Baptism Prefigured and Foreshadowed in the Old Testament

In Old Testament times, Christian baptisms were not done. Christ had not been born into the world. So, the Christian Sacraments were not instituted by Him then. Although Christian baptisms were not practiced, there is still much in the Old Testament that prefigures or foreshadows baptism.

In the very first chapter of the Bible, it says:

In the beginning God made the Heaven and the Earth. But the Earth was unsightly and unfurnished, and darkness was over the deep, and the Spirit of God moved over the water. (Gen. 1:1,2, LXX)

Here, in these very first two verses of the Bible, we see a relationship between the Holy Spirit and water. Water is the preferred substance of the Spirit of God. "The Spirit of God moved over the water." (Gen. 1:2, LXX) Tertullian wrote:

Mindful of this declaration as of a conclusive prescript, we nevertheless proceed to treat the question, “How foolish and impossible it is to be formed anew by water. In what respect, pray, has this material substance merited an office of so high dignity” The authority, I suppose, of the liquid element has to be examined. This however, is found in abundance, and that from the very beginning. For water is one of those things which, before all the furnishing of the world, were quiescent with God in a yet unshapen state. “In the first beginning,” saith Scripture, “God made the Heaven and the Earth. But the Earth was invisible, and unorganized, and darkness was over the abyss; and the Spirit of the Lord was hovering over the waters.” (Gen. 1:1,2) The first thing, O man, which you have to venerate, is the age of the, waters in that their substance is ancient; the second, their dignity, in that they were the seat of the Divine Spirit, more pleasing to Him, no doubt, than all the other then existing elements. (On Baptism, chapter 3, by Tertullian, 145-220 A.D., vol. 3, p. 670, Ante-Nicene Fathers)

Theodotus and St. Cyril of Jerusalem, likewise, affirmed the special preference that God has for water.

Now, regeneration is by water and spirit (St. John 3:5), as was all creation: “For the Spirit of God moved on the abyss.” (Gen. 1:2) And for this reason the Saviour was baptized, though not Himself needing to be so, in order that He might consecrate the whole water for those who were being regenerated. Thus it is not the body only, but the soul, that we cleanse. It is accordingly a sign of the sanctifying of our invisible part, and of the straining off from the new and spiritual creation of the unclean spirits that have got mixed up with the soul. (Excerpts of Theodotus, Excerpt 7, by Theodotus, flourished second century A.D., vol. 8, p. 44, Ante-Nicene Fathers)

But if any one wishes to know why the grace is given by water and not by a different element, let him take up the Divine Scriptures and he shall learn. For water is a grand thing, and the noblest of the four visible elements of the world. Heaven is the dwelling-place of Angels, but the Heavens are from the waters: the Earth is the place of men, but the Earth is from the waters: and before the whole six days’ formation of the things that were made, "the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the water." (Gen. 1:2) (Catechetical Lectures, Lecture III, paragraph 5, by St. Cyril of Jerusalem, 318-386 A.D., vol. 7, p. 15, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Second Series)

The dignity of water. Since the beginning of creation, the Holy Spirit has always had a special affinity with water. This is a picture of McKenzie Falls in Australia.

In these first two verses of Sacred Scripture the Sacrament of Baptism is prefigured.

Of the Spirit it is said: “The Spirit was borne upon the waters.” (Gen. 1:2) And well in the beginning of creation is there set forth the figure of baptism whereby the creature had to be purified. (Three Books on the Holy Spirit, Book II, Introduction, paragraph 1, by St. Ambrose of Milan, 340-397 A.D., vol. 10, p. 115, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Second Series)

The Spirit of God above moved, as a charioteer, over the face of the waters (Gen. 1:2), and produced from them the infant world, a type of the Christian child that is drawn from the laver of baptism. (Letter LXIX, by St. Jerome, 345-420 A.D., vol. 6, p. 145, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Second Series)

Later in this same Book of Genesis, Baptism is prefigured again by the Flood in the days of Noah.

And the flood was upon the Earth forty days and forty nights, and the water abounded greatly and bore up the ark, and it was lifted on high from off the Earth. And the water prevailed and abounded exceedingly upon the Earth, and the ark was borne upon the water. And the water prevailed exceedingly upon the Earth, and covered all the high mountains which were under heaven. Fifteen cubits upwards was the water raised, and it covered all the high mountains. And there died all flesh that moved upon the Earth, of flying creatures and cattle, and of wild beasts, and every reptile moving upon the Earth, and every man. And all things which have the breath of life, and whatever was on the dry land, died. And God blotted out every offspring which was upon the face of the Earth, both man and beast, and reptiles, and birds of the sky, and they were blotted out from the earth, and Noe was left alone, and those with him in the ark. And the water was raised over the Earth an hundred and fifty days. (Gen. 7:17-24, LXX)

St. Peter drew an analogy between Baptism and the Flood in one of His Epistles:

Which sometime were disobedient, when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water. The like figure whereunto even baptism doth also now save us (not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God,) by the resurrection of Jesus Christ: (I Pet. 3:20,21)

In Exodus, the Sacrament of Baptism is prefigured again by the Israelites crossing the Red Sea to escape from the Egyptians.

And the angel of God that went before the camp of the children of Israel removed and went behind, and the pillar of the cloud also removed from before them and stood behind them. And it went between the camp of the Egyptians and the camp of Israel, and stood; and there was darkness and blackness; and the night passed, and they came not near to one another during the whole night. And Moses stretched forth his hand over the sea, and the Lord carried back the sea with a strong south wind all the night, and made the sea dry, and the water was divided. And the children of Israel went into the midst of the sea on the dry land, and the water of it was a wall on the right hand and a wall on the left. And the Egyptians pursued them and went in after them, and every horse of Pharao, and his chariots, and his horsemen, into the midst of the sea. And it came to pass in the morning watch that the Lord looked forth on the camp of the Egyptians through the pillar of fire and cloud, and troubled the camp of the Egyptians, and bound the axle-trees of their chariots, and caused them to go with difficulty; and the Egyptians said, Let us flee from the face of Israel, for the Lord fights for them against the Egyptians. And the Lord said to Moses, Stretch forth thine hand over the sea, and let the water be turned back to its place, and let it cover the Egyptians coming both upon the chariots and the riders. And Moses stretched forth his hand over the sea, and the water returned to its place toward day; and the Egyptians fled from the water, and the Lord shook off the Egyptians in the midst of the sea. And the water returned and covered the chariots and the riders, and all the forces of Pharao, who entered after them into the sea: and there was not left of them even one. But the children of Israel went along dry land in the midst of the sea, and the water was to them a wall on the right hand, and a wall on the left. So the Lord delivered Israel in that day from the hand of the Egyptians, and Israel saw the Egyptians dead by the shore of the sea. (Exodus 14:19-30, LXX)

St. Paul wrote about the analogy of the Red Sea and Baptism in one of his epistles.

Moreover, brethren, I would not that ye should be ignorant, how that all our fathers were under the cloud, and all passed through the sea; and were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea. (I Cor. 10:1)

Another event that prefigured the Sacrament of Baptism was the cleansing of Naaman (Naiman) the Syrian from leprosy in the Jordan River.

And the King of Syria said to Naiman, Go to, go, and I will send a letter to the King of Israel. And he went, and took in his hand ten talents of silver, and six thousand pieces of gold, and ten changes of raiment. And he brought the letter to the King of Israel, saying, Now then, as soon as this letter shall reach thee, behold, I have sent to thee my servant Naiman, and thou shalt recover him from his leprosy. And it came to pass, when the King of Israel read the letter, that he rent his garments, and said, Am I God, to kill and to make alive, that this man sends to me to recover a man of his leprosy? Consider, however, I pray you, and see that this man seeks an occasion against me. And it came to pass, when Elisaie heard that the King of Israel had rent his garments, that he sent to the King of Israel, saying, Wherefore hast thou rent thy garments? Let Naiman, I pray thee, come to me, and let him know that there is a prophet in Israel. So Naiman came with horse and chariot, and stood at the door of the house of Elisaie. And Elisaie sent a messenger to him, saying, Go and wash seven times in Jordan, and thy flesh shall return to thee, and thou shalt be cleansed. And Naiman was angry, and departed, and said, Behold, I said, He will by all means come out to me, and stand, and call on the name of his God, and lay his hand upon the place, and recover the leper. Are not the Abana and Pharphar, rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? May I not go and wash in them, and be cleansed? and he turned and went away in a rage. And his servants came near and said to him, Suppose the prophet had spoken a great thing to thee, wouldest thou not perform it? Yet he has but said to thee, Wash, and be cleansed. So Naiman went down, and dipped himself seven times in Jordan, according to the word of Elisaie: and his flesh returned to him as the flesh of a little child, and he was cleansed. (II Kings 5:5-14, LXX)

Naaman dipped himself in the Jordan River seven times and was made whole. When we are baptized, our fallen natures are regenerated by the Holy Spirit and we are enabled to live the kind of lives that God wants us to live.

St. Irenaeus saw this incident of Naaman dipping himself three times in the Jordan as prefiguring the Sacrament of Baptism.

“And dipped himself,” says [the Scripture], “seven times in Jordan.” (II Kings 5:14) It was not for nothing that Naaman of old, when suffering from leprosy, was purified upon his being baptized, but [it served] as an indication to us. For as we are lepers in sin, we are made clean, by means of the sacred water and the invocation of the Lord, from our old transgressions; being spiritually regenerated as new-born babes, even as the Lord has declared: “Except a man be born again through water and the Spirit, he shall not enter into the Kingdom of Heaven.” (St. John 3:5) (Fragments from the Lost Writings of Irenaeus, Fragment XXXIV, by St. Irenaeus of Lyons, 120-202 A.D., vol. 1, p. 574, Ante-Nicene Fathers)

In His discourse with Nicodemus, Jesus Christ told him how to be born again.

