Tuesday of the Third Week of Advent
(Genesis 49:2.8-10; Matthew1:1-17)
Most people hearing today’s gospel will wonder what the
point of it is. Obviously, it connects
Jesus to the patriarchs of Israel. But
beyond that, they will ask, why bother with all those strange names? It certainly is tedious to read Jesus’
genealogy, but it gives the gospel a propitious start and forecasts its
conclusion.
The genealogy shows not only Jesus’ connection with Abraham
but also with David, Israel’s most highly regarded king. God promised to give David a descendant who
would rule in righteousness forever. This promise is fulfilled in Jesus. Beyond that, the genealogy ends with the
mother of Jesus, the Virgin Mary, and not his father, as all the other descendances. With this altered arrangement the evangelist
Matthew shows that a new way of creation has begun. No longer is one’s human family what is most
significant. Rather it’s one’s spiritual
relationship to Jesus that counts most.
This affiliation, made through Baptism, bequeaths an eternal destiny.
The new family that Jesus will create as he gathers
disciples will not belong to one land or one nation. Rather it will spread across the globe as his
apostles carry out Jesus’ order at the gospel’s end to “make disciples of all
nations.”
