Have you ever played one of those ice-breaker games at a party or some other event where you have to ask questions about the other person to get to know them better? There is one where you have to ask if the person is related to anyone famous. I had a friend who used to claim he was related to Jean Harlow, and I have met some people who, themselves, had met famous people, and my wife might (possibly) be related to Amelia Earhart, but me . . . nobody. Alas.
The Gospel of Matthew starts out with a genealogy that sounds a lot like answering the question, “Do you have any famous relatives?” And boy howdy does Jesus have some famous relatives! Abraham, Isaac and Judah are there. David and Solomon are also on the list along with a whole bunch of other kings. Less famous to us, but still well known to Matthew’s original readers are names like Shealtiel and Zerbubbabel who were leaders when the Jews returned from the Babylonian captivity. One would expect someone to brag of such names! (Even if all those kings weren’t so great, and some, like Manasseh, were down right evil.) However there are some other names: Tamar (who dressed as a prostitute and seduced her father-in-law), Rahab (a woman of ill repute who betrayed Jericho into the hands of the Israelites), Ruth (a foreigner from among Israel’s enemies), and Bathsheba (who isn’t even properly named, but is called, “the wife of Uriah.”)
The great and the lowly make up Jesus’ earthly heritage. Yet for Matthew’s first readers, who were Jews in the 1st Century, this heritage would have said a lot to them. They would have seen the word, “Messiah,” written all over this. Abraham and David, in particular, were made promises regarding a savior/king who would rescue God’s people and rule them forever. He would also be a blessing to all people. The inclusion of the scandalous names shows us that this Messiah/Annointed One would be for all people: men and women; greatest and least; respectable and not so much.
Having established Jesus’ pedigree, Matthew begins Jesus’ story with his parents – Mary and Joseph. Interestingly, the story begins with scandal. I don’t know if it’s the intervening centuries, or our own tendency to soften hard stories, but when I was a kid I don’t remember ever thinking about how hard this would have been for Mary to explain to Joseph, how hard for Joseph to accept, or even how hard the circumstances of Jesus birth were – in a stable, laid in a feed trough (but that’s Luke’s story to tell, not Matthew’s).
I am left with a sense of amazement. Jesus did that for me. He left heaven where he had no beginning and he was born – bound by time. He got a family with a mixed heritage – some great and some scandalous. He was almost he cause of the break up of his parents before they could marry. These are things one would not expect in the Son of God’s history. But there they are.
What I grab in this is that Jesus is a savior for real people. He came to be Immanuel – God with Us – not God over Us. He came for people whose parents did split up, whose grandfathers were thieves, whose relatives make up a veritable rogues gallery. He came for greatest and the least, and he rubs shoulders with all people; men, women and children. The Son of God entered this world for real people to be Jesus – which means, “The Lord Saves.”
A savior for all, not just the Jews, nor the good, nor the worthy: all. Even you and me.
O come O come Immanuel, and give me joy that you are God with Us! I am, perhaps, too comfortable with your story, Lord Jesus, but as I read the Gospel of Matthew, help me get again a sense of wonder and what you have done for me, and then help me share that wonder with others. Amen.
The Gospel of Matthew starts out with a genealogy that sounds a lot like answering the question, “Do you have any famous relatives?” And boy howdy does Jesus have some famous relatives! Abraham, Isaac and Judah are there. David and Solomon are also on the list along with a whole bunch of other kings. Less famous to us, but still well known to Matthew’s original readers are names like Shealtiel and Zerbubbabel who were leaders when the Jews returned from the Babylonian captivity. One would expect someone to brag of such names! (Even if all those kings weren’t so great, and some, like Manasseh, were down right evil.) However there are some other names: Tamar (who dressed as a prostitute and seduced her father-in-law), Rahab (a woman of ill repute who betrayed Jericho into the hands of the Israelites), Ruth (a foreigner from among Israel’s enemies), and Bathsheba (who isn’t even properly named, but is called, “the wife of Uriah.”)
The great and the lowly make up Jesus’ earthly heritage. Yet for Matthew’s first readers, who were Jews in the 1st Century, this heritage would have said a lot to them. They would have seen the word, “Messiah,” written all over this. Abraham and David, in particular, were made promises regarding a savior/king who would rescue God’s people and rule them forever. He would also be a blessing to all people. The inclusion of the scandalous names shows us that this Messiah/Annointed One would be for all people: men and women; greatest and least; respectable and not so much.
Having established Jesus’ pedigree, Matthew begins Jesus’ story with his parents – Mary and Joseph. Interestingly, the story begins with scandal. I don’t know if it’s the intervening centuries, or our own tendency to soften hard stories, but when I was a kid I don’t remember ever thinking about how hard this would have been for Mary to explain to Joseph, how hard for Joseph to accept, or even how hard the circumstances of Jesus birth were – in a stable, laid in a feed trough (but that’s Luke’s story to tell, not Matthew’s).
I am left with a sense of amazement. Jesus did that for me. He left heaven where he had no beginning and he was born – bound by time. He got a family with a mixed heritage – some great and some scandalous. He was almost he cause of the break up of his parents before they could marry. These are things one would not expect in the Son of God’s history. But there they are.
What I grab in this is that Jesus is a savior for real people. He came to be Immanuel – God with Us – not God over Us. He came for people whose parents did split up, whose grandfathers were thieves, whose relatives make up a veritable rogues gallery. He came for greatest and the least, and he rubs shoulders with all people; men, women and children. The Son of God entered this world for real people to be Jesus – which means, “The Lord Saves.”
A savior for all, not just the Jews, nor the good, nor the worthy: all. Even you and me.
O come O come Immanuel, and give me joy that you are God with Us! I am, perhaps, too comfortable with your story, Lord Jesus, but as I read the Gospel of Matthew, help me get again a sense of wonder and what you have done for me, and then help me share that wonder with others. Amen.
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