Nicodemus saith unto Him, How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter the second time into his mother’s womb, and be born? Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the Kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. (St. John 3:4-6)

Jesus told Nicodemus that he must be born of water and the Spirit in order to be born again. Jesus was talking about a spiritual rebirth. To be "born of water and of the Spirit" means to be baptized in water. Everyone is born a fleshly birth of his or her mother, but only in the waters of baptism can one be assured of experiencing the spiritual rebirth which is brought about by the Holy Spirit. The baptismal water is the chosen substance of the Holy Spirit for effecting the spiritual rebirth of people, just as it was His chosen substance in the beginning when He was creating the universe. The Holy Spirit is present in the waters of baptism and it is in those waters that he regenerates the fallen natures of those being baptized.

In a later blog I am going to talk about what happens in an Orthodox Christian baptism. For now, I just wanted to show that baptism was prefigured in the Old Testament and that water is the chosen substance of the Holy Spirit for this Sacrament.

Steve

Bibliography

Ante-Nicene Fathers, edited by Alexander Roberts, D.D. & James Donaldson, LL.D., volumes 1-10, Hendrickson Publishers, Peabody, Massachusetts

Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, First Series, edited by Philip Schaff, D.D., LL.D., volumes 1-14, Hendrickson Publishers, Inc., Peabody, Massachusetts

Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Second Series, edited by Philip Schaff, D.D., LL.D. & Henry Wace, D.D., volumes 1-14, Hendrickson Publishers, Inc., Peabody, Massachusetts

The Date of Christ's Baptism

There is a prophecy in the Book of Daniel that tells when the Christ will be anointed with the Holy Spirit.

24 Seventy weeks have been determined upon thy people, and upon the Holy City, for sin to be ended, and to seal up transgressions, and to blot out the iniquities, and to make atonement for iniquities, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal the vision and the prophet, and to anoint the Most Holy.
25 And thou shalt know and understand, that from the going forth of the command for the answer and for the building of Jerusalem until Christ the Prince there shall be seven weeks, and sixty-two weeks; and then the time shall return, and the street shall be built, and the wall, and the times shall be exhausted.
26 And after the sixty-two weeks, the Anointed One shall be destroyed, and there is no judgment in Him: and He shall destroy the city and the sanctuary with the prince that is coming: they shall be cut off with a flood, and to the end of the war which is rapidly completed He shall appoint the city to desolations.
27 And one week shall establish the covenant with many: and in the midst of the week My sacrifice and drink-offering shall be taken away: and on the Temple shall be the abomination of desolations; and at the end of time an end shall be put to the desolation. (Dan. 10:24-27, LXX; Dan. 9:24-27, Hebrew)

There are 70 weeks mentioned in this prophecy. (verse 24) A week contains seven days. So, the prophecy is about 490 days. Each day of the 490 days represents a year. So, the time period spoken of is 490 years long. The 70 weeks are "for sin to be ended, and to seal up transgressions, and to blot out the iniquities, and to make atonement for iniquities, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal the vision and the prophet, and to anoint the Most Holy." This prophecy is clearly, then, about Jesus Christ and not the Ant-Christ. The Anti-Christ will not put an end to sin, seal up transgressions, or blot out iniquities. Jesus did. Through the blood of Christ we do have forgiveness of sins. That is the teaching of St. Paul in his epistles.

In whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace. (Eph. 1:7)

Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light: who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the Kingdom of His dear Son:  in whom we have redemption through His blood, even the forgiveness of sins. (Col. 1:12-14)

And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath He quickened together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses; blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to His Cross. (Col. 2:13,14)

He sacrificed Himself for our sins.

By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. And every priest standeth daily ministering and offering oftentimes the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins: but this Man, after He had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God. (Heb. 10:10-12)

He bore our sins in His body on the tree (that is, the Cross).

For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow His steps:  who did no sin, neither was guile found in His mouth: who, when He was reviled, reviled not again; when He suffered, He threatened not; but committed Himself to Him that judgeth righteously:  who His own self bare our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed. (I Pet. 2:21-24)

In verse 25 of this prophecy in Daniel, there is mention made of 7 weeks (that is, 7 x 7 years) and 62 weeks (that is, 62 x 7 years). 7 x7 = 49. 62 x 7=434. 49 + 434 = 483 years. The "command for the answer and for the building of Jerusalem" is a Persian king's decree to rebuild Jerusalem. There are three decrees made by Persian kings to rebuild Jerusalem. One was made in 536 B.C. The other two were made in 457 B.C. and 444 B.C. (See p. 349, Halley's Bible Handbook.) According to verse 25 of this prophecy, there are 483 years from that decree until Christ the Prince.

536 - 483 = 53. I do not know of anyone who claimed to be the Christ in 53 B.C. This is most likely not the decree that this prophecy in the Book of Daniel is referring to.

444 - 483 = -39. I do not know of anyone in history who claimed to be the Christ in 39 A.D., but there were people in Israel who were claiming that Jesus is the Christ during that time. He had already died, arisen from the dead, and ascended into Heaven, however. I do not think that the decree issued by a Persian king in 444 B.C. is the one that this prophecy is referring to.

457 - 483 = 26 A.D. According to St. Matthew's Gospel, Jesus was born in Bethlehem during the reign of King Herod the Great.

Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judaea in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the East to Jerusalem. (St. Matt. 2:1)

The last year of King Herod's reign was 4 B.C. In St. Luke's Gospel, it says:

Now when all the people were baptized, it came to pass, that Jesus also being baptized, and praying, the Heaven was opened, and the Holy Ghost descended in a bodily shape like a dove upon Him, and a voice came from Heaven, which said, Thou art My beloved Son; in thee I am well pleased. And Jesus Himself began to be about thirty years of age, being (as was supposed) the son of Joseph, which was the son of Heli. (St. Luke 3:21-23)

According to St. Luke's Gospel, Jesus was about 30 years old when He was baptized. 30 + (-4) = 26. Jesus Christ was born in 4 B.C. and baptized in 26 A.D. St. Matthew gives this account of Jesus' baptism.

Then cometh Jesus from Galilee to Jordan unto John, to be baptized of him. But John forbad Him, saying, I have need to be baptized of Thee, and comest Thou to me? And Jesus answering said unto him, Suffer it to be so now: for thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness. Then he suffered Him. And Jesus, when He was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the Heavens were opened unto Him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon Him: and lo a voice from Heaven, saying, This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. (St. Matt. 3:13-17)

The Holy Spirit descended upon Jesus after He came up out of the water. Jesus was anointed with the Holy Spirit after His baptism. The words, "anoint the Most Holy," in verse 24 were fulfilled at Jesus' baptism when He was anointed with the Holy Spirit. Jesus is "the Most Holy." The demons called Him "the Holy One of God." (St. Mark 1:24; St. Luke 4:34) St. John the Theologian gave this account of Jesus' baptism.

The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.  This is He of whom I said, After me cometh a Man which is preferred before me: for He was before me. And I knew Him not: but that He should be made manifest to Israel, therefore am I come baptizing with water. And John bare record, saying, I saw the Spirit descending from Heaven like a dove, and it abode upon Him. And I knew Him not: but He that sent me to baptize with water, the same said unto me, Upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending, and remaining on Him, the same is He which baptizeth with the Holy Ghost. And I saw, and bare record that this is the Son of God. Again the next day after John stood, and two of His disciples; and looking upon Jesus as He walked, he saith, Behold the Lamb of God! (St. John 1:28-36)

St. John the Baptist called Jesus the Lamb of God. He said that Jesus is the one who takes away the sin of the world. According to St. Luke's Gospel, St. John the Baptist was born six months before Jesus was. When the Virgin Mary had just become pregnant with Jesus, the Archangel Gabriel told her that her kinswoman Elizabeth was already six months pregnant.

And, behold, thy cousin Elisabeth, she hath also conceived a son in her old age: and this is the sixth month with her, who was called barren. (St. Luke 1:36)

A pregnancy lasts nine months. St. John the Baptist was born three months after the Virgin Mary became pregnant with Jesus. Six months after St. John was born, Mary gave birth to Jesus. In the account of Jesus' baptism given by St. John the Theologian, St. John the Baptist said that Jesus was before him. St. John the Baptist acknowledged that Jesus pre-existed him although he was six months older than Jesus. Once again, I recall the prophecy in the Book of Micah.

And thou, Bethleem, house of Ephratha, art few in number to be reckoned among the thousands of Juda; yet out of thee shall one come forth to Me, to be a ruler of Israel; and His goings forth were from the beginning, even from eternity. (Micah 5:2,3, LXX)

The Christ, according to this prophecy, would be born in Bethlehem, but would have pre-existed His own birth. "His goings forth were from the beginning, even from eternity."

As for St. John the Baptist's veracity, many of the Jews believed that he was a prophet.

And it came to pass, that on one of those days, as He taught the people in the Temple, and preached the Gospel, the chief priests and the scribes came upon Him with the elders, and spake unto Him, saying, Tell us, by what authority doest Thou these things? Or who is he that gave Thee this authority? And He answered and said unto them, I will also ask you one thing; and answer Me: the baptism of John, was it from Heaven, or of men? And they reasoned with themselves, saying, If we shall say, From Heaven; He will say, Why then believed ye him not? But and if we say, Of men; all the people will stone us: for they be persuaded that John was a prophet. And they answered, that they could not tell whence it was. And Jesus said unto them, Neither tell I you by what authority I do these things. (St. Luke 20:1-8)

St. John was regarded by many of the Jews as being a prophet. He said at Jesus' baptism that Jesus is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world and the one who baptizes people with the Holy Spirit.

