Commentary on the Gospel of
Lord Jesus, sanctifier of our family lineage
- Jacob bless his son, Judah
- Our Lord’s family tree
- Christ sanctifies our lineage
Jacob, the man who fought with the angel and ended up blessed by the angel; the giver of the famous Jacob’s well – the unique unifying point of the Jews and Samaritans as the Samaritan woman reminded the Lord. This well documents the love story of Jacob’s parents, and reminds us particularly of his beloved mother, Rebecca who had to trick her aging husband Isaac on behalf of Jacob; Jacob, the man who became Israel, in today’s reading blesses his son Judah. Dear friends, the father of the family re-echoes God’s blessings: ‘the sceptre shall not depart from Judah.’ This blessing is accomplished in Christ the Lord whose coming we await.
The genealogy according to Matthew reminds us of the linear of this promise fulfilled in the Lord Jesus Christ. We are presented with a photographic album of our Lord’s family tree. What remains very striking in this genealogy is that none is excluded: the good, the bad and the ugly – all are recognized.
Each of us owes a lot to the family that produced him or her! It’s like Matthew is saying: the Christ who comes, is the Sanctifier of his own lineage. He comes to straighten out the crooked ancestry. It is therefore quite exciting that He, Christ the Lord, through baptism brings you and I into oneness with himself; such that, presenting our ancestry to God, Christ sanctifies it. Genetically we carry our ancestral inheritance with us. When the Lord Jesus touches and heals, He touches and heals holistically – let us not hesitate in bringing our family trees to Him, right from the root!
Through the intercession of our Mother Mary who was recognized in the genealogy, let us represent our families to the Lord: biological, psychological and spiritual families in readiness for his sanctification as He comes to us.
