Jesus Vertical

A Common Man's Search for the Divine Through the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John

George Bocca

• Publisher: Austin Macauley Publishers
• Year: 2021
• ISBN:
  9781643782331
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Biblical Biography

In this penetrating, sometimes irreverent and often humorous book, the writings of the apostles are explored in a search for the true "Word of God".

Here the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John as well as the letters from other apostles who witnessed the life of Jesus Christ are evaluated using an unconventional but simple approach.

This simple method allows any reader to separate the obviously true from the fictitious to arrive at a correct image of Jesus Christ.

The reader will find the results presented quite surprising and thought provoking.

Jesus Vertical is an illuminating search for the divine, for the true "Word of God".

Chapter 1

The Nicene Creed

The Nicene Creed was accepted at the Council of Nicea in 325CE. It is the Christian statement of belief.

"I believe in one God, the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible. And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God, begotten of the father before all worlds; God of God, Light of Light, very God of very God; begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father, by whom all things were made.

Who, for us men for our salvation, came down from heaven, and was incarnate by the Holy Spirit of the virgin Mary, and was made man; and was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate; He suffered and was buried; and the third day He rose again, according to the Scriptures; and ascended into heaven, and sits on the right hand of the Father; and He shall come again, with glory, to judge the quick and the dead; whose kingdom shall have no end.

And I believe in the Holy Ghost, the Lord and Giver of Life; who proceeds from the Father (and the Son); who with the Father and the Son together is worshipped and glorified; who spoke by the prophets.

And I believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church. I acknowledge one baptism for the remission of sins; and I look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come."

Comment: The Nicene Creed states the beliefs underlying Christianity, a divine Jesus coequal to God the same a God as God is Jesus.

Chapter 2

The Pre-Ministry Narrative

1. Genealogies of Jesus Christ

There were two genealogies of Jesus Christ, one in Matthew and one in Luke. Immediately it has given some headache to religious thinkers.

Matthew:

1:1 – 16: “¹The book of the generation of Jesus Christ the son of David, the son of Abraham. ²Abraham begat Isaac; and Isaac begat Jacob; and Jacob begat Judas and his brethren. ³And Judas begat Pharez; and Zara of Thamar; and Pharez begat Esrom; And Esrom begat Aram. ⁴And Aram begat Aminadad; and Aminadad begat Naasson; and Naasson begat Salmon. ⁵And Salomon begat Boaachab; and Boaz begat Obed of Ruth; and Obed begat Jesse. ⁶And Jesse begat David the King; and David the King begat Solomon of her that was the wife of Urias. ⁷And Solomon begat Roboam; and Roboam begat Abia; and Abia begat Asa. ⁸And Asa begat Josaphat; and Josaphat begat Joram; and Joram begat Ozias. ⁹And Ozias begat Joatham; and Joatham begat Achaz; and Achaz begat Ezekias. ¹⁰And Ezekais begat Manasses; and Manasses begat Amon; and Amon begat Josias. ¹¹And Josias begat Jakim; and Jakim begat Jechonias and his brethren about the time they were carried away to Babylon.¹² And after they were carried away into Babylon, Jechonias begat Salathiel; and Salathiedl begat Zorobabel.¹³And Zorobabel begat Abiud; and Abiud begat Eliakim; and Eliakim begat Azor.¹⁴And Azor begat Sadoc; and Sadoc begat Achim; and Achim begat Eliud.¹⁵And Eliud begat Eleazar; and Eleazar begat Matthan; and Matthan begat Jacob.¹⁶And Jacob begat Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus that is called Christ.”

Luke:3:23 – 38:

“²³And Jesus himself began to be about thirty years of age, being as men supposed the son of Joseph, which was the son of Eli, ²⁴The son of Matthat, the son of Levi, the son of Melchi, the son of Janna, the son of Joseph, ²⁵The son of Mattathias, the son of Amos, the son of Naum, the son of Esli, the son of Nagge, ²⁶The son of Maath, the son of Mattathias, the son of Amos, the son of Naum, the son of Esli, the son of Nagge, ²⁷The son of Joanna, the son of Rhesa, the son of Zorobabel, the son of Salathiel, the son of Neri, ²⁸the son of Melchin, the son of Addi, the son of Cosam, the son of Elmadam, the son of Er, ²⁹the son of Jesse, the son of Eliezer, the son of Jorim, the son of Matthat, the son of Levi, ³⁰the son of Simeon, the son of Judah, the son of Joseph, the son of Jonam, the son of Eliakim, ³¹the son of Melea, the son of Mainan, the son of Mattatha, the son of Nathan, the son of David, ³² the son of Jesse, the son of Obed, the son of Boaz, the son of Salmon, the son of Nahshon, ³³the son of Amminadab, the son of Ram, the son of Esrom, the son of Pharez, the son of Judah, ³⁴The son of Jacob, the son of Isaac, the son of Abraham, the son of Thara, the son of Nachor, ³⁵the son of Saruch, the son of Ragau, the son Phalec, the son of Eber, the son of Sala, ³⁶the son of Cainana, the son of Arphazad, the son of Shem, the son of Noah, the son of Lamech, ³⁷the son of Methuselah, the son of Enoch, the son of Jared, the son of Maleleel, the son of Cainan, ³⁸the son of Enos, the son of Seth, the son of Adam, the son of God.”

