Jacob the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary.
Of her was born Jesus who is called the Christ.
There are many reasons why the genealogy of Christ is important, although it is easy to pay it little attention. Firstly, it shows us, that unlike mythological figures, Jesus is a person of history. He was born at a specific moment in time, in the "fullness of time" (see Galatian 4:4) as Paul tells us. Because Jesus is more than myth he was able to be what no myth could be. Coming at a specific moment from a specific lineage he was able to fulfill the promises God gave through the holy prophets. Jesus was able to bring the blessings first promised to Abraham because. After so many failed kings of Israel, after so many conquests, Jesus was the "horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David" as Zechariah prophesied. He was and remains the king from between whose legs the mace or scepter shall never depart.
The scepter shall never depart from Judah,
or the mace from between his legs,
While tribute is brought to him,
and he receives the people’s homage.
This same truth is what Gabriel declares to Mary.
And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end (see Luke 1:32-33).
The genealogy also shows that human agency plays a role in salvation. God chooses to work through men and women, sometimes deeply flawed, to achieve supernatural results. We look at the genealogy and we must see grace at work, for Jesus is more than the sum of any good genetics he inherited. Yet he, having descended from them, is truly man. We would think that on the one hand God's salvation might happen from a distance, untainted by man. Or that contrarily, he might perfect mankind over the course of ages so that his smooth and unencumbered entrance might bring forth salvation. But it is not quite either of these. Rather than remaining at either distance he becomes involved personally and immediately in history. He does so in a way that brings him shockingly close to mankind. He becomes Emmanuel, whose name means God with us.
Justice shall flower in his days,
and profound peace, till the moon be no more.
May he rule from sea to sea,
and from the River to the ends of the earth.
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