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The genealogy of Jesus
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Matthew 1,1-17.
1An account of the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah, the son of David, the son of Abraham. 2Abraham was the father of Isaac, and Isaac the father of Jacob, and Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers, 3and Judah the father of Perez and Zerah by Tamar, and Perez the father of Hezron, and Hezron the father of Aram, 4and Aram the father of Aminadab, and Aminadab the father of Nahshon, and Nahshon the father of Salmon, 5and Salmon the father of Boaz by Rahab, and Boaz the father of Obed by Ruth, and Obed the father of Jesse, 6and Jesse the father of King David. And David was the father of Solomon by the wife of Uriah, 7and Solomon the father of Rehoboam, and Rehoboam the father of Abijah, and Abijah the father of Asaph, 8and Asaph the father of Jehoshaphat, and Jehoshaphat the father of Joram, and Joram the father of Uzziah, 9and Uzziah the father of Jotham, and Jotham the father of Ahaz, and Ahaz the father of Hezekiah, 10and Hezekiah the father of Manasseh, and Manasseh the father of Amos, and Amos the father of Josiah, 11and Josiah the father of Jechoniah and his brothers, at the time of the deportation to Babylon. 12And after the deportation to Babylon: Jechoniah was the father of Salathiel, and Salathiel the father of Zerubbabel, 13and Zerubbabel the father of Abiud, and Abiud the father of Eliakim, and Eliakim the father of Azor, 14and Azor the father of Zadok, and Zadok the father of Achim, and Achim the father of Eliud, 15and Eliud the father of Eleazar, and Eleazar the father of Matthan, and Matthan the father of Jacob, 16and Jacob the father of Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom Jesus was born, who is called the Messiah. 17So all the generations from Abraham to David are fourteen generations; and from David to the deportation to Babylon, fourteen generations; and from the deportation to Babylon to the Messiah, fourteen generations.
Reflection 1
As Matthew is the first book of the New Testament, it is the beginning of the presentation of Jesus Christ as Messiah, as the word becoming flesh, to the world. Many of us might wish to skip through the genealogy, or perhaps not invest much time into its meaning. However Matthew is doing much more than illustrating Jesus’ ancestry. If we were to highlight many of the ancestors listed by Matthew, we would come to find varying stories and experiences (both good and bad) which are heavily related to us, and yet God still wanted them all part of His family. Let us look at Jacob, a stern believer in the Lord, but also a man who wrestled with the idea of the almighty, someone who found trouble in worship. Many of us are often like Jacob. We can be confused, or hesitant towards God, or feel that God’s providence is not being fulfilled. But Christ was pleased to have Jacob as part of His family, just as He is pleased to have those among us who wrestle with the idea of the Lord as part of His family. Let us also consider another of Jesus’ ancestors, Rahab. Rahab was a prostitute who protected the Israelite spies. Was Jesus unapprovingly including Rahab amongst his ancestors? By no means, and this is illustrated through Matthew. Are there those among us who feel that there is no way back, that we are too far gone for the Lord’s mercy? Well God is always waiting for us to come back, and still wants us as part of His family. Many of these ancestral figures illustrate the Lord’s willingness to accept all kinds of people amongst His spiritual family, and be pleased with them as such. Through the genealogy, Matthew truly indicates what “the word became flesh” (John 1) really looks and feels like. Jesus became a part of a dysfunctional family, and was pleased to do so.
The genealogy of Jesus
The genealogy of Jesus Christ is the very first thing we read in not only the book of Matthew, but also in the New Testament. This genealogy establishes the Messianic ancestry of Jesus, it illustrates his lineage with the Abrahamic and Davidic tradition. Matthew’s Gospel is one which is knee deep with Old Testament references. Unlike the other Gospels, Matthew primarily devoted his Gospel to Jewish readers, so that they may witness the fulfilment of the Old Testament, so that they may witness the King of the Jews triumph over evil. In order to establish Jesus’ authenticity amongst the Jews, Matthew had to establish this royal lineage. The Genealogy also illustrates that Jesus Himself was a part of this earthly family. Jesus had earthly relatives and earthly ancestors, thus sharing a lineage with earthly sinners. Jesus became a part of the earthly dysfunction through this ancestry. This is crucial to recognise, as God is no longer this heavenly force working apart from the world, He is now so deeply entrenched in the world that he has become a part of our dysfunction. By Michael Alam
Key Points
-Jesus is the Christ of the New Testament, the one raised and glorified by God through an anointing of the Holy Spirit.
-Jesus was the awaited Christ of the Old Testament, the descendant of David, the first King of Israel, and of the off-spring of Abraham, the founder of Israel as God's people.
-In the genealogy of Jesus, we not only see the lineage that connects Jesus to the line of King David, we see a picture of God working in the midst of a fallen people like us.
-Jesus is looking to reshape our lives so that the dysfunctions of our past and present do not determine how we chose to function and define our future.
- Jesus is truly the friend of sinners who came to call not the righteous but sinners to repentance.
