Fr. Barron comments on The Genealogy of Jesus

[DrewAnti1960]

I realy  love your homilies Father,God Bless You

[MagicMartin5]

Father Barron, do you have any tips for someone who "wrestles with God?" Just anything to help re-affirm faith in times of doubt.

[mjdarcy2002]

Sweet sweater.

[auradiana]

this was so brilliant Father Barron, ty! I was praying for the Holy Spirit to lead me to a very specific and special message this advent...this is it..

[WushukingZaphkiel]

Definitely one of your best! God bless you Father.

[trajan75]

Isn't it the genealogy in Matthew that of Joseph? But Joseph was Jesus' stepfather. Was Mary also of the line of David. It's quite possible David had many children, and over the course of about 900 years from David to Jesus probably Most Jews would trace their lineage back to David.

[gezzad]

@3rosesred

Artist: Guido Reni

Title: St Matthew and the Angel 1635-40

Museum: Pinacoteca, Vatican, Vatican City State

[samuelsixvids]

This is a very beautiful video, one of the better

[newtochrist]

Fr . I was Jacob these days and I needed to watch this video

الرب يباركك

[mikelas333]

+ + +

[matttavares]

Great piece on how Jesus was part of an all inclusive family, especially the story of Ruth. In our age with so much debate, it continues to strike me that Jesus came for all groups, factions, personalities, and sinners from all walks of life.. This was really a great message.

[UniQuEclectics]

GOD IS AMAZING! :D

- Faithful Catholic (Universal) Christian

Love you Father Barron ^-^

[Stitchman3875]

Father Barron, I am being totally serious here. But you should put some of this in a book reflecting on the Bible. I love your presentation here. Please, put this in a book.

[Dr4g0nSlayer]

Isn't the Hebrew unclear whether Rahab is a prostitute or not? I thought the word for "innkeeper" just happened to have the connotation of a prostitute.

[dumpmist]

It's all very touching that Jesus cares so much for the weak and desperate. But what about us who are more cautious, and would like Jesus to drop by and say "Hi!" before we join him? Is that too arrogant for Jesus, such a despicable trait, even worse that murder and rape, that he rather see we go to hell?

[Jugglable]

@dumpmist "But what about us who are more cautious, and would like Jesus to drop by and say "Hi!" before we join him?"

Maybe he's dropping by and saying hi through this video. God has made himself ignorable to people who don't want to see him, but he is everywhere if you have the eyes to see.

[dumpmist]

@Jugglable "God has made himself ignorable to people who don't want to see him, but he is everywhere if you have the eyes to see"

No. With such low standards I can see whatever I want to see. Which people do. Superstition is plentiful.

[Jugglable]

@dumpmist Well, I don't think the contingency and intelligibility of the universe are superstitious illusions. They're very real, and God is on display in those.

[dumpmist]

@Jugglable What does Jesus and life after death have to do with our perceiving the universe as contingent and intelligible? Maybe we perceive it wrongly, or else there can be an infinity of possible explanations, all of which might not contain a Jesus and a life after death, or a Mohamed and a life after death, or... well, you get the point. With such low standards I can see whatever I want to see.

[Jugglable]

@dumpmist I don't know that I said Jesus and life after death have anything to do with the contingency of the universe. I was pointing more generally to God's existence. There cannot be an "infinity of explanations" of the existence of contingent things--only a necessarily existing ground. Which I call God.

[dumpmist]

@Jugglable Then I misunderstood you. I thought you where trying to explain how Jesus said Hi, or how I somehow would be unable to observe if he did.

[bayreuth79]

Fr Barron has been reading Herbert McCabe OP. There is a wonderful sermon of McCabe's regarding this very subject and Fr B has obviously read it.

[cooliodraw2]

Excellent video Father Barron!

[tasmith1985]

I have never been a student of the arts. Nonetheless, I like the manner in which these videos incorporate religious art. Although I have seen some of these images before, I’ve never made the connection between the images and the relevant narrative. I’d like to think that the artist created the art as a way to help teach the very point that I’m learning as I listen. Certainly the artist would be gratified to see his or her work used, often centuries later, in this manner.

Merry Christmas!

[Stitchman3875]

Father Barron have you ever thought about coming out to California? We can use a few Priests like you out here. This is an awesome reflection.

[bayreuth79]

Herbert McCabe has written a wonderful and quite amusing sermon on the subject of Jesus' genealogy, if anyone is interested...? He looks at his genealogy in the same manner as Fr Barron. I wonder if Fr Barron has read this sermon?

[cristianfcao]

Hmm... how can a someone writing in 70-100 CE can make a 40 generation genealogy (76 in Luke’s case!) of another person he didn't even met and for whom there's not a single contemporary record? A miracle, right? A very strange miracle indeed considering that Luke’s and Mark’s genealogies differ in many significant ways including Luke having 14 generations more than Mark! One is a miracle the other is not? Hmm…

Did Jesus told YOU he was "pleased" by his genealogy? How do you know he was?

[merksz12]

@cristianfcao

"for whom there's not a single contemporary record?"

Jesus didn't exist. Do I understand you right?

Why do you assume that Luke and Matthew did not have access to documents that we do not know?

[cristianfcao]

@merksz12 Documents of Jesus that could contain a 40-70 generation genealogy... Are you kidding? The guy was a barely known son of a carpenter! Yes there could have been a few contemporary documents about him, but considering that NONE has come to us, those documents must have been very scarce. Anyway, neither of us know the truth of the matter, but some things are easier to believe than others... and I don't think is justified enough to believe in the genealogy of Jesus. Take care!

[xtrashed]

@cristianfcao

You say the guy was barely known son of a carpenter. Jesus only had a three year public life and yet we have more evidence for him than we do for the Roman Emperor Tiberius. This shows you how important Jesus was. There is no reason not to trust the Genealogies. We also have extra Biblical evidence which confirms the genealogies in the Bible.

[cristianfcao]

@xtrashed I'm not arguing Jesus didn't exist, neither I'm questioning his religious status or importance here (I'm an atheist by the way, but that's beside the point). I'm just arguing that there's not much reason to believe in the genealogies (BTW, WHICH genealogy do you believe in???). He was not *while he lived* a very important figure, there are NO contemporary documents of him and there are big discrepancies between both biblical genealogies. Why do you NEED to believe in those accounts?

[xtrashed]

@cristianfcao

I do not understand your question. Both genealogies are true. One records the line from Jesus' legal father Joseph, the other records Jesus' genealogy from his mother Mary.

There are no discrepancies between the Biblical genealogies. What do you mean contemporary documents of him?

[cristianfcao]

@xtrashed How can both be true despite Luke having 42 generations between David and Jesus while Matthew only 27?? With 20 years between each generation that's a 300 years gap!! How can you possibly know one or the other are true? What importance can have the genealogy of Jesus to one's beliefs?

With contemporary documents of Jesus I mean just that! Maybe my English is not that good, but I mean documents referring to Jesus while he was still alive.

Take care,

Cris.

[xtrashed]

@cristianfcao

The answer is to your question is here: lifeofchrist . com / life/genealogy/print.html

I understand what your are saying about the importance, but we have no reason to doubt the genealogy is accurate.

We have the Gospels, we have pagan sources, Christian sources, Jewish sources. 42 sources that mention Jesus within 150 years of his life. The overwhelming majority of historians believe that Jesus existed, and treat the Gospels as biographies.

[xtrashed]

@cristianfcao

The Gospels were written by people who sat down and wrote down the life of Jesus. And in some cases, with the resurrection, the people were still alive that saw Jesus after he had died, they could of easily contradicted the Gospels writers, but they did not.

[xtrashed]

@cristianfcao

The length of the genealogies are different because many generations are selectively skipped. It was common for genealogies to skip many generations. The gospel of Matthew is a great example since it starts with the genealogy of Jesus saying, "Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham." (Matt 1:1). Now clearly, Jesus was born into this world many, many, many generations after King David and Abraham. Yet He is said to be their son.

[xtrashed]

@cristianfcao

Answer to the differences between Luke and Matthew's genealogies and the skipping generations:

neverthirsty . org / pp/corner/read/r00041.html

neverthirsty . org / pp/corner/read/r000381.html

[cristianfcao]

@xtrashed Hmmm this is getting quite tedious. I don't say Jesus didn't exist. (this is the 3rd time I say this, dammit!). As for the sites you've mentioned, they don't seem too "independent", do they. Anyway this is such an irrelevant issue and so beyond what I assume either of us really knows that I can't believe we are still discussing it.

[xtrashed]

@cristianfcao

What does an independent site have to do with the genealogy of Jesus? You said they were not any contemporary documents that talk about Jesus, well there are, the gospels.

