Jesus: Royal And Divine

𝐃𝐄𝐂. 𝟏𝟕, 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟓: 𝟐𝐧𝐝 𝐍𝐎𝐕𝐄𝐍𝐀 𝐌𝐀𝐒𝐒

𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐈: 𝐆𝐞𝐧 𝟒𝟗:𝟐, 𝟖-𝟏𝟎

𝐑𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐏𝐬𝐚𝐥𝐦: 𝐏𝐬𝐚 𝟕𝟐:𝟏-𝟒, 𝟕-𝟖, 𝟏𝟕 “𝐉𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐟𝐥𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐡 𝐢𝐧 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐟𝐮𝐥𝐥𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫.”

𝐆𝐎𝐒𝐏𝐄𝐋: 𝐌𝐀𝐓𝐓 𝟏:𝟏-𝟏𝟕

𝐊𝐞𝐲 𝐕𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐞: “𝐀 𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐫𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐨𝐠𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐉𝐞𝐬𝐮𝐬 𝐂𝐡𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐃𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐝, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐀𝐛𝐫𝐚𝐡𝐚𝐦.” (𝐯.𝟏) 

         The Gospel today shows us the importance of the family tree since it tells us exactly not only our ancestry but also our family lineage. You may not know it but there could be a distinct possibility that some or one of us may have some royal blood running in your veins.

         It may seem difficult to go back and track your family’s history but it is relatively important if you are desirous of knowing more of your family roots, your background and just about everything about your family. Such may also provide you with important data on family behavior, mannerisms and conduct.

         This arduous task of getting into your family history was made by the Mormon Church or what we know as the The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Over the years which had become part of their missionary activity, the Mormon Church was able to piece together the family tree of most Filipino families. And there is a chance you will be able to find your family history in their library at their Main Church in Quezon City.        

         Many times too, people who go to attend the Mass in a Catholic Church will ask why we need to go through the Family Tree or what is referred to as the genealogy of Jesus Christ. What is its significance? Why is it important for us to at least know something about the family history of Jesus?

         Another question in your mind perhaps is of what use was the genealogy of Jesus. For us modern-day Christians we will probably struggle to find its relevance with regards to our faith. Matthew, however, has a valid reason for coming out with the lineage of Christ. One was that the Gospel of Matthew was principally directed towards the Jews who as a people were particularly interested in genealogies.

         By presenting the family lineage of Jesus, Matthew’s objective was to convince the Jewish people that Jesus indeed was the Messiah that they have been waiting for and this was the reason why the genealogy of Jesus as presented by Matthew was divided into three sections – 1) 𝘔𝘢𝘯 𝘣𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘪𝘮𝘢𝘨𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘎𝘰𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘴𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘋𝘢𝘷𝘪𝘥 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘧𝘪𝘦𝘥 𝘐𝘴𝘳𝘢𝘦𝘭 𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯; 2) 𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘥 𝘨𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘱 𝘰𝘧 𝘑𝘦𝘴𝘶𝘴’ 𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘴 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘚𝘰𝘭𝘰𝘮𝘰𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘑𝘦𝘸𝘴 𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘨𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘦𝘹𝘪𝘭𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘉𝘢𝘣𝘺𝘭𝘰𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘢𝘪𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢 𝘔𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘢𝘩, 𝘢𝘯𝘥; 3) 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘳𝘥 𝘨𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘣𝘦𝘨𝘢𝘯 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘑𝘦𝘸𝘴 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘦𝘹𝘪𝘭𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘳𝘦𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘶𝘱 𝘵𝘰 𝘑𝘢𝘤𝘰𝘣, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘧 𝘑𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘱𝘩, 𝘩𝘶𝘴𝘣𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘔𝘢𝘳𝘺, 𝘰𝘧 𝘸𝘩𝘰𝘮 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘣𝘰𝘳𝘯 𝘑𝘦𝘴𝘶𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘪𝘴 𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘊𝘩𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘵.        

