The Genealogy of Jesus: Or, God Finds a Way
David C. Myers
December 16, 2007
Advent - 3rd Sunday
Isaiah 9:1 - 7
Matthew 1:1 - 21
I told Henry that I would read this morning's Gospel Lesson as part of the sermon. I didn't think any lay reader would be disappointed. I should never underestimate Henry. He took it as a challenge, got together with the contemporary worship planning folk - and came up with a song - and some cards - and a big mess.
But seriously, those 18 verses that introduce the New Testament are very difficult - and boring - and who the heck are those people anyway?!?! And why is it important?? Sure it's the genealogy of Matthew - but what's the big deal?? I think that anyone who decides that they will read the New Testament from "cover to cover" and begin with the first chapter of Matthew realize within the first 15 seconds or so that they've made a serious error of judgment.
But there is another side to Genealogies. In the Hebraic tradition there is a concept of what might be called the "collective personality" - where something of the ancestor is thought to reappear in the descendent. This makes genealogy important because it reflects one's character, personality and traits. For instance, Matthew declares his primary purpose for this genealogy in the very first verse when he says: "This is a list of the ancestors of Jesus Christ, a descendent of David, who was a descendent of Abraham." Matthew, whose Gospel was primarily directed at the Jewish followers of Christ, wants to establish that Jesus is a "Son of David" because David was the king par excellence in the history of Israel and the Messiah was expected to be the legitimate heir to the Davidic monarchy.
It is equally essential that Jesus' ancestry be traced to Abraham. Not only was Abraham viewed as the father of Judaism, but also to him came the promise: "By your seed will all the nations of the world be blessed." In this way Matthew is able to say that Jesus is a "son of Abraham" - that Jesus is the seed by Whom "all the nations of the world will be blessed."
But saying genealogies are important is one thing. Reading them is another because most of the names are meaningless to us - they might as well be nonsense syllables, whereas to the original hearers most of the names would have been rich with memory and meaning.
Professor Doug Adams, a professor of worship and preaching at the Pacific School of Religion in Berkeley, has researched the names in Matthew's genealogy and developed an annotated genealogy - a genealogy which tells us in a few words a little bit about each person so we know something about them. Some of the names in the list are unknown even to the best Biblical scholars, and were, perhaps only vaguely known to the original hearers.
Now, I have been around the bar a few times regarding this church business, so I realize that many of you get more out of the Children's Sermon than the adult sermon. And I believe that it is because those moments with the children elicit responses from them. So today, indeed this sermon is really a "Children's Sermon", and I'm going to ask you to participate in the Scripture reading as part of the sermon. And I am going to try to elicit your responses! But first we need to practice. With a little help from our high technology at work, you will see what you are to do on the screen.
Let's warm up a bit. When you see this on the screen, you applaud.
Don't hold back - your participation is crucial! I know that this is sort of out of the ordinary. But today, let yourself go.
So when this shows on the screen, you . . . that's it, boo. And this one means you cheer. When this one comes up, I ask you to moan. This one is a little harder - it requires a good hiss. And finally, since some of these names are unknown to even the best of biblical scholars, when you see this sign you give it your best huh?!?!?!
Let's begin.
THIS IS A LIST OF THE ANCESTORS OF JESUS CHRIST,
(applause and cheers)
a descendent of David (applause),
who was a descendent of Abraham. (cheers).
Abraham was the father of Isaac (applause), the father of Jacob, who stole his brother's birthright (boo), and Jacob was the father of Judah and his brothers who sold Joseph into slavery (hiss).
And Judah was the father of Perez and Zerah (huh?!?!?!), and Zerah was the father of Hezron (huh?!?!?!), and Hezron the father of Ram (huh?!?!?!), and Ram the father of Amminidab (getting sleepy - huh?!?!?!), and Amminidab the father of Nahshon (sleepier still - huh?!?!?!), the father of Salmon (almost nodding off - huh?!?!?!), who was the father of Boaz by Rahab, the prostitute (boos), and Boaz was the father of Obed by Ruth - you remember Ruth - (cheers and applause); and Obed was the father of Jesse the father of David the King (cheers).
And David was the father of Solomon - ummmm, errrr, . . . by the wife of Uriah whom David arranged for his murder (hiss!!); and Solomon was the father of Rehoboam who was a good king (cheers) but abandoned God's way for several years (boo), and Rehoboam was the father of Abijah who had fourteen wives (cheers) . . . ooops (boos).
And Abijah was the father of Asa, a good king, but did not walk in the way of the Lord at the end of his life, and so died of gangrene of the feet (moan). And Asa was the father of Jehoshaphat who was a fine king ruling wisely most of the time (applause).