The last two verses of the prophecy speak about the death of Christ that occurred in the middle of the final week, the destruction of Jerusalem by the Roman general Titus in 70 A.D., and the three and a half year reign of the Anti-Christ before Jesus Christ returns from Heaven to judge the world. Jesus' ministry began after His baptism. It lasted three and a half years. That three and a half year period of His ministry is the first half of the final week of the 70 weeks. (Each day of the week is a year.) Although Jesus, the Anointed One, was destroyed (that is, died), "there was no judgment in Him." (verse 26) Pilate said after he examined Jesus:

Behold, I bring Him forth to you, that ye may know that I find no fault in Him. (St. John 19:4)

Jesus was not guilty of having committed any crimes, but He was tried for crimes.

In verse 27, it says that the Christ would establish a covenant with many. The covenant that the Christ established with many is the New Covenant. St. Matthew recorded that on the night before Jesus was crucified He instituted a New Covenant in His blood.

And He took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, Drink ye all of it; for this is My blood of the New Testament (or Covenant), which is shed for many for the remission of sins. (St. Matt. 26:27,28)

The Greek word that is translated "Testament" in this verse is diatheke. It is translated "covenant" in several other places in the New Testament. (for example: Acts 7:8; Rom. 9:4; Gal. 4:24; Eph. 2:12; Heb. 9:17; 10:16)

The seven weeks in verse 25 is the time it took the Jews to build the Temple.

Then said the Jews, Forty and six years was this Temple in building, and wilt thou rear it up in three days? (St. John 2:20)

That the Temple accordingly was built in seven weeks, is evident; for it is written in Esdras. (The Stromata, Book I, chapter 21, by Clement of Alexandria, 153-217 A.D., vol. 2, p. 329, Ante-Nicene Fathers)

I do not know where in I Esdras, Ezra, or Nehemiah it says that the Temple was built in 49 years. Maybe, Clement calculated it to be forty-nine years based on various events that were recorded in those books. The Jews told Jesus that it took forty-six years to build the Temple. Maybe the additional three years that is needed for it to be forty-nine are the years it took to plan the construction of the Temple.

In verse 26, it says: "He shall destroy the city and the sanctuary with the prince that is coming." Jesus prophesied about the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple a few days before His crucifixion.

And Jesus went out, and departed from the Temple: and His disciples came to Him for to shew Him the buildings of the Temple. And Jesus said unto them, See ye not all these things? Verily I say unto you, There shall not be left here one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down. (St. Matt. 24:1,2)

In 70 A.D., the Roman general Titus led a Roman army in an assault against Jerusalem. The Temple was destroyed by them. It has never been rebuilt. Jerusalem was destroyed, too. The abomination of desolations in verse 27 of the prophecy refers to Titus defiling the Temple Sanctuary. The last half of the final week of this prophecy (that is, the last three and a half years) probably refers to the three and a half year reign of Anti-Christ before Jesus Christ's Second Coming.

There was no one who fits the description of Christ the Prince in 53 B.C. There was no one who fits the description of Christ the Prince in 39 A.D. There was someone who fits the description of Christ the Prince in 26 A.D. His name is Jesus Christ of Nazareth.

Steve

Bibliography

Ante-Nicene Fathers, edited by Alexander Roberts, D.D. & James Donaldson, LL.D., volumes 1-10, Hendrickson Publishers, Peabody, Massachusetts

Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, First Series, edited by Philip Schaff, D.D., LL.D., volumes 1-14, Hendrickson Publishers, Inc., Peabody, Massachusetts

Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Second Series, edited by Philip Schaff, D.D., LL.D. & Henry Wace, D.D., volumes 1-14, Hendrickson Publishers, Inc., Peabody, Massachusetts

Halley's Bible Handbook, by Henry H. Halley, published by Zondervan Publishing House, Grand Rapids, MI 49506, copyright 1965 by Halley's Bible Handbook, Inc.

He Shall be Called a Nazarene

In St. Matthew's Gospel, there is a quotation from the Old Testament that says that the promised Christ will be called a Nazarene.

And he came and dwelt in a city called Nazareth: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophets, He shall be called a Nazarene. (St. Matt. 2:23)

If were one to look through the Old Testament, one would be unable to find anywhere there these words. I remember a Protestant minister once commented that he thought that Matthew was stretching things a little too much whenever he tried to prove from the Old Testament that Jesus is the Christ.

I asked a very learned Orthodox priest about this passage once. He told me that St. Matthew was quoting from a Pre-Masoretic Hebrew text. I read through various places in the Church Fathers and found out that St. Jerome had seen these words in a fourth century Hebrew manuscript of Isaiah. He had been translating the Hebrew Old Testament into Latin. He said in his apology (defense) to Rufinus:

But I was encouraged above all by the authoritative publications of the Evangelists and Apostles, in which we read much taken from the Old Testament which is not found in our manuscripts. For example, "Out of Egypt have I called My Son" (St. Matt. 2:15): "For He shall be called a Nazarene" (St. Matt. 2:23): and "They shall look on Him whom they pierced" (John 7:37): and "Rivers of living water shall flow out of his belly" (John 7:38): and "Things which eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man, which God hath prepared for them that love Him" (I. Cor. 2:9), and many other passages which lack their proper context. Let us ask our opponents then where these things are written, and when they are unable to tell, let us produce them from the Hebrew. The first passage is in Hosea (Hosea 11:1), the second in Isaiah (11:1), the third in Zechariah (Zech. 12:10), the fourth in Proverbs (Prov. 18:4), the fifth also in Isaiah (Isaiah 64:4). (Jerome's Apology for Himself against the Books of Rufinus, Book II, by St. Jerome 345-420 A.D., vol. 3, p. 516, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Second Series)

St. Jerome said that the quote came from Isaiah. In Isaiah chapter 11 of the Hebrew it says:

And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots. (Isaiah 11:1)

Perhaps the ancient Hebrew manuscript that St. Jerome used when he was translating it said:

And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots, for He shall be called a Nazarene. (Isaiah 11:1, possible Pre-Masoretic Hebrew text reading)

Anyway, based on the testimony of St. Jerome, those words were in a fourth century Hebrew manuscript of Isaiah.

This is the city that Jesus Christ grew up in. It is Nazareth, Israel. In fulfillment of Isaiah's prophecy, He was called a Nazarene. For attribute click here.

 St. Matthew says that after the Virgin Mary, St. Joseph, and Jesus returned to the land of Israel from Egypt, they moved to Nazareth.

But when Herod was dead, behold, an angel of the Lord appeareth in a dream to Joseph in Egypt, saying, Arise, and take the young Child and His mother, and go into the land of Israel: for they are dead which sought the young Child’s life. And he arose, and took the young Child and His mother, and came into the land of Israel. But when he heard that Archelaus did reign in Judaea in the room of his father Herod, he was afraid to go thither: notwithstanding, being warned of God in a dream, he turned aside into the parts of Galilee: and he came and dwelt in a city called Nazareth: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophets, He shall be called a Nazarene. (St. Matt. 2:19-23)

Isaiah's prophecy was fulfilled when this happened.

Steve

Bibliography

Ante-Nicene Fathers, edited by Alexander Roberts, D.D. & James Donaldson, LL.D., volumes 1-10, Hendrickson Publishers, Peabody, Massachusetts

Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, First Series, edited by Philip Schaff, D.D., LL.D., volumes 1-14, Hendrickson Publishers, Inc., Peabody, Massachusetts

Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Second Series, edited by Philip Schaff, D.D., LL.D. & Henry Wace, D.D., volumes 1-14, Hendrickson Publishers, Inc., Peabody, Massachusetts

Time in Egypt

Many of the historical events recorded in the Old Testament prefigure some historical event that would happen in the life of Christ. One such historical event is the exodus of the children of Israel out of Egypt. In the Hebrew version of the Book of Hosea, there is a prophecy about the Christ leaving Egypt.

So shall Bethel do unto you because of your great wickedness: in a morning shall the King of Israel utterly be cut off. When Israel was a child, then I loved him, and called My Son out of Egypt. As they called them, so they went from them: they sacrificed unto Baalim, and burned incense to graven images. (Hosea 10:15; 11:1,2)

The Septuagint differs here from the Hebrew. It says:

Thus will I do to you, O house of Israel, because of the unrighteousness of your sins. Early in the morning were they cast off, the King of Israel has been cast off: for Israel is a child, and I loved him, and out of Egypt have I called his children. As I called them, so they departed from My presence: they sacrificed to Baalim, and burnt incense to graven images. (Hosea 10:15; 11:1,2, LXX)

The Hebrew is untrustworthy, but it is not to be totally disparaged. It must be used selectively and with caution, however, since the Jews tampered with it. St. Matthew wrote his Gospel in Hebrew for Jewish converts to Christ. In the second chapter of his Gospel, he quotes Hosea 11:1 in the Hebrew as proof that the Christ would live in Egypt.

And when they were departed, behold, the angel of the Lord appeareth to Joseph in a dream, saying, Arise, and take the young Child and His mother, and flee into Egypt, and be thou there until I bring thee word: for Herod will seek the young Child to destroy Him. When he arose, he took the young Child and His mother by night, and departed into Egypt: and was there until the death of Herod: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, Out of Egypt have I called My Son. (St. Matt. 2:13-15)

Jesus claimed to be the promised Christ. He claimed that the Old Testament Scriptures testified of Him.

