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| Edition 18 | The Real Father of Jesus | 12/23/19 | |
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There are those who believe that Jesus was actually the illegitimate son of Joseph the Carpenter. Others think His father may have been a Roman soldier. But, the Bible plainly tells us who the father of Jesus was. The following passages, among others, make that more than clear. Joseph's Dream - Matthew 1:20-23 (KJV) But while he thought on these things, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost. And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name Jesus: for he shall save his people from their sins. Now all this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us. The Annunciation - Luke 1:35(KJV) And the angel answered and said unto her (Mary), The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God. Significant manuscripts agree with each other in these passages. (That is true in the vast majority of passages in the N.T., especially those that teach fundamental doctrines of the faith.) So, for those who believe the Bible as it is written, there certainly is no doubt about who fathered the Lord Jesus Christ - the Holy Spirit of God.
There are textual variants related to the fatherhood issue that are of interest. In them, some skeptics
may see contradictions to the passages above. Several verses directly or indirectly make reference
to Joseph and his wife Mary. The couple is mentioned five times in Luke 2, which contains the familiar
account of Jesus' birth: In verse 27, they are referred to as "τοὺς γονεῖς" (the parents). Significant manuscript sources and major translations are in agreement. In verse 41, they are referred to as "οἱ γονεῖς αὐτοῦ" (His parents). Again, the manuscripts agree with each other. In verse 48, the astonished Mary is quoted saying " πατήρ σου κἀγὼ" (your father and I). Once again, the manuscripts agree with each other. |
The variants occur in verses 33 and 43. With regards to verse 33, Byzantine manuscripts and Codex Alexandrinus contain the words "Ἰωσὴφ καὶ ἡ μήτηρ αὐτοῦ" (Joseph and His mother), while Alexandrian manuscripts Sinaiticus and Vaticanus use "ὁ πατὴρ αὐτοῦ καὶ ἡ μήτηρ" (his father and mother). In verse 43, the Byzantines say "Ἰωσὴφ καὶ ἡ μήτηρ αὐτοῦ" (Joseph and His mother), while other manuscripts say "οἱ γονεῖς αὐτοῦ" (His parents). No honest textual critic would infer from the accounts that Joseph's relationship to Jesus was biological. Rather, they would regard Him as a nurturing, or legal, parent. Most of the neighbors and relatives regarded Joseph as Jesus' father. They didn't know the details and didn't need to while Jesus was growing up and had not yet begun his ministry. Years later, (as indicated in John 6:42), His family's acquaintances knew him as one of the children of Joseph. Uncertainty does arise about which of the Greek variants represent the original. Some may conclude that Alexandrian editors attempted to harmonize the passages or, perhaps, nephariously cast some doubt on Jesus' parentage. Others would say that, in transmission leading to the Byzantine manuscripts, changes were made to clear up any appearance of contradiction on the issue. There is no basis for a belief that scripture doesn't teach the virgin birth. Neither is there any believable indication that the virgin birth account was fabricated in some way. The only question left is the (largely unimportant) origin of minor textual variants.
Manuscript sources cited above include: |