What a moment in gospel history. Gospel story in colors

3. The Path to the Passion

Place and Time.

All three weather forecasters speak about the last journey of Christ the Savior from Galilee to Jerusalem. In Matthew 19-20, Mark 10, the passage of the Lord through the Trans-Jordan country or Perea, a region that lay east of the Jordan, is mentioned. In Mark (10:1), the text of which has come down to us in several different readings, the Transjordanian country is mentioned along with Judea. In Matthew 19 the correct translation of v. 1 would be "... came into the borders of Judea beyond the Jordan." Moreover, if the healing of the blind man of Jericho (Mark 10:46-52, Luke 18:35-43, not one, but two according to Matthew 20:29-34) already took place within Judea in the proper sense, we cannot establish with certainty , whether other episodes refer to Perea, or to Judea, more precisely: when the Lord passed from Perea to Judea. One thing is clear: the path of the Lord leads to Judea, and with complete accuracy - to Jerusalem. He passes through Perea, avoiding Samaria, which lay to the west of the Jordan, between Galilee and Judea, heading to Jerusalem. Indirectly, the path of Christ - still within Galilee - may also include such instructions from the first two Evangelists as Mark 9:30, 33, Matthew 17:22-24: The Lord passes through Galilee and, passing, reaches Capernaum. In the plan of Luke, the parallel passage (9:43-50) is not included in the journey narrative, but it does not mention Capernaum. The inevitability of the path also follows from the appearance of the Messiah as the suffering Messiah. The suffering of the Messiah is in Jerusalem, where He must go (with complete clarity: Matthew 16:21).

With special attention and clarity, not allowing for misinterpretation, the Evangelist Luke narrates about the path. A large passage is devoted to the path of Christ from Galilee to Jerusalem in the Third Gospel (9:51-19:28). The opening (9:51) and closing (19:28) instructions are reinforced by repeated reminders throughout the passage (cf. 9:52, 57, 10:1, 38, 13:22, 14:25; 17:11; 18 :31-35, 19:1, 11). In the construction of Luke, the passage containing the narrative of the path represents an independent part, exceeding in volume the other parts.

In order to get an idea of the topography and chronology of the path, one must clearly remember its purpose. It was noted above that the goal of the path (9:51) is ascension and the manifestation of glory. But ascension, as the ultimate goal, presupposes the immediate goal. And this immediate goal is Passion. The path of Christ is the path of passion. This is confirmed by separate instructions, repeated as we approach Jerusalem with more and more insistence (cf. 12:49-50, 13:31-35, 17:25). Of particular importance is the parable of the mines (19:12-27), told in Jericho on the eve of the Triumphant Entry. Those around the Lord were waiting for the immediate appearance of the Kingdom, and the Lord answers their expectation with a parable about a man of high birth, who, before being established in the kingdom, must go to a distant country. Understanding the path of Christ as the path to the Passion does not allow us to see in the passage Luke 9:51-19:28 a narrative about the repeated journeys of Christ, as is often done in attempts to scientifically construct the gospel history. Once the goal was set, Christ’s journey to Jerusalem could only be once. He did not allow deviations.

What parts of Palestine did the Lord pass through during His journey? As we have seen, the first two weather forecasters testify to His passage through Perea (Matthew 19:1, Mark 10:1). In Luke the parallel passage does not mention Perea. A comparison of Luke with the first two weather forecasters makes it possible to attribute part of the episodes that make up the content of ch. to Perea. 18 (18-30?). Under the condition of a single journey, passing through Perea excludes the route through Samaria. Luke opens the journey narrative with 9:51-56. The Samaritan village, where the Lord sent messengers before Him to prepare the way, refused to accept Him, because the inhabitants saw Him as a pilgrim. The case was not exceptional. Being hostile to the Jews (cf. John 4:9), the Samaritans obstructed Jewish pilgrims passing through Samaria. The Lord stops the anger of James and John and directs the way “to another village.” From what has just been said, it undoubtedly follows that the “other village” was not Samaritan, in other words, the refusal of the Samaritan village prompted the Lord to change his original intention and deviate from the intended route. With the exception of the southern part of Samaria, where the gospel of Christ was lovingly received at the beginning of the Galilean period of His ministry (John 4), Samaria as a whole was not affected by His preaching. The spread of Christianity in Samaria took place at the beginning of the Apostolic Age through the labors of Philip, one of the Seven (Acts 8), after the murder of Stephen. Most of the episodes belonging to the narrative of the path in Luke must be attributed to the passage of the Lord through the cities and villages of Galilee. This follows from such indications as 13:32-33 (the region of Herod, tetrarch of Galilee) and XVII, 11 (the path between Samaria and Galilee, in all likelihood, in the territory of Galilee towards the Jordan, i.e. from west to east ). It seems possible to attribute a large passage to Galilee, in particular to Capernaum, Luke 11:14-13:9. The passage is one piece, but does not contain indications of place and time. However, the introductory episode, the healing of a demoniac, attributed by ill-wishers to the power of Beelzebub, the prince of demons (11:14-15 et seq.), returning us to the complaints of the scribes Mark 3:22 et seq., provides the starting points for localizing the passage. In the context of Mark (cf. 1:21, 23, 2:1, must have been 3:1), the scribes' reproaches must have taken place in Capernaum. As has already been indicated, the Lord's stay in Capernaum after the confession of Peter and the Transfiguration, mentioned in Matthew (17:24 et seq.) and Mark (9:33 et seq.), may refer to the path. That the path of Christ lay through Capernaum is indirectly confirmed by the prophetic denunciation of Luke 10:15. Along with Capernaum, other rebellious cities are also exposed (cf. the entire passage of 10:10-15). The reproof of the cities is part of the instructions of the Seventy, whom the Lord deliberately places at the beginning of the journey and sends “before His face into every city and place where He Himself wanted to go” (10:1). Reproof involves the rejection of the Seventy in the Galilean cities. In other words, the mission of the Seventy was supposed to capture the Galilean cities, at least some. But the Seventy preceded the path of Christ, one must think, just like those messengers who were sent by the Lord to the Samaritan village. The prophetic rebuke may refer to the opposition of the Galilean cities not only to the gospel of the Seventy, but also to the word of the Lord Himself on His way to Jerusalem. This path began in Galilee. Basically, the topography of the path is clear: starting in Galilee and passing Samaria, he brought the Lord to Judea through the Jordanian country.

The question remains about the coordination - and in this part of the gospel history - of the weather forecasters and John. We are talking about the passage John 7-10. The passage refers to Jerusalem. The absence of internal edges and, on the contrary, the very clear edge of 10:40-42, with which the passage ends, allows us to speak not of several short-term, but of one long stay of Christ in the Jewish capital. To what point in gospel history can this stay be attributed? First of all, there is no doubt that this stay of the Lord in Jerusalem was not His last visit to the holy city. The Ceremonial Entry into Ying is told only in Chapter. 12. On the other hand, it is absolutely certain that the passage of John 7-10 cannot refer to the Galilean period of Christ's public ministry. In the context of the Gospel, the passage comes after the feeding of the five thousand (John 6 = Luke 9:10-17). It is natural to think about it even after the turning point in Gospel history. The conversation about the Animal Bread causes the temptation of the Jews and the falling away of some disciples (John 6:59-66). To the question addressed to the Twelve whether they also want to leave, Peter responds with a confession (67-69): “...we have believed and known that You are the Holy One of God.” Russian translation: Christ, Son of the Living God is the name of the Messiah. “They believed and knew” - by the very meaning of the Greek perfect forms, sounds like a reference to the conviction to which the apostles came, and which was firmly rooted in their consciousness. Peter's confession John 6:69 is therefore naturally understood as repeated. Synoptic confession is assumed by them. Thus, the chronology of the passage John 7-10 is determined in general terms: after the appearance of the Messiah and before the Triumphant Entry. In the chronology of weather forecasters, the path to the Passion falls on this period of time. We saw that the path to the Passion could only be taken once. To this we can add: he did not allow long breaks or stops. The only exception can be thought of at the beginning. Luke 10:17 tells of the return of the Seventy to report on their assignment. This assignment required a certain period of time. One might think that the meeting took place at the appointed place. What did the Lord and the Twelve do during the mission of the Seventy? Luke is silent about this. The answer can be gleaned from John if we: place the passage of John 7-10 in Luke 10 between vv. 16 and 17. During the mission of the Seventy, the Lord and the Twelve with Him went to Jerusalem. Thus, the agreement of the weather forecasters and John turns out to be not only possible - in these parts, as in others - but also significantly complements our information about this period of gospel history.

Traces of the Lord’s absence to Jerusalem before the start of the journey can also be found in Luke. The passage of Luke 10:38-42, which tells about the Lord’s stay in the house of Martha and Mary, relates to this moment. From John 11:1 it follows that the village of Martha and Mary was Bethany, located fifteen stages (about 2.5 kilometers) from Jerusalem (John 11:18). It is difficult to admit that the Lord was in Bethany and not in Jerusalem, and it is equally inconceivable, as we have already noted more than once, that the Lord reached the goal of the journey and returned again to Galilee. Obviously, within the framework of Luke there is no place for episode 10:38-42, and the indication of Art. 38: “to continue their ways,” if understood literally, would create insurmountable difficulties. These difficulties are eliminated if we relate the episode of Luke 10:38-42 to the Lord's visit to Jerusalem before starting his journey. The Evangelist Luke, passing over this visit in silence, just as he passed over others, gave place to the episode in the house of Martha and Mary for the sake of the inner meaning that is revealed in it and placed it approximately at the time to which it refers.

Chronologically, the Lord's journey to Jerusalem in John 7-10 is determined by the milestones given in the passage itself. The Lord's arrival in Jerusalem refers to the Feast of Tabernacles (John 7:2, 8-11, 14, 37 et seq.), which took place according to our reckoning of time. at the end of September - beginning of October. From John 10:22 we see that the Lord remained in Jerusalem until the Feast of Renewal, which occurred in mid-December, when the hostility of the Jews forced Him to leave for the country beyond Jordan (10:39-40). Thus, the content of John 7-10 occupies a period of time from the end of September - beginning of October to half of December. For constructing the chronology of gospel history, this conclusion is of great importance. But the agreement we have achieved between the weather forecasters and In is of a preliminary nature.

If we assume that the entire passage 7-10 fits into Luke 10 between vv. 16 and 17, we must also admit that the Lord from Perea (cf. John 10:40-42) returned to Galilee in a short time. Evangelist John, passing in silence the return of the Lord to Galilee, narrates in ch. 11 about the resurrection of Lazarus. The event takes place in Bethany, in the immediate vicinity of Jerusalem (11:1, 18 et seq.). The news of Lazarus' illness reaches the Lord outside Judea (John 11:6-7). Where exactly? The Evangelist does not answer this question. Galilee is not excluded. But the silence of the Evangelist naturally directs the reader's attention to the last topographical indication of 10:40. This instruction applies to Perea. In Perea the Lord was at the end of his journey. By comparison with Matthew and Mark, we attributed the passage of Luke 18:18-30 to Perea (with greater or lesser approximation). If the resurrection of Lazarus belonged to this time, we would be forced to admit that the Lord at the end of the journey from Perea went to Bethany, from there he disappeared for some time to Ephraim, a city near the desert (John 11:54) and only after that - with his return or without returning to Perea - continued His journey to Jerusalem through Jericho (Luke 18:35-19:28, Matthew 20:29-34, Mark 10:46-52) and Bethany (Luke 19:29 et seq., Mark 11 :1 et seq., cf. John 12:1 et seq.). However, this agreement would present the difficulty that it would imply; a long break at the very end of Christ’s path, and one during which the Lord, directing His path to Jerusalem, would have ended up in the immediate vicinity of the Jewish capital. It must be admitted that for such a break; what is essentially incredible has no place in the chronological framework of Luke. It remains to be assumed that the Lord had not yet returned from Perea to Galilee when he was summoned to the dying Lazarus. Thus, the Lord’s absence from Galilee, to which the passage John 7-10 refers, naturally extends to the passage John 11:1-54. and the Gospel texts relating to the path to the Passion are arranged in the following order: Luke 10:1-16, John 7:1-11:54, Luke 10:17-19:28 (with the amendment proposed above regarding Luke 10: 38-42, and drawing parallels from Matthew 19-20 and Mark 10).

