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Pope
Shenouda III series
of booklets
Questions about
The Nativity
Third print,
Name of the book: Questions
about The Nativity
Author: His Holiness Pope Shenouda III
Editor:
Edition: Third,
Press: Amba Rueiss, (Offset), The Cathedral, Abbassia
Deposition number at "The Library":
All rights reserved to the author
His Holiness Pope Shenouda III
Pope and Patriarch of the See of
(COVER PAGE)
In the Name of
the Father, the Son, and the
Holy Spirit,
the One God,
Amen.
In this booklet we present to you some answers which are related to
certain questions about the Nativity, of which there are:
The sequence of the genealogy, and the mention of some sinful women in
it; and the difference between the two gospels of Matthew and Luke as regards
the names, and as regards the ascending order and the descending order in that
sequence.
The
number of genealogies, is it
Elizabeth your relative.
The son of
The difference in the celebration of the day of the Nativity.
The wise men (the Magi) and the nature of the star of the wise men.
The difference between the (Magi) wise men and the shepherds.
Pope Shenouda III
PREFACE
Some people ask many questions about the subject of The Nativity of
Christ, and they need answers. I undertook to answer from the sayings of the
Saint Fathers, which I had translated, or which I had taken from some
manuscripts.
I relied in that, on many books, the most important of which are:
There are other questions about the virginal nativity and the virginity
of the Holy Virgin, to which I answered in our book "The Comparative
Theology", to which it can be referred.
But now, I congratulate you for the Nativity of the Lord Christ.
Many happy returns.
The sinful women in the
genealogy sequence
QUESTION
Why did the evangelist neglect
the names of some saint women
like Sara, Rebecca, and others, in the sequence of genealogies, while he
mentioned adulterous women like Tamar, Rahab, the wife of Uriah the Hittite,
and Ruth who is a woman of a foreign race?
ANSWER
He
wanted to annihilate the haughtiness of the Jews who boast about their
grandfathers. He showed to them how their grandfathers had sinned.
Even if
their grandfathers were virtuous men, the virtue of their granfathers would not
have been profitable to them; because the deeds of a person, not the deeds of
his sons, are those which determine his destiny at the last day.
"The Lord Christ did not come to run away form our disgraceful
actions, but to obliterate them. He is not ashamed of any of our defects. And
just as those grandfathers had taken adulterous women, in the same way our Lord
and God has bethrothed for Himself our nature that had committed adultery.
The Church is like Tamar:
She was
at once delivered from her wicked actions, and then she followed Him.
The condition of Ruth resembles our conditions:
Her tribe
was a foreigner to
Our Lord mortified them with these matters, and made them realize how
not to be haughty.
When
the evangelist registered the genealogy of Christ, he mentioned those sinful
women; because it is impossible for any of us to be virtuous by the virtue of
his grandfathers, or to be wicked by the vice of his grandfathers. I rather say
that the person whose grandfathers were not virtuous and became virtuous
himself, then the honor of that person's
virtue would have been great.
Let no one boast about his grandfathers, and be puffed because of them,
when he thinks about the grandfathers of our Lord; and let him look at his own
deeds, and even let him not boast about his virtues; because it is through such
boasting that the
Do not then falsify your pains by vain
talk. Do not loose all your effort after having covered a long distance;
because your Lord knows the virtues
which you have attained, better than you, because if you give a glass of cold
water, God will not neglect that, and will not forget it. (Matt.
Ascent & descent
in
the genealogical sequence
QUESTION
There
are three differences in the sequence of genealogy, between what the evangelist
Matthew registered, and what the evangelist Luke registered. They are:
Is there an interpretation for all these differences?
ANSWER
I. The difference in names.
As a
matter of fact, saint Matthew mentions the natural genealogy of the Lord
Christ, while saint Luke mentions the legal or official genealogy. To explain
this, we say:
The law
of Moses specifies that if a man dies without posterity, the brother of the
dead man must take the widow of his brother, and marry her, and engender a
posterity for his brother from her. (Deut.
Hence
such a son would have two fathers: a natural father who has engendered him, and
a legal father who is his uncle who died
without posterity.
