Jesus’s Lineage

Gospel: Mt 1:1-17
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/121724.cfm

In today’s gospel, we walk through the lineage of Joseph. As was the Jewish tradition, a lineage was through the father. So even though Jesus was a virgin birth, his lineage would have been taken back through Joseph. Both Matthew’s and Luke’s gospel want to show that Jesus was from the seed of David in fulfillment of the scriptures (While, some believe that the Gospel of Luke was mapping Jesus’s lineage through Mary and not Joseph).

This lineage connects Jesus through the stories that we find in Old Testament scripture. These individuals left a legacy that was known. Their stories would have been shared and their stories were central to Jewish history and the evolution of their relationship with God. Over the generations, more was revealed about God and man’s relationship. These were the individuals whose righteous actions and missteps were made known to reveal more about God and humanity. This lineage reflects man’s journey to God through scripture so it makes sense to Jesus be the culmination of that journey as the Son of God.

Through Jesus, the fullness of man’s relationship with God is fully realized. While God created us, God wanted to fully share in our experience, being the creator was not enough. God desired to share in our existence firsthand and to be fully in relationship with us through it. Like with Jesus’s ancestors, a lot would be revealed through Jesus’s life about God and humanity.

Jesus is Emanuel, or “God with us.” Jesus is both man and God. The fulfillment of this evolving relationship with God.

May we find Jesus’s presence with us as we continue this journey to Christmas. Amen.