The proposed agreement between weather forecasters and Ying does not present chronological difficulties. The Passion of Christ, which marked His last Passover in Jerusalem, is connected with the resurrection of Lazarus more internally than externally, since the Evangelist himself notes after the resurrection of Lazarus and before the onset of Easter the removal of the Lord to Ephraim (John 11:54-57). The Evangelist does not say how long the Lord remained outside the immediate environs of Jerusalem. But we have the right to assume that the Lord retired to Ephraim earlier than March, when the Jewish Passover occurred. Dating the resurrection of Lazarus to the first half of February would not raise serious objections. If the Lord's stay in Ephraim was short, and from Ephraim the Lord returned to Galilee, where His meeting with the Seventy took place at the end of the ministry entrusted to them. - we will have to admit that the Lord’s absence from Galilee, and therefore the mission of the Seventy, lasted from the end of September - beginning of October, not until mid-December, as we originally assumed, but until mid-February. This lengthening, without causing objections on the merits, allows us to bring to unity the synoptic narrative, on the one hand, and Ioannovsky, on the other hand. Little of. It multiplies the starting points to construct the chronology of Christ's final journey from Galilee to Jerusalem. The Lord tells his disciples about his intention to go to Jerusalem at the beginning of autumn. Then He sends messengers to the Samaritan village (Luke 9:51 et seq.). This was probably in September before the mission of the Seventy and the Lord’s departure to Jerusalem for the Feast of Tabernacles (John 7), which fell at the end of September - beginning of October. Suggested dating of Luke 9:51ff. is also in agreement with the fact that it is natural to think of the feeding of the five thousand in the spring, since the Gospel narrative mentions green grass (Mark 6:39, cf. John 6:10) and the approach of Easter (John 6:4): The Lord's stay in the countries Tire and Sidon, omitted from Luke and added to Mark (7:24-30) and Matthew (15:21-29) after the feeding of the five thousand and before the confession of Peter and the Transfiguration. provides the missing milestones that take us through the summer months to the beginning of autumn. In September, the Seventy go to preach, and the Lord goes to Jerusalem and remains absent until mid-February. The path of Christ in the proper sense of the word begins in mid-February and ends in March, six days before Easter (John 12:1).

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In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit!

So, today we celebrate Pentecost. Today we remember an event that became, as it were, the last point in gospel history. In a story that begins with the Annunciation, then Christmas, then Circumcision, Meeting, Baptism, the ministry of Jesus, His preaching, the Lord’s entry into Jerusalem, Holy Week, Good Friday, the Cross, Easter, the Resurrection of the Lord, His Ascension - and then Pentecost. This story could be called the story of man's salvation, if this story of man's salvation ended there. The gospel story ends with this event, but not the story of salvation, not what we would call Sacred history, the story of man’s relationship with God. This relationship is still ongoing. But in order to understand what this event of Pentecost means for us, why this particular event is, as it were, the final point, the finishing touch, we must start from very far away.

I am somewhat confused, because we must speak literally from the creation of the world. God creates this world for man. God creates man as the crown of creation. He wants man to become the son of God, He wants man to become a stronghold, for man to become God, for man to share the joy of being, for man to become a partaker of the Divine life - He wants man to become God. To do this, probably, a person must go through something, learn something, this is God’s plan. However, a person wants to achieve all this himself. He, it seems to him, does not need God for this. He wants, as they say today - you know, they say it with respect: “He achieved everything on his own! He achieved everything on his own!” - a person wants to achieve everything himself. What we call the Fall occurs. Man cuts himself off from the living source of life, from the source of eternal life. A person finds himself out of communication with God. It would seem that he would come to his senses, realize the depth of what happened, and repent! No. Man persists in sin, man says - people say: “Let's build a tower to heaven! Let's make a name for ourselves!" - sounds so modern, doesn’t it? We know how it ended: it led to the division of the human race, it led to constant wars. But a person cannot calm down, cannot calm down; all over the world, where human civilizations appear, they build pyramids - they try to build up to Heaven. Pyramids in Africa, pyramids in South America, pyramids in Asia, pyramids in India, pyramids in Thailand - pyramids are everywhere. A man yearns for heaven, a man wants to make a name for himself. Remember Bible story, remember the story Ancient world, look at recent history- everything is the same: a person is trying to make a name for himself and build a tower to the skies; the latter is now under construction in the Emirates, they say it has already exceeded 700 meters - but that doesn’t matter, that’s not the point. The point is that it's all pointless! This is all antitheism. This sounds very modern, it sounds human, the whole world lives by this today - but this is fighting against God, this is godlessness, no matter how we cover it up, no matter how we try to disguise it. This is what the whole world lives on. Unfortunately, this is also how people who call themselves believers live. Church people also live by this; Entire church communities are also concerned about this: to make a name for themselves, to exalt themselves above others, to “build a tower to Heaven.”

But God, through the Gospel story, reveals to us that all this should be done differently. The Son of God is not born in one of the world's cultural centers, not in the centers of human civilizations. He is not born in palaces - where they “make a name for themselves.” He is not born where the pyramids are built. He is born on the outskirts of the Roman Empire, in a stable, in a barnyard. His first bed is a cattle trough. He is born as a defenseless baby, giving Himself into the hands of people. He comes into our lives. Remember how prophet Isaiah hundreds of years before Christ was born, he says about Him: “A bruised reed he will not break, and smoking flax he will not quench.” He walks humbly, like a poor preacher, on this earth. He brings love, sacrificial love into this world. He gives Himself on the Cross for us. Because we exalt ourselves, because we make a name for ourselves, because we try to build a tower to heaven, He dies for us. He dies for us and - indeed - becomes a tower to Heaven. He is resurrected and ascends to Heaven along with our human flesh. And having given the Holy Spirit, He unites people speaking different languages, living in different countries, belonging to different traditions and different cultures. This is how one reaches Heaven. And not the way people do it.

