Note: This isn't a newly written homily. I wrote it some years ago, but tend to use if I'm called to preach at the Christmas Vigil Mass. This year I won't be preaching, but I thought some folks might enjoy my take on Matthew's wonderful genealogy of Our Lord Jesus.
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Readings: Is 62:1-5; Ps 89; Acts 13:16-17,22-25; Mt 1:1-25
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People often wonder why
the Church includes this Gospel passage, this rather long genealogy, in
tonight’s liturgy. It seems to be a strange selection, doesn’t it? All those
names scattered across the generations from Abraham to Moses, then on to David
and Solomon, then to the traumatic exile of God’s People in Babylon, and
finally to Joseph and Mary and Jesus Himself.
Yes indeed, it might
seem a bit odd to have us listen to all those names on the night we celebrate
the birth of our Savior. After all, isn’t the name of Jesus enough? Isn’t it
enough to know that Jesus is the Son of God? Is it really necessary to tell us
about these human ancestors spread out over the centuries from the time of
Abraham?
Well, actually, yes! It
is. You see, Matthew is simply saying, “Welcome to God’s family! -- because
Jesus’s family is also our family.”
Tonight we not only
celebrate Jesus’ birth, but we also celebrate our own spiritual roots, deep
roots that stretch back nearly 4,000 years to Abraham, our father in faith. You
can trace that spiritual lineage from the priest (or deacon) who baptized you,
through the bishop who ordained him, all the way back to the apostles and to
Jesus Himself. And then you need only turn to these opening verses of Matthew’s
Gospel and follow the path all the way back to Abraham.
And do you know
something else? You and I share these roots. That’s right – we all have that
same family tree. What a gift this is! It’s one of the key messages of the
Gospel, a message that takes us deeply into those spiritual roots, and binds us
in a living connection with Jesus Christ Himself.
Each of the four
Gospels begins by telling us who Jesus is, but each tells us in a different
way.
Mark, in his usual
Sergeant Friday, just-the-facts-Ma’am approach, begins by saying:
“The beginning of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God…”
Yes, Mark wastes no
time identifying Jesus.
Luke’s a bit more
subtle. He takes half a chapter before he finally gets to Jesus, and then he
lets the angel Gabriel do the honors:
“Therefore, the child to be born will be called holy, the Son of God.”
And John? He echoes the
opening words of the Book of Genesis and proclaims the eternal divinity of the
Logos, of Jesus, the creative Word of God.
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”
But Matthew is
different. Writing to a Jewish audience, he offers them a very Jewish family
tree of Jesus Christ, true God and true man. He begins by proclaiming:
“The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.”
Any Jew would recognize
these titles, for they are Messianic titles. At the very start, Matthew is
declaring Jesus to be the Messiah, the chosen one. Then, filled with the
Spirit, he presents us with a family tree, one generation after another…right
here in the very first verses of the New Testament. It’s as if God can’t wait
to tell us all about His family.
Realize first that
Matthew didn’t intend his genealogy to be complete. And his Jewish readers
would know this too. No, Matthew wants to make a point. He wants his readers to
understand and accept Jesus’s messianic roots. And so, he divides his genealogy
into three sections of 14 names, or 6 sections, each with 7 names.
To the Jew 7 and 14
symbolized completion or perfection. And so Matthew completes his genealogy
with the first and only name in the 7th group of 7: the name of
Jesus. For a Jew this was as perfect as you could get.
Although some of these
names sound a bit strange to us, they’re all real people and offer a glimpse
into the entire history of God’s People. As we run through that list of names
we encounter every aspect of human life, and not just the good parts, but also
murder, treachery, incest, adultery, prostitution…
We also meet five
women, something rarely encountered in ancient genealogies. The last of these
is Mary herself, but the first four – Tamar, Rahab, Ruth, and Bathsheba – are
all Gentiles: 2 Canaanites, a Moabite, and a Hittite. Jesus’s family wasn’t so
purely Jewish, was it? Those Gentiles among His ancestors highlight the fact
that He came from all of us, and for all of us. How did Isaiah put it?
