TODAY’S GOSPEL (Mt 1:1-17)

From Matthew 1:17:

[T]he total number of generations
from Abraham to David
is fourteen generations;
from David to the Babylonian exile, fourteen generations;
from the Babylonian exile to the Christ,
fourteen generations.

From Ignatius Catholic Study Bible: Old and New Testament, pages 1725-26

“fourteen generations: Matthew divides the genealogy into three units of 14. It is not exhaustive, since several OT names are omitted and the divisions cover unequal periods of time. Matthew stresses the number 14 to show Jesus as the new Davidic king: (1) David and Jesus are the only names listed with their respective titles (king, 1:6; Christ, 1:16); (2) David is the 14th name in the list; (3) the numerical value of David’s name (three consonants) in Hebrew equals 14 (D = 4 + V = 6 + D = 4). ● The 42 generations from Abraham to Jesus correspond to the 42 encampments of Israel during its wilderness journey to the Promised Land (cf. Num 33:1–49). These generations bring us to the Messiah, through whom we arrive at the land of promise in heaven (St. Jerome, Letters 78). deportation to Babylon: The Exile of the Jews starting in 586 B.C. under the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar. After that time, Israel’s Davidic kingdom collapsed, and no legitimate heir assumed David’s throne. Jesus comes as the awaited Messiah-king (21:4–5; Jn 1:49) to fulfill God’s covenant oath to perfect and establish the Davidic dynasty for all time (cf. Ps 132:11–12; Lk 1:32–33).”

From Opening The Scriptures: Bringing the Gospel of Matthew to Life, page 19

“Matthew sees a pattern in the genealogy, with turning points coming every fourteen generations. God began something new with Abraham, calling him to be the father of a people. The kingship of David was a turning point: descendants of David were to rule over God’s people forever. Yet this seemed to end with the catastrophe of the Babylonian exile, another major turning point. Now, fourteen generations after the last major turning point, God sends the Messiah to his people. Jesus is a new turning point in God’s unfolding plan.
“If a person’s genealogy tells us who a person is, then Jesus is a Jew descended from Abraham and David. Jesus’ past is Israel’s past; Jesus marks the next stage in God’s plan for his people.”

From Fire of Mercy, Heart of the Word (Volume I), page 60

“[I]f the Word of God waited for forty-two generations in order to come ‘when time had taken a downward plunge’ (cursu declivi temporis), as the Advent hymn has it, it is because God, like a good physician, comes when he is most needed: somehow, to be fully rejuvenated, the world first had to grow old utterly and come to the limit of its own foolish hopes. Christ is sent by the Father into the world ‘to liberate the human race from its state of decrepitude’ (Collect, first Saturday of Advent).”

My take

The world waited in breathless anticipation for the promised Messiah. Generation after generation after generation came and went, with some good, but by no means perfect, men, but with more questionable characters (not only the gents, but get a load of the women mentioned in this line). What good can come from these ancestors? A greater Good than could be imagined!

This “anointed one,” explodes all categories. We can certainly call Him a New Abraham: finally the blessing to all nations has arrived (cf. Gen 12:2). We can also call Him the New David, the ultimate Son of David and the real King of Kings. But Christ is so much more. Who knew that God Himself would have to come down to clean up the mess begun with Adam and Eve and exacerbated by their descendants (i.e., all of us)? The experts in the Law, for the most part, didn’t see it (although they should have — the entire Hebrew Scriptures ultimately points toward Christ). But those with open hearts embraced the Lord when He became incarnate. We are invited to open our hearts ever wider to the miracle of the conception of the Son of God in the womb of a humble Jewish girl and its culmination nine months later at Christmas. The First Coming should make us long for the Second Coming (“thy Kingdom come”!) and for His coming into our souls at each Mass.

Maranatha! Come, O Lord!

God bless!