And today, celebrating this holiday, we who call ourselves Christians, we who consider ourselves believers in God, believers in Jesus Christ, must think: how do we live? What kind of spirit do we live in? Do we live by the spirit of the Gospel - this spirit of humility, the spirit of sacrificial love, the spirit of unity, or do we, like everyone else, live by the spirit of the prince of this world, building towers to Heaven and trying to make a name for ourselves? Let's think about this - this is the meaning of this holiday. This holiday, this event is a revelation. A revelation about the meaning of all human history; why God created man, and how this can be accomplished, what is the path to Heaven, what is the path to God, how a person can become God.

3. The Path to the Passion

Place and Time.

For the history of the first period of Christ's public ministry we have the following sources: Luke 4:14; 9:50, Matthew 4:12; - 18 hl; Mark 1:14-9 chapter. The fourth evangelist begins the story of the ministry of Christ earlier than the weather forecasters. The first period includes the passage in John 2:23-6, as well as the miracle in Cana of Galilee (2:1-11), which in terms of the Gospel forms part of the introduction.

The Synoptic Gospels contain almost no indication of Christ's ministry in Jerusalem before the Passion. On the other hand, the above passage of John, without neglecting the ministry of Christ in Galilee (4:1-3, 43-54, 8 chapters, cf. also 2:1-11), dwells primarily on His ministry in Jerusalem and in Judea in general (2:23-3:V). In critical science, the question was raised about the possibility of coordination between weather forecasters and In this coordination is very often considered impossible. And, nevertheless, the starting points for agreement are given in the Gospel. Not only does John know the Galilean ministry of Christ, but we also find in the weather forecasters an indication that the Lord had a connection with Jerusalem and with Judea in general before His Passion. It is very likely that the indication of Luke 4:44, in the best form of the text: “he preached in the synagogues of the Jews” (we have: “Galilee”), must be understood in in a general sense the word “Judea”, which did not limit its meaning to the Roman province of Judea, but extended to all areas of Palestine inhabited by Jews, and therefore to Galilee (cf. Luke 23:5, Acts 10:37). However, from the cry of the Lord over Jerusalem, with which Matthew concludes his accusatory speech against the Pharisees on the eve of the Passion (23:37), but which in the Third Gospel is attributed to the last journey of Christ from Galilee to Jerusalem (Luke 13:34), it undoubtedly follows that the Lord made attempts to convert Jerusalem at the beginning of His ministry, but these attempts remained unsuccessful. It is possible that “the Pharisees and teachers of the law who came from all the places of Galilee and Judea and Jerusalem” (Luke 5:17) and who were present at the healing of the Capernaum paralytic were attracted to the Lord not only by the rumor that spread about Him (v. 15), but those who came from Jerusalem - and personal meetings with Him in the Jewish capital. On the other hand, the beginning of the Galilean ministry of Christ is associated by the weather forecasters with the imprisonment of the Forerunner, in other words, with the end of his ministry (Matthew 4:12, Mark 1:14), while it follows from John that the Lord has already accomplished great things signs in Jerusalem, attracted general attention (John 2:23-25, 3:1 et seq.), and after that he withdrew with his disciples to the land of Judea, where he held His ministry not far from John, who “was not yet imprisoned prison" (3:24). Somewhat later - again in Jerusalem - the Lord testified to the Jews about John in the past tense (5:35). Obviously, at this moment the Forerunner was already deprived of his freedom. The harmonization of instructions, contradictory at first glance, leads us to the idea that the Lord began His ministry in Jerusalem before the imprisonment of the Forerunner. When John was imprisoned, He went into Galilee. But even while in Galilee, He maintained contact with Jerusalem. Contents John 5 ch. refers to one of His absences from Galilee to Jerusalem. Nevertheless, the first period of Christ’s public ministry can indeed be called Galilean, since the center of His ministry at that time was not Jerusalem, nor Judea, but rather Galilee. This follows from the fact that those twelve apostles who were singled out by the Lord from the general mass of His disciples and involved in the labors and responsibilities of His ministry (cf. Luke 6:13-16, Mark 3:13-19, and also Matthew 10:1 -5, etc.), were Galileans. For some, this position is confirmed by direct indications of the Gospel (John 1:44, Luke 5:10 and, perhaps, Matthew 9:9, etc.), for others it is attested by ancient Christian writers, possible keepers of the tradition. There is only one exception that is not in doubt: Judas Iscariot. His nickname: is Karioth, a man from Kerioth, a city in Judea, shows that he was of Jewish origin. Judas turned out to be a traitor.

In Galilee, the center of Christ's ministry was not Nazareth, where His early years passed, but Capernaum, on the northwestern shore of Lake Gennesaret, which in the Gospel is usually called the Sea of Galilee (or Tiberias). Capernaum is constantly mentioned in the Gospel narrative of Christ's Galilean ministry (Mark 1:21, 2:1, 9:33, Luke 4:23-31, 7:1; Matthew 8:5, 17:24, John 4:46, 6 :24, 59, cf. 2:12, etc.). The transfer of the Lord from Nazareth to Capernaum is deliberately noted in Matthew, where it receives a corresponding explanation from Scripture (4:12-16). But the Galilean ministry of Christ was not limited to the immediate surroundings of Capernaum. It also spread to more remote areas of Galilee. It is enough to point out in Luke the miracle of the resurrection of the youth of Nain (7:11-16). Nain was located in the southwestern part of Galilee.