Thought of the week
When you are engrossed in the world around you, pause a while and pray in the words of the psalm (24:v1-2) "To You I lift up my soul, O Lord, my God, In You I trust."
Reflection 2
The Genealogy of Jesus
The genealogy of Jesus in Matthew 1:1-17 is more than just a list of names; it connects the past with the present and leads us to the birth of our Saviour, Jesus Christ. This genealogy shows that Jesus is the fulfillment of God's promises. It reminds us that while Jesus is divine, He was also fully human. Through this lineage, we see how God's plan for salvation worked through ordinary people across generations and that everyone, no matter their background, has a part in God's plan.
God is working in the midst of a fallen people
Lineage is very important to the Jewish people so by Matthew detailing the lineage of Jesus he is showing the unbroken line that goes back to David and which proves that Jesus is from the nation out of which the Messiah was prophesied to come.
The lineage presented here gives us hope and confidence that God works through every person. Whether saint or sinner God’s plan is made manifest. It did not need a perfect family history to bring about the Messiah.
Matthew’s genealogy is revolutionary for his time, in that it features five women. In addition, four of the women were gentiles, one a prostitute and one an adulteress. Such integration of women was quite revolutionary and it highlights the inclusivity of Jesus’ mission. Nobody is beyond the reach of Jesus’ saving power.
Add to that the presence of some notable sinners, like Judah and King David.
Matthew points out that Jesus’ forbears included children born of incest (Perez), of mixed races (Boaz), and of adultery (Solomon).
The list contains saints and sinners, honest and corrupt reflecting God’s gracious choices. God could work through all kinds of people. It tells us that Jesus was fully inserted into the human story with its gifts and failures.
The ancestry of Jesus is a mix of holy and unholy figures, public sinners and outcasts. Yet each played an important role and no one’s life was insignificant to God’s plan. Jesus does own his family story. He does not airbrush out any one of his ancestors. Do I?
Reference: sacred space
Jesus’ Family
Matthew’s genealogy reminds us that God works in the midst of a fallen people. By tracing Jesus’ lineage back to King David, Matthew shows that God’s promise of a Messiah is fulfilled through real human history.
This family line gives us hope. It includes saints and sinners, the faithful and the flawed, men and women, insiders and outsiders. Remarkably, Matthew names women who were Gentiles, socially marginalised, and morally imperfect — a revolutionary act that reveals the inclusive nature of Jesus’ mission.
Jesus does not erase His family story. He fully enters the human condition, with all its gifts and failures. Through this genealogy, we are reminded that no life is insignificant and no past is beyond God’s saving work. Reflection inspired by Sacred Space
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Matthew 1,1-17.
1An account of the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah, the son of David, the son of Abraham. 2Abraham was the father of Isaac, and Isaac the father of Jacob, and Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers, 3and Judah the father of Perez and Zerah by Tamar, and Perez the father of Hezron, and Hezron the father of Aram, 4and Aram the father of Aminadab, and Aminadab the father of Nahshon, and Nahshon the father of Salmon, 5and Salmon the father of Boaz by Rahab, and Boaz the father of Obed by Ruth, and Obed the father of Jesse, 6and Jesse the father of King David. And David was the father of Solomon by the wife of Uriah, 7and Solomon the father of Rehoboam, and Rehoboam the father of Abijah, and Abijah the father of Asaph, 8and Asaph the father of Jehoshaphat, and Jehoshaphat the father of Joram, and Joram the father of Uzziah, 9and Uzziah the father of Jotham, and Jotham the father of Ahaz, and Ahaz the father of Hezekiah, 10and Hezekiah the father of Manasseh, and Manasseh the father of Amos, and Amos the father of Josiah, 11and Josiah the father of Jechoniah and his brothers, at the time of the deportation to Babylon. 12And after the deportation to Babylon: Jechoniah was the father of Salathiel, and Salathiel the father of Zerubbabel, 13and Zerubbabel the father of Abiud, and Abiud the father of Eliakim, and Eliakim the father of Azor, 14and Azor the father of Zadok, and Zadok the father of Achim, and Achim the father of Eliud, 15and Eliud the father of Eleazar, and Eleazar the father of Matthan, and Matthan the father of Jacob, 16and Jacob the father of Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom Jesus was born, who is called the Messiah. 17So all the generations from Abraham to David are fourteen generations; and from David to the deportation to Babylon, fourteen generations; and from the deportation to Babylon to the Messiah, fourteen generations.
