THE GENESIS OF US

[1]One of the most rewarding aspects of genealogy is uncovering stories about your ancestors that you may never have known — no matter how crazy — and preserving them for future generations. You never know what thrilling tales await you in the memories of past generations. For example, a MyHeritage user Tweeted about a crazy story they learned about their great-grandfather: an article was discovered entitled, “Motorist Loses Life in Eating Banana.”[2] Seems her great-grandfather was attempting to eat a banana and drive an automobile at the same time. This 38-year-old carpenter, lost control and ran off the road.

Contemporary ancestry programs trace lines back in order to discover from where and from whom one has come. The genealogy in today’s reading traces forward in order to discover the line from Abraham through David to Jesus, thus rooting Jesus in the tribe of Judah, the tribe of Israel’s kings. This is “the book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ.” Better yet, a literal translation from the Greek, this is “the book of the genesis of Jesus Christ,” which reads like Gn 2:4 “This is the story of the heavens and the earth at their creation.” So, this is something new, a beginning, an advent!

Matthew tells this advent story of a new Messiah. A story where the patriarchs all had great flaws (lying, manipulating, consorting with prostitutes, etc.), showing us that God is NOT controlled by human merit. Our God always shows his impossible graciousness. Although the kings who follow David are corrupt and uninspiring, they are part of the genesis of Jesus Christ.

We find folks in the genealogy who are “unknown and unexpected.” There were certainly sinners among them, but God’s grace allows his will to be done through people otherwise considered unimportant and forgettable. The four women mentioned, is unusual in a patriarchal genealogy, yet through them, God’s Spirit continued the sacred line of the Messiah. Sinners, foreigners, and prostitutes are all part of Jesus’ story. They all experienced a Messiah who graciously dealt with them. Then comes Mary, the humble and obedient instrument of God’s Spirit; her womb cradled this humble Messiah.[3]

God wrote the story of his Christ with crooked lines. Who are the characters in the story of the “genesis of us?” Reflect on the sequence to our story, acknowledge some of the crooked lines that make up our lives and our witness. What will our great-grandchildren find in their genealogical search to discover where they came from? Will their search point them to the “wisdom of God the Most High!”

---

[1] Scripture (NABRE), Isaiah 48:17-19; Matthew 11:16-19.

[2] MyHeritage Blog, “Shocking Family History Discoveries” by Esther, August 15, 2019.

[3] Weekday HomilyHelps, Exegesis by Sister Dianne Bergant, CSA, PhD and Homily Suggestion by Leota Roesch.