The genealogy of Jesus Christ
The genealogy of Jesus Christ. What does this text tell us? Why enumerate all of Jesus' human ancestors? This has a very specific meaning. In the Semitic culture, who a man is, is very closely related to his origin and whose son he is. And now Jesus of Nazareth has a very specific origin, we know, whose son he is in the legal sense, who were his human ancestors. On the one hand, his genealogy shows that he is bone from our bones, flesh from our flesh, that is, Jesus Christ is a real man. We often forget about this on a daily basis, seeing in him immediately God who came to visit his creature, only that he looked like a human being. Well no. He not only looks human, but he is, and lived his earthly life as a human being. This is our Catholic faith.
The Savior's ancestors include not only the righteous, such as Isaac, but also sinners, such as the ungodly King Manasseh. Even pious King David committed great crimes, but fortunately he did penance. As we can see, even the list of the ancestors of the Lord Jesus shows us how badly we needed a Savior. The four women that the Evangelist placed in the genealogy of Jesus Christ deserve attention: Tamar, Rahab, Ruth and Bathsheba. Three of them are great sinners, and all four are foreigners, which for the Jews at that time could be even worse than sins. Tamar seduced her father-in-law, Rahab was a prostitute, and Bathsheba's adultery led to the murder of her husband Uriah. These four women indicate that the Lord Jesus, who was born as the son of Abraham, as the son of the chosen people, is also the son of all mankind. However, Christ was not ashamed of such a lineage, because He came precisely to lift us from our sins. On the other hand, what is important in the attitude of all these women is what God appreciates immeasurably, and what distinguished them, for example: stubborn, persistent striving for the blessing. They all wanted more than just immediate happiness. This is a clear indication for us: the Lord Jesus comes to heal us, but he heals only those who persistently desire it and are determined by their actions to receive grace.
The Lord Jesus accepted our weakness, which does not mean that he considered it good. He loves us despite our weaknesses and therefore He came to free us, to free us from the bonds of evil, to create a new man in us. This, however, requires us to know first of all our weakness, which is best revealed when we are able to accept the weaknesses of others.
The genealogy of Jesus shows that he came into the world to tell us about God the Father, to show his greatness and mercy. He came for something even deeper and amazing, namely, to become our Brother or, in other words, that we became his family, his relatives. He came to invite us to himself, to include us in his family. This has amazing consequences. We are not able to fully realize this, even after 2,000 years, because it simply does not fit in our mind.
However, let us try to lean a little bit on the secret of our family relationship with God. In the Semitic culture, the family bond is very important. There is tremendous responsibility among family members for others. In every family, the closest relative performs a special function called Goel. In case of trouble, Goel should help; when someone is captured, Goel is obligated to either buy him out or take him back. This was the case with Abraham and his nephew Lot, who had been taken captive by the Aramaic kings. When Abraham found out about this, he immediately gathered a squad and set out to free him from the hands of his enemies. Let us note: Christ has become our Brother, our Goel. We say he is our Redeemer. This is exactly the function of the closest relative. In his letter to the Romans, Saint Paul writes about the consequences of this truth: “If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son but handed him over for us all, how will he not also give us everything else along with him?” (cf. Rom 8: 31-32)
Let us note - his care results from taking on the family relationship. By virtue of this commitment, in a sense, God, as our Goel, has a duty to protect us, to save us from slavery. One could say: by becoming our relative, he no longer does favor for us. But this is what the true grace is, and it is pure grace, arising from His absolutely free will. By his prior choice, he obliges himself and is obligated from that moment on. A similar truth is expressed in the covenant made between God and us. Before its conclusion, we are free, we may or may not conclude it, but when we do, it already strictly obliges us.
What does it mean? That His bond with us is not temporary. It is not a bond that even he himself could break at any moment.
Why? Because he has committed himself and his word binds him. Living the mystery of Christmas, we also live the mysteries of God's entering into a family bond with us. It is such a far-reaching commitment.
In the Book of Genesis, we read about a marriage that is the foundation of a family: “The LORD God then built the rib that he had taken from the man into a woman. When he brought her to the man, the man said: “This one, at last, is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; This one shall be called 'woman, for out of man this one has been taken. " That is why a man leaves his father and mother and clings to his wife, and the two of them become one body.” (cf. Gen 2: 22-24)
This sentence is of great importance but let us just focus on one thought. A man and a woman, no matter how deeply they love each other, will never be literally one body. The Hebrew basar means not only the body in our sense, but the whole man. Hence the words: become one body mean that they become one human being. Man and woman were created as complementary creatures and only in unity they make fully human existence. The Bible consistently reveals to us the metaphysical love. It is worth reading from this slight the letter of Saint John Paul II on the dignity of women. In this text, literally one body means a specific metaphor in relation to a man and a woman.
Well, in Christ, the exact fulfillment of the text from the Book of Genesis takes place. In him, in his body, there is the total unity of two: God and Man, without confusion, with complete respect for both Deity and Humanity. Two become one body in the exact sense. We can say: in him the marriage covenant of God-Bridegroom with Man-Bride was made, a covenant of love, not a covenant of law. It is not only God who comes down to us, although it is true, but in this gesture of descent, the birth of a Son of God in the form of a man, man is placed in the very center of God's life, the exaltation of man is accomplished. When we think a little about what happened in the human body through the Nativity of the Son of God, we can get overwhelmed.
Until Tomorrow
fr. george