Let's talk about today's readings 12/17/08

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Isaiah 45:6-8.18.21-25
Psalm 84
Luke 7:19-23

Today in Isaiah God says, “I make good fortune and create calamity”. It is hard for me to believe that God would create
calamity. As we read along, God says He created in the earth not chaos, but a place to be lived in. Elsewhere in the
Bible, it says that God sends rain to good and evil alike. It
seems to me that it’s the people who are creating calamity,
not God.

In Luke today, when John’s disciples ask Jesus if He is the One
who is to come, it says “Just Then” He cured many people and told John’s disciples to report what they have seen. The list of
the types of healings contains those being raised from the dead.
I would really like to know approximately how many people
Jesus raised from the dead that day, seeing as they were never
mentioned again. None of them told their story in the Bible on
what it was like to be dead and raised from the dead, not even
Lazarus, who must have been famous. Also, later on in the Bible, one of the gospels states that upon Jesus’ death, many
graves were opened. That must have been a scary sight!

Also today the preface of advent caught my attention again.
“Now we watch for the day, hoping that the salvation promised us will be ours”. Christmas day is this on a smaller scale. We
watch and hope for the day of Jesus’ birth, hoping that any preparations we have made will bring us the joy of Christmas.

So what struck you about today’s readings?:bible1:
 
At Mass this morning todays reading were:

New . . . st. joseph weekday missal: complete edition. (2006). Volume 1, pg 62-65. New Jersey: Catholic Book Publishing Corp.

Genesis 49:2, 8-10
Psalm 72: 1-2, 3-4ab, 7-8, 17
Matthew 1:1-17

In Genesis, Jacob is speaking to his sons. We know that his twelve sons represent the twelve tribes of Israel. Jocob says, “You, Judah, shall your brothers praise.” Judah will hold on to the scepter and it will never part from him. A great king will come from the house of Judah. We see this with David and of course the Covenant is fulfilled with Jesus Christ the Son of God.

The Gospel reading is Matthew’s genealogy of Jesus. The genealogy shows us that Jesus comes from the line of Dave, Jesse, Judah (first reading from Genesis), Isaac, to Abraham (condenced verson 😃 ).
 
What I find beautiful about the Genealogy of Jesus is the imperfection of it!

For example, the 12 tribes of Israel comes from the 12 sons of Jacob - sons that were conceived by four different wives of Jacob, who basically had sons in competition with one another! Furthermore, the first 10 sons despised the 11th (Joseph) and had him sold into slavery. (Should make all of us appreciate our own family a bit more this Christmas!)

And yet, this is how the nation of Israel was born, and these are the ancestors of the savior of the world, the God-man, Jesus Christ. It is just another example of how God descends into our muck and destitution to raise us up to Him!

Eric
 
Oh, thanks ziapueblo! They did change for today. Our
church doesn’t have morning mass on Wednesdays so I
would have never found out! O.k., now I have to read them…
 
cheeto1 said:
Oh, thanks ziapueblo! They did change for today. Our
church doesn’t have morning mass on Wednesdays so I
would have never found out! O.k., now I have to read them…
Click to expand...
You’re welcome!
 
Eric, I Iike your thought. But I’ve always wondered why they
don’t instead have a geneology of Mary, since Joseph is not
related to Jesus by blood? Joseph is the husband of Mary,
but not the physical father of Jesus. Do we know that Jesus
actually came from the bloodline of David? Yes, the Bible tells
us it’s true, but not with this genealogy.
 
Is the Bible specific that the Messiah will come from the same bloodline? Even though Jesus is the adopted son of St. Joseph, He is still a decedent of King David. Even though the genealogy is from the line os St. Joseph, Jesus as his adopted son comes from the same line. I hope that makes sense :confused:

God bless,
ZP
 
cheeto1 said:
I’ve always wondered why they don’t instead have a geneology of Mary, since Joseph is not related to Jesus by blood?
Click to expand...
During Jesus’ time, ancestry was determined by father. Mother’s genealogy was never traced. If a son was adopted, then that adopted son inherited any rights that his fathers lineage would offer.

It was also customary, for just men, to marry within the same tribe. So Mary was of the house of David.

Matthew 1 lists the descendants, fulfilling the prophesy from Genesis 49:10 (and many others) that the Messiah will be born of the house of David (or Judah). This satisfies his human heritage and birthright of the Messiah… His spiritual heritage was satisfied & demonstrated later in Mat 3:16-17 at his baptism, with the Father & Holy Spirit.
 
