Tuesday of the Third Week of Advent

Lectionary: 193

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.

Today, the Church leads us into the deeper, most solemn chambers of Advent, this temple that has come to us. We enter these rooms like nineteenth century explorers in King Tut's tomb, with torches that can barely illuminate the wonders around us. Our intellect provides only a feeble light against these treasures but some of them glow and sparkle nonetheless. We must ask the Holy Spirit to take us by the hand and guide us, and then point out what we should understand.

The first thing we see, at the entrance, are the words of Jacob, "Assemble and listen, sons of Jacob, listen to Israel, your father." We are never alone in God's presence; we come as an assembly, as church. We come because the Spirit of God gathers us, and we come to listen. There is a hush in the Temple of Advent, like that of a Gothic cathedral with its massive walls, which shuts out the cacophony of the world's "christmas."

We listen to the Patriarch Jacob/Israel, the father of the twelve tribes of Israel, and by listening inherit the promise he gave to his children. The promise concerns the Messiah,

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."

Jacob predicted that a descendant of his son Judah would be a king of a nation. The prophecy was initially fulfilled when the shepherd/warrior David became king of the twelve tribes and established his royal city in Jerusalem.

But the prophetic Word of God was not so easily satisfied. The One must be more than a king; he will also be priest and prophet; he will be anointed ("messiah"). And he will be revealed as the Son of God. But no one takes these honors upon himself but only when called by God, just as Aaron was.​Jesus is always the Obedient Son of God, accepting both cross and crown.

The opening verses of Saint Matthew's Gospel connect that ancient incident -- Jacob's last words -- to the present moment with a careful record of Judah's descendants. The prophetic Word of God did not fall into the silence to suddenly resound a thousand years later. Rather, it directed a historical procession through forty generations, from Judah to Jesus. Like the apostolic succession of bishops in the Roman Catholic Church to the present day, the Word of God has a traceable history from father to son. God leaves nothing to chance.

The genealogy honors an unhappy past even as it anticipates a glorious future. We remember not only that we have been sinned against -- ...even pagans do as much...-- we also remember we have sinned. The list must include the rogues, both male and female. Why wouldn't it? Like that of everyone else, Jesus' genealogy can be embarrassing. The only righteous one is God; the rest of us cannot hold a candle to God unless we do it on bended knee.

Entering Advent like a Gothic cathedral, we take our place and wait for its revelation. In a medieval legend the Holy Grail circled King Arthur's round table, hovering over each knight's plate, and furnishing it with precisely the food that knight required. In every case it was satisfying and delightful. Advent prepares us for the Feast of Christmas when we will be fed the most satisfying Bread of Heaven.