Fulfillment of the long-made promise
December 16, 2016
by Mico Pacheco
by Mico Pacheco
Poster by Mac Norhen Bornales and Dominic Dimapawi
The Gospel reading for the 17th of December is perhaps one of the longest and exhausting passages we will be hearing during our 9-day Misa de Gallo. Instead of a story or a parable, what St. Matthew gives us is a list of names, of generations from the line of King David. We will be hearing names, some of them are known to us, while many of those which will be mentioned are those which have very little knowledge of.
Jewish society gives importance to tracing one’s family roots or genealogy. In the practice of Judaism, the family tree is to be recited on the Sabbath, tracing one’s lineage until Father Abraham, whose sons populate the earth. The genealogy is a remembrance of those who have gone before, an act of reverence to the past and finding one’s way towards his origin in Abraham and in God. The genealogy also speaks of identity. To trace oneself to Abraham would be an acknowledgement of Jewish roots. This makes a person eligible to the rights and privileges of a Jew in Israel. Christ was a Jew. He enjoyed these rights when he was man. But his genealogy reveals to us a greater part of his identity – an affirmation to his great works and exemplary preaching – him being part of the line of David – which tells us that he is truly the Messiah.
The family tree of Jesus is not as perfect as one may think it to be. Not all the persons mentioned in the account of St. Matthew are people worth boasting. There may be great rulers and kings, preachers and prophets, but also there are those who have been known by their imperfections and sins, or perhaps just ordinary people, listed there for the sake of their participation in the line. Truly, this list is full of those we regard as “sinners and saints”. But why is that? We may end up asking: If God, through his volition, had chosen to prepare Mary, Mother of Jesus, before her birth, to be free from the stain of sin, why did he not choose to purify the line from which the Son of Man will come from? Sure we have Abraham in the list, but we have Jacob as well who stole the birthright from Essau. We have King David there as well, but apart from his nobility, didn’t he also plot the death of Uriah in order to take Bathsheba as his wife? Solomon, the great wise successor of David is also there but we all know that he has succumbed to paganism, in order to please his multiple wives.
We must understand a great point of this reading that we often dismiss as a cliché: we must understand that God has a reason for everything. This genealogy does not only pertain to this specific line of King David but this represents the whole of human history. All humans are from God, who is all-loving and all-good. Therefore, if we all come from a perfect being, shouldn’t we be sharing in his perfection forever? The problem of evil states this question in order to see whether the imperfection of humanity would contradict the perfection of God. St. Augustine would tell us that God, the all perfect-being, emanates to us his goodness and his perfections, but we are only created beings – finite beings. We receive God’s perfections but due to our finitude, we fail to account to the fullness of his grace. Man errs not only due to his finitude but also of his volition. He may opt not to abide with what God wills for him and since God grants him free will, he has the liberty to choose. As a quote attributed to the same Doctor of the Church says: “The God who created you cannot save you without your cooperation” – which means that for our salvation, man must will it himself.
The genealogy shows Christ truly coming from the human race. This shows that God is not distant but rather affixes himself so close to man that in the historical lineage of he who would be the “Word Incarnate”, we would see so much human imperfection. There is a historical development in this list – from great Abraham we see holiness and God’s favor – and as the list goes on we see those of the righteous and those of the sinners. At the same time, human history has walked in grace and stumbled in sin. But God, who is all-loving and merciful, sent his Son to save all peoples from being perpetually enslaved by sin. After a long list of sinners and saints we see Christ as the fulfillment of this long-made promise. He acknowledges the great gains of his righteous ancestors and amends the wrongs they have done – just as he has salvaged humanity from sinfulness. Christ, as he is truly God, is shown here as truly part of the human family.
Lastly, we return to the question of why God not chose to purify the line from which the Messiah will come from. Perhaps, it was a necessary occasion for God to show his greatness by working through those which seem to be hopeless and sinful. Jacob stole the birthright, but God worked through him and there came generations of holy people. King David was favored by God but he fell into sin, but God chose to work through him as he repented and returned to the embrace of the Father. We are not a hopeless case. Humanity finds hope in the Lord. How our hearts yearn for the love of our Lord in the midst of society’s flaws and imperfections. Advent tells us not to despair – for God gives us hope – and the fact that he has worked through the wretched means that he too may work through us only if we allow God into our lives. May our preparation for the birthday of Jesus, through the 9 days of Simbang Gabi bring us closer to him and help us acknowledge that despite our sinfulness, God can work through us. Let us not despair but live with hope – for this human history of sins and imperfections were of a happy fault which deserved so great a Savior – Christ the Lord, the Emmanuel – God-with-us, fulfillment of the long-made promise of salvation.
