Luke 3b: HG Bishop Youssef

Baptism of Christ

00:00-11:13

²¹ When all the people were baptized, it came to pass that Jesus also was baptized; and while He prayed, the heaven was opened. ²² And the Holy Spirit descended in bodily form like a dove upon Him, and a voice came from heaven which said, “You are My beloved Son; in You I am well pleased.”

• Shortest account in the Synoptics of the baptism of Christ
• St Luke mentions two things that are not mentioned in the other gospels:
  • Christ was praying
  • Christ waited until all the people were baptized, and then He was baptized
• When people came to be baptized by John, they came confessing their sins... but Jesus did not have sins to confess. He is God. He prayed, keeping up communion with His Father in heaven. So the Father in Heaven testified about the Son "This is My beloved Son in whom I am well pleased"
• Theophany means "Manifestation of God"
  • We call the Feast of the Baptism of Christ the Theophany because God, the Trinity, was manifested
• By baptizing the Lord Jesus Christ, John the Baptist revealed to the people that Jesus is the Messiah
  • "He who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘Upon whom you see the Spirit descending, and remaining on Him, this is He who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’" (John 1:33)
  • Messiah
    • "Anointed One" - "Christ" - "Al Masee7"
    • Here, the Lord is Anointed as King, High Priest, Prophet
• At the baptism, according to St Matthew, Christ said: “Permit it to be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.”
  • Righteousness of the Law is by keeping all the requirements of the Law... and no one could do that. Jesus came and took our humanity, and in our humanity, He fulfilled all the righteousness and requirements of the Law. When I abide in Him, in Him I also fulfill all the righteousness of the Law
  • My prayer in itself is weak... but when I am in Him, abiding in Him, one with Him, then when I pray, I pray "in Jesus" so I will have access to God the Father ("no one can come to the Father except through Me")
  • When I fast, my fasting in itself is nothing... but when Jesus fasting, in Him when I fast, my fast fulfills the righteousness of the Law
  • That's why all the Old Testament fathers went to Hades... if their own righteousness was able to save them, they wouldn't have gone to Hades. But the fact that they went to Hades and waited until Christ was crucified and died and went to Hades to restore them, shows that none of us can fulfill the righteousness of the Law except through Christ.
• The Lord Jesus Christ accepted His mission as the "suffering servant" by allowing Himself to be counted among the sinners!
  • He stood among the sinners who came to be baptized by John the Baptist
  • He was counted among the sinners on the Cross, and crucified between two thieves
  • By accepting the baptism of John, it is in anticipation of another baptism - the baptism of Blood on the altar of Cross for the remission of our sins.
  • Thus, we who believe in Him and accept Him as our Lord and Savior, need to be joined to His baptism of death
    • "We are buried with Him in Baptism" (Colossians 2:12)
    • If we die with Him, we will rise with Him
  • Baptism is essential for our salvation so that we can participate in His Resurrection and His glory.

Genealogy of Christ

11:14-24:40

²³ Now Jesus Himself began His ministry at about thirty years of age, being (as was supposed) the son of Joseph, the son of Heli, ²⁴ the son of Matthat, the son of Levi, the son of Melchi, the son of Janna, the son of Joseph, ²⁵ the son of Mattathiah, the son of Amos, the son of Nahum, the son of Esli, the son of Naggai, ²⁶ the son of Maath, the son of Mattathiah, the son of Semei, the son of Joseph, the son of Judah, ²⁷ the son of Joannas, the son of Rhesa, the son of Zerubbabel, the son of Shealtiel, the son of Neri, ²⁸ the son of Melchi, the son of Addi, the son of Cosam, the son of Elmodam, the son of Er, ²⁹ the son of Jose, the son of Eliezer, the son of Jorim, the son of Matthat, the son of Levi, ³⁰ the son of Simeon, the son of Judah, the son of Joseph, the son of Jonan, the son of Eliakim, ³¹ the son of Melea, the son of Menan, the son of Mattathah, the son of Nathan, the son of David, ³² the son of Jesse, the son of Obed, the son of Boaz, the son of Salmon, the son of Nahshon, ³³ the son of Amminadab, the son of Ram, the son of Hezron, the son of Perez, the son of Judah, ³⁴ the son of Jacob, the son of Isaac, the son of Abraham, the son of Terah, the son of Nahor, ³⁵ the son of Serug, the son of Reu, the son of Peleg, the son of Eber, the son of Shelah, ³⁶ the son of Cainan, the son of Arphaxad, the son of Shem, the son of Noah, the son of Lamech, ³⁷ the son of Methuselah, the son of Enoch, the son of Jared, the son of Mahalalel, the son of Cainan, ³⁸ the son of Enosh, the son of Seth, the son of Adam, the son of God.

• 30 Years of age
  • This is when the Levites and Priests would begin their service
  • At that age, it was lawful for the Scribes to teach
  • In general, 30 years was looked upon as the time of life when manhood has reached its full development
• As was supposed the son of Joseph
  • People thought that Jesus is the son of Joseph, but he was not the biological son of Joseph
  • St Luke makes it clear that Joseph has no physical or biological connection whatsoever with Jesus. He is not His biological father, but rather, Jesus was born in a miraculous way from the Virgin Mary
• Son of Heli
  • Matthew 1:15 has Joseph's father as "Jacob"
  • St Luke is giving the Biological Genealogy through St Mary
  • Heli = Heliachim = Joachim
  • This can be read as Jesus as was supposed the son of Joseph, Jesus was the son of Mary the daughter of Heli
• Differences in the Genealogies
  • Matthew is descending, Luke is ascending
    
    • Matthew's genealogy is representing a movement through three periods of time...
      • the first period is the period of the patriarchs (head-father - arch + patri)
      • the second period is the period of the kings
      • the last period is a period of regular people
      • Matthew's intention was not to give a strict record, but rather to give a historical progression... first by highlighting the family origin, then the rise to power through David's throne, and eventually the decline from royalty of the kings to the humble birth of the Promised Messiah from a regular human
  • Matthew starts from Abraham, Luke starts from Adam
    • Matthew's list shows that Christ is the Son of Abraham (In your seed all the nations will be blessed) and the Son of David (Messiah); 
    • Luke's list shows that Christ is the Son of Adam and Eve - the woman who would crush the head of the serpent
  • Matthew lists according to Joseph, Luke lists according to Heliachim the father of St Mary
  • Matthew includes five noteworthy women
    • Tamar, Rahab, Ruth, Bethsheba, St Mary
    • St Jerome suggested that four of these women were included because they were sinners, foreshadowing Jesus as the Savior of sinful humans
    • Others thought they were included because these four women were Gentiles, showing that Christ did not just come for His own people, Israel, but for everyone in the world.
  • Matthew's is at the start, Luke's is after the Baptism of Christ
    • St Ambrosius says that Luke wished to show that God is the Father of us all by means of Baptism. That in baptism, we are adopted and become children of God.
    • Christ was both the son of Adam (according to the flesh) and the Son of God (before all ages) and in the fullness of time took flesh and became a son of Adam.
      • Because He is son of Adam and Son of God, He is the only one that can be mediator between us and the Father.
      • St Athanasius says: "God became the Son of Man in order to make man the son of God"