Day 18
12 And after they were brought to Babylon, Jeconiah begot Shealtiel, and Shealtiel begot Zerubbabel. 13 Zerubbabel begot Abiud, Abiud begot Eliakim, and Eliakim begot Azor. 14 Azor begot Zadok, Zadok begot Achim, and Achim begot Eliud. 15 Eliud begot Eleazar, Eleazar begot Matthan, and Matthan begot Jacob. 16And Jacob begot Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus who is called Christ. (Matthew 1:12-16)
I mentioned that we would return to the genealogy of Christ found in the Gospel of Matthew. The passage above is taken from the end of the list of names that are read on the Sunday before the Nativity of Christ. I have always looked forward to this Gospel reading.
On the one hand, it is a challenge to get through all of the names without making any mistakes. In fact, when I was in my previous parish, my family lived there and attended my Church. Each year, my older sister would follow along intently as I read this Gospel reading. I would then get a critique after Divine Liturgy of how well, or poorly, I did!
On the other hand, as we have seen in the last few reflections, this passage was, and still is, extremely important in understanding the fulfillment of the prophecy of the coming Messiah. The Messiah was prophesied to come from the kingly line of King David. But that kingly line had come to an end through sin. But we see in this genealogy that Christ's claim to that line is preserved through Joseph.
The third reason I have always looked forward to this Gospel reading can be found in our current book. Archimandrite Vassilios talks about people who don't want to hear or read long lists of names. He quotes St. John Chrysostom and it bears repeating here. St. John tells us that in every word of scripture that "God is speaking and you dare to say there's nothing useful in what is said?"
Every word of scripture is divinely inspired. Each word carries its own nuance and meaning, oftentimes various levels of meaning. It is for this reason that I am able to preach on the same Gospel readings year after year. To be certain, I do not come up with any new or momentous meaning in scripture. But the Orthodox Church has a wealth of commentary from the Saints and Church Fathers who help us to understand these various levels of meaning. When we read these commentaries and we apply them to scripture, our understanding of the scripture deepens and is further revealed to us.
The same holds true for the hymns of the Church. We have been and will continue to look at the katavasia of Christmas. As we explore the commentaries on them, hopefully our understanding of them will grow and our experience of the Nativity of Christ will deepen.
As we hear so often is scripture...He who has ears to hear, let him hear!
In Christ
Fr. David