The Missing Name
O my Lord, please let the man of God whom You sent come to us again and teach us what we shall do for the child who will be born. (Judges 13:8)
If we read the genealogy of Christ from the Gospel of Matthew, we will see Matthew mentions four women before Mary: Tamar, Rahab, Ruth, and Bathsheba. What do these women have in common? They all are gentiles. It's very clear that Tamar, Ruth, and Rahab are gentiles; and Bathsheba, being the wife of a Hittite man, is probably also a gentile. In other words, if we were to compare this condition of being a gentile with that of having faith in a messiah, they are also barren. How can one be the mother of Jesus without being a Jew, one of the chosen people? All of them, they are gentiles. Rahab was a prostitute, like Gomer, the wife of Hosea. Barren, in other words. Ruth. Ruth had no children in her first marriage. And when she gave birth to a son, we read about her, the Lord gave her conception. The Lord did it. In other words, Ruth was barren.
Matthew wrote in his genealogy that there were fourteen generations in three different ages. From the beginning to David, from David to the captivity, from the captivity to the birth of Jesus. But if we don't believe Matthew, we begin to count, and we see that the last generation is not fourteen, it is just thirteen. Why? One name is missing.
Whose name is missing in the genealogy of Matthew? Your name. My name. It is an open genealogy. Because God wants that their children, that we, would be the mothers and fathers of Jesus. To be the fathers and mothers of Jesus in our family life, in the life of our neighbors, in the life of our friends. We have the possibility to give birth to Jesus in the life of our fellows. It is a tremendous possibility for us. It is a tremendous possibility for us to be a part of the genealogy of Christ. Are we really members? Are we really the mothers or the fathers of Christ?
God promises us, to all of us, a child. God promises us a Savior. The genealogy in the kingdom of God is open. You could be a father of God. The father of the Son of God. You could be a father of the Son of Man. You could be a mother of the Son of Man. Maybe there are some of you in this congregation who would say, I am very unsuccessful in my private life, in my spiritual life, in my business, in my family life. Don't forget that you are the mother of Jesus. Don't forget that you are the father of Jesus. Maybe there are some who would say, I will never have a child, biologically speaking. Don't forget never that you are the mother of Jesus. You could be the mother of Jesus. You could give birth to Jesus in the life of your friends, in the life of your congregation, in the life of your neighbors.
[AV, (c)1998]
If we read the genealogy of Christ from the Gospel of Matthew, we will see Matthew mentions four women before Mary: Tamar, Rahab, Ruth, and Bathsheba. What do these women have in common? They all are gentiles. It's very clear that Tamar, Ruth, and Rahab are gentiles; and Bathsheba, being the wife of a Hittite man, is probably also a gentile. In other words, if we were to compare this condition of being a gentile with that of having faith in a messiah, they are also barren. How can one be the mother of Jesus without being a Jew, one of the chosen people? All of them, they are gentiles. Rahab was a prostitute, like Gomer, the wife of Hosea. Barren, in other words. Ruth. Ruth had no children in her first marriage. And when she gave birth to a son, we read about her, the Lord gave her conception. The Lord did it. In other words, Ruth was barren.
Matthew wrote in his genealogy that there were fourteen generations in three different ages. From the beginning to David, from David to the captivity, from the captivity to the birth of Jesus. But if we don't believe Matthew, we begin to count, and we see that the last generation is not fourteen, it is just thirteen. Why? One name is missing.
Whose name is missing in the genealogy of Matthew? Your name. My name. It is an open genealogy. Because God wants that their children, that we, would be the mothers and fathers of Jesus. To be the fathers and mothers of Jesus in our family life, in the life of our neighbors, in the life of our friends. We have the possibility to give birth to Jesus in the life of our fellows. It is a tremendous possibility for us. It is a tremendous possibility for us to be a part of the genealogy of Christ. Are we really members? Are we really the mothers or the fathers of Christ?
God promises us, to all of us, a child. God promises us a Savior. The genealogy in the kingdom of God is open. You could be a father of God. The father of the Son of God. You could be a father of the Son of Man. You could be a mother of the Son of Man. Maybe there are some of you in this congregation who would say, I am very unsuccessful in my private life, in my spiritual life, in my business, in my family life. Don't forget that you are the mother of Jesus. Don't forget that you are the father of Jesus. Maybe there are some who would say, I will never have a child, biologically speaking. Don't forget never that you are the mother of Jesus. You could be the mother of Jesus. You could give birth to Jesus in the life of your friends, in the life of your congregation, in the life of your neighbors.
[AV, (c)1998]
posted by CS at 6:13 PM
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