THE WORD
Gen 49,2.8-10 / Mt 1,1-17
The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.
Abraham became the father of Isaac, Isaac the father of Jacob, Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers.
Judah became the father of Perez and Zerah, whose mother was Tamar. Perez became the father of Hezron, Hezron the father of Ram, Ram the father of Amminadab. Amminadab became the father of Nahshon, Nahshon the father of Salmon, Salmon the father of Boaz, whose mother was Rahab. Boaz became the father of Obed, whose mother was Ruth. Obed became the father of Jesse, Jesse the father of David the king. David became the father of Solomon, whose mother had been the wife of Uriah.
Solomon became the father of Rehoboam, Rehoboam the father of Abijah, Abijah the father of Asaph. Asaph became the father of Jehoshaphat, Jehoshaphat the father of Joram, Joram the father of Uzziah.
Uzziah became the father of Jotham, Jotham the father of Ahaz, Ahaz the father of Hezekiah. Hezekiah became the father of Manasseh, Manasseh the father of Amos, Amos the father of Josiah. Josiah became the father of Jechoniah and his brothers at the time of the Babylonian exile.
After the Babylonian exile, Jechoniah became the father of Shealtiel, Shealtiel the father of Zerubbabel, Zerubbabel the father of Abiud. Abiud became the father of Eliakim, Eliakim the father of Azor, Azor the father of Zadok. Zadok became the father of Achim, Achim the father of Eliud, Eliud the father of Eleazar. Eleazar became the father of Matthan, Matthan the father of Jacob, Jacob the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary. Of her was born Jesus who is called the Messiah.
Thus the total number of generations from Abraham to David is fourteen generations; from David to the Babylonian exile, fourteen generations; from the Babylonian exile to the Messiah, fourteen generations.
IN OTHER WORDS
Today starts the rst of nine misas de gallo stirring Filipino popular piety to Advent excitement for Christmas Eve. Oddly, the gospel reading happens to be just a long boring list of tongue-twisting Jewish names. Yet, for devout Jewish listeners, the genealogy of Jesus takes their collective memory for a rollercoaster ride through saddening and gladdening events in their biblical past. It presents
Jesus as a descendant of Abraham –the Son of God born not as some ethereal human being, but “en- eshed” as a male Jew in rst-century Palestine. In short, he was truly and fully human “like us except in sin” (Hebrews 2:17, 4:15).
Surprisingly, before mentioning Mary, this patriarchal genealogy highlights a few other women:
Tamar, Rahab, Ruth, and Uriah’s wife. What these four have in common is their non-Hebrew lineage with whom the Israelites had love-hate bonds in the course of biblical history. The gospel reading then hints at how Jesus’s ancestry was not at all some“pure” Jewish blood-line –but one resulting from inter-ethnic marriages. With this as a start, Matthew’s gospel will later end with Jesus’ mandate to create an intercultural spiritual family: “Go into the whole world… preach and baptize people from all nations…” (Matthew 28:28).
Lastly, Jesus’s genealogy enumerates 3 sets of 14 generations: from Abraham to David who rose to kingship, from David to Josiah who fell into exile in Babylon, and from Josiah to Joseph who virtuously assumed fatherhood over the long awaited Messiah. That lengthy list mixes names of unknown commoners with famous rulers –some of whom are remembered for having been noble and valiant, others for having been corrupt and cowardly. In this then consists the most salient “good news” of today’s gospel: that, although from good parents can come bad children, good children can also come from bad parents. Finally, it is not human progeny that determines what and who we become in life as persons. Rather, it is our openness to divine providence that prods and prompts our personal freedom toward an ever brighter tomorrow.
- Fr. Pio Estepa, SVD | U.S.A.
The Word in other words 2016
An annual project of Logos Publications, The WORD in Other Words Bible Diary contains daily scripture readings and reflections written by priest, brothers, and sisters of the three congregations founded by St. Arnold Janssen (the SVD, SSpS, and SSpSAP). It hopes to serve as a daily companion to readers who continually seek the correlation of the Word of God and human experience.
