The coming of Jesus and his genealogy in sculptures at Trinity Church, New York City

Today, Christmas Day, we remember the times we dropped by the neo-Gothic Trinity Church of the Episcopalian diocese in New York City on our sundry walks around lower Manhattan.

The construction of Trinity was completed in 1846 and has received endowments from the rich and the famous like the Astors, and the powerful, the British royalty, through the years. 

There are three things that keep us tarry at Trinity: the bronze doors, the magnificent interior with its altar reredos and stained glass chancel window, and the burial ground at the churchyard.

The doors date back to 1893 and were gifts of William Waldorf Astor (now we know from where Waldorf Astoria was derived). They comprise panels that depict scenes from the Bible, history of the church, and of New York City.

While there is no sculpted nativity scene on any of the two leaves of the door at the main portal, the beginning and the end of the life of Jesus are presented. They come as a pair of panels in the middle of the left and right leaves. 

The Annunciation, a panel in the left leaf of the bronze main portal door.

On the left leaf is the Annunciation - angel Gabriel announcing to Mary that she would conceive and be the mother of Jesus, and its counterpoint in the right leaf is an empty tomb - the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. 

The lowest pair depicts scenes from the Old Testament: expulsion of Adam and Eve from Paradise, and the dream of Jacob, while the topmost pairs are interpretations of two visions from the Apocalypse.

The churchyard is an old burial ground. The tomb of Alexander Hamilton is in the southern yard.

What is striking in the northern yard is the Astor Cross, erected in 1914 in memory of Caroline Webster Schermerhorn Astor, wife of William Astor. 

The Astor Cross at the northern churchyard.

The Cross carries sculpted figures to illustrate the genealogy of Jesus Christ according to St. Luke.

Around the four-sided obelisk are the following familiar characters: on the front side, going upwards - Adam and Eve, Shem and Judah; and on the other three sides, (a) Noah, Jacob and David; (b) Enoch, Isaac and Jesse; and (c) Seth, Abraham and Ruth, in the other sides,  And at the top of the structure is the Crucifix.

Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, at the doors and the churchyard cross at Trinity Church.

Adam and Eve.

Noah.

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.