Search the Scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of Me. (St. John 5:39)

He explained the prophecies about Himself to His disciples after His resurrection.

And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, He expounded unto them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself. (St. Luke 24:27)

And He said unto them, These are the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the Law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms, concerning Me. Then opened He their understanding, that they might understand the Scriptures. (St. Luke 24:45,46)

If St. Matthew quoted this verse from Hosea as a proof text that the Christ would live in Egypt, then He most likely learned that that is a prophecy of Christ from Jesus Christ Himself. I do not think that He was perverting the sense of this passage.

If we examine the text from Hosea closely, we can see that it is talking about the exodus of the Israelites from Egypt. However, among all of those Israelites who left Egypt under the Prophet Moses' leadership there was a man who was an ancestor of King David from whom would come the Christ.

Looking at the genealogy given by St. Matthew, we see that Naason is one of Jesus' ancestors. (St. Matt. 1:4) Salmon is Naason's son. (St. Matt. 1:5) Salmon married Rachab (Rahab) and begot Booz (Boaz) by her. None of the Israelites met Rachab (Rahab) until after they had entered the land of Canaan. (Josh. 2:1-3) Rachab and her relatives were the only ones from Jericho who were spared by the Israelites when they destroyed Jericho. (Josh. 6:17-25)

Naason left with the Israelites when they made their departure from Egypt. He was a biological ancestor of Jesus Christ. When God called the Israelites out Egypt under the leadership of Moses, He was calling out Naason, the biological ancestor of the Christ. His DNA would be transmitted through successive generations to the Virgin Mary who would give birth to the Christ. So then, "Out of Egypt God called His Son."

Jesus Christ lived in Egypt when He was a small Child. In fulfillment of Hosea's prophecy, He left there with His family when He was still a small Boy and returned to the land of Israel.

The exodus of the Israelites (and most especially Naason) from Egypt also prefigures the departure of Christ from Egypt when He was a young Child. So, this prophecy in Hosea is a prophecy about Christ leaving Egypt as a young Child.

Steve

The Number of His Name

Something I found out while reading St. Irenaeus' work, Against Heresies, was that the numerical value of the letters of Jesus' name in Greek adds up to 888.* The ancient Greeks used the letters of their alphabet and a few letters borrowed from the Phoenician alphabet to represent numerals.

Numbers have symbolic meaning. The number seven signifies perfection. Eight is one more than seven. It symbolically means abundance. Eight also symbolically means eternity. There are seven days in a week. The eighth day is the day beyond time. Jesus Christ arose from the dead on the eighth day - the day after the Sabbath which is the seventh day. One of the Church Fathers said that there are seven periods in human history - one that corresponds with each day of the week. At the end of the seventh period, Christ will return. Then will begin the eighth period which corresponds with the eighth day - the day without a sunset. The eighth day is the day that will never end.**

Steve

* This is the name of Jesus; for this name, if you reckon up the numerical value of the letters, amounts to eight hundred and eighty-eight. (Against Heresies, Book I, chapter 15, paragraph 2, by St. Irenaeus of Lyons, 120-202 A.D., vol. 1, p. 339, Ante-Nicene Fathers)

** Ye perceive how He speaks: Your present Sabbaths are not acceptable to Me, but that is which I have made, [namely this, ] when, giving rest to all things, I shall make a beginning of the eighth day, that is, a beginning of another world. Wherefore, also, we keep the eighth day with joyfulness, the day also on which Jesus rose again from the dead. And when He had manifested Himself, He ascended into the heavens. (Epistle of Barnabas, chapter 15, written in about 100 A.D. by Barnabas of Cyprus, vol. 1, p. 147, Ante-Nicene Fathers)

The life originally bestowed was not eternal, because man sinned; but the final rest, of which the seventh day was an emblem, its eternal, and hence the eighth day also will have eternal blessedness, because that rest, being eternal, is taken up by the eighth day, not destroyed by it; for if it were thus destroyed, it would not be eternal. Accordingly the eighth day, which is the first day of the week, represents to us that original life, not taken away, but made eternal. (Letter LV, chapter 9, by Blessed Augustine of Hippo, 354-430 A.D., vol. 1, p. 308, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, First Series)

“The day of the Lord,” Scripture says, “is great and very terrible” (Joel 2:11), and elsewhere “Woe unto you that desire the day of the Lord: to what end is it for you? The day of the Lord is darkness and not light.” (Amos 5:18) A day of darkness for those who are worthy of darkness. No; this day without evening, without succession and without end is not unknown to Scripture, and it is the day that the Psalmist calls the eighth day, because it is outside this time of weeks. (Title of Psalms 6 and 11) Thus whether you call it day, or whether you call it eternity, you express the same idea. Give this state the name of day; there are not several, but only one. If you call it eternity still it is unique and not manifold. Thus it is in order that you may carry your thoughts forward towards a future life, that Scripture marks by the word “one” the day which is the type of eternity, the first fruits of days, the contemporary of light, the holy Lord’s day honoured by the Resurrection of our Lord. "And the evening and the morning were one day.” (Gen. 1:5) (The Hexaemeron, Homily II, by St. Basil the Great, 329-379 A.D., vol. 7, pp. 64-65, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Second Series)

Bibliography

Ante-Nicene Fathers, edited by Alexander Roberts, D.D. & James Donaldson, LL.D., volumes 1-10, Hendrickson Publishers, Peabody, Massachusetts

Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, First Series, edited by Philip Schaff, D.D., LL.D., volumes 1-14, Hendrickson Publishers, Inc., Peabody, Massachusetts

Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Second Series, edited by Philip Schaff, D.D., LL.D. & Henry Wace, D.D., volumes 1-14, Hendrickson Publishers, Inc., Peabody, Massachusetts

Not like a Mule, Not like a Centaur

Jesus Christ is both God and Man. He is God, yet He is human like us. He has two natures a divine nature that He got from God the Father and a human nature that He got from His mother. He has two nativities — a divine one and a human one. His divine nature is uncreated. It has always existed. His human nature is created. It began to exist at the very moment when the Virgin Mary became pregnant with Jesus.

If anyone shall not confess that the Word of God has two nativities, the one from all eternity of the Father, without time and without body the other in these last days, coming down from Heaven and being made flesh of the holy and glorious Mary, Mother of God and always a virgin, and born of her: let him be anathema. (Second Capitulum, Second Council of Constantinople, 553 A.D., vol. 14, p. 312, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Second Series)
 

The two natures of Christ are not divided like those of a centaur. The centaur is a mythological creature. The top half of it was human and the bottom half was horse. For attribute click here.

One of the matters that got debated in ancient times was how these two natures were joined together. Some people thought the Jesus was part man and part God, just like the mythological creature, the centaur, was part man and part horse. Others thought that He was a mixture of man and God just as a mule is a mixture of donkey and horse.

The two natures of Jesus Christ are not mixed together to form a different nature that is neither human nor divine. A mule is a hybrid of a donkey and a horse. Jesus is not a hybrid of God and man. He is both God and Man in one Person. For attribute click here.

The Council of Chalcedon defined how the two natures of Christ are joined together. They said that they are joined together without mixture, separation, division, or change in one Person.*

So, if the two natures are joined together without mixture, then Jesus Christ is not a hybrid of God and Man. He is not like a mule. If the two natures are joined together without division, then He is not half God and half Man. He not like a centaur.

The two natures are also joined together without separation. He was always be both God and Man. His human nature can never be separated from His divine nature and His divine nature will always be joined to His human one.

The two natures are joined together without change. His human nature was not converted into a divine nature when He assumed it. His divine nature was never changed into a human one.

The Word who was God did not degenerate into Man, nor was His substance changed, but He appeared as a Man. (Homilies on the Epistle of St. Paul to the Philippians, Homily VII, by St. John Chrysostom, 347-407 A.D., vol. 13, p. 214, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, First Series)

For the created remaineth created, and the uncreated, uncreated: the mortal remaineth mortal; the immortal, immortal: the circumscribed, circumscribed: the uncircumscribed, uncircumscribed: the visible, visible: the invisible, invisible. "The one part is all glorious with wonders: while the other is the victim of insults." (An Exact Exposition of the Orthodox Faith, Book III, chapter 3, by St. John of Damascus, 645-750 A.D., vol. 9, part 2, p. 48, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Second Series)

He is also still one Person. Jesus does not have two personalities — a human one and a divine one. He has only one personality, because He is one Person.

He is God in His entirety. Each Person of the Holy Trinity is God in His entirety, but there is only one God. Each Person of the Holy Trinity is a distinct Person from the other two Persons of the Godhead. Each has His own distinct Personality.

Jesus did not lose any of His divinity when He became Man. He did empty Himself in the sense that He became everyone's Servant. (Phil. 2:5-8)

He did not diminish any of His humanity when He assumed it. Instead, He healed it of its fallen condition and sanctified it. He assumed mortal flesh from His mother and He destroyed the mortality in His flesh by His death. He trampled down death by His death.

Christ is risen from the dead, trampling down death by death and upon those in the tombs bestowing life. (Troparion for Pascha)

And He says Himself in the Song of Songs, "I am the rose of Sharon and the lily of the valley." (Song. 2:1) Our rose is the destruction of death, and died that death itself might die in His dying. (Letter LXXV, paragraph 1, by St. Jerome, 345-420 A.D., vol. 6, p. 155, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Second Series)

After His death, His human nature became immortal. (Rom. 6:9)

So then, the question is: How are the two natures of Jesus Christ joined together? They are joined together by permeation. The two natures of Christ permeate each other. The permeation, however, originated with the divine nature and not with the human one. St. John of Damascus wrote about the permeation of the two natures of Christ.

