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Matthew 1: HG Bishop Youssef

Genealogy of Christ

20:00-33:40

1 The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the Son of David, the Son of Abraham:

2 Abraham begot Isaac, Isaac begot Jacob, and Jacob begot Judah and his brothers. 3 Judah begot Perez and Zerah by Tamar, Perez begot Hezron, and Hezron begot Ram. 4 Ram begot Amminadab, Amminadab begot Nahshon, and Nahshon begot Salmon. 5 Salmon begot Boaz by Rahab, Boaz begot Obed by Ruth, Obed begot Jesse, 6 and Jesse begot David the king.

David the king begot Solomon by her who had been the wife of Uriah. 7 Solomon begot Rehoboam, Rehoboam begot Abijah, and Abijah begot Asa. 8 Asa begot Jehoshaphat, Jehoshaphat begot Joram, and Joram begot Uzziah. 9 Uzziah begot Jotham, Jotham begot Ahaz, and Ahaz begot Hezekiah. 10 Hezekiah begot Manasseh, Manasseh begot Amon, and Amon begot Josiah. 11 Josiah begot Jeconiah and his brothers about the time they were carried away to Babylon.

12 And after they were brought to Babylon, Jeconiah begot Shealtiel, and Shealtiel begot Zerubbabel. 13 Zerubbabel begot Abiud, Abiud begot Eliakim, and Eliakim begot Azor. 14 Azor begot Zadok, Zadok begot Achim, and Achim begot Eliud. 15 Eliud begot Eleazar, Eleazar begot Matthan, and Matthan begot Jacob. 16 And Jacob begot Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus who is called Christ.

17 So all the generations from Abraham to David are fourteen generations, from David until the captivity in Babylon are fourteen generations, and from the captivity in Babylon until the Christ are fourteen generations.

  • Son of David, Son of Abraham
    • St Matthew opens the Gospel with these words
    • He wants to tell them that the long-awaited Messiah who was promised by the prophets to restore the Kingdom of David, is Jesus of Nazareth
    • St Matthew traces the royal lineage (Jesus is the descendant of King David). This is one of the first things required to convince a Jewish audience that Jesus is qualified to be the Messiah
    • Although Abraham came before David, and is the father of all Israelites, he mentions David first because in the Jewish mind, the Messiah is the Son of David.
  • Three sets of 14 Names
    • In Scripture in general, numbers usually have more significance than just a quantity (e.g. 7 is a symbol of perfection)
    • Gematria
      • Each letter has a corresponding number
      • So a name or a word has a number
      • D = 4
        V = 6
        DVD = 14 (in Hebrew, there aren't any vowels so the name David is DVD)
    • 14 = King David's Number
      • St Matthew wants to establish the link between Christ and King David
      • Three sets of 14 in the Genealogy in Ch 1
      • Total 42
    • 42 is 6x7
      • 6 is the number of man (since man was made on the 6th day)
      • 7 is the number of God (perfect number)
      • So 42 is the conflict between man and God
        • Man rebelled against God
        • But God sent His Son to reconcile man with God
  • He only mentions the names of people who are ancestors of Christ
    • He doesn't mention Ishmael, Esau, the twelve sons of Jacob, etc.
  • Four women mentioned
    • Three by name
      • Tamar - Genesis 38
      • Rahab - Prostitute of Jericho - Joshua 2
      • Ruth - Moabitess - Book of Ruth
    • They are named for their remarkable history
    • The fourth is "her who had been the wife of Uriah"
      • Uriah was a Hittite (i.e. a Gentile) so his wife was also likely a Gentile
    • All of them are Gentile women - in order to show that Christ came from and for both the Jews and Gentiles
  • Omitted names
    • Between Joram and Uzziah, three names are intentionally omitted
      • 1 Chronicles 3:11-12 - Ahaziah, Joash, Amaziah
      • It was common to omit less important names in Genealogies
      • In this case, St Matthew wanted to preserve the number 14 in each of the three sets
    • Between Josiah and Jeconiah, one name is intentionally omitted
    • After Zerubabbel, the name Abiud does not appear in 1 Chronicles
      • Some say that it was skipped
      • Others say that it was just another name
  • End of the Genealogy
    • Jews carefully kept public and family records of genealogy because everyone wanted to know where the Messiah would come from.
    • St Matthew must have gotten the end of this genealogy from some of those records
  • Joseph
    • Although Joseph is not the biological father of Jesus, he is the legal father of Jesus (because he is the legal husband of St Mary because of the betrothal)
    • This lineage that has a long chain of kings ends with a poor carpenter
  • Genealogy of St Luke
    • Comparing the two genealogies, they are different in many areas (especially between David and Joseph)
    • St Matthew gives the line of St Joseph - the legal line
      • This is acceptable to the Jews. They would not recognize this genealogy as a fulfillment of prophecies if St Matthew had used the line of St Mary.
    • St Luke gives the line of St Mary - the biological line
      • St Luke, being a Gentile and writing to a Gentile (Theophilus), he is more interested in proving that Christ is Son of David biologically.
    • Jesus is the Son of David through the legal line AND the biological line

