Making sense of the genealogy of Jesus
Today's Mass Readings
Today’s gospel passage is one that we sometimes think, “Why does this passage matter?” or “Why is this passage important to our faith?” In listening to it proclaimed, we may be inclined to drift off… thinking of other things than listening attentively to this list of names. And yet, if we do listen, we notice something important, which ties this passage together with the first reading from Genesis. This message is conveyed in the responsorial psalm: “In him shall all the tribes of the earth be blessed; all the nations shall proclaim his happiness.” The first reading from Genesis describes the promises made to the tribe of Judah. This was the tribe from which the great King David came, and, ultimately, the tribe from which Jesus also came. If this passage were the only one we considered today, we might think that only Judah is to be blessed by God, since Judah is the privileged tribe from which Jesus came. But when we read this passage in canonically with today’s gospel reading, we find a more complex message. David, from this tribe of Judah, ran an international kingdom that affected many more people than Judahites. Likewise, Jesus’ kingdom also affects much more than the Judahites. The lineage from Matthew hints at this as it includes among the list two women who are not Judahites, and, in fact, are not even Israelites. The presence of Rahab and Ruth among this list indicates the message that all peoples are to be blessed by God. So we see that it is not simply that Judah is blessed, but that all peoples are blessed through the tribe of Judah in the coming of Jesus the Christ.
Hence this list of names is extremely important for our faith, as it was for Christians at the time of Matthew when he decided to begin his gospel with these names. Jesus is connected with this long line of Jewish people of the tribe of Judah, which became the international kingdom of David. Moreover, those considered to be Jesus’ ancestors include two women who initially were outsiders to the faith but brought into it. We also are outsiders brought into this faith by God’s abundant and merciful love. He sent us his Son Jesus as a helpless infant, a humble child born in a stable, that we might be brought back into his family, back into this international kingdom. And with Christ our King, we can and should live in this kingdom.
As we approach this mystery of the Incarnation and the birth of Jesus the Messiah, let us open our hearts to this little child whose life, death, and resurrection will save us, bringing us back into the kingdom that is sustained by the Holy Spirit.
- Jeff Morrow