[xtrashed]

@cristianfcao

en . wikipedia . org / wiki / Genealogy_of_Jesus#cite_note-c­athen-2

This gives a list of the various Extra Biblical sources talking about Jesus' genealogy.

[MrsGJButler]

@cristianfcao : word of mouth. In Ireland in days of the Clann's (families)the role of family bard or fili was to ensure the remberance of historical events and family linage. This was done thu poetry & songs. we still sing the songs here to this day! At a time when the High King of Ireland was planning to do away with Bards, St Columcille went to their aid to defend them as he saw their role critical - and he won their case. Your roots are important. Each soul on earth will have a geneology.

[merksz12]

@cristianfcao

"how can a someone writing in 70-100 CE can make a 40 generation genealogy (76 in Luke’s case!)"

someone writing in 50-70 CE could easily have access to appropriate documents.

[spearsdoesitbetter]

Hi Father Love U Keep Me and Britney Spears In Prayers

[4theprize]

Thanks so much again for anoter inspiring video. Never thought of the geneoligy in such depth. What an amazing loving God we have! Wishing you & your family a truly blessed Christmas, & restful break. Looking forward to more inspiration next year!.

[te2kbgo91]

I am curious to khow what is your view on the difference between both mathew and luke's geneologies.I have heard many people criticise the bible's authenticity because of the aformentioned discrepancy. A thought that comes to my mind is why luke would put a conflicting geneoogy especially since he knew Mathew's gospel and probably even usd it as a source for his account. I have come to the conclusion that it is not a conflicting geneology. What is your take on it ?

[septrenarion]

Father Baron, will you be making any

Comments on the new version of "True Grit" ?I found it to be very soul-stirring.

[samuelu2lavern]

God is the ground of being. Therefore it cannot be a being among other beings.

(Tillich). Examined from another angle, God, the ground of being, participates fully in all of creation. The betrayal, death, and resurrection of Christ was a well choreographed dance of archetypes. 

[gisellebaptiste21]

thank you! as always you help me at my weakest moments! God Bless and keep you and your work going strong!

[guitardds]

God had weird uncles! Oh wow He CAN relate to me!

[cjhite]

Fr. Baron, please forgive CitizenAtheist as Christ loves even the lame. Clearly he or she missed the message about Jesus coming into the world to dwell among us as both fully human and fully divine. Some people just will never see the Truth. We pray for the lame.

[cjhite]

Fr. Baron, thank-you for being an instrument of God in defense of the Catholic faith. Merry Christmas to you! Our family pray for the intentions of the Holy Father and for your continued success of Word on Fire. Thank God for his love of even a wretched sinner like me. Hopefully one day we may enter into his Heavenly Kingdom, though not all who say "Lord, Lord" will. Mother Mary, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death, Amen.

[clarkbailey1973]

I needed to hear this too

[megaead69]

Wonderful commentary Father Barron!

[CitizenAtheist]

The genealogy you mention is through Joseph, the husband of Mary. But according to the bible, Joseph is not the Father of Jesus.

So, either this is the Genealogy of Jesus, in which case Mary was not a Virgin and Jesus was not the son of God, or the genealogy has nothing to do with Jesus.

Which is it?

[tonymandu]

@CitizenAtheist genealogy is more about family lineage than genetics. As an example, a genealogist will count an adopted child under the genealogy of his/her adopted parents or a wife.

[CitizenAtheist]

@tonymandu

But you have a problem here: either Jesus is a descendant of David, or he is not.  The bible is contradictory on this matter. But, the bible is full of contradictions, so we should not be surprised.

[wordonfirevideo]

@CitizenAtheist As others have pointed out, he is indeed a descendant of David, since Joseph, a son of David, is his legal father. That's what mattered to first century Jews.

[CitizenAtheist]

@wordonfirevideo

Your comment makes no sense, if we are using the common meaning of "descendant".

Suppose Bob is the father of Joe. At some later time, an unrelated man Steve adopts Joe. Does it make sense to say that Joe is a descendant of Steve? Of course not.

Likewise, it makes no sense to say that Jesus is a descendant of Joseph (or David), if Mary was a Virgin (which she almost certainly was not).

Breaking news: a contradiction cannot be true. Face the facts.

[coldforgedcowboy]

@CitizenAtheist..... It's not a contradiction, you just don't understand Jewish law and tradition and you are to lazy to actually read books to enlight yourself on the subject. With that being said have a Merry Christmas any way!