Moreover, the Galilean ministry of Christ also captured areas outside of Galilee. This includes primarily the country of the Gadarenes (or Gergesene, or Gerasene, depending on the form of the text, which varies even in different manuscripts of the same Gospel), on the eastern shore of Lake Gennesaret (cf. Mark 5:1-20, Luke 8: 26-40, Matthew 8:28-34). This country formed part of the so-called Decapolis (Mark 5:20, cf. 7:31, Matt 4:25), Hellenistic cities with a Jewish population along the eastern and southern shores of Lake Gennesaret. But the Lord, during the days of His Galilean ministry, also visited purely pagan regions: on the Phoenician coast of the Mediterranean Sea and in the countries of Caesarea Philippi. Of the Phoenician cities, Tire and Sidon are mentioned in the Gospel. (Matt 15:21-29, Mark 7:24-31). In the text of the best manuscripts, the Lord returned from the borders of Tire to the Sea of Galilee through Sidon and the Decapolis (Mark 7: 31). This path was roundabout. The Lord circled Lake Gennesaret from north to east and entered Galilee from the south. The most remarkable thing about Mark 7:31 is that the Lord went from Tire to Sidon. Sidon was located on the Phoenician coast north of Tire. By choosing a roundabout path, the Lord thereby lengthened His stay in a purely pagan country. Caesarea Philippi, north of Galilee, at the foot of Hermon, near the sources of the Jordan, is mentioned in Matthew 16:13, Mark 8:27. In the first two Gospels, a turning point in Gospel history is dated to Caesarea Philippi, which will be discussed below. The Lord retired to pagan regions, seeking solitude (cf. Mark 7:24 and Luke 9:18 - about Caesarea Philippi, but without designating the place). In the general connection of the Gospel narrative, we have no doubt that the Lord needed solitude to raise disciples. But while staying in pagan areas, the Lord inevitably came into contact with the pagan population. This is clearly evidenced by the Gospel narrative about the healing of the demon-possessed daughter of a pagan woman: the Canaanite woman - in the terminology of Matthew (15:21-29), the Syrophoenician woman - in the terminology of Mark (7:24-31).

In this connection, the Lord's stay in Samaria should be noted (John 4:4-43). The fateful course of history placed the Samaritans outside the fence of law-abiding Judaism. There was no religious communion between Jews and Samaritans (cf. John 4:9 and also Matthew 10:5-6, where Samaritans are equated with pagans). In Samaria the Lord was on the way from Judea to Galilee (cf. John 4:1-4, 43). But not the entire region submitted to the word of the gospel, but only Sychar (cf. v. 4 et seq.) in its southern part. When the Lord, beginning His journey through the Passion, sent messengers before His face to the Samaritan village (Luke 9:51-52 et seq.), the Samaritans did not want to accept Him and thereby prompted Him to change the direction of the path. The Samaritan village to which the Lord addressed was, in all likelihood, in northern Samaria, which bordered on Galilee. The success of the gospel did not extend beyond the extreme southern points.

It was said above that the Lord also visited Jerusalem during the days of His Galilean ministry. Jewish holidays provided reasons for visiting Jerusalem. There is no reason to think that the Lord, having matured, would depart from the pious custom observed in the house of Joseph during the days of His childhood and adolescence (cf. Luke 2:41). John 2:23 directly notes the signs performed by the Lord in Jerusalem during the Passover holiday, and in 5:1 ff. the miracle of the healing of the sick in the Sheep Font is also associated with the Lord’s stay in Jerusalem on the occasion of the Jewish holiday. The degree of influence acquired by the Lord in Jerusalem follows from the instructions of John, both positive and negative. The evangelist testifies positively to the influence of the Lord in Jerusalem in 2:23 and, in the words of Nicodemus, in 3:2. The perplexing question of 3:26, which comes out of the Jewish environment and goes to John, suggests the same influence. This is also noted in 4:1-2. Baptism, which was performed by Christ's disciples, but was attributed by the masses to the Lord Himself (cf. also 3:22-26), was a sign of joining the community of His disciples. The community grew. Negatively, the influence of the Lord in Jerusalem is proven by the opposition that is rising against Him already at this time. Nicodemus, an influential Pharisee (3:1), and a member of the Sanhedrin (cf. 7:50), decides to come to Him only under the cover of darkness (3:2, cf. 19:39 and 7:50 var.). The spread of rumor among the Pharisees prompts the Lord to move from Judea to Galilee (4:1-3). The rumor was obviously unkind, and the attitude of the majority of the Pharisees was hostile. It threatened the Lord with premature dangers. During a new visit to Jerusalem, the healing of the sick on the Sabbath day and the words with which the Lord addresses the Jews provoke an attempted murder on their part (5:18; in v. 16 the words: “and they sought to kill Him” are not found in the best manuscripts) . The continued hostility of the Jews keeps the Lord in Jerusalem (7:1). When He comes to the capital, some of the Jerusalemites remember that His life is in danger (7:25). The intensity of the hostility would have been inexplicable if the Lord had not gained influence over the broad masses.

The question of the duration of the first period of Christ's public ministry forms part of the general chronological problem of gospel history. The Galilean period ends with the confession of Peter at Caesarea Philippi (Matthew 16:13 et seq., Mark 8:27 et seq., Luke 9:18 et seq.), followed by the Transfiguration and the path to the Passion, the week in Jerusalem, death and resurrection . After the turning point, which is Peter’s confession, the course of events accelerates and quickly leads to a denouement. In time, the first, Galilean, period covers most of the earthly ministry of Christ. The question of the duration of Christ's earthly ministry received different solutions in science, both in ancient times and in modern times. In John, Passover, the festival of the annual cycle, is mentioned at least three times: 2:23, 6:4 and 11:55. The Last Easter is the Easter of the Passion, Moreover, general advice 5:1 also often refers to the Passover. From this follows the traditional three and a half years of Christ's public ministry. If the holiday 5:1 does not allow identification with Easter, the duration of Christ's public ministry is shortened by a year. One way or another, the events of the gospel story in John cannot be fit into a chronological framework of less than two years. On the other hand, the Synoptic Gospels, which do not contain any chronological indications after the exact coordinates of Luke 3:1-2, leave the impression of a shorter duration of the Gospel history. In critical science, two or more years of Ying are often contrasted with one year of weather forecasters. At the same time, in connection with the general assessment of In, the “chronology” of weather forecasters is usually given preference. Major representatives of modern biblical scholarship are ready to recognize this conclusion about the annual duration of the Gospel story in the narration of the weather forecasters as hasty. They start from a comparison of the following Gospel texts. In Mark 2:23, the disciples of Christ, walking with the Lord through the sown fields, plucked ripe (cf. Matt. 12:1, Luke 6:1) ears of corn. In Mark 6:39, as he began to feed the crowd of five thousand in a desert place, the Lord commanded the disciples to seat those present “in sections on the green grass” (cf. John 6:10). The grass in hot Palestine is green in early spring. If the feeding of the five thousand took place after the incident related in Mark 2:23 et seq. (cf. the same order in the chronologically careful Luke: 6:1 et seq., 9:11-17), it must refer to the following spring. These considerations bring the chronology of the weather forecasters into agreement with the chronology of John, and we can assume that the first, Galilean, period of Christ’s ministry lasted at least one and a half (and maybe two and a half - cf. John 5:1) years.

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God, through the mystery of incarnation, reveals Himself as Man. How many mysteries are associated with Christmas! What year from the Nativity of Christ are we living in now? Why do we find in the genealogy of the Savior in the gospels of Matthew and Luke different names? What is this mysterious number 14? In our traditional section, we read the Gospel together with the teacher of the MPDA and the Higher Theological Courses of the MPDA, the rector of the temple Life-Giving Trinity at the Pyatnitskoye Cemetery, by the dean of the Trinity District of Moscow, Archpriest Georgy Klimov.

Seven words about the Genealogy of Christ the Savior

Book of New Genesis

The genealogy of the Lord Jesus Christ is contained in two Gospels: Matthew (Matthew 1:1-17) and Luke (Luke 3:23-38). The entire book of the New Testament opens with the first words of the Gospel of Matthew. In Church Slavonic we read: Book of the kinship of Jesus Christ, Son of David, Son of Abraham(Matt. 1:1). In Russian translation: Genealogy of Jesus Christ, son of David, son of Abram(Matt. 1:1). In ancient times, books did not have titles. The book received its title from the first word or the first words in it. Many interpreters talk about the inaccuracy of both the Slavic and Russian translations: they are not literal. The Greek text contains two words: vivlos geneseos(Greek βίβλος γενέσεως ). Vivlos means a book, and a big book. Interpreters (in particular, Prof. M.D. Muretov) believe that if the Evangelist Matthew wanted to designate exclusively genealogy as the first word, he would have put another Greek word - biblion(Greek βιβλίον ), that is, a relatively small book - a short story; hence the word Bible, which we all know (plural - Greek. βιβλίa) = books, a collection of small books. A geneseos- genus. case from γένεσις – genesis is a word that means the process of origin, emergence, formation. This is exactly what the very first book is called in the Greek Septuagint Bible, the one that is called “Genesis” in the Slavic and Russian Bibles. If the Evangelist Matthew wanted to designate in his narrative what locally relates only to genealogy, he would have used a different word. For this purpose in Greek there are words: synody(Greek συνοδία , hence our synodics = listing of names) or genealogy(Greek γενεαλογία, hence the concept: “family tree”).

What meaning does he put into the combination of the very first two words of his gospel - vivlos geneseos – Apostle Matthew? Doesn’t he want to force us to understand these words in a broad and general sense: “The Book of Genesis, or History, or the Appearance” of the Messiah-Christ and see in them an indication of what served as the historical conditions for the appearance of Christ, what this phenomenon itself accomplished in history humanity. Considering that the Gospel of Matthew is the first book of the New Testament, can’t we apply its first two words to the entire New Testament Scripture, calling it the Book of the appearance-being of Christ and His Church?

God of salvation

The first words of the Gospel of Matthew indicate that this is a genealogy Jesus Christ(Matt. 1:1) . The first name, Jesus, is given to the Lord by birth, the second Christ, is given by service. Name Jesus(Greek Ἰησοῦς ) corresponds to the Hebrew post-exile truncated name Yeshua(Heb. Yeshua). This name is translated - God-help, God-salvation. For the Jews, since they could not pronounce the word God, simply: Helper is one of the names of God. ( Helper and Patron be my salvation see Ref. 15:1-19). Coming into the world Jesus is in its own sense Savior the human race. Name Christ – Greek translation Hebrew word Messiah (Heb. Mashiach), and if translated into Russian: Anointed. From Old Testament It is known that among the Jews only kings, prophets, and high priests were anointed. As a proper name, it belongs only to the One who, as the true Savior of mankind, unites in Himself these three particular aspects, being the perfect and only Anointed of God.

Vectors

The purpose of the genealogy given by the evangelists Matthew and Luke is to show the origin of Jesus Christ, the true promised Savior of the world. But the genealogy in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke are different. The Evangelist Matthew lists his genealogy in descending order: Abraham gave birth to Isaac; Isaac gave birth to Jacob; Jacob begat Judah and his brothers(Matt. 1:2), then the descendants are listed up to Joseph, husband of Mary, from whom was born Jesus, called Christ(Matt. 1:16). And in the text of the Gospel of Luke, the genealogy is given in an ascending line, that is, from Christ and above, ancestors begin to be listed and, in the end, the genealogy reaches not only Abraham, as in the Evangelist Matthew, but all the way to Adam himself, and it is even said, that He is the Son of God: ... Enosov, Sethov, Adamov, Bozhy(Luke 3:38).