Jehoshaphat was the father of Joram who was the father of Uzziah whose pride brought his fall (boo); but Uzziah was the father of Jotham, a very good king in every way (cheers), who was the father of Ahaz, a very bad king in every way (hiss).
And Ahaz was the father of Hezekiah who cleansed the temple and the kingdom (cheers and then applause). Hezekiah was the father of Manasseh who ruled for fifty-five years (applause), but who was evil for most of that time (boos).
He was the father of Amon who did evil in the eyes of the Lord (hiss); but Amon was the father of Jechoniah and his brothers at the time of the deportation to Babylon (huh?!?!?!).
And after the deportation to Babylon, Jechoniah was the father of Shealtiel (huh?!?!?!), who was the father of Zerubbabel, a governor of the people and chosen by God (applause).
And Zerubbabel was the father of Abuid (huh?!?!?!), the father of Eliakim (huh?!?!?!), and Eliakim the father of Azor (huh?!?!?!), and Azor the father of Zadok (huh?!?!?!), who was the father of Achim (huh?!?!?!), who was the father of Eluid (huh?!?!?!), the father of Eleazar (huh?!?!?!), the father of Matthan (huh?!?!?!), the father of Jacob (huh?!?!?!), . . . . . . . . . . . who was the father of Joseph (applause) who was the husband of Mary (cheers), of whom was born Jesus who we call Christ (applause and cheers)!!!
Thank you for humoring me.
Despite the levity there are some valuable lessons to be learned from this:
1.) First of all, despite the expectations of the good religious people, Jesus did not come from a long line of good, priestly and royal people. His lineage was a mixed blessing, at best. His lineage contains both heroes and villains, yet to faith they were all heroes because they all contribute to the birth of Jesus of Nazareth.
2.) Secondly, as you can see, and to quote Doug Adams, "the genealogy ridicules any notion of environment or heredity being absolutely determinative of the next generation. Nearly every other generation is good with intervening ones being bad; so we can see that bad children can come from good parents, and good children can come from bad parents. So there is hope . . . for our children."
3.) And the underlying theme of all of it is that God finds a way. In and out of the generations, even using these people as imperfect as they are, "God finds a way!"
For example, one of the more interesting aspects of Matthew's Gospel is that Matthew spends these first 16 verses spelling out the genealogy of Joseph, and then moves immediately into the story of how Jesus was born of the Virgin Mary, so that Jesus is not a blood relative of Joseph's genealogy at all!!! To us, if we think of it, that makes absolutely no sense at all. But to Matthew, it is another example of God somehow finding a way. In Matthew's understanding when Joseph obeys the command of the angel and takes his betrothed Mary to his home, he thus accepts as his own child that has been conceived in her womb, and thereby gives him legitimate place in the Davidic lineage. When the angel approached Joseph, he says, "Joseph, descendent of David, do not be afraid to take Mary to be your wife." (Matthew 1:20a) God finds a way.
The genealogy goes back to Abraham himself, and Abraham was the prototype of how God would find a way. Abraham was promised by God that his descendants would be more numerous than all the stars in the heavens. But how can that be when you've reached a hundred years of age and your wife is 90 and barren. Of course you laugh - even when God tells you that you and your wife will conceive. And nine months later you name your son, Isaac, which means "he laughs" - or possibly, "God has the last laugh" - because God finds a way.
And Isaac becomes a fine boy and he is the apple of your eye. God has kept his promise. The boy had come and once more life has meaning. There was hope there would be a people of God. The lineage was sound. God finds a way.
All of us need to know that God finds a way, because sooner or later we come upon circumstances in our day when we constantly don't see a way. When we seemed to be hemmed in by life. We see no way whatsoever. Maybe we'll remember Jesus' family tree and that despite that it is really a genealogy of Joseph, God finds a way. Or maybe we'll remember a barren woman of 90 giving birth. God . . . somehow finds a way.
And that is a message of hope to us on this Advent Sunday as we wait in anticipation of a Savior. And really, is there anything that offers more hope than having a Savior?
While we, like the Jews, prepare for a Messiah who will come in goodness and splendor, the actually coming may surprise us. Jesus' family tree is as loaded with the good, the bad and the ugly as any other family tree in this congregation. Therefore, the good news of God is not reserved for only the good, the privileged few. God's Good News can come as a Savior to any of us - yes, even in the midst of our brokenness, even when we are hemmed in by life's circumstances. And Jesus may come to us in very surprising ways! For, somehow, . . . God finds a way!