Is the Son of God the son of man?

FAITH

By FRANK SENGE KOLMA
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THERE is a very significant omission in the Bible narrative that, where it included, would have thrown astray the entire basis of Christian teaching and belief.
Actually it is there for all to see but in matters of faith we do blindfold our inner sense of sight.
The man who clearly has a very minor supporting role in the central casting of the New Testament is the pivotal person in a historical and scriptural context.
At the start of the Gospel of Matthew is stated the genealogy of Christ. It is Joseph, the man Mary the mother of Christ is betrothed to, who is mentioned in the direct line of descent of Abraham and King David. Mary is not mentioned in that lineage.
Joseph is of the line of Abraham and King David, not Mary. Even if she was, it is not so mentioned in that genealogy or anywhere else.
All scriptural references and prophecies pertaining to the Messiah being from the line of Abraham and David is seriously contested at this point as the hereditary line appears to be broken by the fact Jesus is not the biological son (Jesus ben Joseph) of a descendent of King David. Jesus is clearly the foster son of Joseph according to all accounts in the New Testament and all interpretations of it that have come down to us.
This is a very serious contest to the messiah prophecies that has been conveniently overlooked by Christians on earth. It introduces a difficulty but it is not enough to drown or whittle down the message of Christ or his exemplary life and sacrifice. Mary might be Israelite. She would obviously be a descendant of Abraham who is the titular patriarch of all Israel; she might be of the line of Jacob or his son Benjamin but that fact is not recorded in the Bible in the genealogy of Jesus. The prophecies about the coming of the messiah, which Christians are so hung up on, are seriously contested at this point.
Now, if Mary and Joseph beget Jesus, if Joseph was his biological father, would Christ’s message and life have been less exemplary?
Would Christianity never have happened? Would the salvation and redemption of mankind never have occurred because the founder of all Christendom was not begotten in an immaculate conception? I think not.
Christ’s message in the Gospels never touch on the manner of his birth. Our image of him is not diminished if he was born of human parents. Tradition might have more to do with his birthright.
You see, there was a certain tradition which was in vogue among all the ancient people at that time, historians tell us.
Any human who attained extraordinary prowess or merit was claimed to be of divine origin.
Romulus who founded Rome was said to be a demi-god. Alexander the Great was born to his mother Olympias by divine conception and not by union between Olympias and King Philip, it was asserted even in his own time to the extent he believed he was the descendant of Zeus.

Legends have it that several pharaohs of Egypt were likewise conceived by heavenly interventions.
This trend in belief of heavenly interventions to create humans of special merit and prowess can be found in all ancient peoples from the Assyrians and Aztecs to the Hebrews, Hittites and Hindus.
The important focus today should be on the achievements, the teachings and the exemplary life of special people in history like Christ Jesus, not so much on their parentage.
In pushing the parent issue too much, persons like Joseph are relegated to a side show when he was instrumental in the care and grooming of the Saviour.
Whether Christ had other brothers or sisters is contested even though the Bible does make pointed references to them in several places.
The issue of a human bloodline leading back to Christ is shrouded in mystery. References to a Merovingian lineage suggesting just such a case emerges from time to time in novels and among secret societies.
But the point made here that the Christ should be a direct lineage of King David as prophesied is seriously contested when we claim that Joseph is not Christ’s biological father.
Indeed, I think we ought to take prophesies out of our belief system. The prophecies serve Judaism more than they serve Christianity. It was the king of Israel that Judaism messianic prophecies were targeted at, not the king of heaven, the Saviour of humankind.
Indeed, Jews await their Messiah of the prophecies yet while Christians declared their Saviour, a Hebrew, arrived 2,000 years ago and was crucified by Jewish Priesthood colluding with the ruling Roman overlords.
This is where anti-Semitism has its roots, hatred for the relations of the killers of Christ.
Christians who are today anti-Semitic must suffer from deranged mental health because Christ had to die. He was born to die. Death was the focus of his mission on earth, all Christian teaching would have us believe.
Salvation of the world could only happen if Jesus Christ, the son of God, died to atone for the sins of men. Only his sacrifice could break the chains around humans placed there by the disobedience of Adam and Eve. Christ’s death is the pivot, the central tenet of all Christendom.
Seen in that perspective, the Jewish and Roman authorities at the time did Christianity a huge favour by their murderous plot and execution of it.
Even the much hated traitor Judas Ischariot, the disciple who betrayed Jesus for 30 pieces of silver, is part and parcel of the divine plot. A smiling Judas might, along with Peter, welcome Christians into Heaven, to their eternal consternation.
Israel was surrounded by enemies and succumbed to these enemies many times during its turbulent history.
It was enslaved by Egypt, it was overrun and enslaved twice by King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon and at the time of Christ it was a subject under Roman rule.
Indeed, it was in jail that Joseph interpreted the dreams of the Pharaoh of Egypt which led to his rescuing his family from starvation.
Daniel has his visions and interpreted dreams of Nebuchadnezzar while in captivity. Prophet Elizah got his riddles and prophecies of the messiah while in exile also as an enslaved guest of Nebuchadnezzar.
During those turbulent periods it is quite plausible that heathen beliefs such as immaculate conceptions were mixed with the belief system of the Jews.
A brief examination of the prophecies regarding the messiah is helpful.
Jacob, one of the patriarchs of Judaism and Christianity, says thus to Judah his eldest son: “The scepter will not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet, until He comes to whom it belongs and the obedience of the nations is His (Genesis 49:10).
Prophet Isaiah tells Ahvaz of the apparent sign by which he will know it is a true sign: A young woman will give birth to a child whom she will name Immanuel (a symbolic name which means ‘God is with us’) and the lands of the two kings you dread will be laid waste before the child is old enough to reject the wrong and choose the right. (Isaiah 7: 13-16).
From these it is clear the prophesies were referring to a physical kingship to deliver Israel from its worldly enemies and establish a Jewish Empire such as was the tendencies of all races at that time.
Our Christ is not a direct and biological descendant of King David by the genealogy detailed in the Gospel of Matthew. He did not need to be. He was never destined to be the king of the Jews.
His purpose was different and his kingship and his kingdom of a spiritual sort as opposed to a physical sort.
So by rights this ought to sever the needless and endless ties to ancient scripture. Christ needed nothing to establish his special place in the world.
Having no wife and heir, he bequeathed only his teaching and exemplary life and principles to mankind.
That the apparent confusion of his parenthood has not hindered the spread of Christ’s following to this day speaks to the extraordinary effect and power of his blameless life and salvation message.
While much is made of his mother in certain circles, were she not elevated as much, it would not have affected the power of his life and preaching.
His word extends beyond heredity status and gains life status of its own. The prophecies are more important for Judaism than to Christianity. From the lineage as written in scriptures there was to arise a King in the proper way of Kings like David and Saul and Nebbucchadnazzar and others with power and armies to smite the enemies of Israel and such.
The Jews wait still for their messiah. The Christians have their Christ. All else should be relegated to tradition and conjecture.