Number 14

Evangelist Matthew distinguishes three periods in the genealogy of Christ, these are periods of life of the Jewish people: 14 generations from Abraham to David (the period of patriarchs or promises), 14 generations from David to the captivity of Babylon (the period of kings or prophecies), 14 generations from the captivity of Babylon to Christ the Lord (period of high priests or waiting). What does the number 14 mean? Firstly, the number 14 can be understood as the sum of the numerical values of those letters with which the name David is written in Hebrew (in ancient languages, as in Church Slavonic, numbers were designated alphabetically). The second explanation may be related to lunar calendar according to which the Jews lived. Just as the time of waxing and waning of the moon fits into 14 days, so the history of the Jewish people knows periods of rise and decline, and they are depicted by the Evangelist Matthew in segments of 14 generations.

Christmas

Evangelist Matthew in his Gospel gives a revelation about the miraculous immaculate conception and birth of the Lord. It testifies that the God-man is really like us in everything, but comes into the world in a special way. How is this revelation realized in the text of the Gospel of Matthew? In the genealogy of the Lord, 14 clans are obtained with the following count: the first mentioned and the last should be listed. However, in order to receive 14 generations in the third period from the Babylonian captivity to Christ the Master, it will be necessary to count as follows: Salafiel - the first, ..., Joseph - the twelfth, Mary - the thirteenth, and Christ - the fourteenth. With this introduction of Mary into the genealogy, although women were not introduced, Evangelist Matthew wants to say that only the Virgin Mary and no one else stands in direct relation to the Nativity of Christ. Moreover, if it says: Abraham gave birth to Isaac; Isaac gave birth to Jacob(Matt. 1:2) and so on, it says here: Joseph is the husband of Mary, and from her Jesus was born(Matt. 1:16). Christ Himself is born.

Women

Even in the genealogy of Christ in the Gospel of Matthew, contrary to tradition, women are mentioned (but not taken into account when counting). Why did the Evangelist Matthew need this? Let us turn to the testimony of John Chrysostom: “To solve the question of why the evangelist introduces women into the genealogy, the observation is that the women mentioned here were either pagans by origin (Rahab and Ruth are actually mentioned there in the fifth verse (Ruth. 1:4) - approx. Prot. . Georgy Klimov) or – evil-willed women.” This is what Chrysostom calls: the harlot Rahab (Joshua 2:1), already mentioned; Tamar, who deceived her into having sex with her father-in-law (Gen. 38:6-30), Bathsheba, who was the wife of Uriah. King David was seduced by her, they fell into adultery, and then the king, as a rival, poisoned her husband to the most dangerous part of the front and killed her in order to take his widow for himself (2 Sam. 11:2-27). The evangelist’s intention is to expose the Pharisee’s conceit by mentioning them. The Jews considered birth according to the flesh from Abraham and the fulfillment of the works of the Law, regardless of their heartfelt dispositions, to be the only and sufficient conditions for entering the Kingdom of Heaven. And the Evangelist Matthew points out that works of faith and repentance are also needed. Only then are you worthy of salvation.

Different names

In the Gospels of Matthew and Luke in the Genealogies of the Lord, different names are found in the range from David to Jesus Christ. Why? The simplest explanation: Since both Joseph and the Virgin Mary were from the tribe of David, Matthew gives a genealogy along the line of Joseph, since according to the Law Joseph was His father (and Christ came not to break the Law, but to fulfill it (see Matt. 5 :17)), Luke gives a genealogy along the line of the Virgin Mary. However, a contradiction with church tradition arises here. In the genealogy according to the Gospel of Luke (Luke 3:23), the closest to Christ (not counting the imaginary father Joseph) is Eli. This means he is the father of the Virgin Mary. From legend it is known that the name of the father of the Virgin Mary is Joachim. But the contradiction can be resolved by a simple argument: among the Jews of the era of Christ it was in the order of things to have two or even three names. Therefore, the father of the Virgin Mary could have two names: Eli and Joachim.

Dating of the Nativity of Christ

Now it is 2015, but modern biblical studies claim that it is at least 2019, because an error was made when calculating the date of the Nativity of Christ. Is it so?

Bishop Cassian (Bezobrazov) in his book “Christ and the First Christian Generation” writes: “It is clear that the date of the Nativity of Christ should be the line from which all other events are measured. But the fact is that the Christian era, established by Dionysius the Less, a monk who lived in the 6th century, was calculated incorrectly. There are several systems of scientific chronology of gospel history. The exact date of the Nativity of Christ cannot be considered definitively established. Most often it is dated to 4 BC.” What are the instructions of the Gospel and secular world history for establishing exact date usually taken into account? What in the Gospel itself speaks in favor of an error of at least 4 years?

The first point is traditionally associated with the testimony of the Gospel that Christ was born in the days of King Herod the Great (Matthew 2:1). This means that, having learned the year of the death of Herod the Great, it will be possible to name the exact date after which Christ could not have been born. The Jewish historian of the 2nd century Josephus Flavius in his work “Jewish Antiquities” in the 17th and 18th books describes the last months of Herod the Great. Unfortunately, it does not provide any chronological coordinates. However, many biblical scholars argue that from the descriptions last days Herod follows that he dies almost on the holiday of Easter, shortly before which a lunar eclipse occurs. Knowing the Jewish Passover, they calculate the date of coincidence lunar eclipse with Easter in the period under study: this is the 3rd year before our chronology. If we also take into account the time of Christ’s stay with the holy family in Egypt before the death of King Herod, then we will be forced to say that Christ was born no later than 4 years before our chronology.

The second point is the testimony of the Gospel of Luke, chapter 3: “In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, when Pontius Pilate was in charge of Judea, Herod was tetrarch...” What are we talking about here? About the fact that in the 15th year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, John the Baptist goes out to preach on the banks of the Jordan. What does this give us? Almost all researchers believe that the ministry of John the Baptist could not have been long; he could not have preached for a long time. His activity could last for a maximum of six months. This means that during these six months he had to baptize Jesus. But at the time of baptism (that is, in the 15th year of the reign of Tiberius), the Lord was a little over thirty years old (Luke 3:21-23). When translated into our chronology, the 15th year of Tiberius Caesar falls on the dates: from October 1, 27 AD to September 30, 28 AD. So, in the year 27 according to our chronology, Jesus was a little more than 30 years old. Then, when we try to calculate when Jesus was born, we again unwittingly come to the 4th year before our chronology.

