December 17/Third Tuesday of Advent
The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham. ~ Matt 1.1
We look back at the tidy pattern of our family’s generational history, neatly delineated on the genealogy dot-coms or on family trees that we’ve constructed, and it all looks so restrained, so civilized, so orderly. But as we start to probe into the actual stories and escapades that lie beneath the array of names, things get a bit more complicated. We come across a rogue great uncle here, a wayward grandmother there, a second cousin once-removed whose marriage no one ever talks about. So it is with the genealogy that Matthew lays out in the opening chapter of his Gospel. His artfully-crated iteration of generations conceals a richly-textured variety of stories, with plenty of malfeasance to go around. For example, take this stately declaration: “David became the father of Solomon, whose mother had been the wife of Uriah.” Sounds straightforward enough — until we realize that King David committed adultery with that “wife of Uriah,” named Bathsheba; that he then arranged for Uriah to be killed in battle; that the first child produced out of this illicit union died; that their second child Solomon, the boy who lived, was not the nominal heir to David’s throne but attained it through his mother’s machinations. And yet out of this welter of miscreants, schemers, and errant branches on a family tree, God brings the ultimate good: “Jesus who is called the Christ.” Our Lord loves us so much that he willingly wades into the messiness of our lives and works there. He takes the mud and muck of who we are and transforms it into something good, if we will but allow him in.
O God, whose faithfulness endures from generation to generation, Forgive my failings and draw goodness and love from the disorder of my life. Amen.
For today’s readings, click here: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/121724.cfm
To hear the Choir of St George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle, sing Otto Goldschmidt’s “A Tender Shoot,” click here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3brxxxoWLnI
