“Luke’s genealogy goes back to Adam. Even the Son of God cannot choose his relatives.”
by Ducky Paredes
The Gospels give us Jesus’ genealogy in both his father – Joseph’s and his mother Mary’s – line. Both sides trace his line back to King David and from there to Abraham.
The Gospel according to Matthew starts with King Solomon through the kings of Judea all the way to the last king, Jeconiah. This makes Jesus of royal blood and an heir to the throne of Judea.
Luke’s genealogy goes back to Adam. Even the Son of God cannot choose his relatives. Among those who were in his family tree before Jesus were the prostitutes Tamar (whose son by incest, Pharez, is in the direct line) and Rahab, the seduction of Boaz by Ruth, and the adulterous relationship of David and Bathsheba that resulted in the murder of her husband Uriah.
Joseph disappears from the narrative after Jesus’ childhood. He probably died before the “son” begun his work for his Father. But, Jesus had a lot of other relatives.
Both Matthew and Mark mention them. From the crowd that heard Jesus preach, someone asks: “Isn’t this the carpenter? Isn’t this Mary’s son and the brother of James, Joseph, Judas and Simon? Aren’t his sisters here with us?”
The apostle Paul, in his letter to the Galatians, notes: “I saw none of the other apostles—only James, the Lord’s brother.”
Other Jewish histories mention brothers and sisters who, according to speculation by some ancient texts, were Joseph’s children by a first marriage. Another way of looking at it is that these were his cousins since in the old days, terms used for cousins and brothers were sometimes interchangeable.
The Gospel of Luke records that Mary was a relative of Elizabeth, mother of John the Baptist.
According to Matthew and Luke, Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea to Mary, a virgin, by a miracle of the Holy Spirit. The Gospel of Luke gives an account of the angel Gabriel visiting Mary to tell her that she was chosen to bear the Son of God.
According to Luke, an order of Caesar Augustus forced Mary and Joseph to leave their homes in Nazareth and come to the home of Joseph’s ancestors, the house of David, for a census.
After Jesus’ birth the couple had to use a manger for a crib because there was no room for them in the town’s inn. According to Luke, an angel broadcast the news of Jesus’ birth to shepherds who came to see the newborn child and subsequently publicized throughout the area by these witnesses. Matthew also tells of the “Wise Men” or “Magi” bringing gifts to the infant Jesus after following a star which they believed was a sign that the Messiah, or King of the Jews, had been born.
That is the extent of what we know about the event that the Christian world has been celebrating for more than two thousand years. It is a beautiful story and an inspiring one that, even without the divinity of Jesus, ought to be an inspiration for public men.
Here is someone born in a food through for farm animals who made himself the most well-known and most loved person that this world has ever known. Yet, he never held public office nor did he ever assert his prodigious powers over anyone.
He owned nothing but what was essential for daily living. He also did wonderful miracles for which he was never paid nor did he ask for or expect any payment. He never fought a war; nor did he make any great discoveries or make products to market or earn a fortune for himself or his family or relatives, He said to everyone who would listen that we ought to love everyone as we love ourselves.
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An old man told me that it certainly didn’t feel like Christmas was coming at all. According to him, he felt no excitement and no spirit of Christmas in the air. In fact, he even had no money to celebrate the season.
I asked him if he had any children or grandchildren. He did have grandchildren — a girl of seven and a boy who was just four. But, why, he asked.
I told him to ask his grandchildren if they felt that Christmas was coming and whether they were excited over this fact. And, of course, I did not give him the money that he was hoping to get from talking to a total stranger about his feelings of despondency.
Why did he expect that I would reward his negative and totally materialistic attitude about one of the most glorious events that we have been celebrating as Christians for the last two thousand years?
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This is my last column before Christmas Eve. Malaya will have a Monday issue and take Christmas Day off. It will resume publication the day after Christmas. I wish all of our readers the best Christmas ever. I hope that you can celebrate it with your families. If like me, all of your children and grandchildren are in other places and even other continents, there is at least the phone (landline or cell phone) and the World Wide Web (email, chat or skype) by which you can let them know how much and how well you love them and how much you miss them.
Family is what Christmas is about. It is not about expensive gifts and fancy gadgets and doodads. These do not last very long. The love of our children and grandchildren will outlive us.
Merry Christmas and remember whose nativity it is we celebrate. Let us not forget the celebrant, not on his birthday.
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hvp (12.21.07)
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