December 8th

Matthew 1:1-17

Biblical genealogies might not be your favourite part of the Bible to read! They can be seen as boring and not very relevant to us or the story we are reading, however this one is crucial. There will be many names in this genealogy that you may recognise, like Abraham, David, Jacob, Solomon, Hezekiah, Zerubbabel. Discovering our family tree has become a bit of an obsession in modern times perhaps linked to a sense of needing to find our identity, but in past times your lineage would have been critical to your place in society.

Matthew divides Jesus’ lineage up in 3 groups of fourteen generations, or six groups of seven making Jesus the beginning of the seventh group of seven. Seven was a highly symbolic number to Matthew’s readers. This is what the nation has been waiting for through four hundred years. The promises to Abrahm and David are to be fulfilled in this baby.

Surprisingly Matthew also lists four women who played a significant role in the Old Testament story: Tamar, Rahab, Ruth and Bathsheba. This is very unusual for a Jewish genealogy, even more so since three of them are Gentiles and of questionable morality. Yet they have all been forgiven and received into this family: a lineage of grace.

This is no ordinary birth, but it is an ordinary family. Yet God has done extraordinary things in the past through ordinary people (Matthw has just listed four of them). Perhaps he is reminding his readers that the extraordinary story he is telling them has a precedent. The story of Christianity is rooted in history, it is a salvation story that can be traces back to the beginning of time.

Matthew both roots his story in Jewish tradition but also reminds us of how God can surprise us. He chooses who he wills to do his purposes, and it may not always be what we might have expected.

Reflection

Scripture tells us that God’s ways are not our ways, his ways are higher than ours. Acknowledgement of that means we must come to this story with humility and, as we give our lives to Christ, present our own story to him in humility and thankfulness for his grace.

Have you experienced a moment when God has answered your prayer but in a surprising way?