         With this genealogy, Matthew was telling the Jews that Jesus was the fulfillment of the prophecy that Jesus was the true Messiah having descended from both Abraham (𝐆𝐞𝐧 𝟐𝟐:𝟏𝟖) and David (𝐈𝐬𝐚 𝟏𝟏:𝟏-𝟐). This genealogy also erased all doubts about the origin of Jesus because his claim as a descendant of the throne of David was both legal by virtue of his adoption by Joseph who was a descendant of Solomon and natural on account of his birth by Mary, a descendant of Nathan.

         How then can this genealogy of Jesus Christ be useful to us in this age. What we all can deduct from the beginning of Matthew’s Gospel is the assurance that God always keeps his promises. Throughout the Scriptures, we read of God’s promises and what is remarkable was that God always keeps his word.

          Notwithstanding the tragedy and disasters that struck the Jews, they never got tired of waiting and with expectant hope they knew that a descendant from the throne of David will come and lead them to the glory that they firmly believed to be theirs by right and inheritance.

         With this genealogy, you will see that Jesus was indeed the fulfillment of God’s promise to send a Messiah that we may all be saved. The Scriptures also assures us that Jesus was not only the hope of the people of the Old Covenant but more so our hope in today’s post-modern world that is wracked by perversion and sin. The proposed Law on Divorce can easily fall in this category because to usurp the authority of God with regards to the flow of life is a sin as it runs counter to what the Sacred Scriptures say.

          The most significant aspect of the coming of Christ is that he brings with him the Grace from heaven that will restore us into the fullness of his glory when “𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐰𝐢𝐩𝐞 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐭𝐞𝐚𝐫 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐞𝐲𝐞𝐬. 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐛𝐞 𝐧𝐨 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐡 𝐨𝐫 𝐦𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐫 𝐜𝐫𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐫 𝐩𝐚𝐢𝐧, 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐥𝐝 𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐩𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐰𝐚𝐲.” (𝐑𝐞𝐯 𝟐𝟏:𝟒)           

         But this Grace that Christ will apportion to us must be met with a corresponding response. It cannot be that we will just be a receiving people because salvation is a two-way process. God will keep his promise and grant us eternal salvation but this is contingent on our response that is anchored on our doing his Will.

         With this genealogy, Our Lord Jesus Christ invites us to a deeper realization that we too are somehow grafted into the family tree of Jesus by virtue of our adoption as sons and daughters of God. “𝐈 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐛𝐞 𝐚 𝐅𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐛𝐞 𝐦𝐲 𝐬𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐝𝐚𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬, 𝐬𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐋𝐨𝐫𝐝 𝐀𝐥𝐦𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐲.” (𝟐 𝐂𝐨𝐫 𝟔:𝟏𝟖)        

         Thus, this Christmas Season should not just remind us of the coming of salvation into the world but it should continually remind us of God’s mercy and kindness as well as his assurance that in whatever state we are in, God will keep his promise to us as he did in his promise to Abraham.

         Our adoption by God and our being made a continuation of Christ’s genealogy is because God himself had declared that we are: “𝐚 𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐞𝐧 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞, 𝐚 𝐫𝐨𝐲𝐚𝐥 𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐝, 𝐚 𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐲 𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧, 𝐚 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐆𝐨𝐝, 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐦𝐚𝐲 𝐝𝐞𝐜𝐥𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐬𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐡𝐢𝐦 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐝𝐚𝐫𝐤𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐰𝐨𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐟𝐮𝐥 𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭.” (𝟐 𝐏𝐞𝐭 𝟗)        

         As we prepare for the coming of Our Lord who is the manifestation of God’s love for us, let us remove any doubt we may be entertaining in our minds as to our heavenly inheritance.

         There shouldn’t be any question that we have all been created in the image and likeness of God (𝐆𝐞𝐧 𝟏:𝟐𝟔) and this was further confirmed by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit who in our baptism also infused in us the three Theological Virtues of Faith, Hope and Charity. This presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives is what makes us partakers of his divine nature (𝟐 𝐏𝐞𝐭 𝟏:𝟒). (𝘌𝘥 𝘔𝘢𝘭𝘢𝘺 – 𝘋𝘦𝘤. 17, 2025)