An Advent Reflection

by
Terryn Boucher
St. Pius Parishioner
The Genealogy of Jesus

As we begin our preparation for Christmas this year, let us take some time to explore at a deeper level
the infancy narratives that are presented in the gospels. Mark and John did not include infancy
narratives in their gospels, but Matthew and Luke did. These stories have become so familiar to us that
perhaps it has been a long time since we really took the time to sit and meditate on what the gospel
writers were really trying to say through their writings about the birth of Jesus.

We shall begin our journey by exploring the genealogy, or ancestry, of Jesus. Both Matthew and Luke
provide us with a genealogy. We should first ask why Matthew and Luke felt it was important to provide
a family history for Jesus. What message were they trying to convey? Consider a more contemporary
example. George Washington was the Father of our Country, and many books have been written about
him. These books include stories of young George Washington growing up in Virginia. We see in
Washington a man born in America and raised in the finer society of colonial Virginia. He was
educated in the British ways, yet he also knew the ways of America, and had fought in the French and
Indian War. We feel he was “one of us” and he accomplished great things on our behalf. By knowing
Washington’s story, we have a greater appreciation for his accomplishments as the first president. In a
similar way, Matthew and Luke use a genealogy to tell us more about who Jesus is. Matthew places the
genealogy right at the beginning of his gospel. He begins by calling Jesus “the son of David, the son of
Abraham” (Mt 1:1). He then lists the ancestors of Jesus in three sets of fourteen generations:
The first set goes from Abraham to David.
The second from David to the Babylonian exile.
The third from the exile to Jesus.
Matthew also includes some of the prominent women from Israel’s history in his listing, particularly
Ruth, who was a foreigner who came to live among the Israelites. Note that at the end of the genealogy
Matthew does not list Joseph as Jesus’ father, but rather as the husband of Mary, of whom “was born
Jesus who is called the Messiah.” (Mt 1:16). Matthew wants to emphasize the Jewishness of Jesus
because his audience was the Jewish Christian community in modern day Syria. So he highlights
Abraham, whom God had told that his descendants would be “as countless as the stars of the sky and the
sands of the seashore”, (Gn 22:17), and David, the first king of Israel and “the anointed one”.

Luke is writing for a more gentile audience, so he presents the genealogy in a different way. Luke goes
backwards in his listing, beginning with Jesus. He does list David and Abraham, but he keeps going all
the way back to Adam, who is listed as the “Son of God.” (Lk 3:38) Luke wants to show the universality
of the human family in his genealogy. Jesus was not only Jewish, but he also came into the greater
human family.

Matthew and Luke show that Jesus had human ancestors and that he had come into the world to fulfill a
mission. It mattered that he had come into the world as a member of the Jewish people, and it mattered
that his family extended beyond Israel.

Advent/Christmas Lessons Based on the Infancy Narratives of Matthew and Luke

Bible references are from the New American Bible, St. Joseph Edition, copyright 1970, 1986 by the Confraternity of
Christian Doctrine, Washington, D.C., Published by the Catholic book Publishing Company, New York, NY