Thursday, December 22, 2011

77 fathers & sons in Jesus Christ's genealogy according to Luke 3:23-28

This is one of two framed genealogy charts at the Family History Center of the Philippine Temple of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in Quezon City.  The other one is that of Jose Rizal.

We've been doing genealogical research at the Family History Center on Temple Drive, Quezon City, poring through microfilmed baptismal, matrimonial and baptismal records dating back as early as 1795 in the church documents of Paoay, Ilocos Norte, and 1849 for those of our hometown, San Narciso, Zambales, in search of Ilokano roots in both our maternal and paternal sides of the family.

The first time we visited the center, our attention was immediately caught by two framed genealogy charts: that of Jesus Christ right beside His portrait near the entrance door, and that of Jose Rizal close to the cubicle of microfilm readers.

What intrigued us right away was the mathematics in the design of Christ's genealogy chart:  7 columns with 11 rows each, or a total of seventy-seven (77) names to trace from God to Jesus, based on Luke 3:23-28.   Sometimes we ask new friends there if they've looked at the frame closely and if so, to tell us how many names there are in the Jesus tree.  If we get a 'what' expression, we tell them to do a little math with the rows and columns. 

While the number is less than 77 in 'the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah'  according to Matthew 1:1-17, his summation of generations are interestingly multiples of 7:  "So all the generations from Abraham to David are fourteen generations; from David to the deportation to Babylon, fourteen generations; and from the deportation to Babylon to the Messiah, fourteen generations (Matt. 1:17)."  

Luke, according to church scholars, traced Jesus Christ's lineage to Mary while Matthew traced it to Joseph.  This we gleaned from 'Why are there different genealogies for Jesus in Matthew 1 and Luke 3?' by the Christian Apologetics & Research Ministry.   


References (without the footnotes) from BibleGateway.com:


Luke 3:23-38
New International Version (NIV)

 23 Now Jesus himself was about thirty years old when he began his ministry. He was the son, so it was thought, of Joseph,
   the son of Heli, 24 the son of Matthat,
   the son of Levi, the son of Melki,
   the son of Jannai, the son of Joseph,
 25 the son of Mattathias, the son of Amos,
   the son of Nahum, the son of Esli,
   the son of Naggai, 26 the son of Maath,
   the son of Mattathias, the son of Semein,
   the son of Josek, the son of Joda,
 27 the son of Joanan, the son of Rhesa,
   the son of Zerubbabel, the son of Shealtiel,
   the son of Neri, 28 the son of Melki,
   the son of Addi, the son of Cosam,
   the son of Elmadam, the son of Er,
 29 the son of Joshua, the son of Eliezer,
   the son of Jorim, the son of Matthat,
   the son of Levi, 30 the son of Simeon,
   the son of Judah, the son of Joseph,
   the son of Jonam, the son of Eliakim,
 31 the son of Melea, the son of Menna,
   the son of Mattatha, the son of Nathan,
   the son of David, 32 the son of Jesse,
   the son of Obed, the son of Boaz,
   the son of Salmon, the son of Nahshon,
 33 the son of Amminadab, the son of Ram,
   the son of Hezron, the son of Perez,
   the son of Judah, 34 the son of Jacob,
   the son of Isaac, the son of Abraham,
   the son of Terah, the son of Nahor,
 35 the son of Serug, the son of Reu,
   the son of Peleg, the son of Eber,
   the son of Shelah, 36 the son of Cainan,
   the son of Arphaxad, the son of Shem,
   the son of Noah, the son of Lamech,
 37 the son of Methuselah, the son of Enoch,
   the son of Jared, the son of Mahalalel,
   the son of Kenan, 38 the son of Enosh,
   the son of Seth, the son of Adam,
   the son of God.


Matther 1:1-17
New International Version (NIV)

The Genealogy of Jesus the Messiah
 1 This is the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah the son of David, the son of Abraham:
 2 Abraham was the father of Isaac,
   Isaac the father of Jacob,
   Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers,
 3 Judah the father of Perez and Zerah, whose mother was Tamar,
   Perez the father of Hezron,
   Hezron the father of Ram,
 4 Ram the father of Amminadab,
   Amminadab the father of Nahshon,
   Nahshon the father of Salmon,
 5 Salmon the father of Boaz, whose mother was Rahab,
   Boaz the father of Obed, whose mother was Ruth,
   Obed the father of Jesse,
 6 and Jesse the father of King David.
   David was the father of Solomon, whose mother had been Uriah’s wife,
 7 Solomon the father of Rehoboam,
   Rehoboam the father of Abijah,
   Abijah the father of Asa,
 8 Asa the father of Jehoshaphat,
   Jehoshaphat the father of Jehoram,
   Jehoram the father of Uzziah,
 9 Uzziah the father of Jotham,
   Jotham the father of Ahaz,
   Ahaz the father of Hezekiah,
 10 Hezekiah the father of Manasseh,
   Manasseh the father of Amon,
   Amon the father of Josiah,
 11 and Josiah the father of Jeconiah and his brothers at the time of the exile to Babylon.
 12 After the exile to Babylon:
   Jeconiah was the father of Shealtiel,
   Shealtiel the father of Zerubbabel,
 13 Zerubbabel the father of Abihud,
   Abihud the father of Eliakim,
   Eliakim the father of Azor,
 14 Azor the father of Zadok,
   Zadok the father of Akim,
   Akim the father of Elihud,
 15 Elihud the father of Eleazar,
   Eleazar the father of Matthan,
   Matthan the father of Jacob,
 16 and Jacob the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary, and Mary was the mother of Jesus who is called the Messiah.
 17 Thus there were fourteen generations in all from Abraham to David, fourteen from David to the exile to Babylon, and fourteen from the exile to the Messiah.



2 comments:

  1. The names in the list may be fathers or grandfathers or great grand fathers. The bible gives only the important names in that family line. For Eg. In the table it is given that Adam is the father of Seth. Due to the translation we do not know that. Adam may have been the father or grand father or great grand father or .... of Seth.

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  2. You have teach me with this information that i need to continue seen man all man as Jesus Christ because God has brought man all man as a good example for all the Humanity. Thank you and Blessings.

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