Saturday December 17th: A genealogy of Jesus Christ, son of David, son of Abraham

All are within the mercy and love of God. Read today’s Gospel.

Matthew 1: 1-17

The beginning of Matthew’s Gospel focuses in detail on the ancestry of Jesus. We may be tempted to quickly skim over these opening verses and go directly to the story of Jesus’ birth. But no! Ask yourself, “Why does Matthew detail Jesus’ genealogy?” This is not only to underscore the ‘human-ness’ of Jesus, but also to emphasize that Jesus understands our human condition.
Jesus came into the world as an infant belonging to a family – not just to Joseph and Mary, but joined, through Joseph, to a long line of descendants. Among them were persons such as Abraham, David, Solomon, all well-known, but some of whom did not always do the right thing in the eyes of God. There were others – some not as well-known, while some were considered unimportant. Regardless of whoever they were, all were acknowledged in the eyes of God. What, then, is the lesson for us?
We should acknowledge all our ancestors. More importantly, even if we find them a motley crew of ‘colourful’ characters, let us know that all are within the mercy and love of God.