Drawing 42 branches of Jesus’ family tree
Of the four evangelists, Matthew was unique in tracing Jesus’ lineage, Chapter 1:1-17:
“1 The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.
“2 Abraham was the father of Isaac, and Isaac the father of Jacob, and Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers, 3 and Judah the father of Perez and Zerah by Tamar, and Perez the father of Hezron, and Hezron the father of Ram,
“4 and Ram the father of Amminadab, and Amminadab the father of Nahshon, and Nahshon the father of Salmon, 5 and Salmon the father of Boaz by Rahab, and Boaz the father of Obed by Ruth, and Obed the father of Jesse, 6 and Jesse the father of David the king.
“And David was the father of Solomon by the wife of Uriah, 7 and Solomon the father of Rehoboam, and Rehoboam the father of Abijah, and Abijah the father of Asaph, 8 and Asaph the father of Jehoshaphat, and Jehoshaphat the father of Joram, and Joram the father of Uzziah,
“9 and Uzziah the father of Jotham, and Jotham the father of Ahaz, and Ahaz the father of Hezekiah,10 and Hezekiah the father of Manasseh, and Manasseh the father of Amos, and Amos the father of Josiah, 11 and Josiah the father of Jechoniah and his brothers, at the time of the deportation to Babylon.
“12 And after the deportation to Babylon: Jechoniah was the father of Shealtiel, and Shealtiel the father of Zerubbabel, 13 and Zerubbabel the father of Abiud, and Abiud the father of Eliakim, and Eliakim the father of Azor,14 and Azor the father of Zadok, and Zadok the father of Achim, and Achim the father of Eliud,
“15 and Eliud the father of Eleazar, and Eleazar the father of Matthan, and Matthan the father of Jacob, 16 and Jacob the father of Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom Jesus was born, who is called Christ.
“17 So all the generations from Abraham to David were fourteen generations, and from David to the deportation to Babylon fourteen generations, and from the deportation to Babylon to the Christ fourteen generations.”
Why did Matthew have to enumerate them all?
Lois Tverberg narrated an incident in the Philippines in her 2018 book “Reading the Bible with Rabbi Jesus:”
“Missionaries were in a hurry to translate the Bible into the vernacular of the hinterlands. They needed to make a Christmas presentation fast. Thinking that Jesus’ forebears were unimportant, they left them out of the leaflet and proceed to Verse 18, “Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way….”
So on with the Three Kings, shepherds, Herod, choir of angels, Holy Family, donkey and the manger.
After the Nativity play, many of the children asked the nuns, “So was Jesus a real person?”
In many societies a person’s lineage is as salient as his existence. Without ancestors one is not a person, only a figment of imagination.
So in tracing the lineage, Matthew showed that Jesus the Son of God was also Man.
In his homily on this Yuletide’s second Simbang Gabi, Father Tito Caluag, SJ said, “Just like all of us, Jesus had both good and bad ancestors. Some strayed from the straight and narrow path, naligaw ng landas.
“Yet God chose the 42 generations as part of His Divine Plan. As St. Therese of Avila said, God straightened the crooked line.”
And we are all part of God’s design.
Merry Christmas to one and all!
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