But observe that although we hold that the natures of the Lord permeate one another, yet we know that the permeation springs from the divine nature. For it is that that penetrates and permeates all things, as it wills, while nothing penetrates it: and it is it, too, that imparts to the flesh its own peculiar glories, while abiding itself impassible and without participation in the affections of the flesh. For if the sun imparts to us his energies and yet does not participate in ours, how much the rather must this be true of the Creator and Lord of the Sun. (An Exact Exposition of the Orthodox Faith, Book III, chapter 7, by St. John of Damascus, 645-750 A.D., vol. 9, part 2, p. 52, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Second Series)

In conclusion, Jesus Christ is fully God and fully Man. The two natures of Christ are joined together without mixture, division, separation, or change in one Person. The two natures of Christ are joined together by diffusion. They permeate each other. The permeation originates with the divine nature of Christ and not with His human one.

The mythological hero, Hercules, was half-god and half-man. Jesus is not like Hercules. He is fully God and fully Man.


Steve

* This wise and salutary formula of divine grace sufficed for the perfect knowledge and confirmation of religion; for it teaches the perfect [doctrine] concerning Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, and sets forth the Incarnation of the Lord to them that faithfully receive it. But, forasmuch as persons undertaking to make void the preaching of the truth have through their individual heresies given rise to empty babblings; some of them daring to corrupt the mystery of the Lord’s incarnation for us and refusing [to use] the name Mother of God (Θεοτόκος) in reference to the Virgin, while others, bringing in a confusion and mixture, and idly conceiving that the nature of the flesh and of the Godhead is all one, maintaining that the divine Nature of the Only Begotten is, by mixture, capable of suffering; therefore this present holy, great, and ecumenical synod, desiring to exclude every device against the Truth, and teaching that which is unchanged from the beginning, has at the very outset decreed that the faith of the Three Hundred and Eighteen Fathers shall be preserved inviolate. And on account of them that contend against the Holy Ghost, it confirms the doctrine afterwards delivered concerning the substance of the Spirit by the One Hundred and Fifty holy Fathers who assembled in the imperial City; which doctrine they declared unto all men, not as though they were introducing anything that had been lacking in their predecessors, but in order to explain through written documents their faith concerning the Holy Ghost against those who were seeking to destroy his sovereignty. And, on account of those who have taken in hand to corrupt the mystery of the dispensation [i.e. the Incarnation] and who shamelessly pretend that he who was born of the holy Virgin Mary was a mere man, it receives the synodical letters of the Blessed Cyril, Pastor of the Church of Alexandria, addressed to Nestorius and the Easterns, judging them suitable, for the refutation of the frenzied folly of Nestorius, and for the instruction of those who long with holy ardour for a knowledge of the saving symbol. And, for the confirmation of the orthodox doctrines, it has rightly added to these the letter of the President of the great and old Rome, the most blessed and holy Archbishop Leo, which was addressed to Archbishop Flavian of blessed memory, for the removal of the false doctrines of Eutyches, judging them to be agreeable to the confession of the great Peter, and as it were a common pillar against misbelievers. For it opposes those who would rend the mystery of the dispensation into a Duad of Sons; it repels from the sacred assembly those who dare to say that the Godhead of the Only Begotten is capable of suffering; it resists those who imagine a mixture or confusion of the two natures of Christ; it drives away those who fancy his form of a servant is of an heavenly or some substance other than that which was taken of us, and it anathematizes those who foolishly talk of two natures of our Lord before the union, conceiving that after the union there was only one.

Following the holy Fathers we teach with one voice that the Son [of God] and our Lord Jesus Christ is to be confessed as one and the same [Person], that he is perfect in Godhead and perfect in manhood, very God and very man, of a reasonable soul and [human] body consisting, consubstantial with the Father as touching his Godhead, and consubstantial with us as touching his manhood; made in all things like unto us, sin only excepted; begotten of his Father before the worlds according to his Godhead; but in these last days for us men and for our salvation born [into the world] of the Virgin Mary, the Mother of God according to his manhood. This one and the same Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son [of God] must be confessed to be in two natures, unconfusedly, immutably, indivisibly, inseparably [united], and that without the distinction of natures being taken away by such union, but rather the peculiar property of each nature being preserved and being united in one Person and subsistence, not separated or divided into two persons, but one and the same Son and only-begotten, God the Word, our Lord Jesus Christ, as the Prophets of old time have spoken concerning him, and as the Lord Jesus Christ hath taught us, and as the Creed of the Fathers hath delivered to us. (The Definition of the Faith of the Council of Chalcedon, Council of Chalcedon, 451 A.D., vol. 14, pp. 263-265, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Second Series)

Bibliography

Ante-Nicene Fathers, edited by Alexander Roberts, D.D. & James Donaldson, LL.D., volumes 1-10, Hendrickson Publishers, Peabody, Massachusetts

Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, First Series, edited by Philip Schaff, D.D., LL.D., volumes 1-14, Hendrickson Publishers, Inc., Peabody, Massachusetts

Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Second Series, edited by Philip Schaff, D.D., LL.D. & Henry Wace, D.D., volumes 1-14, Hendrickson Publishers, Inc., Peabody, Massachusetts

At Conception

People have souls. There is a difference in opinion as to when we get our souls. Most Muslims believe that God creates souls three months after conception. Some Jews and most conservative Christians believe that God creates our souls at the moment of conception. I have some people say that they think that babies do not have a soul until after they are born.

The teaching of the Orthodox Church is that we get our souls at the moment of conception. God told the Prophet Jeremiah:

Before I formed thee in the belly, I knew thee; and before thou camest forth from the womb, I sanctified thee; I appointed thee a prophet to the nations. (Jer. 1:5, LXX)

God knew Jeremiah before He formed him in his mother's womb. Conception takes place in the Fallopian tube and not in the womb. That is where the sperm and egg join together. God does not create our souls before conception. That is the heretical teaching of Origen. The Fifth Ecumenical Council rejected that teaching as false.

If anyone asserts the fabulous pre-existence of souls, and shall assert the monstrous restoration which follows from it: let him be anathema. (First Anathema Against Origen, Second Council of Constantinople, 553 A.D., vol. 14, p. 318, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Second Series)

So, it is at the moment of conception. In the Book of Judges, there is an account of how Samson was conceived in his mother's body.

2 And there was a man of Saraa, of the family of the kindred of Dan, and his name was Manoe, and his wife was barren, and bore not.
3 And an angel of the Lord appeared to the woman, and said to her, Behold, thou art barren and hast not born; yet thou shalt conceive a son.
4 And now be very cautious, and drink no wine nor strong drink, and eat no unclean thing;
5 for behold, thou art with child, and shalt bring forth a son; and there shall come no razor upon his head, for the child shall be a Nazarite to God from the womb; and he shall begin to save Israel from the hand of the Phylistines. (Judges 13:2-5, LXX)

In verse 2 of this passage, it says that Manoe's wife was barren. She had never had any children before. In verse 3, an angel appears to her and tells her that she will become pregnant with a son. In verse 4, he tells to observe certain dietary restrictions. Finally, in verse 5, he tells her that she is pregnant with a child. She became pregnant while the angel was talking to her. Her husband's sperm united with her egg at that moment and God created a soul for her newly conceived child Samson. The angel called what she had just conceived "a child." It was a person with a soul. She had probably had marital relations with her husband sometime shortly before she spoke to the angel. A man's sperm can survive for up to 48 hours outside his body. (p. 17, From Conception to Birth)

This is a 3D image of an unborn human fetus. A fetus is a child with a soul that God can know just as He knew the Prophet Jeremiah before He formed him in his mother's womb. All human life is precious.
Lactantius wrote:

A question also may arise respecting this, whether the soul is produced from the father, or rather from the mother, or indeed from both. But I think that this judgment is to be formed as though in a doubtful matter. For nothing is true of these three opinions, because souls are produced neither from both nor from either. For a body may be produced from a body, since something is contributed from both; but a soul cannot be produced from souls, because nothing can depart from a slight and incomprehensible subject. Therefore the manner of the production of souls belongs entirely to God alone.

“In fine, we are all sprung from a heavenly seed, all all (sic) have that same Father.”

as Lucretius says. For nothing but what is mortal can be generated from mortals. Nor ought he to be deemed a father who in no way perceives that he has transmitted or breathed a soul from his own; nor, if he perceives it, comprehends in his mind when or in what manner that effect is produced.

