The Genealogy of Jesus Christ
Alright, don’t cheat. Don’t just skim over the names. Just as we teach our children their grandparents names, great grandparent names, and so on, we need to know the genealogy of Jesus.
There is so much to know in this listing of names, I couldn’t possible cover everything in one short reflection. A couple of thoughts though. There are four women listed. How they got their names into the list is a little bit on the PG-13 side of things.
It should be noted that Tamar is a Canaanite, bitter enemies of the Jewish people, yet she bore two sons. Maybe her name is there to remind the Jewish people we are from many cultures, let’s be a bit humble.
Rahab was the harlot who protected the Hebrew scouts when they were sent into Israel by Moses. Her family was the only one saved and we needed her because she bore Boaz who married Ruth, Moabite. Again, a PG-13 story, but she bore a son, Obed, who is the father of Jesse, who is the father of David.
So, don’t be thinking the only way a woman can get her name in this list is to be little on the wild side. No way. Matter of fact Ahaz is known to be absolutely the worst, most evil king of Israel, but through one of his sons, Hezekiah is born, noted to be one of the best of the kings, but not a messiah.
Did you notice that one sentence, fourteen generations from Abraham to David, fourteen from David to the Babylonian exile, and fourteen from the exile to the Christ? What is the importance of fourteen?
Bible scholars tell us the Israelites also thought there was an association of numbers with letters. So, in this case the name David. The letter D was associated with the number four. Since they did not use vowels in writing, the next letter is V. V is the sixth letter in their alphabet, not at the end as it is in our alphabet. So, 4 + 6 + 4 is 14. Three groupings of fourteen is like tripling the importance of the Davidic kingdom to the time of Christ.
Although we end with Joseph as the husband of Mary, in their culture once you were brought into the family you are considered a son, an heir. Does this bother you? Therefore, it is important to know the genealogy. Not only of Joseph but also of Mary. Remember Mary is the cousin of Elizabeth whose husband is one of the priests. That means there is also some Davidic kingship blood in Mary as well.
What is most important to realize, this is God’s plan from the beginning. Know that you are in God’s plan and always have been and always will be.
May the Lord bless you in the name of the Father and if the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen