Our name is one of our basic treasures. We want it to be respected because it mirrors who we are. We usually feel uncomfortable when our name is misused, or even get enraged when it is dragged with disrepute or when people make fun of it, especially in the case of little kids.
The Gospel presents a long list of both familiar and unfamiliar names. It begins with the name of Abraham, mentions the name of David and ends with Jesus. This listing of names, tracing the ancestry of Jesus, is called a genealogy. We may not find genealogies interesting for outwardly there are no stories in them. But for every Jew, his genealogy is very important for proving his Jewish ancestry, his racial purity. His genealogy speaks about who he is and determines his class, his place in society.
Matthew, by tracing the roots of Jesus back to Abraham, attempts to show that Jesus descended from Abraham and, therefore, is a Son of Abraham. Abraham was not blessed with a child; his wife Sarah was sterile. God spoke to Abraham in his old age and made a solemn promise that he would be father of nations. All the nations would find blessing in his descendants. And this was fulfilled in Jesus as he commanded his disciples to go to the ends of the earth and make known his good news of salvation.
Matthew also calls Jesus Son of David. Just as Jesus is descended from Abraham, so does he find his roots in David. Nathan prophesied to David that God would raise up an heir from his stock, and he would make his throne firm forever. Jesus is the Davidic heir whose reign would know no end. In the Gospel of Matthew, this name of Jesus, “Son of David”, is associated with many miraculous events. The man whose sight was restored cried out “Son of David”. When Jesus entered the city of Jerusalem, the Jews shouted, “Hosanna to the Son of David!”
The Gospel teaches us that Jesus was unquestionably a Jew. He was a true Israelite. He continued the history of Israel, for he played the indispensable role in the history of Israel. He was the fulfillment of all the promises made by God in the Old Testament.
At the bottom of all these is the truth that Jesus was really a man. He was born of a Hebrew woman named Mary, who was betrothed to a good man named Joseph, who is a descendant of King David. Looking at the genealogy, we might realize, in disbelief, that Jesus, in fact, is descended from ancestors who were far from perfect. Jesus’ ancestry could be traced back to the prostitute Rahab; to Ruth, who was not an Israelite; to the adulterous Bathsheba, who bore David a son named Solomon; to Tamar, the daughter-in-law of Judah by whom he had a son named Perez. Jesus’ genealogy truly abounds with scandals. But we should not see this truth as a scandal to our faith. This only boldly and plainly shows us the humanity of Jesus. Jesus is like us in everything except sin. He is Son of God, hence his divinity, as much as he is Son of Abraham, Son of David and Son of Joseph, hence his humanity.
Jesus, who is God and man, has a love that encompasses all, a love that doesn’t discriminate. This we can glean very clearly from his genealogy which lists good and not-so-good men together, man and woman together (although a woman was regarded as a second-class citizen), Jew and non-Jew together. Jesus did not love only the saintly, he loved the sinners as well; in fact, he even loved them more. Jesus did not draw only men to himself; even women have a special place in God’s plan. Jesus was sent not only to the Jews but also to the Gentiles. So before Jesus the God-man, there is no more saint or sinner, man or woman, Jew or Gentile; all are loved by God. Jesus’ genealogy, after all, is a great story telling us of the breadth and length, the height and the depth of the love of God.
We rejoice over this blessed truth: that Jesus, as human being, is completely one of us. He is no different in this. He perfectly knows our joy and happiness, our hopes and dreams, our grief and anguish. He completely understands everything we go through, what fills our emptiness, what brings true joy in our life, where we must end and what can take us there. With his coming, Jesus blessed our humanity. With him, our fallen humanity is raised once again to the dignity of the image and likeness of God, to the dignity of sons and daughters of God.
14 years ago
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