Nativity of Christ

33:40-44:15

18 Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows: After His mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Spirit. 19 Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not wanting to make her a public example, was minded to put her away secretly. 20 But while he thought about these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take to you Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. 21 And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.”

22 So all this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying: 23 “Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,” which is translated, “God with us.”

24 Then Joseph, being aroused from sleep, did as the angel of the Lord commanded him and took to him his wife, 25 and did not know her till she had brought forth her firstborn Son. And he called His name Jesus.

  • Joseph her husband, being a just man
    • St Mary was betrothed to St Joseph
    • Betrothal was considered a civil (legal) marriage. There was a formal ceremony and it was a binding obligation. The time of betrothal was usually 1 year before the marriage.
    • Any unfaithfulness after betrothal is considered adultery
    • He found her with child, and assumed that she had committed sin.
    • As a righteous man, he didn't want to ruin her reputation. He didn't want her to be stoned. He decided to divorce her in secret. This shows his righteousness.
  • Angel of the Lord 
    • Most likely, this was Archangel Gabriel who appeared to St Mary and Zacharias
    • "Joseph, son of David" - emphasis here by St Matthew on King David
    • The angel is preparing him for this marvelous announcement that the Son in St Mary's womb is God incarnate, the Messiah
    • "Do not be afraid"
      • You are not offending God
      • You are not bringing upon yourself any scandal
      • This conception is from the Holy Spirit
    • Jesus
      • Joshua - Hosea - Josiah are synonymous meaning "Savior" from the verb "to save" (like Hosanna)
      • Jesus is our Savior to save us from the curse of sin, condemnation and banishment
      • "He will save His people from their sins"
  • Prophecy from Isaiah 7:14
    • St Matthew supports this with a prophecy from Isaiah
    • St Matthew uses this prophecy to prove to the Jews that Jesus of Nazareth is the Messiah and King of the Jews that they are waiting for
  • Immanuel
    • "God with us" - God, who is above us, became man and came and lived among us
  • Joseph does not delay
    • After the angel assures him, as soon as he wakes up, he immediately took Mary back and did not take any action
  • "did not know her till she had brought forth her firstborn Son"
    • "know her" means to have relationship as husband and wife.
    • There are two words that arouse questions: "till" and "firstborn"
    •  "till"
      • Does not necessarily reply that they lived differently afterward
      • "The LORD said to my Lord, 'Sit at My right hand, Till I make Your enemies Your footstool" (Psalm 110)
        • Does this mean that the Lord will sit at the right hand, but once He makes His enemies His footstool, He will tell Him "don't sit here anymore"? Of course not
      • "David did not know Michal his wife until the day she died" 
        • Does this mean that after she died, he knew her? Of course not
    • "firstborn"
      • Called for the firstborn child whether there are other children or no other children
      • Using the word "firstborn" does not indicate whether there are other children or not, but of course we believe in the perpetual virginity of St Mary
      • "brothers of the Lord" that we read about in the Gospels are His cousins (as St Jerome explains in detail)
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