Light_Seeker said:
It was also customary, for just men, to marry within the same tribe. So Mary was of the house of David.
Click to expand...
Luke’s genealogy of Jesus has the father of Joseph being Heli. Matthew says the father of Joseph is Jacob.

It is thought that Matthew is tracing Joseph’s heritage, and Luke is tracing Mary’s heritage, with Heli actually being Mary’s father - and Joseph’s father-in-law.
 
What fascinates me the most about these readings is that Jesus birth was not only foretold by the prophets as from the house of David, but also the *time *and place couldn’t have been any other…

King Herod’s priests told him Bethlehem, from ancient prophesies. Then the wise men confirmed this to Herod through astrology. The place was determined.

Herod’s orders for the mass infanticide fulfilled Jeremiah’s prophecy, so the birth needed to happen before this event. And it had to happen after John the Baptist’s birth, as he was the prophet Isiah’s return. So the** time** was determined within this window!

So Jesus was born not only with the right heritage to assume the throne, but at the right place, and the right time !
 
Light_Seeker said:
Luke’s genealogy of Jesus has the father of Joseph being Heli. Matthew says the father of Joseph is Jacob.

It is thought that Matthew is tracing Joseph’s heritage, and Luke is tracing Mary’s heritage, with Heli actually being Mary’s father - and Joseph’s father-in-law.
Click to expand...
I always thought Mary’s parents were Anne and Joachim?
 
Light_Seeker said:
Herod’s orders for the mass infanticide fulfilled Jeremiah’s prophecy, so the birth needed to happen before this event. And it had to happen after John the Baptist’s birth, as he was the prophet Isiah’s return.
Click to expand...
I did not realize the holy innocents were predicted in Jeremiah, or that the prophet Isaiah was to return. This book called the Bible
gets more mysterious every day, every minute! Thanks Light Seeker!
 
ziapueblo said:
Is the Bible specific that the Messiah will come from the same bloodline?

God bless,
ZP
Click to expand...
Well, it seems to imply that by saying the word “begat” in the
geneology. I guess this is God’s way of saying adopted sons
are sons, and Samaritans are neighbors.
 
cheeto1 said:
I always thought Mary’s parents were Anne and Joachim?
Click to expand...
Quite a few different thoughts on this…
The thinking of Anne & Joachim as Mary’s parents originated from the Protevangelium of James. Wonderful non-Bible document detailing Mary, and her perpetual virginity.

But then, why does Mat 1:16 say Jacob was Joseph’s father, and Luke 3:23 say Heli was Joseph’s father? Here’s a good Catholic link explaining some of the different thoughts on Heli, including Mary & Joseph were cousins.
 
wow, that was an interesting article. But they don’t say how they
decided which was Joseph’s natural father, or which father died without a son. They just say, “it’s likely”. And they don’t have any reason why they think one of them was Mary’s father. I see it as a possible scenario, but that’s as far as it goes. I guess your other source doesn’t agree or they wouldn’t think Anne and Joachim were her parents.

There is one other idea. You know how there are also 2 different list of apostles, and some are “also called” another name that is different. It could be the same here with Jacob and Heli being the same person, know by different names.
 
If you ever have insomnia, just try to read Chronicles :D.

In ancient times, politically governed by kings, the king’s birthright was all important. Still see that in the symbolic kingdom over in England. Have to have the bloodline to be da king.

And true in Jesus’ time. To be The King, show you’re a descendant of David, as prophesied. Which Luke & Matthew’s gospels do. And since the priests in his time wanted to kill him for blasphemy, you can bet that they thoroughly examined his genealogy to verify. But our written Gospels appear to contradict each other. They don’t, we just don’t have all the *absolute *info on who Joseph’s & Mary’s parents were. So it must have been orally discussed & satisfied … Like the last line of John: “the world itself cannot contain the books that would be written”.

In ancient politics, bloodlines were the qualifier. Today, it’s other, but similar, qualifications. For example, look at the Supreme Court deciding if Obama is legally qualified to be president based on being a citizen. Not his bloodline, but his birthplace.

Then we have the Book of James … I truly wish this was included in the Bible, many of our Catholic beliefs come right out of this… Mary’s perpetual virginity, immaculate conception, Anne & Jochiam, etc. Be impossible for a Protestant to argue with any Marian doctrine if this was included as canon! But it is not canon, so can we verify her parent’s names? No. But we can logically defend immaculate conception or perpetual virginity.

Bottom line, I believe Jesus is God, our Lord, and our Savior - for many different reasons, but bloodline is the least of them, imho. 😉
 
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