Advent Devotional – 12.15.2021
Ben Lovell
Matthew 1:1-16 – 1 This is the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah the son of David, the son of Abraham: 2 Abraham was the father of Isaac, Isaac the father of Jacob, Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers, 3 Judah the father of Perez and Zerah, whose mother was Tamar, Perez the father of Hezron, Hezron the father of Ram, 4 Ram the father of Amminadab, Amminadab the father of Nahshon, Nahshon the father of Salmon, 5 Salmon the father of Boaz, whose mother was Rahab, Boaz the father of Obed, whose mother was Ruth, Obed the father of Jesse, 6 and Jesse the father of King David. David was the father of Solomon, whose mother had been Uriah’s wife, 7 Solomon the father of Rehoboam, Rehoboam the father of Abijah, Abijah the father of Asa, 8 Asa the father of Jehoshaphat, Jehoshaphat the father of Jehoram, Jehoram the father of Uzziah, 9 Uzziah the father of Jotham, Jotham the father of Ahaz, Ahaz the father of Hezekiah, 10 Hezekiah the father of Manasseh, Manasseh the father of Amon, Amon the father of Josiah, 11 and Josiah the father of Jeconiah and his brothers at the time of the exile to Babylon.
12 After the exile to Babylon: Jeconiah was the father of Shealtiel, Shealtiel the father of Zerubbabel, 13 Zerubbabel the father of Abihud, Abihud the father of Eliakim, Eliakim the father of Azor, 14 Azor the father of Zadok, Zadok the father of Akim, Akim the father of Elihud, 15 Elihud the father of Eleazar, Eleazar the father of Matthan, Matthan the father of Jacob, 16 and Jacob the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary, and Mary was the mother of Jesus who is called the Messiah.
Yep. That’s a long list of names. If I’m being honest it’s one of those passages that I’ve skimmed over or skipped on more than one occasion to get to the stories of miracles and parables and death and life. That was, of course, until a few years ago when I was doing the paperwork for my ordination.
I was required to write a study and had chosen to write on Ruth. Hers wasn’t a story I had spent all that much time on in the past, and being the father of a daughter, I had felt challenged to elevate strong and courageous women in the Bible. It just so happened that, at about the same time, this passage came up in my daily Bible reading. As I was starting to skim, though, a name jumped out at me, Ruth. As I started to look more closely, I saw other names I recognized.
I was struck by the realization that each of these people, these people who I had skipped over in my reading of Matthew so many times, had been part of a story they didn’t fully see from where they were. Some knew more than others. I’m looking at you, Mary. But how many really knew the lineage of which they were a part? How many knew the story that was being written, in part, through their lives as they went about their days, just living their lives as best as they could?
But that’s how the story of God is unfolding in history even now, isn’t it? It’s being told and retold in the lives of women and men, girls and boys, who are moving toward redemption and living out their faith. It’s being told in people speaking truth in love and learning more of what those things mean in the inspiration and empowering of the Holy Spirit. It’s the glory of God in the day to day where, though we may not be able to see the full lineage of which we are a part, we get glimpses as we live out our chapter in the story being written by the Creator of the Universe.
So don’t for a minute skim over your part, or the parts of others, in the story of redemption God is working out even now in Christ. Let us live in to the story in every way we can, rejoicing that, while we may be but a single name, a single life, a single chapter in an eternal story, we are part of a truly remarkable lineage in the family of God.
Father, help us to look for you moving even now, in the day to day, in your creation, in those around us, and in our very selves. Help us to live in to your story and celebrate your continued work that sees women and men, girls and boys, invited into the eternal work of the Living God, rejoicing in the redemption offered in Jesus, the Christ, and being led by the Holy Spirit. In the name of Jesus we pray. Amen.