,
Perez was the father of Hezron, and Hezron of Aram. Aram was the father of Aminadab, Aminadab of Nahshon, Nahshon of Salmon.
(...) Jesse was the father of David, the king. David was the father of Solomon. His mother had been Uriah’s wife. (...) After the deportation to Babylon
Jechoniah was the father of Salathiel and Salathiel of Zerubbabel. Zerubbabel was the father of Abiud, Abiud of Eliakim, and Eliakim of Azor. Azor was
the father of Zadok, Zadok the father of Akim, and Akim the father of Eliud. Eliud was the father of Eleazar, Eleazar of Matthan, and Matthan of Jacob.
Jacob was the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary, and from her came Jesus who is called the Christ — the Messiah. There were then fourteen generations
in all from Abraham to David, and fourteen generations from David to the deportation to Babylon, and fourteen generations from the deportation to Babylon to the
birth of Christ.
Reflection:
How human can the Son of God be? His lineage
is listed until His birth. And it is peopled by humans that
are good and bad. There is no whitewashing of His
genealogy. It is laid bare to show us that He comes
from a human family with its own share of good and bad.
There is also neatness in the arrangement of His ancestors.
They are evenly divided according to some arbitrary
timelines from Abraham to David to the deportation
to Babylon until the birth of Jesus. This mathematically
precise division is of symbolic worth. For numbers have their
own meanings in the Jewish tradition. And fourteen which
is the double of the perfect number seven certainly
drives a point in the mind and consciousness of those
who understand. Therefore, the gospel writers are artists
more than just mere writers. They paint with words. It
takes creativity to unlock the hidden meanings embedded
in the gospels rather than literal understanding only.
© Copyright Bible Diary 2021