From this it is evident that souls are not given by parents, but by one and the same God and Father of all, who alone has the law and method of their birth, since He alone produces them. For the part of the earthly parent is nothing more than with a sense of pleasure to emit the moisture of the body, in which is the material of birth, or to receive it; and to this work man’s power is limited, nor has he any further power. Therefore men wish for the birth of sons, because they do not themselves bring it about. Everything beyond this is the work of God, — namely, the conception itself, and the moulding of the body, and the breathing in of life, and the bringing forth in safety, and whatever afterwards contributes to the preservation of man: it is His gift that we breathe, that we live, and are vigorous. (On the Workmanship of God, chapter 19, by Lactantius, 260-330 A.D., vol. 7, pp. 298-299, Ante-Nicene Fathers)

Jesus went through all of the same stages of life that we do. He was made like us in all respects except He never sinned. (Heb. 2:17; II Cor. 5:21)

Several of the Church Fathers say that He had a human soul at the moment of conception. St. Gregory Dialogos wrote:

It was not that the flesh was first conceived in the womb of the Virgin, and the Divinity afterwards came into the flesh; but that as soon as the Word came into the womb, immediately the Word, retaining the excellence of His own nature, was made flesh. (Register of the Epistles of St. Gregory the Great, Book XI, Letter LXVII, by St. Gregory Dialogos, 540-604 A.D., vol. 13, p. 83, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Second Series)

St. John of Damascus said:

And accordingly the Lord did not become flesh without soul or mind, but man. He says, indeed, Himself, "Why seek ye to kill Me, a Man that hath told you the truth?" (St. John 8:40) He, therefore, assumed flesh animated with the spirit of reason and mind, a spirit that holds sway over the flesh but is itself under the dominion of the Divinity of the Word. (An Exact Exposition of the Orthodox Faith, Book III, chapter 18, by St. John of Damascus, 645-750 A.D., vol. 9, part 2, pp. 66-67, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Second Series)

It is also the teaching of the Second Council of Constantinople (553 A.D.).

If anyone says or thinks that the soul of the Lord pre-existed and was united with God the Word before the Incarnation and Conception of the Virgin, let him be anathema. (The Second Anathema of the Emperor Justinian against Origen, Second Council of Constantinople, 553 A.D., vol. 14, p. 320, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Second Series)

If anyone says or thinks that the body of our Lord Jesus Christ was first formed in the womb of the holy Virgin and that afterwards there was united with it God the Word and the pre-existing soul, let him be anathema. (The Third Anathema of the Emperor Justinian against Origen, Second Council of Constantinople, 553 A.D., vol. 14, p. 320, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Second Series)

We have already seen in previous blogs that Jesus Christ is God and claimed to be God. The Person the Virgin Mary conceived in her Fallopian tube was God the Word made flesh. The Person she gave birth to in Bethlehem was God the Word. The Second Person of the Holy Trinity has a human mother from whom He assumed human flesh. Since she is this Person's mother, we call her the Mother of God or the Theotokos. Theotokos is a Greek word that means "Birth-Giver of God."

This is an icon of the Virgin Mary. It is called Our Lady of the Sign. It is one of the most evangelical icons in the Church. In this icon, Jesus Christ is depicted as being in her womb. The Virgin Mary is holding her arms out. She is saying that just as she received Christ, we should receive Him, too. She received Him in her womb. We receive Him in our hearts and in the Sacraments. This is also a very pro-life icon. Jesus was a Person with a human soul and developing human body while His mother was pregnant with Him.
Because we believe that God creates souls at the moment of conception, the Orthodox Church is against abortion and the destruction of human life at any stage of physiological development.

The woman who purposely destroys her unborn child is guilty of murder. With us there is no nice enquiry as to its being formed or unformed. In this case it is not only the being about to be born who is vindicated, but the woman in her attack upon herself; because in most cases women who make such attempts die. The destruction of the embryo is an additional crime, a second murder, at all events if we regard it as done with intent. The punishment, however, of these women should not be for life, but for the term of ten years. And let their treatment depend not on mere lapse of time, but on the character of their repentance. (Letter CLXXXVIII, Canon II, by St. Basil the Great, 329-379 A.D., vol. 8, p. 225, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Second Series)*

Those who give drugs for procuring abortion, and those who receive poisons to kill the foetus, are subjected to the penalty of murder. (Canon XCI, Quinisext Council, 692 A.D., vol. 14, p. 404, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Second Series)

Steve

* The Canons of St. Basil were accepted by the Quinisext Council in its Second Canon in 692 A.D. (See vol. 14, p. 361, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Second Series.)

Bibliography

Ante-Nicene Fathers, edited by Alexander Roberts, D.D. & James Donaldson, LL.D., volumes 1-10, Hendrickson Publishers, Peabody, Massachusetts

Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, First Series, edited by Philip Schaff, D.D., LL.D., volumes 1-14, Hendrickson Publishers, Inc., Peabody, Massachusetts

Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Second Series, edited by Philip Schaff, D.D., LL.D. & Henry Wace, D.D., volumes 1-14, Hendrickson Publishers, Inc., Peabody, Massachusetts

From Conception to Birth: A Life Unfolds, by Alexander Tsiaras and Barry Werth, published by Doubleday, 1540 Broadway, New York, NY, 10036, copyright 2002 by Alexander Tsiaras

The Legal Genealogy of Jesus Christ

In the Book of Deuteronomy, there is an Old Testament law regarding childless widows. It said that if a man dies without ever having any children by his wife, his brother is supposed to marry her and impregnate her. The child that she would have would belong legally to her deceased husband and not to the man who begot the child. This law is called the levirate marriage law. Here is the law as it is given in the Sacred Scriptures.

And if brethren should live together, and one of them should die, and should not have seed, the wife of the deceased shall not marry out of the family to a man not related: her husband’s brother shall go in to her, and shall take her to himself for a wife, and shall dwell with her. And it shall come to pass that the child which she shall bear, shall be named by the name of the deceased, and his name shall not be blotted out of Israel. (Deut. 25:5,6, LXX)

This law was practiced by the Hebrews before Moses gave it to them as a law. In Genesis, there is an example of a levirate marriage. Judah's son, Er, died without having children by his wife, Tamar. Onan had to marry her and impregnate her. He had marital relations with her but refused to impregnate her. He spilled his semen out on the ground, because he knew that the first child he had by her would belong to his brother and not to him. After Onan died, Judah told Tamar she could have his youngest son, Shelah. When she saw that she was not going to get Shelah for a husband, she tricked Judah into having relations with her. She became pregnant with twins. Their names are Pharez and Zarah. (Gen. 38)

Another example of this law is in the Book of Ruth. Ruth was married to Mahlon. Mahlon died without having any children by Ruth. Boaz was one of Mahlon's relatives. He married Ruth and fathered a child by her. His name is Obed. Obed is Boaz's biological son, but he is Mahlon's legal son. (Book of Ruth)

In the Gospel according to St. Luke there is another genealogy given for Jesus Christ. It differs from the one we read in St. Matthew's Gospel.

And Jesus Himself began to be about thirty years of age, being (as was supposed) the son of Joseph, which was the son 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. (St. Luke 3:23-38)

From Abraham to David this genealogy is identical with the genealogy given by St. Matthew in his Gospel. After that, it starts to differ from it at various points. The lineage in this Gospel is traced through King David's son, Nathan. In St. Matthew's account, it is traced through his son, Solomon. However, Zerubbabel (Zorobabel) and Salathiel appear in both genealogies. These might be the same men in both genealogies, but they were most probably different men with the same names.

St. Luke gives us the legal genealogy of Joseph. Heli is his legal father. St. Matthew gives us the biological genealogy of Joseph. Jacob is his biological father. Heli's genealogy can be traced back to Nathan who is one of King David's sons by Bath-Sheba.* Jacob's genealogy can be traced back to Solomon who is also one of King David's sons by Bath-Sheba. (I Chron. 3:5)

Julius Africanus gave this explanation for the discrepancies in St. Matthew's version of Joseph's genealogy and St. Luke's version of his genealogy.

But in order that what I have said may be made evident, I shall explain the interchange of the generations. If we reckon the generations from David through Solomon, Matthan is found to be the third from the end, who begat Jacob the father of Joseph. But if, with Luke, we reckon them from Nathan the son of David, in like manner the third from the end is Melchi, whose son was Heli the father of Joseph. For Joseph was the son of Hell, the son of Melchi.** As Joseph, therefore, is the object proposed to us, we have to show how it is that each is represented as his father, both Jacob as descending from Solomon, and Heli as descending from Nathan: first, how these two, Jacob and Heli, were brothers; and then also how the fathers of these, Matthan and Melchi, being of different families, are shown to be the grandfathers of Joseph. Well, then, Matthan and Melchi, having taken the same woman to wife in succession, begat children who were uterine brothers, as the law did not prevent a widow, whether such by divorce or by the death of her husband, from marrying another. By Estha, then — for such is her name according to tradition — Matthan first, the descendant of Solomon, begets Jacob; and on Matthan’s death, Melchi, who traces his descent back to Nathan, being of the same tribe but of another family, having married her, as has been already said, had a son Hell. Thus, then, we shall find Jacob and Heli uterine brothers, though of different families. And of these, the one Jacob having taken the wife of his brother Heli, who died childless, begat by her the third, Joseph — his son by nature and by account. Whence also it is written, “And Jacob begat Joseph.” But according to law he was the son of Heli, for Jacob his brother raised up seed to him. Wherefore also the genealogy deduced through him will not be made void, which the Evangelist Matthew in his enumeration gives thus: “And Jacob begat Joseph.” But Luke, on the other hand, says, “Who was the son, as was supposed (for this, too, he adds), of Joseph, the son of Heli, the son of Melchi.” For it was not possible more distinctly to state the generation according to law; and thus in this mode of generation he has entirely omitted the word “begat” to the very end, carrying back the genealogy by way of conclusion to Adam and to God. (Epistle to Aristides, chapter 3, by Julius Africanus, 200-245 A.D., vol. 6, p. 126, Ante-Nicene Fathers)

Jacob, the biological father of Joseph (St. Matt. 1:16), and Heli, the legal father of Joseph (St. Luke 3:23), were half-brothers. Jacob's biological descent goes back to King Solomon. Heli's biological descent goes back to King David's son, Nathan. Jacob and Heli had the same mother but different fathers. Heli got married and died without having any children by his wife. Jacob married his half-brother Heli's widowed wife and begot Joseph by her. Joseph is Jacob's biological son, but, in accordance with the levirate marriage law (Deut. 25:5,6), Joseph is legally Heli's son.