[xtrashed]

@CitizenAtheist

Joseph is the legal father of Jesus, therefore the ancestry is noted. Matthew records the line of Joseph, Luke records the geology through Mary. Mary was a a virgin. It is not an either or. Through either line, Jesus is a descent of David therefore eligible to be the Messiah.

[CitizenAtheist]

@xtrashed

You are confused. Luke's genealogy is through Joseph too. Read your bible.

(Granted, the genealogy's contradict each other. But remember: this is the bible, so we should expect it to be wrong.)

[xtrashed]

@CitizenAtheist

Please do not patronize me. Matthew is following the line of Joseph through David's son, Solomon. Luke is following the line through Mary through David's son, Nathan. There are no contradictions. The answer to the differences in ancestry are that Matthew traced the ancestry of Joseph, while Luke traced the ancestry of Mary.

[CitizenAtheist]

@xtrashed

Luke's genealogy is clearly through Joseph. Just read it. Chapter 3.



[xtrashed]

@CitizenAtheist

The genealogy in Matthew is the one of his legal father, Joseph, and the one in Luke is that of his biological mother, Mary:

Jews did not trace heritage by women, only men. Joseph is mentioned in both genealogies as opposed to Mary in Luke and Joseph in Matthew. The father's trade was also passed down to the son, and the mother taught the daughter to do "woman work." This would account for the two different genealogies.

[xtrashed]

@CitizenAtheist

Matthew, who deals with Joseph, gives Joseph's, and Luke who describes the Annunciation, Mary's, so that Jesus could be shown to be Abraham and David's descendant both legally and genetically. It is interesting to note that if Joseph is Jesus' physical father (i.e. God artificially inseminated Mary), then Jesus had a cursed lineage due to Jeconiah. If Jesus has no biological relationship with Joseph, then it's entertaining to wonder how He is a man.

[xtrashed]

@CitizenAtheist

Linguistic proof for Luke being Mary's genealogy is the terminology of Luke before each name using the article tou for all except Joseph. A Greek audience would immediately realize that the equivalent to son of Joseph in Luke would be “Jesus being (as was supposed the son of Joseph) the son of Heli” with the understanding that Jesus was the grandson of Heli through Mary.

[CitizenAtheist]

@xtrashed

Do you realize this is not the orthodox view of the Catholic Church?

(I encourage you to take a step back and look and the mental gymnastics you are doing. It's quite a spectacle.)

[xtrashed]

@CitizenAtheist

I am not doing any mental gymnastics. According to my research, Jesus (Yeshua) is of the Tribe of Judah and House of David biologically via Mary (Meriam) and by adoption via Joseph. The genealogy found in Matthew is that of Jesus via Joseph; whereas, the one in Luke is that of Jesus via Mary (the careful Bible student and researcher will discover).

[xtrashed]

@CitizenAtheist

After doing some more research I realize it is more complex than it seems. I have been mainly looking at non Catholic websites regarding genealogies. But looking at this article helps:

catholic . com / thisrock/1997/9712chap.asp

[xtrashed]

@CitizenAtheist

Joseph's geneaology is listed because, by Joseph's marriage to Mary and by his acceptance of Jesus as his own child (cf. Matt. 1:18-25), Joseph became Jesus' legal father. Thus, Joseph's ancestors became Jesus' ancestors.

[xtrashed]

@CitizenAtheist

For an example of the Old Testament precedent for this, see the story of Jacob's adoption of Joseph's sons Manasseh and Ephraim (cf. Gen. 48:3-6). Jacob claims these sons of Joseph as his own and states that they are equal in standing as his sons to his blood sons Reuben and Simeon (his first- and secondborn sons).

[xtrashed]

@CitizenAtheist

Christian scholars have long thought, however, that because the prophesied relationship between David and Jesus appeared to be much more than a legal relationship (cf. Rom. 1:3), that the Virgin Mary must also have been of the house of David. This is certainly possible, although we do not know for certain.

[xtrashed]

@CitizenAtheist

However, it is interesting that Mary is specifically named in the Matthean geneaology alongside Joseph (cf. Matt. 1:16). Along with the other mentions of women in Jesus' geneaology, this was very unusual as Jewish mothers were generally not counted among ancestors at that time.

