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Gospel Reading for December 17, 2024 – Matthew 1: 1-17
ALL THE TIME
The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.
Abraham became the father of Isaac, Isaac the father of Jacob, Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers. Judah became the father of Perez and Zerah, whose mother was Tamar. Perez became the father of Hezron, Hezron the father of Ram, Ram the father of Amminadab. Amminadab became the father of Nahshon, Nahshon the father of Salmon, Salmon the father of Boaz, whose mother was Rahab. Boaz became the father of Obed, whose mother was Ruth. Obed became the father of Jesse,Jesse the father of David the king.
David became the father of Solomon, whose mother had been the wife of Uriah. Solomon became the father of Rehoboam, Rehoboam the father of Abijah, Abijah the father of Asaph. Asaph became the father of Jehoshaphat, Jehoshaphat the father of Joram, Joram the father of Uzziah. Uzziah became the father of Jotham, Jotham the father of Ahaz, Ahaz the father of Hezekiah. Hezekiah became the father of Manasseh, Manasseh the father of Amos, Amos the father of Josiah. Josiah became the father of Jechoniah and his brothers at the time of the Babylonian exile.
After the Babylonian exile, Jechoniah became the father of Shealtiel, Shealtiel the father of Zerubbabel, Zerubbabel the father of Abiud. Abiud became the father of Eliakim, Eliakim the father of Azor, Azor the father of Zadok. Zadok became the father of Achim, Achim the father of Eliud, Eliud the father of Eleazar. Eleazar became the father of Matthan, Matthan the father of Jacob, Jacob the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary. Of her was born Jesus who is called the Christ.
Thus the 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.
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The total number of generations from Abraham to Christ is 42, and a lot happened throughout these generations, some good, some bad. Some people did well, others did not. Some were good, some were not. And yet, Jesus came from these generations.
There is a saying that history repeats itself, i.e., if the father is a drunkard, the son will be too. Although this is also true, it isn’t true ALL THE TIME. When someone who used to be bad is enlightened, and by the grace of the Holy Spirit is able to change his/her ways, and passes on the enlightement to the next generation then history will not have to repeat itself, and hopefully this will be passed on to future generations.
Sometimes, we are so bothered about our roots. We are ashamed to let people know where we come from, especially if we have notorious relatives. Sometimes, we also blame our negative tendencies on our ancestors, saying we got it from them. WE ARE WHAT WE ALLOW OURSELVES TO BE. Grace from God is super-abundant. It is for us to put it into good use.
Jesus, you are our Lord and Saviour. Rule over our lives!
