Word to the Wise
Thursday, December 17, 2015 -
[Genesis 49:2, 8-10 and Matthew 1:1-17]You, Judah, shall your brothers praise....[Genesis]
From December 17 to December 24, the scriptures in the lectionary change, depending on when December 17 occurs. Instead of Isaiah today, we have Genesis, and the gospel scripture today is the tongue and mind bending genealogy of Jesus according to Matthew. (There's another one in Luke with a whole different emphasis.) To understand why these two scriptures are brought together, we need to recall the importance to the early Jewish-Christian community of seeing Jesus in the light of the Old Testament, especially as fulfilling promises and prophecies contained there. Jacob's blessing of his sons contains the one for Judah. King David was from the tribe of Judah and the purpose of the genealogy in Matthew is to show that Jesus is from the lineage of David and the tribe of Judah.
Genealogy enthusiasts will be quick to pick up on the one in Matthew as not being the kind that they do. However, Matthew was not particularly concerned with charts but with preaching about Jesus and telling the story. Genealogy is one way of identifying people socially. I know from my own upbringing in a small town in Louisiana the significance of the question: "Who are his/her people?" Matthew makes sure that we know that Joseph, Jesus' "foster father" is of the house and family of David. Luke makes sure we know that as well when he tells us why Joseph takes a nine-month pregnant wife and travels to Bethlehem, "the city of David," to register for the census!
In our culture, genealogy is no longer destiny, but if we want to experience the depth of meaning in the birth of Jesus, the BIG picture has to come into play. In Jesus' case, genealogy is essential to that big picture. AMEN
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