(Gen 49: 2, 8-10; Ps 71: 1-4, 7-8, 17; Mt 1: 1-17)
A first glance at today’s gospel reading which lists 42 generations of sons and daughters from Abraham to Joseph and Mary, may have one tempted to say, “Yep, there they all were, but now we have Jesus. Isn’t that great?” Written as a list it is appealing to think of the messiah’s earthly genealogy as a clean shot from start to finish, “There was Abraham, the Jews sought their messiah, there were the major players like Jacob, Judah, King David, Jesse, King Solomon, and then Jesus came, thank you very much!” Never mind so much the short heading“After the Babylonian exile”, which is basically the four shortest words for one of the greatest Jewish tragedies ever told, including the destruction of Solomon’s Temple, large-scale deportations and religious persecution. List format and hindsight certainly have a way of simplifying incredible amounts of information, even 2000 years ago.
Upon investigation, the nuances of the genealogy speak boldly and clearly about Jesus’ message for us today.
The messianic genealogy reaches back into history and brings forward Jesus’ right to priesthood and kingship. The messianic lineage is traced to the Throne of David whereby Matthew reassure Jews that they need not forego their faith – Jesus fulfills the prophecy of the Torah and indeed is the long-awaited messiah.
Matthew breaks from past genealogical tradition and chooses to include five women as well. With the exception of the Blessed Mother, the women are all Gentile, some with history of grave sin. Bathsheba was adulterous in her sin with King David and Tamar and Rahab were both prostitutes. Consider that Matthew included all of this information in his opening remarks to an audience sure to recognize all the names.
Not only does Matthew use these women in his opening remarks, but our early Christian brothers and sisters made the intentional choice to begin the entire New Testament with this particular historical genealogy. There is a clear message here which Matthew was inspired to include and which our ancestors took pains to preserve.
The Good News of Jesus Christ, that is, the existence of mercy, love, forgiveness and charity are alive for all! Although the Jews were the chosen people by God and Jesus came for them, he came for the whole world. In other words, we are all God’s beloved. The genealogy is an invitation to every man, woman and child to fall in love with Jesus Christ, their long-awaited messiah.
By falling in love with Him and sharing His real and powerful reality with others, we extend Christ’s love onward into future generations. Like Matthew, we turn away from our past and look toward the future, toward others now in need.
We are tasked with an awesome mission – to extend Mercy to the world. Take heart from this gospel. God chose all walks of life to be integral pieces of the lineage of Jesus. How awesome to think that God also chooses us to extend his kingdom. How comforting that he uses imperfect people to do so.
