From the Gospel according to Matthew 1:1-17
The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham. Abraham became the father of Isaac,Isaac the father of Jacob, Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers.Judah became the father of Perez and Zerah, whose mother was Tamar. Perez became the father of Hezron, Hezron the father of Ram, Ram the father of Amminadab. Amminadab became the father of Nahshon, Nahshon the father of Salmon, Salmon the father of Boaz, whose mother was Rahab. Boaz became the father of Obed, whose mother was Ruth. Obed became the father of Jesse,Jesse the father of David the king.
David became the father of Solomon, whose mother had been the wife of Uriah. Solomon became the father of Rehoboam, Rehoboam the father of Abijah, Abijah the father of Asaph. Asaph became the father of Jehoshaphat, Jehoshaphat the father of Joram, Joram the father of Uzziah. Uzziah became the father of Jotham, Jotham the father of Ahaz, Ahaz the father of Hezekiah. Hezekiah became the father of Manasseh, Manasseh the father of Amos,Amos the father of Josiah. Josiah became the father of Jechoniah and his brothers at the time of the Babylonian exile.
After the Babylonian exile, Jechoniah became the father of Shealtiel, Shealtiel the father of Zerubbabel, Zerubbabel the father of Abiud. Abiud became the father of Eliakim, Eliakim the father of Azor, Azor the father of Zadok. Zadok became the father of Achim, Achim the father of Eliud, Eliud the father of Eleazar. Eleazar became the father of Matthan,Matthan the father of Jacob, Jacob the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary. Of her was born Jesus who is called the Christ.
Thus the total number of generations from Abraham to David is fourteen generations; from David to the Babylonian exile, fourteen generations; from the Babylonian exile to the Christ, fourteen generations.
It overwhelms me
It is astonishing to contemplate how an eternal, infinite, all-powerful God chose to come into the world in the same way as any one of us: within a family history, through a real genealogy, full of names and lives as imperfect as ours. He, who could have come wrapped in power and majesty, chose instead to arrive through the humble doorway of our humanity.
In Jesus’ genealogy there are names that mean almost nothing to history, imperfect lives, complicated families, disorder, sins… and yet, through all of this, God continues forward with his plan of salvation. Such is the heart of God: a heart that does not recoil from our poverty, that discards no one. When I contemplate this… I simply fall in love. What can I do but surrender to this Love? I can only say: Who is like God?
Lord, today in my prayer I want to contemplate this mystery: your greatness, your majesty made small; your self-emptying that makes you one with us… this humility of yours overwhelms me, surpasses me, Lord… and I can only adore you.
Applied to married life:
Isabella: Mike, I’ve been feeling nervous for days thinking about how we’re going to manage this year… my parents want us to spend Christmas Eve there; yours do too, but only to spite me, because in reality they can’t stand me… I’m exhausted before we even start! Every Christmas feels like an impossible test. Once again your mother reproaching me, your father always so serious, seeming annoyed with me, I don’t know… so strange… all of this overwhelms me… it’s been so many years of tension with them, with your siblings… I give up!
Mike: You know what I was thinking while reading Jesus’ genealogy? That there were conflicts there too, and some worse than ours… and yet God entered through that door. Jesus didn’t choose a genealogy of perfect lives, just as we don’t choose our families either…
Isabella: I’d never thought of it that way, honestly.
Mike: Maybe this family chaos is precisely the door through which Jesus wants to enter our marriage this year.
Isabella: I’m honestly afraid of going through the same thing again and continuing to suffer because of this. What can we do?
Mike: Well… I don’t know. To begin with, let’s fix our eyes on Jesus, on that humility, that self-emptying out of love… If Jesus could be born from a wounded genealogy, he can also be born in our imperfect families. We can’t choose them, but we can choose to love them in the midst of all this mess.
Isabella: It’s going to be very hard for me, Mike. You’re going to have to help me…
Mike: Of course, my love. For now, let’s start by praying for them.
Mother,
how impressive God’s plan is, nothing is improvised. This entire genealogy has been prepared so that Jesus might reach my heart. Thank you, Mother, for opening the door of our humanity to him; help me to open my heart as well. Blessed and praised be you!