord has just cursed the descendant of David so that none of his descendants can sit on the throne. Did God make a mistake?
  • This is the Divine Providence
    • In the Genealogy according to St Matthew, it goes from King David to King Solomon (the first son of Bathsheba) down to Jeconiah (Jehoiachin) down to Joseph.
    • In the Genealogy according to St Luke, it goes from King David to Nathan (the second son of Bathsheba) down to St Mary.
    • So Christ inherits the Royal Lineage from King David through Solomon and Jeconiah, but is not a descendant of Jeconiah since Joseph is not His biological father... and yet, He is the biological Son of King David through Nathan and St Mary.
• Can we really say Heli is the father of Jacob?
  • Jewish Inheritance Laws when a man has daughters and no sons, are described in Numbers 27 (daughters of Zelophehad) and implemented in Joshua 17
  • An example of it happening is in Ezra 2:61 and Nehemiah 7:63
  • Many other examples
  • Basically, when a father without sons, the man that marries his daughter is adopted by him as his son
• Why don't we have more stories from Christ's childhood?
  • Because nothing interesting happened! He lived as an ordinary boy... He learned carpentry, He took care of His mother after Joseph departed, etc.
  • We know that He was ordinary because when He started to manifest Himself, the people in Nazareth were surprised! He had never showed any indication of anything supernatural or divine!
  • The exception is the story in Luke 2
• Luke 2c: HG Bishop Youssef