“Nations shall behold your vindication, and all the kings your glory; you shall be called by a new name, pronounced by the mouth of the LORD.”
It’s a global
family, but it’s also a family of sinners. Tamar disguised herself as a
prostitute to fool her father-in-law, Judah, and ending up giving birth to his
twin sons. Rahab was a prostitute, and yet she becomes a faithful woman. And
Bathsheba? King David watched her bathing from his rooftop, invited her in,
seduced her, and had her husband killed, so he could marry her. Solomon,
their son, started right with God, but then joined his many wives in
worshipping idols. It sounds a lot like fodder for the tabloids.
Some members, like Mary
and Joseph, are extraordinary; others, Ruth and
Josiah, are faithful; some, like Manasseh and Rehoboam, are despicable; others,
like Eliud and Azor, are anonymous, nondescript, men about which we know
nothing.
Welcome to my family,
Jesus tells us, welcome to my world. It’s the world we encounter when we open
the Bible and realize how forgiving our God is. Yes, Jesus’s family is a human
family and like most human families, has its share of saints and sinners. But
from this, we learn that God’s plan was accomplished through them all, and that
He continues to work through us, His people.
Notice, too, throughout the
genealogy it's all father to son, and father to son…except at the
very end. Matthew completes the genealogy with the words:
“Joseph, the husband of Mary. Of her was born Jesus who is called the Christ.”
For Matthew doesn’t declare Joseph to be the father of Jesus. Jesus, the Christ, is born of Mary, the virgin, with God as His Father. Again, what a gift – to be members of God’s eternal family! Indeed, what a gift all of Revelation is!
Do you
realize how blessed we are to be Catholic Christians? What we believe and how
we worship are not things we’ve concocted. For Christianity is really a
revelation rather than a religion. Christianity is God’s Word and Work, not something we came up with. It’s not a collection of man’s feeble attempts to
placate some higher power.
It comes
totally from God Himself. We believe God revealed Himself through the many
generations Matthew enumerates in his genealogy.
It’s a Revelation that runs from
Abraham to Moses to David through all the prophets and eventually to Jesus
Himself – Who is the fulfillment of it all. Yes, it’s a revelation that reaches
its climax in the Incarnation when Mary gives birth, as Matthew describes it,
to “Jesus, who is called the Christ.”
You see, brothers and sisters, it’s
all a gift. As St. Paul asked the Corinthians: “What do you possess that you have not received?” The answer, of course, is “Nothing!”
And right there at the top of the list of God’s
gifts, is that which we receive through our Baptism: the gift of adoption. We
became sons and daughters of the Father, part of the Family of God. And so, we
join Jesus on that family tree described by Matthew. We are heirs and inherit
the fruit of God’s promises made to Abraham and to those who followed him. But
as members of God’s family, we must behave as any good son or daughter would
behave. We must live in a way that honors the father, in a way that doesn’t
dishonor the family.
Another great gift that comes out of this
adoption is the privilege of eating at the table of the Family of God. Yes, we
can take part in the Eucharistic Feast, the Mass. And what a gift this is! For
here, at this altar, Jesus Christ, gives Himself to us, body and blood, soul
and divinity, and allows us, the members of His family, to join Him in the most
intimate way imaginable. Here, as we come forward to receive the Body and Blood
of Christ, we also join each other in a unique Communion in which the Church is
most completely herself. Eucharist – the word itself means thanksgiving – is
like a great family dinner, Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners all rolled into
one… and yet far more wonderful and fulfilling.
Brothers and sisters, we are sons and daughters
of God! These roots are deeper, stronger, and longer lasting than any human
family roots. Indeed, they’re so strong they’ll carry us all the way to eternal
life.
And so tonight, as we rejoice in the birth of
our Savior, let us also rejoice that our names are written in heaven, as
members of the family of Jesus Christ.
Come, Lord Jesus!