Jewish society gives importance to tracing one’s family roots or genealogy. In the practice of Judaism, the family tree is to be recited on the Sabbath, tracing one’s lineage until Father Abraham, whose sons populate the earth. The genealogy is a remembrance of those who have gone before, an act of reverence to the past and finding one’s way towards his origin in Abraham and in God. The genealogy also speaks of identity. To trace oneself to Abraham would be an acknowledgement of Jewish roots. This makes a person eligible to the rights and privileges of a Jew in Israel. Christ was a Jew. He enjoyed these rights when he was man. But his genealogy reveals to us a greater part of his identity – an affirmation to his great works and exemplary preaching – him being part of the line of David – which tells us that he is truly the Messiah.
The family tree of Jesus is not as perfect as one may think it to be. Not all the persons mentioned in the account of St. Matthew are people worth boasting. There may be great rulers and kings, preachers and prophets, but also there are those who have been known by their imperfections and sins, or perhaps just ordinary people, listed there for the sake of their participation in the line. Truly, this list is full of those we regard as “sinners and saints”. But why is that? We may end up asking: If God, through his volition, had chosen to prepare Mary, Mother of Jesus, before her birth, to be free from the stain of sin, why did he not choose to purify the line from which the Son of Man will come from? Sure we have Abraham in the list, but we have Jacob as well who stole the birthright from Essau. We have King David there as well, but apart from his nobility, didn’t he also plot the death of Uriah in order to take Bathsheba as his wife? Solomon, the great wise successor of David is also there but we all know that he has succumbed to paganism, in order to please his multiple wives.
We must understand a great point of this reading that we often dismiss as a cliché: we must understand that God has a reason for everything. This genealogy does not only pertain to this specific line of King David but this represents the whole of human history. All humans are from God, who is all-loving and all-good. Therefore, if we all come from a perfect being, shouldn’t we be sharing in his perfection forever? The problem of evil states this question in order to see whether the imperfection of humanity would contradict the perfection of God. St. Augustine would tell us that God, the all perfect-being, emanates to us his goodness and his perfections, but we are only created beings – finite beings. We receive God’s perfections but due to our finitude, we fail to account to the fullness of his grace. Man errs not only due to his finitude but also of his volition. He may opt not to abide with what God wills for him and since God grants him free will, he has the liberty to choose. As a quote attributed to the same Doctor of the Church says: “The God who created you cannot save you without your cooperation” – which means that for our salvation, man must will it himself.
The genealogy shows Christ truly coming from the human race. This shows that God is not distant but rather affixes himself so close to man that in the historical lineage of he who would be the “Word Incarnate”, we would see so much human imperfection. There is a historical development in this list – from great Abraham we see holiness and God’s favor – and as the list goes on we see those of the righteous and those of the sinners. At the same time, human history has walked in grace and stumbled in sin. But God, who is all-loving and merciful, sent his Son to save all peoples from being perpetually enslaved by sin. After a long list of sinners and saints we see Christ as the fulfillment of this long-made promise. He acknowledges the great gains of his righteous ancestors and amends the wrongs they have done – just as he has salvaged humanity from sinfulness. Christ, as he is truly God, is shown here as truly part of the human family.
Lastly, we return to the question of why God not chose to purify the line from which the Messiah will come from. Perhaps, it was a necessary occasion for God to show his greatness by working through those which seem to be hopeless and sinful. Jacob stole the birthright, but God worked through him and there came generations of holy people. King David was favored by God but he fell into sin, but God chose to work through him as he repented and returned to the embrace of the Father. We are not a hopeless case. Humanity finds hope in the Lord. How our hearts yearn for the love of our Lord in the midst of society’s flaws and imperfections. Advent tells us not to despair – for God gives us hope – and the fact that he has worked through the wretched means that he too may work through us only if we allow God into our lives. May our preparation for the birthday of Jesus, through the 9 days of Simbang Gabi bring us closer to him and help us acknowledge that despite our sinfulness, God can work through us. Let us not despair but live with hope – for this human history of sins and imperfections were of a happy fault which deserved so great a Savior – Christ the Lord, the Emmanuel – God-with-us, fulfillment of the long-made promise of salvation.