Gospel Mt 1:1-17 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. Todays gospel may seem mind blowingly boring. But there is one interesting thing about it I found today. Amidst all the wonderful people who were Christs forebears are three ladies , in fact the only three ladies {apart from Our Blessed Mother} mentioned and they are all ladies of ill repute' I think in this Our Laird wants to remind us of His great ,great love for sinners. So much indeed that He wants to remind us that even His forbears were sinners. He is always reaching a hand down and out to us. Rahab, for instance, may have been a temple prostitute, which in Canaanite eyes was an acceptable line of work (2000, p. 190). Rahab and her family lived within the outer city wall. Her house was apparently part of the wall. It is possible that the house doubled as an inn since the spies were sought there. Besides her infamous profession, it appears that Rahab engaged in less-questionable labor as well. Either raising or buying flax, she dried it on her rooftop and made linen from it. The whole city had received news about the miraculous events and conquests of the wandering nation of Israel, yet Rahab was the only resident of Jericho who resolved to fear and obey Israel's God. This she did even before she had the opportunity to interact with the spies from Israel. Although the Canaanites had many gods, she had enough understanding to realize that the God of Israel was no ordinary Canaanite deity. Upon entering Jericho to determine its strength, the spies conferred immediately with Rahab. The ensuing conversation revealed her understanding of the true God and her determination to help His chosen people. When the king of Jericho heard that spies from Israel had entered his city, he immediately sent soldiers to Rahab's house. Word got to Rahab that the king's men were coming to investigate her and her two guests. Understanding the gravity of the situation and moving with haste, Rahab hid the spies under the drying flax on her rooftop. There she made a covenant with them: She would help them to safety; they, in turn, had to spare her and her family. The spies then negotiated their side of the agreement: She had to keep their location a secret along with helping them to safety. Moreover, she was required to gather all of her father's family under her roof and identify her house by hanging a scarlet cord from a window. The deal struck, God afterward gave Jericho into Israel's hands by flattening its walls. Yet, incredibly, Rahab's house was left standing. As had been agreed, Rahab and her family were delivered. They made their home with Israel from that day on. But later Rahab is praised by Saint Paul in the Letter to the Hebrews as an example of a woman of faith.
Most of the man were great sinners - David for example killing his own warrior to take his wife and cover up their sins. The list goes on and our God forgives and kept his promise to keep the blood line of David. Cecil
Yes Cecil, I suppose when you get down to it everyone is a sinner. In fact in Scripture the greatest sinners seem to make the greatest Saints..Saint Paul killing Christians, Saint Peter betraying Christ, the Apostles running away.. The list of the forerunners of Christ is Patriarchal and when Saint Matthew abandons this to mention women I think he is doing this for a special reason. When he mentions Mary, the Mother of Jesus He is , for example underlining the importance of Mary. I think when he mentions the other three women he is pointing to something important to, maybe in relation to Our lady too. For instance women would not usually be mentioned at all in such a list, it is the men who would be mentioned. So he is opening the door to women. But in opening the door to these particular women he is opening the door to the Gentiles, to sinners and I think to devotion to Our Lady too. He is saying anything is possible to God, open your minds a little.. Any how I might be wrong , just a thought. I know some writers point the door to the Early Church as being the great door opener to women being no longer treated as chattel, this reading might underline this. However its not really what I was thinking of, it was more the fact that with God all things are possible, don't get stuck in a groove and this is what Saint Matthew was getting at...
