Matthew
1 Genealogy
from Abraham to Jesus
Salvation is for the JEWS.
mentions women with questionable relations
1. TAMAR with Judah
2. RAHAB by vocation, (gentile)
3. RUTH, widow and a gentile
4. BATHSHEBA with David
5. MARY on ILLEGITIMACY
God’s work involves all people of all sorts and
backgrounds and races. (Boch, p 123)
2 perspective of Joseph
“Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign.
Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son,
and shall call his name Immanuel.” (Isa. 7:14; Mt.
1:23).
Luke Consistent
1 Genealogy 1 Jesus is from the line of David
from Jesus to Adam
Salvation is for EVERYONE.
Jesus is the NEW DAVID - the awaited
Palestine Messiah.
It is he who shall build a house for my name,
and I will establish his royal throne forever. (2
Sam 7:14)
Acts
Rome Messiah means "the one anointed with oil”.
The coming of God’s Son to earth is an event of
such immensity that God willed to prepare for it
over centuries. He makes everything converge on
Christ: all the rituals and sacrifices, figures and
symbols of the “First Covenant”. He announces him
through the mouths of the prophets who succeeded
one another in Israel. (CCC 522)
2 perspective of Mary 2 There was an annunciation from
the angel
Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear
a son, and you shall name him Jesus. Jesus’ divine origin:
(Lk 1:31) *virgin birth
*conceived by the Holy Spirit
To become a child in relation to God is the
condition for entering the kingdom. For this, we
must humble ourselves and become
little. Even more: to become “children of God” we
must be “born from above” or “born of God”. Only
when Christ is formed in us
will the mystery of Christmas be fulfilled in us.
Christmas is the mystery of this “marvelous
exchange”:
“O marvelous exchange! Man’s Creator has
become man, born of the Virgin.
We have been made sharers in the divinity of Christ
who humbled himself to share our humanity.”
(CCC 526)
by ALMEROL, RICHEL MAE O.
3 Bethlehem to Nazareth
Joseph and Mary seem to reside in Bethlehem
(Mt. 2:11); not mention of travel
Mary could have given birth at home.
4 First visitors are wealthy wise men
The Epiphany is the manifestation of Jesus as
Messiah of Israel, Son of God and Savior of the
world. The great feast of
Epiphany celebrates the adoration of Jesus by the
wise men (magi) from the East (…). In the magi,
representatives of the neighboring pagan religions,
the Gospel sees the first fruits of the nations, who
welcome the good news of salvation through the
Incarnation. Their coming means that pagans can
discover Jesus and worship him as Son of God and
Savior of the world only by turning towards the
Jews and receiving from them the messianic
promise as contained in the Old Testament.
(CCC 528)
5. Murder of innocents; Egypt was a common place for Jewish refugees because of the large
Flight to Egypt Jewish population there (1King 11:40; 2Kings 25:26; Josephus, Ant.
12.9.7) Jesus’ life begins as a refugee, which foreshadows his future
rejection.
The failure to get the exact location of the child caused Herod to fly in
rage and command that all children two years and younger in
Bethlehem region be slain. Herod’s rage is in contrast to the magi’s
joy at finding Jesus.
3 Nazareth to Bethlehem to Nazareth
Joseph and Mary returned to Nazareth after a
short time in Bethlehem
It was mentioned that she gave birth in a
manger.
4 First visitors are poor shepherds
Jesus was born in a humble stable, into a poor
family. Simple shepherds were the first witnesses
to this event. In this poverty
heaven’s glory was made manifest. (CCC 525)
6 Observance of Jewish practices
 Circumcision of Jesus
 Purification (33 days after)
 Presentation at the temple
 Offering of two turtle doves
The Finding of Jesus in the Temple
The finding of Jesus in the temple is the only event
that breaks the silence of the Gospels about the
hidden years of Jesus. Here Jesus lets us catch a
glimpse of the mystery of his total consecration to a
mission that flows from his divine sonship: “Did you
not know that I must be about my Father’s work?”
Mary and Joseph did not understand these words,
but they accepted them in faith. Mary “kept all these
things in her heart” during the years Jesus
remained hidden in the silence of an
ordinary life. (CCC 534)
And Jesus advanced in wisdom and
age and favor before God and man.
(Lk2:52)
3 Bethlehem (birth)
Nazareth (where Jesus grew up)
Micah 5:2 points to Bethlehem as the source of a
“ruler who will be a shepherd of my people Israel.
Bethlehem, about five miles south of Jerusalem,
was the city of David (1 Sam 16:1; Lk 2:11).
4 What is clear is that their initiative stands
in contrast to the indifference or secret
hostility of Israel’s leaders.
Here, Matthew hints that those outside
Palestine/Israel are sensitive to what is God doing
through Jesus, while those within the nation are
hostile (Herod) or indifferent (the chief priests and
scribes).
Luke describes a king who will shepherd the people
which alludes to a Davidic ruler contrasting to the
current king whose roots are in Idumea (which is
not mentioned in the ancient text).
(Boch, p 139)
The flight into Egypt and the massacre of the
innocents make manifest the opposition of
darkness to the light: “He came to his
own home, and his own people received him not.”
Christ’s whole life was lived under the sign of
persecution. His own share it
with him. Jesus’ departure from Egypt recalls the
exodus and presents him as the definitive liberator
of God’s people. (CCC 530)
6 Mary and Joseph are pious Jews
Everything they did reflects their piety and
faithfulness to God in following his law. Jesus’
parents were not renegade Jews.
(Boch, pp 135-136)
Jesus’ Hidden Life
During the greater part of his life Jesus shared the
condition of the vast majority of human beings: a
daily life spent without
evident greatness, a life of manual labor. His
religious life was that of a Jew obedient to the law
of God, a life in the community.
From this whole period it is revealed to us that
Jesus was “obedient” to his parents and that he
“increased in wisdom and in
stature, and in favor with God and man.”
The hidden life at Nazareth allows everyone to
enter into fellowship with Jesus by the most
ordinary events of daily life: The home of Nazareth
is the school where we begin to understand the life
of Jesus – the school of the Gospel. (CCC 533)
by ALMEROL, RICHEL MAE O.