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It's everyone's favorite Gospel reading of the year! The reading of the genealogy of Jesus. It's like something we read out of obligation every year. I'm sure the priest especially looks with dread on that reading as he stumbles through these obscure names with difficult pronunciations. But what does it mean?

I read a while back in a that everything that made it in the Gospel (and all the Scriptures) is riddled with meaning for two reasons. First and foremost, the Holy Spirit inspired the author to put it in there ... so that's important haha. But more practically, ink and paper were expensive and hard to come by! Things weren't written down just because. So what is Matthew communicating? He obviously thought it was important!

Most significantly, I think, is the the fulfillment of prophecy. In the first reading from Genesis, Jacob (Israel) blesses his son Judah and names him as the beginning of a line of a royal lineage: "The scepter shall never depart from Judah." Therefore, the line from Abraham to Joseph through Judah is  very significant for messianic prophecy. The Jews at the time that Matthew was writing would be more than aware of this prophecy. They would have recognized the lineage and and asked the same question that Andrew did, "Could this be the Messiah?"

More personally, I think it speaks to the importance of roots and the ability to redeem them. Jesus didn't have a perfect lineage. Judah conspired to throw his brother Joseph into a well. Rahab was a prostitute. Ruth was a Moabite. David was an adulterer and a murderer. Despite his wisdom, Solomon brought idolatry into the Kingdom of Israel. And those are just the histories I know! 


But redemption is possible for any lineage and for every person. Even you. Even me! It doesn't matter where we came from because God loves you and longs to be with you, to use you for His plan.