Mark:

No genealogy

John:

No genealogy

Comment: Matthew starts by planting Jesus solidly in the prophetic line. Jesus’s genealogy is from the patriarch Abraham, through King David and to Jesus. That is 2,000 years! To believe that an uneducated carpenter going through wars, with invasions by the Assyrians, Egyptians, and Persians, to name just a few, then to add pestilence and migrations that one could remember back 2,000 years is preposterous. Most of us today with extensive writing and documentation would have a hard time getting more than a few of our ancestors; even a society with a solid oral tradition, 2,000 years is not possible.

Still not to be outdone by Matthew, Luke’s genealogy extends all the way to Adam and Eve. According to James Ussher, Archbishop of Armagh, who calculated the date of creation as 4,004 BC (possibly on Saturday, the 22nd of October), this chronology goes back 4,000 years!

Also, both genealogies are different.

If a clear genealogy had been available, both authors’ genealogies would have been the same, or so close it would be acceptable. It is not the case; Matthew and Luke’s genealogies have nothing in common. The two authors cannot even get Jesus’ grandfather correct as one states that Jesus’ grandfather was one named Jacob, while the other is Eli. They cannot get the son of David correct either as in one it is through Solomon, the other through Nathan, and yet the authors can get the descendant of Abraham straight. As both genealogies are unbelievably long and different, what can be really concluded from the direct reading and without interpretation? They are made up.

That they are different was sometimes explained that one list is via Joseph, the other via Mary. This would be odd, considering that both would have issued from David and rejoined 2,000 years later. Also, the claim of the female lineage through Mary is unlikely as the Jewish society was extremely patriarchal and women were not valued much more than cattle. To keep a lineage of a creature whose sole right was to have babies is so improbable as to be dismissed. Finally, to dismiss this theory, both lineages are male and stop at Joseph, not one at Joseph or one at Mary.

To berate the point and back to the problems in the genealogies, if the equivalent of Matthew’s genealogy for the present-day reader it would be the equivalent to trace our ancestry from the present day all the way down to the time of Christ. In Luke the equivalent would be to be able to trace our ancestry to the middle/late Bronze Age or the middle kingdom of Egypt and the Babylonian empire!

The conclusion is evident: The genealogies of Jesus are not just implausible, but impossible and just made up to fit in an ad posteriori to prophetic writings of the Old Testament, and as such the evidence from the genealogies can be dismissed It is most likely that this genealogy was concocted to add legitimacy to the claims of Davidic descent and to add awe to Christ’s story.

One way to keep believers from looking closely and noticing the ridiculously different genealogies is evidently never to present the genealogies at the same time and then envelop the reader into a fog of mind-numbing boredom and irrelevant names. The reader then will give credence to the Churches’ statements on the writings versus the content of the writings.

2. The Annunciations to Joseph and Mary and the Angel’s Prophecies

Matthew:

1:18 – 21: "¹⁸Now the birth of Jesus Christ was thus: When as his mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Ghost. ¹⁹Then Joseph her husband being a just man, and not willing to make her a public example, was minded to put her away secretly. ²⁰ But while he thought these things, behold, the Angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, the son of David, fear not to take Mary thy wife; for that which is conceived in her, is of the Holy Ghost. ²¹And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt called his name Jesus, for he shall save his people from their sins. ²²And all this was done that it might be fulfilled, which is spoken of the Lord by the Prophet, saying.

Luke:1:26 – 35:

“²⁶And in the sixth month, the Angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee, named Nazareth, ²⁷To a virgin affianced to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David, and the virgin’s name was Mary. ²⁸And the Angel went in unto her, and said, hail thou that art freely beloved, the Lord is with thee; blessed art thou among women. ²⁹And when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and thought what manner of salutation that should be. ³⁰Then the Angel said unto her: ‘Fear not, Mary; for thou hast found favor with God. ³¹For lo, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bear a son, and shall call his name JESUS. ³²He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the most High, and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David. ³³And he shall reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom shall be no end.’ ³⁴Then said Mary unto the Angel: ‘How shall this be, seeing I know not a man?’ ³⁵ And the Angel answered, and said unto her: ‘The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the most High shall overshadow there; therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God’.”

Mark:

No annunciation

John:

No annunciation

Comments: The annunciation of Jesus’ birth comes to Joseph in the dream of an unnamed angel making the announcement, a virgin birth, as well as the fulfillment of a prophecy.

The annunciation is given in person by the Archangel Gabriel to Mary, a virgin who will have a virgin birth and the prediction of the future: “Son of most high, the throne of David and the rule over the house of Jacob for eternity.”

Two different narratives, with no witnesses and in addition to which the two other Gospels do not th...