Monday 8th December
Read Matthew 1:1-6a
“This is the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah the son of David, the son of Abraham:
2 Abraham was the father of Isaac,
Isaac the father of Jacob,
Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers,
3 Judah the father of Perez and Zerah, whose mother was Tamar,
Perez the father of Hezron,
Hezron the father of Ram,
4 Ram the father of Amminadab,
Amminadab the father of Nahshon,
Nahshon the father of Salmon,
5 Salmon the father of Boaz, whose mother was Rahab,
Boaz the father of Obed, whose mother was Ruth,
Obed the father of Jesse,
6 and Jesse the father of King David.” (NIVUK)
So little time with such a rich passage…
Genealogies generally are skimmed quickly if they are read at all today. Yet Matthew chose to begin his ‘good news’ with family history. There is no hiding from it. Matthew is likely patterning off Genesis with the frequent refrain that marks out the sections of the first book of the Torah with ‘These are the generations of…’. In fact, as we read through Matthew’s early chapters we will see echoes of Genesis and Exodus throughout.
Matthew begins though with the bold and bald statement that this is the Messiah’s genealogy. And the Messiah’s name was Jesus. He wants us to grasp two things and will carefully structure his genealogy to force us to reflect on them. First, Jesus is the son of David. Second, Jesus is the son of Abraham.
Jesus is the One who will save His people, bless them and lead them. How he forces us to see this truth is our adventure this week.
That we need One to save, bless and lead us goes without saying.
