3rd week of Advent, Tuesday – 17th December 2019 — Gospel: Mt 1,1-17
Jesus, as fulfillment of God’s design
The initial proclamation states boldly that Jesus is Son of David and Son of Abraham (1,1). Three messages are enunciated in both the titles. First Jesus is declared as an authentic king. As David’s descendant he is the legitimate ruler of God’s people. He is the long-awaited Messiah, David’s ultimate successor. Second, Jesus is presented as an authentic Jew. Like all Jews, he is a son of Abraham. He is not a bearer of a divine message alone, but a Jew in whom Israel’s deepest hopes find fulfillment; i.e., in Abraham’s seed “all the nations” of the earth would be blessed (Gen 22,18; Mt 28,19). Thirdly, Jesus was truly David’s son, not by the natural process of male procreation but by the direct will of God. This is pointed out in the genealogy, where in “holy irregularities” are cited in God’s orderly plan. These represent discontinuities within the continuity of salvation history, i.e., God writes straight with crooked lines. Jesus is born of the royal line within the flow of history, but as Messiah he not only concludes the old privileges but also opens up a new age.
