Wednesday 17 December 2008

Background

What a way to start the New Testament: with a list of names!This is a passage that is rarely read out in churches - 'tedious','boring', 'repetitive'. Let's skip to the interesting bit about thebaby Jesus...

Hold on! To the 1st century Jew - desperate for a new king, waitingfor a Messiah to deliver them from the Romans - these 17 versescould be the most exciting they'd ever come across.

First, the Greek word Matthew uses for 'generations' is 'geneseis'.Sound familiar? Next, Jesus is instantly related to the other keyfigures in the list: he is the son of David (a historical Jewishking) and the son of Abraham (a true Jew, but also, according toGenesis 22, the onewho will be sacrificed). The long list from Abraham to David can befound in the early chapters of 1 Chronicles, butthe line up of familiar characters and their 'colourful' storiessuggests that this family of Jesus were at times saints, but wereoften scoundrels.

Then we have the list of kings from David until the Israelites wereexiled to Babylon. Stories throughout the Old Testament demonstratehow some of them were faithful and just, while others turned awayfrom God altogether. Anyone who's ever traced their family treewill realise how interesting and exciting it can be. How thrillingto find that you are in a royal line!

Finally comes the less familiar section: from the Babylonian exileuntil the birth of Jesus. This would be harder for Matthew toresearch (especially without the aid of the internet!) butnonetheless exciting, especially since there are 14 generations.And why is 14 exiting? Who knows?! Commentators guess, but what isexciting is that actually, if you count them, Matthew only gives 13generations in this last lot. Could it be that the Church is calledto be this 14th generation and complete God's salvationstory?

Could there possibly be a better way to start the New Testament? Areminder of all that has gone before. A reminder of the presence ofthe Lord working through God's people from Abraham onwards. Areminder that this was not a perfect family (at times moredysfunctional than The Simpsons!) This list shows instantly andvividly how God has worked through ordinary men and women,faltering though they may be, to bring about God's purposes. Andnow, after generations of wandering, and generations of being a'kingdom', and generations of exile and disarray, we reach a newpoint in this history, a new start, a new 'Genesis', a NewTestament. The age of the Messiah has come! Now it's over tous.

To Ponder

Where have you seen God at work in the life ofyour family?

The Church has been called a "royal priesthood"(1 Peter 2:9). How far do we live up to this title and our place inGod's salvation history?