Friday of the Third Week of Advent

A reading from the beginning of the holy Gospel according to Matthew

The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, teh son of Abraham.

Abraham was the father of Isaac, and Isaac the father of Jacob, and Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers, and Judah the father of Perez and Zerah by Tamar, and Perez the father of Hezron, and Hezron the father of Ram, and Ram the father of of Ammiadab, and Amminadab the father of Nahshon, and Nahshon the father of Salmon, and Salmon the father of Boaz by Rahab, and Boaz the father of Obed by Ruth, and Obed the father of Jesse, and Jesse the father of David the king.  

And David was the father of Solomon by the wife of Uriah, and Solomon the father of Rehoboam, and Rehoboam the father of Abijah, and Abijah the father of Asa, and Asa the father of Jehoshaphat, and Jehoshaphat the father of Joram, and Joram the father of Uzziah, and Uzziah the father of Jotham, and Jotham the father of Ahaz, and Ahaz the father of Hezekiah, and Hezekiah the father of Manasseh, and Manassah the father of Amos, and Amos the father of Josah, and Josiah the father of Jechoniah and his brothers, at the time of the deportation to Babylon.  

And after the deportation to Babylon:  Jechoniah was the father of Shealtie, and Shealtiel the father of Zerubbabel, and Zerbbabel teh father of Abiud, and Abiud the father of Eliakim, and Eliakim the father of Azor, and Azor the father of Zadok, and Zadok the father of Achim, and Achim the father of Eliud, and Eliud the father of Eleazar, and Eleazar the father of Matthan, and Matthan the father of Jacob, and Jacob the fathe of Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom Jesus was born, who is called Christ.

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.  

I love this genealogy of Jesus!  Prior to studying the Bible, I thought this was the most boring part, and I always skipped over it.  I thought it was an artifact of the Scripture's antiquity... surely no longer something we would be interested in.  Once I studied the Old Testament, I could read this genealogy and have an inkling of the rich history contained in those names.  I hadn't understood how many of these people were deeply flawed characters.  I have a few favorites in the list, of course - I am a human with my own likes and dislikes.  As a woman (and not a feminist), I love that there are women in Jesus' genealogy, which was very unusual for that time.  And the women included are awesome.  How would I pick a favorite of them?  Well, I couldn't.  But I have to say that when we studied Rahab and were told that she was a part of the genealogy, I was astounded.

Probably most people find comfort in the great and inspirational heroes of the Old and New Testaments, but I take comfort in the weakest and most flawed, who were still found worthy to serve some useful purpose.  That gives me great hope.

It is snowing outside and I am thrilled.  On the front range of the Rockies, in Colorado, we have had just a trace of snow so far this year.  I have longed for the arrival of winter weather.  It looks like we will have some.