Reflection 1
As Matthew is the first book of the New Testament, it is the beginning of the presentation of Jesus Christ as Messiah, as the word becoming flesh, to the world. Many of us might wish to skip through the genealogy, or perhaps not invest much time into its meaning. However Matthew is doing much more than illustrating Jesus’ ancestry. If we were to highlight many of the ancestors listed by Matthew, we would come to find varying stories and experiences (both good and bad) which are heavily related to us, and yet God still wanted them all part of His family. Let us look at Jacob, a stern believer in the Lord, but also a man who wrestled with the idea of the almighty, someone who found trouble in worship. Many of us are often like Jacob. We can be confused, or hesitant towards God, or feel that God’s providence is not being fulfilled. But Christ was pleased to have Jacob as part of His family, just as He is pleased to have those among us who wrestle with the idea of the Lord as part of His family. Let us also consider another of Jesus’ ancestors, Rahab. Rahab was a prostitute who protected the Israelite spies. Was Jesus unapprovingly including Rahab amongst his ancestors? By no means, and this is illustrated through Matthew. Are there those among us who feel that there is no way back, that we are too far gone for the Lord’s mercy? Well God is always waiting for us to come back, and still wants us as part of His family. Many of these ancestral figures illustrate the Lord’s willingness to accept all kinds of people amongst His spiritual family, and be pleased with them as such. Through the genealogy, Matthew truly indicates what “the word became flesh” (John 1) really looks and feels like. Jesus became a part of a dysfunctional family, and was pleased to do so.
The genealogy of Jesus
The genealogy of Jesus Christ is the very first thing we read in not only the book of Matthew, but also in the New Testament. This genealogy establishes the Messianic ancestry of Jesus, it illustrates his lineage with the Abrahamic and Davidic tradition. Matthew’s Gospel is one which is knee deep with Old Testament references. Unlike the other Gospels, Matthew primarily devoted his Gospel to Jewish readers, so that they may witness the fulfilment of the Old Testament, so that they may witness the King of the Jews triumph over evil. In order to establish Jesus’ authenticity amongst the Jews, Matthew had to establish this royal lineage. The Genealogy also illustrates that Jesus Himself was a part of this earthly family. Jesus had earthly relatives and earthly ancestors, thus sharing a lineage with earthly sinners. Jesus became a part of the earthly dysfunction through this ancestry. This is crucial to recognise, as God is no longer this heavenly force working apart from the world, He is now so deeply entrenched in the world that he has become a part of our dysfunction. By Michael Alam
Key Points
-Jesus is the Christ of the New Testament, the one raised and glorified by God through an anointing of the Holy Spirit.
-Jesus was the awaited Christ of the Old Testament, the descendant of David, the first King of Israel, and of the off-spring of Abraham, the founder of Israel as God's people.
-In the genealogy of Jesus, we not only see the lineage that connects Jesus to the line of King David, we see a picture of God working in the midst of a fallen people like us.
-Jesus is looking to reshape our lives so that the dysfunctions of our past and present do not determine how we chose to function and define our future.
- Jesus is truly the friend of sinners who came to call not the righteous but sinners to repentance.
Thought of the week
When you are engrossed in the world around you, pause a while and pray in the words of the psalm (24:v1-2) "To You I lift up my soul, O Lord, my God, In You I trust."
Reflection 2
The Genealogy of Jesus
The genealogy of Jesus in Matthew 1:1-17 is more than just a list of names; it connects the past with the present and leads us to the birth of our Saviour, Jesus Christ. This genealogy shows that Jesus is the fulfillment of God's promises. It reminds us that while Jesus is divine, He was also fully human. Through this lineage, we see how God's plan for salvation worked through ordinary people across generations and that everyone, no matter their background, has a part in God's plan.
God is working in the midst of a fallen people
Lineage is very important to the Jewish people so by Matthew detailing the lineage of Jesus he is showing the unbroken line that goes back to David and which proves that Jesus is from the nation out of which the Messiah was prophesied to come.
The lineage presented here gives us hope and confidence that God works through every person. Whether saint or sinner God’s plan is made manifest. It did not need a perfect family history to bring about the Messiah.
Matthew’s genealogy is revolutionary for his time, in that it features five women. In addition, four of the women were gentiles, one a prostitute and one an adulteress. Such integration of women was quite revolutionary and it highlights the inclusivity of Jesus’ mission. Nobody is beyond the reach of Jesus’ saving power.
Add to that the presence of some notable sinners, like Judah and King David.
Matthew points out that Jesus’ forbears included children born of incest (Perez), of mixed races (Boaz), and of adultery (Solomon).
The list contains saints and sinners, honest and corrupt reflecting God’s gracious choices. God could work through all kinds of people. It tells us that Jesus was fully inserted into the human story with its gifts and failures.
The ancestry of Jesus is a mix of holy and unholy figures, public sinners and outcasts. Yet each played an important role and no one’s life was insignificant to God’s plan. Jesus does own his family story. He does not airbrush out any one of his ancestors. Do I?
Reference: sacred space
Jesus’ Family
Matthew’s genealogy reminds us that God works in the midst of a fallen people. By tracing Jesus’ lineage back to King David, Matthew shows that God’s promise of a Messiah is fulfilled through real human history.
This family line gives us hope. It includes saints and sinners, the faithful and the flawed, men and women, insiders and outsiders. Remarkably, Matthew names women who were Gentiles, socially marginalised, and morally imperfect — a revolutionary act that reveals the inclusive nature of Jesus’ mission.
Jesus does not erase His family story. He fully enters the human condition, with all its gifts and failures. Through this genealogy, we are reminded that no life is insignificant and no past is beyond God’s saving work. Reflection inspired by Sacred Space