If this dead man without posterity has no brother, the nearest relative
to him will take his wife and engender a posterity to him;
because
the son who is born is counted a son to this dead man, according to the law. If
the nearest relative does not want to take the wife of the dead man according
to what he has been charged of, the next relative must necessarily accept this
marriage, because the law is eager to raise a posterity to that dead man who
has not engendered a son.
That
kind of marriage is called "redemption". A clear example of this is
mentioned in the story of Ruth with Boaz.
In his interpretation of this, saint Severus
of Antioch said:
In this manner,
Because
since Heli took a wife and died without
posterity, Jacob, who was the nearest relative to him, married his wife in
order to engender a posterity to him from her according to the commandment of
the law. When he engendered
From his part, saint Matthew mentioned the natural fathers of
Saint
Luke went on with the genealogical legal sequence until Nathan son of
Hence
the genealogy of Christ is confirmed, from the natural and from the legal point
of view,.........that He is the son of
and the relation between this and the baptism.
Saint
Matthew began his gospel by saying: "The book of the genealogy of Jesus
Christ, the Son of
Thus
after having explained the corruption and the death through which all these
generations had passed, he arrived at the pure birth of the Lord Christ from
the Holy Spirit and from the Virgin saint Mary.
As for
saint Luke, he narrated the Annunciation, the birth of the Baptist, the
Nativity of Christ, and gradually reached the baptism of Christ at the age of
thirty; and then he mentioned the legal genealogy.
Saint Severus of
"Luke explained the legal genealogy, that reminds us of Him who
died without posterity, then his name was raised after his death, by a son who
is attributed to him, in a way that has some similarity to the adoption and to
the resurrection.
He mentioned this genealogy after having narrated the story of the
Nativity; because baptism gives the true heavenly adoption, in manifesting us
as sons of God. Therefore he mentioned the legal genealogy which gives the
adoption; in
order to show that this representation has been truly confirmed, and that the
sickly condition of the people has been returned to health by means of grace.
It is
for this reason that he ascended with the genealogy from down upwards, till it
arrived to God, in order to show that grace which comes from baptism raises us
up and elevates us to the divine relationship, making us sons to God.
Exactly
just as the union of marriage which happened after the disobedience of the
commandment by Adam and Eve, and the engendering of sons, which resulted from
that, made us descend downwards. And to
complete this image he descended with the natural genealogy downwards
..........
Matthew
goes down with the genealogy, pointing to our Lord Jesus Christ who descended
to bear our sins. Because in the posterity of Abraham "all the families of
the earth shall be blessed" (Gen.
The number of generations
QUESTION
Saint Matthew says: "So
all the generations from Abraham to
ANSWER
The
reason is that Jeconiah was counted twice, because he is like the angle stone,
an intermediate between two generations, and so he was counted with each of the
two.
From
And
from Jecohiah, they went up to the generation of Christ who has emancipated
them.
Jeconiah was in that matter, a symbol of Christ, who was described as
"the stone which was rejected by the builders, which has become the chief
cornerstone".
The son of
QUESTION
Why did the apostle Matthew say in the genealogy sequence: "Jesus
Christ, the son of
ANSWER
"He mentioned
Thus
they said: "Has not the Scripture said that the Christ comes from the seed
of
Nobody
called Him the son of Abraham, but they called Him the son of
And God
said to Solomon: "Nevertheless I will not do it in your days, for the sake
of your father
We note also what the angel said in his annunciation to the Holy Virgin
of the birth of Christ:
"He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Highest; and
the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father
Elizabeth your relative
QUESTION
The angel of the Annunciation said to the
Holy Virgin : "Now indeed,
Elizabeth your relative has also conceived in her old age" (Luke
ANSWER
It is true that it was said
in the book of Numbers:
"So the inheritance of the children of
Nevertheless there are some who interpret the word "your
relative" in a general meaning, or that she is like one from the daughters
of
"For I could wish that I myself were accursed from Christ for my
brethren, my countrymen according to the flesh, who are Israelites, to whom
pertain the adoption, the glory, the covenants....." (
But saint Severus, Patriarch of
[As a
matter of fact, the book of the Exode was written before the commandment that
forbids taking a wife from another tribe. Aaron, the first chief priest
according to the law, took a wife from the daughters of
Consider
the very wise management of the Holy Spirit, who ordained that the wife of
Zacharias, the mother of the Baptist and the relative of St. Mary the mother of
God, was called
Why the registration by genealogy from
QUESTION
This question was asked by saint
"How is it declared that Christ is from the posterity of
ANSWER
It was
mentioned in the gospel that "the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a city
of
Since
If you
say: "What is it if he had disobeyed the law in that matter? I reply to
you that the gospel testified to him that he was "a just man" (Matt.