Some people have interpreted the genealogy in St. Luke's Gospel to be the Virgin Mary's genealogy, but from antiquity, what has always been taught is that both genealogies found in the Gospels are Joseph's genealogies. Some Latin theologians in the 15th century and Annius of Viterbo in 1502 were the first people to teach that the genealogy in St. Luke's Gospel is that of the Virgin Mary.

The opinion that Luke’s genealogy is that of Mary was unknown to Christian antiquity. In the fifteenth century it was first propounded by Latin divines to do honour (as they supposed) to the Blessed Virgin. It was first broached by Annius of Viterbo, A.D. 1502. Christian antiquity is agreed that: —
1. Both genealogies are those of Joseph.
2. That Joseph was the son of Jacob or of Heli, either by adoption, or because Jacob and Heli were either own brothers or half-brothers; so that, —
3. On the death of one of the brothers, without issue, the surviving brother married his widow, who became the mother of Joseph by this marriage; so that Joseph was reckoned the son of Jacob and the son of Heli.
4. Joseph and Mary were of the same lineage, but the Hebrews did not reckon descent from the side of the woman. For them St. Luke’s genealogy is the sufficient register of Christ’s royal descent and official claim. St. Luke gives his personal pedigree, ascending to Adam, and identifying Him with the whole human race. (vol. 6, pp. 139-140, Ante-Nicene Fathers)

Jesus is not the biological son of Joseph, but He is the legal son of Joseph who is legally a descendant of King David's son, Nathan. The Jews were more concerned with the father's genealogy than they were with the mother's genealogy.

Steve

* Her name is spelled Bath-Sheba in II Sam. 11:3 and Bath-Shua in I Chron. 3:5. In the Septuagint, her name is Bersabee in both of these passages of Scripture.

** Either Julius Africanus' copy of St. Luke's Gospel said "the son of Joseph, which was the son of Heli, which was the son of Melchi" or he made an error in explaining Joseph's genealogy and meant to say "the son of Joseph, which was the son of Heli, which was the son of Matthat."

Bibliography

Ante-Nicene Fathers, edited by Alexander Roberts, D.D. & James Donaldson, LL.D., volumes 1-10, Hendrickson Publishers, Peabody, Massachusetts

Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, First Series, edited by Philip Schaff, D.D., LL.D., volumes 1-14, Hendrickson Publishers, Inc., Peabody, Massachusetts

Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Second Series, edited by Philip Schaff, D.D., LL.D. & Henry Wace, D.D., volumes 1-14, Hendrickson Publishers, Inc., Peabody, Massachusetts

The Genealogy of Jesus Christ

The promised Christ or Messiah of the Old Testament, according to the Old Testament prophecies, would be a descendant of Abraham and a descendant of King David.

In Genesis, it says:

I have sworn by Myself, says the Lord, because thou hast done this thing, and on My account hast not spared thy beloved son, surely blessing I will bless thee, and multiplying I will multiply thy seed (Greek, to sperma sou) as the stars of heaven, and as the sand which is by the shore of the sea, and thy seed (Greek, to sperma sou) shall inherit the cities of their enemies (Greek, tas poleis ton hupenantion, the cities of the enemies). And in thy seed (Greek, en toi spermatoi sou) shall all the nations of the Earth be blessed, because thou hast hearkened to My voice. (Gen. 22:16-18, LXX)

The Greek word for seed is sperma. In every instance in this passage from Genesis, the singular form of sperma is used. In the first and second instances, the nominative and accusative singular forms of this word are used. These forms for this word are identical in the Greek language. In the last instance, the dative singular form of the word is used.

This prophecy is about a single individual who will be a descendant of Abraham. God has promised to multiply this single individual so that His offspring and posterity are as many as the stars in the universe and the sand on the shore of the sea. This means that this person's posterity will be in the billions of billions and quite probably much more. He will inherit "the cities of the enemies." In the above text, Thomas Brenton translated the Greek to say, "and thy seed shall inherit the cities of their enemies," but the literal Greek is: "and thy seed shall inherit the cities of the enemies." It says tas poleis ton hupenantion (the cities of the enemies) and not tas poleis ton hupenantion auton (the cities of their enemies) in the Greek text. So, this prophecy is about a single individual who is a descendant of Abraham and who will inherit the cities of His enemies.

Abraham had a son by Hagar. His name is Ishmael. He never inherited the cities of his enemies. He also had a son by Sarah. His name is Isaac. He, likewise, never inherited the seed of his enemies. He also had sons by Keturah, but none of them ever inherited the cities of their enemies.

In the Second Psalm, it says:

But I have been made King by Him on Sion His holy mountain, declaring the ordinance of the Lord: the Lord said to Me, Thou art My Son, today have I begotten Thee. Ask of Me, and I will give Thee the heathen for Thine inheritance, and the ends of the Earth for Thy possession. Thou shalt rule them with a rod of iron; Thou shalt dash them in pieces as a potter’s vessel. (Psalm 2:6-9, LXX)

This passage is about a single individual who will govern the entire world. It is a prophecy. It does not refer to King David. He had a great kingdom, but it did not extend to the ends of the Earth. He never governed any territory in Africa, Europe, the British Isles, the Americas, Australia, Antarctica, Eastern Asia, or Central Asia. His kingdom was confined to the Middle East. Likewise, his son Solomon had a great kingdom, but it never extended to "the ends of the Earth."

The prophecy in the Second Psalm is about the same individual spoke of in Genesis 22.

In the Book of Daniel, it says:

And in the days of those kings the God of Heaven shall set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed: and His kingdom shall not be left to another people, but it shall beat to pieces and grind to powder all other kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever. (Dan. 3:44, LXX; Dan. 2:44, Hebrew)

This is also a prophecy about a single individual who will govern the entire world.

In Isaiah, it says:

For a Child is born to us, and a Son is given to us, whose government is upon His shoulder: and His name is called the Messenger of Great Counsel, Wonderful, Counsellor, Mighty One, Potentate, Prince of Peace, Father of the Age to Come: for I will bring peace upon the princes, and health to Him. His government shall be great, and of His peace there is no end: it shall be upon the throne of David, and upon His kingdom, to establish it, and to support it with judgment and with righteousness, from henceforth and forever. The seal of the Lord of hosts shall perform this. (Isaiah 9:6,7, LXX, Alexandrian text)

This prophecy is about a single individual who would be born. He, therefore, would be human. He would also be a descendant of King David and He would have an eternal kingdom. He would never cease being a king. David, his son Solomon, his grandson Rehoboam, and others have ceased being kings. They have died.

In Ecclesiasticus, it says:

And he that is today a king tomorrow shall die. For when a man is dead, he shall inherit creeping things, beasts, and worms. (Ecclesiasticus 10:10,11)

There have been plenty of kings who have died and "inherited creeping things, beasts, and worms." This king, however, would have health and would rule forever over His kingdom. He would not "inherit creeping things, beasts, and worms," like so many who have died have done.

The prophecy in Genesis 22 also says that all the nations of the Earth will be blessed in this single individual. This, of course, could not have been referring to Ishmael, Isaac, Zimram, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak, or Shua — each of whom is a son of Abraham. This is referring to that single individual who would be a descendant of Abraham and would inherit the cities of His enemies.

God promised to King David a descendant who would reign forever.

And it shall come to pass when thy days shall be fulfilled, and thou shalt sleep with thy fathers, that I will raise up thy seed (Greek, to sperma sou) after thee, which shall be of thy bowels (Greek, koilia, belly or womb), and I will establish His kingdom. He shall build Me a house, and I will set up His throne for ever. (I Chronicles 17:11,12, LXX)

In the 88th Psalm, God made the same promise to King David.

Once have I sworn by My holiness, that I will not lie to David. His seed (Greek, to sperma autou) shall endure for ever, and His throne as the sun before Me; and as the moon that is established for ever, and as the faithful witness in heaven. (Psalm 88:35-37, LXX)

He said that a single individual who would be a descendant of King David would live forever and reign forever.

In the Gospel according to St. Matthew, the genealogy of Joseph is given.

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. (St. Matthew 1:1-16)

In the very first verse of this Gospel, it says that Jesus Christ is "the Son of David, the son of Abraham." His genealogy through His mother Mary could be traced all the way back to King David and even all the way back to Abraham. Those records existed back in the first century, but we do not have them today. All of the genealogy of Jesus Christ beginning with Abraham and going up to King David we can confidently say is His biological genealogy. After King David, we have the lineage of Joseph who was His stepfather, but not His biological father. His mother Mary conceived Jesus without ever having received into her body the semen of a man. This is what the Evangelists Matthew and Luke both record. In St. Matthew's Gospel, it says:

Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise: When as His mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with Child of the Holy Ghost. Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not willing to make her a publick example, was minded to put her away privily. But while he thought on these things, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost. And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call His name JESUS: for He shall save His people from their sins.  Now all this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, Behold, a virgin shall be with Child, and shall bring forth a Son, and they shall call His name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us. Then Joseph being raised from sleep did as the angel of the Lord had bidden him, and took unto him his wife: and knew her not till she had brought forth her firstborn Son: and he called His name JESUS. (St. Matt. 1:18-25)

According to Church tradition, Mary's parents took her to the Temple in Jerusalem when she was three years old. She lived there for twelve years. When she was 15, she had to become espoused to a man like the other virgins who lived in the Temple were required to do. While she was growing up in the Temple, she took a vow of perpetual chastity. She became espoused to Joseph who was much older than she and who, according the tradition in the East, was a widower. He had had children by his previous wife, but, according to Church tradition, he never had any biological children by Mary.

