Read: Matthew 1:1-17 NRSV
An account of the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah, the son of David, the son of Abraham.
Abraham was the father of Isaac, and Isaac the father of Jacob, and Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers, and Judah the father of Perez and Zerah by Tamar, and Perez the father of Hezron, and Hezron the father of Aram, and Aram the father of Aminadab, and Aminadab the father of Nahshon, and Nahshon the father of Salmon, and Salmon the father of Boaz by Rahab, and Boaz the father of Obed by Ruth, and Obed the father of Jesse, and Jesse the father of King David.
And David was the father of Solomon by the wife of Uriah, and Solomon the father of Rehoboam, and Rehoboam the father of Abijah, and Abijah the father of Asaph, and Asaph the father of Jehoshaphat, and Jehoshaphat the father of Joram, and Joram the father of Uzziah, and Uzziah the father of Jotham, and Jotham the father of Ahaz, and Ahaz the father of Hezekiah, and Hezekiah the father of Manasseh, and Manasseh the father of Amos, and Amos the father of Josiah, and Josiah the father of Jechoniah and his brothers, at the time of the deportation to Babylon.
And after the deportation to Babylon: Jechoniah was the father of Salathiel, and Salathiel the father of Zerubbabel, and Zerubbabel the father of Abiud, and Abiud the father of Eliakim, and Eliakim the father of Azor, and Azor the father of Zadok, and Zadok the father of Achim, and Achim the father of Eliud, and Eliud the father of Eleazar, and Eleazar the father of Matthan, and Matthan the father of Jacob, and Jacob the father of Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom Jesus was born, who is called the Messiah.
So all the generations from Abraham to David are fourteen generations; and from David to the deportation to Babylon, fourteen generations; and from the deportation to Babylon to the Messiah, fourteen generations.
I can understand why genealogies aren’t usually the central focus of a sermon on Sunday morning. All the names and the repetitive way they’re listed is hard to read or listen to, especially when there’s only a handful that we really recognize. If you’ve opened up your Bible to the beginning of Matthew, however, you might notice a few things that make the first 17 lines a bit more interesting. For starters, it’s the first page of the New Testament. If this were a tv serial then the last episode left us with the ultimate cliffhanger, the nation of Israel is divided, scattered, and ruled by pagans. The temple has been destroyed and the line of David has been broken. The New Testament begins with a quick recap: a “previously on…” that serves as a reminder to the reader everything that has been leading up to this moment: the embodiment or incarnation of the Messiah.
This week we will be looking at a relatively minor character in the Christ story: the penultimate man in that long list of names who is the connecting link between Abraham, with whom God made his covenant, and Jesus, through whom the covenant was fulfilled: Joseph. Considering Joseph’s closeness to Jesus, we ought to know more about him; know something about his character or triumphs in the way that we know about Jesse or even Rahab, but in the few lines of the gospels devoted to him he’s barely a secondary character, an ordinary man who’s greatest attribute seems to be his proximity to Mary and Jesus.
On the other hand, it’s Joseph’s humble and obedient nature that made him the perfect husband and father. Joseph was a member of the Davidic line. He could trace his ancestry all the way back to Abraham! Half the names in the genealogy were kings! I have a very peripheral relationship to Jane Grey, the queen of England, and I still use the ancestry when I explain to my wife how I really shouldn’t have to wipe the counter. (I am basically royalty, after all.) We would hardly blame Joseph if he used his royal lineage to lord over others or try to take credit for Jesus’ later triumphs. Most of the names on that list were guilty of far worse than a little vanity. In fact, obedience was the one thing that all of them proved incapable of exercising, (with the possible exceptions of Hezekiah and Josiah.)
Instead, Joseph accepted his small, secondary role in the most spectacular event in history. His obedience, even though it resulted in his obscurity, is what makes him remarkable. This week we will consider the obedience of Joseph and how it can be a lesson to all of us that God does not call everyone to paths of glory and fame or even to paths that make much sense. May we have the faith to trust and obey in His wisdom.
