Matthew
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.
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Reflection:
Can you
still trace back your own family tree?
The
family tree of Jesus is not all righteous some were sinners like us, for
example King David committed adultery with a woman named Bathsheba. There were
other sinners in His family tree but God chose to imbed Jesus in that lineage.
The
incarnate God our Emmanuel wants to dwell in us too it doesn’t matter who we
are or how sinful we are. He just wants to be with us so that we could find peace
and hope in our lives. Peace and hope which are sorely lacking in our lives
today.
As you
trace back your own family tree you surely would find imperfections amongst
them. But it should not dishearten you for the simple reason that nobody is
perfect in this world. Even you are not perfect, notwithstanding your own
imperfections always believe that the Good Lord has a plan for your life.
And that
plan is for you to have a personal relationship with Him. God is very excited
to have a personal encounter with you! He wants you to become His close
confidant. So that you’ll always have someone to run to whenever you’re being
enveloped by the trials of this world.
This
advent season, allow Jesus to come into your life and strive also to live your
life worthy for His coming birth. Don’t think anymore of your sins for everyone
of us are sinners think rather of Jesus unconditional love which is always
available for you. - Marino J.
Dasmarinas