There is evidence in the Gospel according to St. Luke that suggests that the tradition regarding Mary taking a vow of perpetual chastity is, in fact, true.

And in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee, named Nazareth, to a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary. And the angel came in unto her, and said, Hail, thou that art highly favoured, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women. And when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and cast in her mind what manner of salutation this should be. And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour with God. And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a Son, and shalt call His name JESUS. He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto Him the throne of His father David: and He shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of His kingdom there shall be no end. Then said Mary unto the angel, How shall this be, seeing I know not a man? (St. Luke 1:26-34)

Notice that in this account, the Virgin Mary was already espoused to Joseph. She was engaged to marry him. The angel told the Virgin that she was going to become pregnant and give birth to a Son whom she would name Jesus. She asked the angel a question, "How can this be, seeing I know not a man?" Our Lady was fifteen years old and engaged to be married. I would think that someone — one of her parents or a priest or a priest's wife — would have had a talk with her about "the birds and the bees" before she became betrothed to Joseph. I think that she would have already known how women become pregnant. Apparently, she did. She knew that a man must be involved in impregnating her if she were to become pregnant. She said to the angel, "I know not a man." However, she was already betrothed to a man, Joseph. The common sense answer to her question would be: "You will become pregnant by Joseph and you two will have a baby that you will name Jesus." Why would a woman who is engaged to get married ask such a question? The reason why she asked the question is because she had already taken a vow of perpetual chastity. She had decided that she was not going to ever have sex with any man at all — not even with her future husband Joseph. She knew that it takes a man to get a woman pregnant and the angel had just told her that she was going to become pregnant. The angel's answer was:

The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that Holy Thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God. (St. Luke 1:35)

The angel told the Virgin that the Lord God would give unto her Son the throne of His father David. (St. Luke 1:32) Once again, we see that, although Jesus is not the biological Child of Joseph, He is still a biological descendant of King David. St. Paul, in two of his epistles, said that Jesus is a descendant of David.

Concerning His Son Jesus Christ our Lord, which was made of the seed of David according to the flesh. (Rom. 1:3)

Remember that Jesus Christ of the seed of David was raised from the dead according to my gospel. (II Tim. 2:8)

So, Jesus is a descendant of King David, but He is not a descendant of King David through Joseph. His biological descent to King David is through His Ever-Virgin Mother Mary who conceived Him without the semen of a man and by the Holy Spirit.

According to Church tradition, both of Mary's parents were descendants of King David.

Jesus never denied that He is the Christ. In St. Matthew's Gospel, we can read:

When Jesus came into the coasts of Caesarea Philippi, He asked His disciples, saying, Whom do men say that I the Son of Man am? And they said, Some say that Thou art John the Baptist: some, Elias; and others, Jeremias, or one of the prophets. He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am? And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but My Father which is in Heaven. (St. Matt. 16:13-17)

He did, however, tell His disciples not to tell anyone that He is the Christ (St. Matt. 16:20), but that was only for a short period of time. After His ascension into Heaven and the out-pouring of the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost, they openly proclaimed that Jesus is the Christ. (Acts 2:36; 3:17-21; 4:10)

When Jesus was on trial before the high priest, He was asked if He is the Christ.

But Jesus held His peace. And the high priest answered and said unto Him, I adjure Thee by the living God, that Thou tell us whether Thou be the Christ, the Son of God. (St. Matt. 26:63)

His answer was:

Thou hast said: nevertheless I say unto you, Hereafter shall ye see the Son of Man sitting on the right hand of Power, and coming in the clouds of Heaven. (St. Matt. 26:64)

St. John the Baptist was asked the same question by the Jews when he was baptizing people.

And this is the record of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, Who art thou? And he confessed, and denied not; but confessed, I am not the Christ. (St. John 1:19,20)

St. John told them, "I am not the Christ." Jesus, when asked this question, said, "Thou hast said." When He said, "Hereafter shall ye see the Son of Man sitting on the right hand of Power, and coming in the clouds of Heaven," He was saying that He is the fulfillment of certain prophecies of Christ found in the Old Testament. In the 109th Psalm, it says:

The Lord said to my Lord, Sit Thou on My right hand, until I make Thine enemies Thy footstool. (Psalm 109:1, LXX)

Here, it says that the Christ (or Messiah) would sit on God's right hand. The other prophetic reference is in the Book of Daniel.

I beheld in the night vision, and, lo, one coming with the clouds of Heaven as the Son of Man, and He came on to the Ancient of days, and was brought near to Him. And to Him was given the dominion, and the honour, and the kingdom; and all nations, tribes, and languages, shall serve Him: His dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and His kingdom shall not be destroyed. (Dan. 8:13,14, LXX; Dan. 7:13,14, Hebrew)

Here, it says that the Christ would come "with the clouds of Heaven" and receive an eternal kingdom that will last forever. This is talking about the Second Coming of Christ at the end of the world. So, Jesus did not deny that He is the Christ. He even claimed to be the fulfillment of prophecies pertaining to the Christ.

It was common knowledge in the first century that the Christ would be a descendant of King David.

While the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them, saying, What think ye of Christ? Whose Son is He? They say unto Him, The Son of David. (St. Matt. 22:41,42)

So, Jesus believed that He is the Christ and that He is a biological descendant of King David. He also believed that God was His Father. He claimed to have come from God and He claimed that His Father is God.

Jesus said unto them, If God were your Father, ye would love Me: for I proceeded forth and came from God; neither came I of Myself, but He sent Me. (St. John 8:43)

I came forth from the Father, and am come into the world: again, I leave the world, and go to the Father. (St. John 16:28)

But Jesus answered them, My Father worketh hitherto, and I work. Therefore the Jews sought the more to kill Him, because He not only had broken the Sabbath, but said also that God was His Father, making Himself equal with God. (St. John 5:17,18)

All things are delivered unto Me of My Father: and no man knoweth the Son, but the Father; neither knoweth any man the Father, save the Son, and He to whomsoever the Son will reveal Him. (St. Matt. 11:27)

When He was twelve years old, He even spoke of God as being His Father to His mother Mary and His stepfather Joseph.

And when they saw Him, they were amazed: and His mother said unto Him, Son, why hast Thou thus dealt with us? Behold, Thy father and I have sought Thee sorrowing. And He said unto them, How is it that ye sought Me? Wist ye not that I must be about My Father’s business? (St. Luke 2:48,49)

Not all of King David's descendants were eligible to inherit his throne and assume the role of the Christ. In the Book of Jeremiah, it says:

Jechonias is dishonoured as a good-for-nothing vessel; for he is thrown out and cast forth into a land which he knew not. Land, land, hear the word of the Lord. Write ye this man an outcast: for there shall none of his seed at all grow up to sit on the throne of David, or as a prince yet in Juda. (Jer. 22:28-30, LXX)

In the Hebrew version of Jeremiah Jechonias is called Coniah. In Second Kings, it says:

And Joakim slept with his fathers: and Joachim his son reigned in his stead. (II Kings 24:6, LXX)

Here, Joakim's son is called Joachim. In Jeremiah, this same person is called Jechonias.

As I live, saith the Lord, though Jechonias son of Joakim King of Juda were indeed the seal upon My right hand, thence would I pluck thee. (Jer. 22:24, LXX)

So then, none of the posterity of Jechonias (or Joachim) are allowed to assume King David's throne. None of them are eligible to be the Christ. The Archangel Gabriel had already told the Virgin Mary that her Son would have the throne of His father David. (St. Luke 1:32) Jesus, apparently then, was a descendant of King David, but He was not a descendant of King Jechonias (or Joachim).

Joseph, on the other hand, was a biological descendant of King Jechonias. In his biological genealogy, it says:

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. (St. Matt. 1:11,12)

In Second Kings, it says:

And Pharao Nechao made Eliakim son of Josias king of Juda king over them in the place of his father Josias, and he changed his name to Joakim, and he took Joachaz and brought him to Egypt, and he died there. (II Kings 23:34, LXX)

Josias' son is Joakim. Joakim's son is Jechonias. For brevity's sake, the apostle omitted Joakim's name from Joseph's genealogy. Since God has forbidden all of the descendants of King Jechonias to assume the throne of King David and Joseph is a biological descendant of King Jechonias, none of Joseph's biological children could ever reign as king on the throne of David.

It has already been shown that Jesus believed that He is the Christ. It has also been shown that He claimed to have come from God (and to even be God). St. Matthew and St. Luke both taught that the Virgin Mary conceived Jesus by the Holy Spirit. If Jesus were the biological child of Joseph, then He would be a biological descendant of King Jechonias. He, therefore, could not be the Christ that He claimed to be.

There is, however, an abundant amount of evidence in the Gospels that indicate that He is the Christ.

The Jews, today, are still looking for the Messiah. If someone today were to claim to be the promised Messiah of the Old Testament, how can they possibly be certain that he is? They have no way of verifying that he is a biological descendant of King David and not a biological descendant of King Jechonias since the genealogical records that we have today do not go far enough back to verify the bloodline. The only Person who can legitimately make the claim of being the Christ is someone whose genealogy could have been verified in ancient times when the records were being kept.

I have written about the genealogy given in the Gospel according to St. Matthew in this blog. In the next blog, I will write about the genealogy given in St. Luke's Gospel.

Steve