JESUS, SON OF DAVID, SON OF ABRAHAM

Mt. 1:1-25

               It is Christmas, the time we celebrate the birth of the Son of God who came down to us in flesh. Today's readings remind us of what Christmas is; they remind us of God's promise to save His chosen people, and Christmas is the fulfillment of that promise. In the First Reading, we heard that the Lord delights in Zion and has decided to manifest His mercy. In the second Reading from the Acts of the Apostles, we heard Paul affirming the fulfillment of God's promises. And from the Gospel, Matthew gives us an "account of the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah, the son of David, the son of Abraham." 

               You may be asking yourselves, what do all these names in the genealogy of Jesus signify? Why all these names today? Though some may consider it a dry passage about names, this gospel reading plays a significant role in understanding who the Messiah is. The first thing we get from this passage is that in many cultures and mostly in the Jewish culture, a person's ancestry determined his or her claim on land and material possessions. In order to prove you had a right to a particular piece of land you had to know your genealogy; you had to be able to prove that you were a descendant of such and such a tribe. The genealogy determined the right to inheritance.

               Second, and most important, any claim to PRIESTHOOD or ROYALTY had to be verified by genealogy. In Israel, to be a priest you had to be of the tribe of Levi. And in the same way, any claim to be king-and ultimately MESSIAH-would be rejected if the one making the claim could not prove he was a direct descendant of the great king David himself. Since Matthew is the only one of the four gospel writers to begin his gospel with a genealogical record of Jesus, there are reasons as to why he is doing this.

               It has been observed by many biblical scholars that Matthew wrote his gospel for the Jews. Matthew's gospel was designed to convince Jews that Jesus is indeed the Messiah. The fulfillment of God’s promise. The Genealogy was certainly important to the nation of Israel to prove Jesus’ identity and to show that he fulfils the two messianic prerequisites: The Messiah had to be a descendant of Abraham and a descendant of David. This genealogy of Jesus Christ establishes the right of Jesus to be the Messiah and reminds us of God's mercy.

               Divided into three sections of fourteen names each; from Abraham to David, From David to the Babylonian captivity, and from the Babylonian captivity to Jesus, the main purpose is to walk through history and to see that the coming of Jesus, son of David, son of Abraham is really the fulfilment of God’s promise. We can therefore have confidence that God will always keep His word.

As we celebrate Christmas, in Jesus' family tree we can see the extent of God's love for us and the extent of God's sovereignty. These names make it possible for us to look at thousands of years of history and see that nothing can prevent God's purposes. Our sins and rebellion obviously can't stop it. In spite of all the crooked paths of the people of Israel even those mentioned in the genealogy, nothing can stop God form fulfilling his promise. This genealogy demonstrates God's order and movement toward the great goal of salvation through His Son.

And this is an important lesson for us to grasp. In fact I think one reason for this genealogy is so that we could see this fact that God is sovereign over all. God is saying to us four hundred years of slavery and famine in Egypt couldn't stop his plan. Wilderness wanderings couldn't lose his plan. The Babylonian exile for seventy years couldn't stop his plan. All the sins that we commit will not stop his plan. And nothing can and nothing will for God is still sovereign and He is bringing forth His purpose even when we think otherwise. God is still working out His sovereign plan of salvation, even when history looks like a puzzle. Nothing will stop His purpose from coming to completion. In the midst of tough times we need to remember that God is in control and He won't allow anything into our lives that doesn't make us better Christians. He can’t allow his kingdom to crumble. May the Word who found a home in womb of the Virgin Mary bring Joy, peace, love and mercy to our heart. Merry Christmas!