Next point: Gospel of John, 2:13-22. Here we are talking about the fact that at the beginning of His ministry, Christ cleanses the Jerusalem temple. “To this the Jews said: “By what banner will you prove to us that you have the authority to do this?” Jesus answered, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” To this the Jews said: “This temple took 46 years to build, and will you raise it up in three days?” What does this give us? The fact is that when Jesus began His ministry, the Jerusalem Temple was not yet completely finished; restoration was ongoing. Almost everything was already ready, but still the work had not yet been completed; they were doing the cladding. So, Christ begins His ministry; He is 30 years old. The temple took 46 years to build. At what point does it begin to be built? Again, thanks to Josephus, we know that Herod the Great begins a major reconstruction of the temple in the 18th year of his reign. Herod reigns, according to Josephus, in the year 37 before the beginning of our chronology. This means that in the year 19 before our calendar, reconstruction begins and lasts 46 years. Then the date of Christ’s cleansing of the temple falls on the 27th year according to our chronology. At this time, the Lord is a little over 30 years old. Again we involuntarily come to the conclusion that the Nativity of Christ should have been about 4 years before our chronology. Earnestly? Certainly.

Fourth point. Christ suffered on the Cross on the feast of the Jewish Passover. This Easter was from Friday to Saturday. At that moment when Christ suffered on the Cross, there was solar eclipse. And it is known, finally, that this was at the very end of his public ministry, when, accordingly, Christ was 33.5 years old. Having such a wealth of data, it is not difficult to calculate when such an eclipse occurred, coinciding with the Passover of the Jews. Scientists calculate: it was April 7, 1930. But Christ was 33.5 years old then. Again it turns out that He was born at least 4 years before our chronology.

The fifth point, which is also referred to by modern biblical studies, is associated with an attempt to fit the Star of the Magi, known from the Gospel story, into the circle of movement of the heavenly bodies. In December-March 1603-1604, a parade of planets was observed in the sky, when Jupiter, Saturn lined up and a little later they were joined by Mars, the royal star. Then a star of unprecedented magnitude appears in the sky. This gave astronomer Kepler reason to assume that a similar thing could happen on the eve of the Nativity of Christ. The scientist’s calculations of the time of such a parade of planets fell on the 6th year before the birth of Christ. Modern biblical scholars, noting that Herod finds out from the Magi the time of the appearance of the star (Matthew 2:7) and issues a decree to beat all infants from 2 years old and below (Matthew 2:16), subtract from this 6th year these 2 years and, thus, again goes to the date of the Nativity of Christ - 4 years before our chronology.

We admit that all the above data sounds very convincing. However, it should be noted that not all of our Russian biblical scholars fully accepted all these arguments and arguments. What can be said about the first point - that Christ is born in the days of Herod the Great? In fact, if we carefully read Josephus, the impression that everything happened almost simultaneously: the eclipse of the moon, Easter and the death of Herod the Great does not necessarily arise. The reader, since the thought of Josephus is constantly leaving and coming, meandering through various palace intrigues in the house of Herod the Great, gets the impression that between this eclipse of the moon and the death of Herod the Great, say, 2 years, or even more, could have passed. That is, this is all a rather vague basis for building evidence.

The second point is related to the 15th year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar. What is known about Tiberius? Tiberius was the adopted son of Emperor Augustus Octavian. Caesar simply had no heirs. He adopts him in order to make him emperor. It is known that at first Tiberius was a co-ruler with Augustus for three years, and then, when he died, he began independent rule. If we take into account the three years of Tiberius’s reign under Augustus, then, indeed, we come to the conclusion that the 15th year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar was the 27th year according to our chronology. And if we count only the independent years of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, we will be forced to say that the 15th year of his reign is the 30th year of our chronology. Evangelist Luke, unfortunately, does not clarify for us whether he counts three years of co-ruling or not. And so, and so it could be.

Next is what concerns the data of Josephus related to the cleansing of the temple. Josephus actually says that Herod the Great, in the 18th year of his reign, begins the reconstruction of the temple. But Josephus Flavius says that this is very interesting fact! - that Herod received the decree on the kingdom from the emperor in the year 37, but because of the unrest, unrest, rebellions and turmoil that existed in the kingdom of Judea, he could begin to rule only after 3 years, that is, in the year 34. And so, from what should we count these 18 years, from 37 or from 34? If from 34, then here everything will fall into place, because the 46th year of the reconstruction of the temple will fall on the 30th year according to our chronology.

Fourth point. The fact is that there is always a full moon on Easter, which means that at this moment there can be no eclipse of the sun, which naturally occurs. It is no coincidence that the church teachers all said that it was a miraculous eclipse. And if it was miraculous, then it cannot be calculated, as astronomers did, using traditional calculations and calculations on the movement of the planets.

The same applies to the fifth moment - the Star of the Magi. The events of the Nativity of Christ were accompanied by many miracles, and one of such miracles is the Star of the Nativity. It is no coincidence that Saint John Chrysostom, and after him blessed Theophylact The Bulgarians say that it was a smart power - an Angel, manifested in the form of a star. Trying to fit miracles into a framework rational explanation, which fits into the natural laws of existence - is this not the way to reject faith?

Doesn't the extreme difficulty of calculating the date of the Nativity of Christ indicate to us that this Event lies outside of time? The Apostle Paul says that the Coming of God in the flesh is "the great mystery of godliness"(1 Tim. 3:16). The Nativity of Christ is a completed sacrament that cannot be completely accurate description in the rationalistic parameters of the world. And if the evangelists, who wrote solely to teach us salvation, did not tell us the exact date of the Nativity of Christ. Doesn't this mean that knowledge of this fact or, conversely, ignorance in no way determines our salvation? And then, doesn’t the Lord Himself, who left this mystery, want us to suggest that we should not engage in calculations of times and dates (Acts 1:7), but focus exclusively on our salvation through repentance (Matthew 4:17). And this requires not calculations, but faith.