Matthew 1.1-17
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, and 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.
So all the generations from Abraham to David are fourteen generations;
and from David to the deportation to Babylon, fourteen generations; and from
the deportation to Babylon to the Messiah, fourteen generations.
Not From Nothing
Adam Hamilton points out that these first verses of Matthew
contain an extensive genealogy – the background of Jesus. It is important
to Matthew’s gospel that the good news of Jesus be “connected” to the Hebrew
prophecies and prophets of the past. This means that Jesus does not just
appear out of nowhere as an alien from outer space or a super-person with no
roots or forebears. His humanity is a part of a complex thread woven
through women and men who have figured prominently in the vents of the past and
have as their legacy a small baby born in a manger.It is easy for us to be too preoccupied with our present setting and forget that we are, after all, simply the present manifestation of family traits and traditions that continue to move through time. That we embody a present moment “snapshot” of our respective families is established fact. The question is, “How will we go about making our contribution and passing the traditions on?”
The Greek word tradition means to pass on. When we take the time to teach children the traditions of the faith and the mission of the church, we keep that tradition alive. Likewise, when we fail we abdicate to an increasingly hostile and harsh secular world that denies the very existence of God and God’s movement through time.
We do not exist in a vacuum nor did we emerge from nothingness. Rather, we celebrate a Divine will that has brought us to this very moment in time and saw fit to initiate the birth of Jesus. Plus we have forebears who sacrificed and worked to enable us to get where we are today. Let us honor this heritage. Let us continue our traditions. Let us embrace the advent themes of expectation and vigilance. After all, the cumulative narrative has brought our family stories to our doorstep.
Dr. John Fiedler, Senior Minister
