Today we celebrate the Sunday of the holy Fathers of our Lord, Jesus Christ. On this day, we hear the genealogy of our Lord from the Gospel according to St. Matthew, which details His lineage from Abraham, the father of the Jewish race, through Joseph, His earthly protector, called His father as he was the betrothed of the Theotokos, and of the lineage of David. There is a great deal of wonderful information to be learned from this passage, and not nearly enough time to explore more than a thought or two today.
We learn from the genealogy that the history of our Lord’s advent can be divided into three periods, which the Evangelist calls, “generations”: The period when the Jews were ruled by judges, before the anointing of Saul and David as the first two kings; the period when the people were ruled by kings, from the time of Saul and then David until being taken away into captivity in Babylon, as the line of kings came to an end; and the period when the people were ruled by priests, which began with the exile, and continued to the time of the coming of our Lord.
Our Lord’s coming was the fulfilling of a number of promises that had been made to God’s people during these times. The first promise, given to Adam and Eve at the time they were expelled from the Garden of Eden, was that God would send a deliverer who would crush the head of Satan. Jacob, the grandson of Abraham, foretold that there would always be a ruler of the people from the line of Judah; and that the line would not fail until Christ came. When Herod the Great, who was not a Jew, became the “king of the Jews” under Roman rule, the line of Judah failed – and Christ came. When the people clamored for a king to rule over them, instead of the judges, the prophet Samuel condemned them for failing to recognize that God is their king; but anointed Saul, and then David, because the people would not repent. Yet it was also foretold of the One who would come of the line of David to rule over the people in God’s name. Likewise, Isaiah, in the time of the exile, was one of the prophets who told the people that there would come to them Emmanuel, God with us, and of the Suffering Servant.
The judges were not enough to bring righteousness to the people of God. Neither could the kings do this, nor could the priests. Each had their part to play in preparing the people for the Messiah Who was to come – and He is the true Judge, for He will judge the world. He is the true King, for all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Him. He is the true Priest, for He offers Himself as the sacrifice for our sins.
Now we live in the age after our Lord’s birth, ministry, passion, death, and resurrection. He is our Prophet; He is our Priest; He is our King. As such, surely we should live differently than did the people of God before His coming; but we, just as they, are too connected to pursuing our lives in this world, too busy obtaining the things of this world, to lift our eyes to the heavens, and call upon His name, and seek to show forth His life in us, even though He has given us every good thing. Brothers and sisters, this should not be.
Our King and Savior draweth nigh; and soon, we will celebrate the feast of His coming to us. Let us come to adore Him, as the shepherds did, as the wise men did. Let us also be wise, and repent of our sins, and seek God’s grace to transform our lives. Let us also be believing, as the shepherds were, and come in faith and awe and wonder; and find Him, not only in the manger long ago, but living as well in the manger of our hearts; and let us also make Him known throughout the world, by letting others see Him in us.
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