If you say: Why is it according to the genealogy from
We say:
"It was not a custom among the Jews, to count the genealogy from women.
Therefore he was silent about the mention of her grandfathers, and he counted
the genealogy of
Also
it was because he did not want to manifest before the time, to the Jews, that
Christ was born of a Virgin.........since in that, there is a deliverance of
the Virgin from a malignant accusation...... lest the Jews would have lapidated
the Virgin with stones.
Since
after numerous miracles, they called Him the son of
THE "WISE
MEN" (THE MAGI)
QUESTION
Who are the wise men? Why did the star
appear to them? How did they overcome the Jews? Was the star a natural star? Or
was it a heavenly power in the form of a star? What are the symbols which the
story of the wise men bear, and what are their relationships with the Gentiles
and the Jews?
ANSWER
The
wise men came from the East, probably from the countries of
Saint
"[My brothers, we urgently need
long watching and many prayers in order to be able to answer these
questions, and to know who are those wise men? and where did they come from?
Because Satan suggested to the enemies of the truth to say: "When
Christ was born, His star appeared: Is this not a sign which proves that
astrology is a true industry? If He was born in this manner, why did He eradicate
astrology, fortune-telling, and magic, and did he render the devils to
silence?!
Let us
then examine what was that star: was it one of the numerous stars? Or was it an
alien to them, from another nature than
their nature? Or was it that only the person who looked at it, that
thought it was a star? If we know the answer to these questions, we shall know
the other matters with greater facility.
That star was not one of the numerous stars; and it is more convenient
to say, according to what I think, that it was not a star. But it was one of
the invisible powers, and was transformed
to that aspect.
The
evidence is clear:
Firstly:
from the way of its movement: Because there is no star which can
possibly move in that manner. If you consider the other stars, you will find
that their movement is from West to East. But this star went in its course from
the North to the South, because that is the direction from the countries of
Secondly: as regards the time of its appearance: because it did not
appear by night, but rather in the daytime when
the sun has risen. And this appearance is
neither due to the strength of a star, nor to the strength of the moon, nor was
it due to all these astral bodies which hide and set down when the sun rays
appear. But this star had overcome the sun rays by the abundance of its
brilliancy, and was more visible and more glittering than all of them.
Thirdly: this truth becomes obvious from that the star appeared for some
time and then disappeared for some other time.
Because it appeared in order to show them the way to
When
they entered
Fourthly: by its descending downwards:
The
meditator must in an obvious manner, necessarily find out another
characteristic from the guidance of the
wise men by the star. Because it was not possible to show them the way while it
was high over them, but it achieved that action by coming downwards. Because
while it was high over them, it could not determine precisely a narrow place
like a hut where a small baby is lying down. We can know this from the example
of the moon, which appears greater than many stars, and how it appears to all
the inhabitants of the world in all its vastness, and everyone thinks that the
moon is near to him.
Tell me how would the star have shown them a small place like a hut and
a manger, if it had not left this high place, and gone downwards till it stopped over the head of
the child.
That
is what the evangelist indicated saying: "and behold, the star which they
had seen in the East went before them, till it came and stood over where the
young Child was." (Matt.
When the star recognized the Child, it stopped, and its stopping there,
while it was descending downwards, is a great testimony.
It
had a great influence upon the wise men
and guided them to the worship of the Child. They did not worship Him as an
ordinary human being. That is obvious from the gifts which they presented to
Him, and which are not convenient for a small child in its swaddling
clothes.....
Did you
see with what arguments, it has been shown that this star was not one of the
ordinary stars?......]
Why did the star appear?
If you ask why did the star appear?
I
shall answer you saying that its
appearance symbolizes the end of the choice of the Jews; destroying all their
arguments of self-sufficiency, and calling all the world to His worship.