[xtrashed]

@CitizenAtheist

If this is true, then Jesus would have been the Son of David both by his legal relationship to Joseph and by the blood relationship he received through his Mother. However, by the laws of the time, the legal relationship would have sufficed to count Jesus as the Son of David.

[xtrashed]

@CitizenAtheist

'tou' is in italics.

[xtrashed]

@CitizenAtheist

In addition to this, genealogies were kept in the Temple which was destroyed in 70 AD, so a pre-70 AD author would not have had the pleasure of fabrication, yet on the contrary a later one wouldn't have had evidence against him.

[xtrashed]

@CitizenAtheist

The Church fathers also talk about the genealogy.

[xtrashed]

@CitizenAtheist

* genealogy

[firefly467]

Whoa, that was awesome. I've never thought of the genealogy that way...and I always skip it :P Makes me want to go read the Old Testament now. Thanks Fr Barron, have a blessed Christmas!

[MobiusCoin]

Oh, this kind of reminds me. Fr. Barron, what are your views on the Q document hypothesis?

[KillerCoyotes]

Merry Christmas, Fr Barron!  Thank you for that inspirational message!

[thoughtadventure]

The story of Judah and Tamar is likewise one you might not read to little children. Judah was seriously naughty in that story (Genesis 38). This is all part of the darkness. The light shines in the darkness and the darkness does not overcome it. The messy parts do not destroy the Gospel story, but are a part of it. If we believe this, then we can maybe believe that God is at work through a church that has some very sinful leaders.

[LegisSineMoribusVane]

Thanks for a video "Jesse Tree," Father! May you have a wonderful Christmas season!

[wolfram]

Great video! I have one quick question Fr. Barron, why is the genealogy of Jesus presented in Luke, different than the genealogy in Matthew?

[jantoniello]

@wolfram In the Ignatius Biblical Commentary, it is presented that "Matthew gives Jesus' paternal genealogy (Joseph's ancestry) and Luke his maternal genealogy (Mary's ancestry)."

and

"Matthew gives us the dynastic line that passes from David to Joseph through King Solomon and Luke gives us the Davidic line more generally as it passes from David to Mary through Nathan."

[Meelahd]

A very open and loving approach to Christianity as apposed to fire and brimstone.

God Bless

[1ndabag]

@Meelahd Indeed. But don't make the mistake of ignoring the fire and brimstone simply because it is unpleasant.

[Meelahd]

@1ndabag Never do.

[vagabondfaith]

This really is one of the most encouraging broadcasts and is truly a Classic.

What seems at first, a boring genealogy turns out to be one of the most heartening and uplifting passages of all the New Testament.

A gift from our Birthday Hero Jesus Christ to us..

Our gift to Him could be that we take this reflection right into our hearts and start sharing it with everyone we know.... Over the Internet and those whom we will meet in the future.

Love is not really Love until it is given away!!!!

mjk

[vagabondfaith]

This really is one of the most encouraging broadcasts and is truly a Classic.

What seems at first, a boring genealogy turns out to be one of the most heartening and uplifting passages of all the New Testament.

A gift from our Birthday Hero Jesus Christ to us..

Our gift to Him could be that we take this reflection right into our hearts and start sharing it with everyone we know.... Over the Internet and those whom we will meet in the future.

Love is not really Love until it is given away!!!!

[Jugglable]

Nice, I love you sitting there with the sweater and the book and the fireplace. You should have a pipe and then turn to face the camera and say "Oh, hello. I'm a British person."

[stcolreplover]

THANK THE LORD. I wait in anticipation every week for the release of you videos

[catbelieves]

great video!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[TheSilentRiver94]

Hello Fr. Barron. Just out of curiosity, does someone in the room ask you these questions and then you sit down and talk about it, or do you get these questions online and then answer them by sitting down and talking about it or something else? Thanks

[MalakhiElohim]

Excellent video! 

[ascott251]

Why quote the genealogy of Jesus through Joseph's side? Would these points not have been better made by listing Mary's family history?

[havock89]

God has wierd uncles... Lol.

I love the way you talk about deep elements of the faith with a touch of wit and sagacity.

God bless you faither, and god bless YOUR family.

[billcat2]

this is the best video u've ever made!this time u're not preaching,you are "Teaching"

[MsKsenia75]

Thank you! I really needed to hear this right now.

[AdversusHaereses]

The priest reads this passage of St John's Gospel after every tridentine mass. Truly a beauty. It summarises the entire Christian perspective of God.