Matthew 1:17a
So all the generations….
Yes, there have been a lot of generations – 42 at least! And while we’ve focused on the five extraordinary women mentioned, in case you’re wondering the men are fairly interesting as well. Abraham who left hearth and home to strike out for a new land in response to God’s promise…and then was willing to sell his wife (twice!) because he didn’t trust that promise. Isaac, child of promise and laughter. Jacob, the scoundrel and cheat who also wrestled with God. David the adulterer and murderer…and Israel’s greatest king. And more.
Lots more. Names we recognize, and names we’ve forgotten. Names of people who did great deeds and some who did dastardly ones, and many who did a bit of each. It’s quite a motley crew, these ancestors of Jesus. But maybe that’s part of the point. That Jesus really is human. Not an angel, not a demi-god, not descended from perfect stock. But human. For God choose in the Incarnation to become truly human, mortal, vulnerable. Why? Because that is exactly what we are – human, mortal, vulnerable, and in need of salvation.
It’s hard for us to imagine, this co-mingling of divine and human which isn’t, actually, a co-mingling at all, but rather is two natures indivisible in one person. Actually, make that not just hard to understand but nigh on impossible. Little wonder church leaders in the first years of Christianity argued for more than two centuries about all this and in the end decided it was best to consider it a mystery!
Mystery, indeed, that God would care enough about folks like those in Matthew’s genealogy…or the folks who have been reading it ever since…to take on our lot and our life. But if understanding fails us, we can at least fall back on gratitude, knowing that God does all of this for us.
Prayer: Dear God, thank you for your many gifts to us and most especially for the gift of your Son, Jesus Christ, in whom you have drawn near to us as Emanuel and, indeed, become one of us that we might know you are always for us. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
I just wanted to tell you how much I have enjoyed your breaking open Matthew’s Gospel!
I’ve been following the blog since Mark. I enjoyed Mark and Luke. I’m really enjoying Matthew!!
You have really delved into the genealogy in a way that has not been done in any previous synoptic gospel classes I’ve had. Thank You for the new perspective.