Thoughts for the Day

The Genealogy of Jesus the Messiah

An account of the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah, the son of David, the son of Abraham.

Abraham was the father of Isaac, and Isaac the father of Jacob, and Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers, and Judah the father of Perez and Zerah by Tamar, and Perez the father of Hezron, and Hezron the father of Aram, and Aram the father of Aminadab, and Aminadab the father of Nahshon, and Nahshon the father of Salmon, and Salmon the father of Boaz by Rahab, and Boaz the father of Obed by Ruth, and Obed the father of Jesse, and Jesse the father of King David.

And David was the father of Solomon by the wife of Uriah, and Solomon the father of Rehoboam, and Rehoboam the father of Abijah, and Abijah the father of Asaph, and Asaph the father of Jehoshaphat, and Jehoshaphat the father of Joram, and Joram the father of Uzziah, and Uzziah the father of Jotham, and Jotham the father of Ahaz, and Ahaz the father of Hezekiah, and Hezekiah the father of Manasseh, and Manasseh the father of Amos, and Amos the father of Josiah, and Josiah the father of Jechoniah and his brothers, at the time of the deportation to Babylon.

And after the deportation to Babylon: Jechoniah was the father of Salathiel, and Salathiel the father of Zerubbabel, 1ad Zerubbabel the father of Abiud, and Abiud the father of Eliakim, and Eliakim the father of Azor, and Azor the father of Zadok, and Zadok the father of Achim, and Achim the father of Eliud, and Eliud the father of Eleazar, and Eleazar the father of Matthan, and Matthan the father of Jacob, and Jacob the father of Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom Jesus was born, who is called the Messiah.

(Lectionary, New Revised Standard Version)

Thoughts

During Advent we shall look at the people, places and symbols that invite us to prepare for the coming of the Christ-child at Christmas. They will not necessarily occur in the right order! Today we look at 'The genealogy of the Messiah'.

Those who read the lessons in Church will hopefully never have to read the opening of Saint Matthew's Gospel for it's full of names that we don't know how to pronounce. When reading the bible aloud over a week I decided such names should be said slightly slowly - as they appeared - and with confidence! If you look at the names above you will see we have come across a lot of them during our Advent 'Thoughts'.

The birth of Jesus only occurs in two Gospels, in Matthew and Luke. Luke wrote in Greek, but Matthew seems to have written in Aramaic the language of the time, though we have no copy of this. However, Irenaeus c180 CE said "Matthew issued a written Gospel among the Hebrews in their own dialect". This would have made sense since he wanted to persuade his fellow countrymen that Jesus didn't come to abolish the Law but to fulfill it. Because of this he starts with the earthly genealogy of Jesus, the Messiah, for it was important to his readers that Jesus came of the line of Abraham, and of King David, as the Prophets had predicted. So it was that many thought he would be a warrior King like David.

Mary gets only a tiny mention, as the wife of Joseph, but it was normal to trace the heritage back through the male line. Christians believe that Jesus was born to Mary after the power of the Holy Spirit came upon her.* But we should never forget that Joseph would have influenced the life of our Saviour in his formative years and through his standing as a member of the tribe of David.

* The word "virgin" can simply mean a young girl, so some Christians doubt this theology. However, the Holy Spirit could surely achieve this miracle with Mary's acquiescence!

Lord Jesus Christ,
we thank You for Matthew's Gospel
which earthed Jesus in the tribe of David
with its heart in Bethlehem.
We thank you for Matthew's mission to the Jews
and for all who were to believe in Jesus as the Messiah
who had come to save them.
May we not forget that our roots lie in Judaism
and in the belief that there is one God.
Help us to throw out the "idols"
with which we surround ourselves this Advent -
the idols of money, of greed,
of the difference between want and need,
and the belief we are always right.
Amen.