The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham. -Matt 1:1.
God is good, all the time.
Friends: Christmas is one week away, and that means advent is reaching a fever pitch. We notice the readings taking an incarnational tone and situating Jesus Christ within the human family.
Genealogy was more a Jewish phenomenon; one couldn't be Jewish without tracing his or her ancestry to the patriarchs. In his account, Matthew's Jewish pride comes to bear in tracing Jesus' Jewish ancestry from Abraham to Joseph. Unlike Matthew, Luke’s narrative starts from Joseph to Adam. By linking Jesus to Joseph, who was a foster father, and Adam, Luke establishes Jesus’ universal ancestry across the generations of humanity.
Matthew also links three women: Rahab, Ruth, and Bathsheba, the wife of Uriah, to Jesus' ancestry. But Matthew’s mention of only these women is striking because they happened not to have any direct lineage to the twelve tribes; they were foreigners.
The stories of these women and their direct place in salvation history accentuate the story of Christmas. Christmas means that God comes to lift us up and restores us in our dirt, vulnerability, brokenness, failures, mistakes, regrets, and disappointments. Our God is not coming to hand us his harsh judgm ent. Jesus tells us in Jn 3:17, “For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.”And Paul says in Rm 8:21 that “there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” Therefore, together let us not be afraid to say, "Come, Lord Jesus;" we long and wait for you."
Prayer blessings: Father, when your strength takes possession of us, we are enabled to please you. Give us power to move towards you and influence our daily choice and actions. Amen.