Thus He opened the door to the Gentiles from the principle of the coming
of the Lord, willing to educate His people through the foreigners. Because if He had sent to
them many prophets who explained to them His coming, and nevertheless they did
not listen to them, therefore He let the foreigners (the Persians) come from a
distant land asking for the vision of the way. Let the Jews learn from the
words of the inhabitants of
What have they to say, they who have refused to accept the Christ in
spite of His having sent to them the prophets, while the wise men accepted the
Lord and worshipped Him, merely because they had seen a single star?
Just as
He convicted them with His acceptance by the wise men, He also convicted them
with the faith of the pagan inhabitants of
Why did He attract the wise men in this manner?
Perhaps
someone would ask: "Why did He attract the wise men by means of a star? We
answer that it was not possible for such people to listen to a prophet if He
had sent to them one of the prophets. And it was not convenient for them that
He would have talked to them from above or by sending an angel. Therefore He
called them by the means to which they were used, condescending to their great
weekness; and He showed them a great and strange star, in order to amaze them
by its beautiful aspect, and to lead them by its way of marching.
The
apostle saint Paul followed this method, when he mentioned a testimony from the
poets (Acts
He did
this with the wise men. He permitted to call them with a star which they saw,
in order to render them more discerning and more perceptive than they were.
When He led them to the manger, and when they saw the new-born, and became in
their spiritualities, better than they were,
then He did not let them go back to their countries by means of a star,
but He "divinely warned" them "in a dream" (Matt.
Why did He manifest Himself to those wise men, and not to others?
Perhaps
someone would ask: "How did they reach such a great zeal? Who had incited
them to such a long journey from their country?" According to my opinion,
what they did was not merely to be guided by a star, but it was God who had
awakened their souls; just as He had done
with the king Cyrus, when He
incited him to build the house of God. (Ezra
Perhaps it would be said: "Why did He not unveil this manifestation
to all the wise men?"
We
answer: Because He was not expecting that all of them would believe Him. But He
unveiled the matter to those who were more ready to accept Him. Many nations
had perished, but the prophet Jonah was not sent but to the people of
It is astonishing that these wise men come from distant countries to see the Christ! What good things did they
expect?.....Did they come to a king?
Nevertheless they did not see a king, but a child in swaddling clothes.
Did they treat Him as a king, considering what would be happening? No, because
afterwards He did not surround Himself with any kingly appearance, He did not
possess neither horses nor slaves, and He was accompanied only by twelve
unknown poor men.
They did
not expect him to be a king over them, but a king over an opposing country,
which was very distant from their country. Undoubtedly they
realized the dangers which surrounded them in meeting Him.
They had
seen how king Herod trembled, and how the whole congregation was troubled, when
they heard the words of the wise men. So they were heading for a king over a
country over which there reigned another king ...... What kinds of deaths were
then awaiting for them?! And what did they expect from that king to whom they
were directed?
What good thing did they hope to take, when they saw before them a hut,
and a manger, and a child in his swaddling clothes, and a poor mother. What
then was their aim in worshipping Him and in giving Him presents?
Did
they expect good things from Him, when he would become a king in the future?
And how could they know that this child would, when he would be grown up,
remember what they did, so long as he was in His swaddling clothes?!
How
marvelous is the virtue of those who had thrown themselves into many dangers,
leaving their country and their people, without any apparent aim but that they
obeyed what the Lord had placed in their hearts; then they believed, came,
worshipped, and gave presents.
We see the virtue of these wise men, not only in their mere coming, but
also in their publicly saying: "we have seen His star in the East, and
have come to worship Him" (Matt.
Hence,
I believe that these wise men became the teachers of their coutrymen in their
lands.......especially that they had known from the Jews, that this one whose
star they had seen, is the one whom the prophets had announced long ages ago.
The shepherds and the wise men are symbols of the Jews and the Gentiles:
Saint
Augustin explains this point saying:
The wise
men from the Gentiles, were the first to
believe in the Lord Christ. It is evident that the first fruit of the belief in
Christ, was the belief of the shepherds. The shepherds came to Him from a near
place, and they saw Him on the same day, because the news had come to them by
means of angels. But the wise men came to Him from a distant place, and by
means of a star. Nevertheless both of them met at the corner stone, "who
has made both one" ........... those "who were afar off and ...those
who were near" (Eph.
The shepherds came from a near place to see, and the wise men came from
a distant place to worship.
Grace
reached the shepherds before the wise men, but these last were more humble.
This is the humility that rendered the wild olive tree deserving to be grafted
into a cultivated olive tree (Rom.
The
Jews manifested to the Gentiles the
Christ whom they did not themselves want to worship.
We note as regards the wise men, that in not returning through the same
way, they symbolize the change in life; since those who arrive at Christ, do
not return again to their first way.
Saint
"Let the Jews be ashamed, because they had seen wise men and
ignorant people preceding them, while they did not come to Him, not even after these.
That which had happened at that time was a token of what happened later: that the Gentiles preceded
the Jews ....... Thus those who were from the
The Jews should have worshipped with the wise men, and should have
glorified their God, but they trembled and were troubled.
"Then Herod, when he had secretly called the wise men, determined
from them what time the star appeared", desiring to kill the new-born.
Between Herod and the wise men:
Herod
did not care for all that had happened. He was not persuaded, neither by the
prophecies of the prophets which he had heard,
nor by the story of the extraordinary star, nor by the coming of the
wise men from distant countries to
worship the new-born.
It is clear that he was in a strange position. Whether he had believed
the prophecy which had been said, it is evident that he acted contrarily. And whether he had denied it and
had not expected that what was said in it would be realized, why then was he
afraid and terrified?
Among
the matters which demonstrate his lack of understanding, is his delusion that
the wise men would prefer him to the new-born whose star they had seen, and for
whom they suffered the pains of that long journey!
The
astonishing thing is that "he had secretly called the wise men", and said to them: "Go and search
carefully for the young Child, and when you have found Him, bring back word to
me, that I may come and worship Him also" (Matt.
And we
ask him: "If you truthfully say
that, why then do you ask the people secretly? And if you want to kill Him, do
you think that the wise men had no doubts about you, because or your trouble
and your calling them secretly? ....... But when the malignity of a person
traps him, he becomes less intelligent than everybody......
Beware of becoming like Herod who said: "that I may come and
worship Him also", while his heart was not sincere to Him, but he wanted
to kill Him. Because those who worthlessly take part in the sacrament of the
Holy Eucharist , resemble Herod.
The wise men, before their sight of the Child, were hammered by
tribulations and fears from every part. But after their worship, He filled them
with peace, and they became His priests
through their worship, because they presented gifts and offerings to
Him.....
But
perhaps you would ask: "Why did the wise men run away from Herod's face?
And why did the Child Jesus run away too?
We
answer that it was not convenient to show His miracles in that early age, lest
people would not have felt that He was a human being......
There is another meaning, which is that we must expect difficulties and
pains since the beginning of the way.
Here is
Jesus who, while He was still in His swaddling clothes, was chased by Herod,
and ran away. And His mother who had not committed any evil, who had not gone
away from her house for a long distance at any time, she was alienated and
suffered the pains of a long journey.....and
That
happened so that, when you hear these events, and you become prepared to serve
a spiritual service, and then you meet calamities and hardships, you do not
tremble a little and do not say: "I should have been crowned because I
have accomplished the service of my Lord."
When
the wise men had been divinely warned not to return to Herod, they
"departed for their own country another way" They did not doubt, but
they promptly obeyed, and they did not think in themselves: "If this
Child is greatly powerful, and possesses such wonders, what need have we to run
away and to depart secretly!"
LIkewise the just
And he did not say to him: "You said before, that He will save His
people, and behold, He did not save Himself, but we are in need of journeying
and running away. What happened to us is the contrary of what He had promised
us......."
He did
not pronounce any of these expressions, because he was believing. And he did
not ask about the time of his return from there, although the angel did not
specify it, not even by saying "until I bring you word".......
THE DIFFERENCE IN THE
FEAST OF THE NATIVITY
QUESTION
Why do we celebrate the feast of the Nativity on the
ANSWER
It is not a doctrinal or a theological difference, but it is a
scientific difference.
It is
known that the year is
But in
the gregorian western calendar, it has been said that the year is
If this difference of eleven minutes every year, is multiplied during
those centuries since the birth of Christ until now, it will result into a
difference of approximately thirteen days which is the difference between the
We have
confidence in our Coptic calendar,
because of the great excellence of the
But the question in not a question of faith and doctrine, nevertheless
it can be exploited to impress the simple, when the date is changed.
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