Listen to a simple service of prayer and reflection centred on Matthew 1.1-17 for 17 December
O Sapientia
O Wisdom,
coming forth from the mouth of the Most High,
reaching from one end to the other mightily,
and sweetly ordering all things:
Come and teach us the way of prudence.
Reflection on Matthew 1.1-17
As we enter the final days of our Advent pilgrimage, we are given a reading that may leave us asking: ‘Why?’ Matthew’s genealogy of Christ, like the one contained in Luke’s gospel (Luke 3.23-38) does not feature in the main canon of gospel readings that we hear Sunday by Sunday. And, if we do spend some time comparing and contrasting the two lists of Jesus’ antecedents we will see significant differences. Matthew’s genealogy begins with Abraham, the father of the Jewish nation, while Luke’s genealogy traces Jesus forebears all the way back to Adam. There are other significant differences, as well as the various numerological analyses that we could apply to the genealogies, but are any of those details really important?
Matthew, and Luke, felt the need to give Jesus and his ministry some credibility in the eyes of those who felt challenged, and even threatened, by the one whose coming had long been foretold. I do not think it is difficult for us to understand the situation. In the gospels we read of Jesus speaking of his second coming. The early Church believed that that second coming was imminent. Some two thousand years later we are still awaiting that time. This must have been how the Jewish hierarchy felt. The long-awaited Messiah had been foretold centuries earlier. They must have wondered how someone so ‘ordinary’ could possibly be that Messiah, and especially when all he said and did seemed to fly in the face of their received wisdom.
Our need for certainty is also reflected in the inclusion of a genealogy of Jesus. We like to have some knowledge of our own ancestors. We like to watch programmes on television that put famous people in the context of their family histories. We take a pride in having an awareness of our great, great, great … ancestors, even though they are nothing more than names to us. We like the certainty, the proof, that comes from mapping our place in history. That is where today’s reading provides a challenge for us.
The truth is that such lists are irrelevant when it comes to matters of faith. Jesus, the Son of God, was in the very beginning of all things. Proving that the Son of God sits conveniently in the Davidic tradition, or the Abrahamic tradition, or in any other human blood-line is of no consequence because he is the Son of God. The challenge for us is to set aside our need for ‘proof’ and to step out in faith.
In a week’s time we will be celebrating the coming of Jesus, the Son of God, into this world. We should not be wasting our time searching through lists of names in the hope that we might find the ‘killer argument’ to support our faith. Instead, we should be ready to celebrate the greatest gift humanity has ever been given, and we should be ready to share that gift with everyone we meet today, and throughout the rest of our lives.