Matthew 1: 1-25
[Now is proclaimed the beginning of the whole
Gospel, according to Matthew in the first chapter.]
This is the book of the
new creation, which has happened through Jesus Christ [or, the generation of
Jesus Christ], a son of David, who is a son of Abraham.
Abraham was the father of Isaac,
Isaac the father of Jacob,
Jacob the father of Judah and
his brothers,
Judah the father of Perez and
Zerah, whose mother was Tamar,
Perez the father of Hezron,
Hezron the father of Ram,
Ram the father of Amminadab,
Amminadab the father of
Nahshon,
Nahshon the father of Salmon,
Salmon the father of Boaz, whose
mother was Rahab,
Boaz the father of Obed, whose
mother was Ruth,
Obed the father of Jesse,
and Jesse the father of King
David.
David was the father of
Solomon, whose mother had been Uriah’s wife,
Solomon the father of Rehoboam,
Rehoboam the father of Abijah,
Abijah the father of Asa,
Asa the father of Jehoshaphat,
Jehoshaphat the father of
Jehoram,
Jehoram the father of Uzziah,
Uzziah the father of Jotham,
Jotham the father of Ahaz,
Ahaz the father of Hezekiah,
Hezekiah the father of Manasseh,
Manasseh the father of Amon,
Amon the father of Josiah,
and Josiah the father of
Jeconiah[c] and his brothers at the time of the exile to Babylon.
After the exile to Babylon:
Jeconiah was the father of
Shealtiel,
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| Meta Schiller, via Arie Boogert |
Shealtiel the father of
Zerubbabel,
Zerubbabel the father of Abihud,
Abihud the father of Eliakim,
Eliakim the father of Azor,
Azor the father of Zadok,
Zadok the father of Akim,
Akim the father of Elihud,
Elihud the father of Eleazar,
Eleazar the father of Matthan,
Matthan the father of Jacob,
and Jacob the father of Joseph,
the husband of Mary, and Mary was the mother of Jesus who is called the
Messiah.
From Abraham to David are fourteen generations, from David to the
deportation to Babylon are fourteen generations, and from the exile in Babylon
to Christ are fourteen generations.
The birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way: Mary, his mother, was
betrothed to Joseph. But before they were aware of having come together, she
conceived a child by the power of the Holy Spirit. Joseph however, her husband,
who was an upright man and did not want to expose her to public disgrace, was
considering whether he should quietly set her free [or, decided to consider all
this a mystery.] As he was pondering this, behold the angel of
the Lord appeared
before him in a dream and said to him:
“Joseph, son of David, do not be
afraid to take Mary as your wife, because that which is to be born of her is
conceived out of the power of the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son, and you
shall give him the name Jesus, that is, the Bringer of Healing, for he it will
be who will heal his own of their error and guilt. “
All this took place so that the word of the Lord, spoken by the mouth of
the prophet, might be fulfilled:
“A virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and they will call his name
Immanuel, that is, God in our midst.”
Now when Joseph rose from his sleep he did as the angel of the Lord
directed him, and he took Mary to himself as his wife, and he knew her not
until she bore her son, and he gave him the name Jesus.
December
25, 2009
Christmas I, Midnight
In the beginning, before the earth had form, God said, ‘Let
there be light.’ Genesis 1:3. Light was
God’s first creation. On the fourth day, He creates the lights in the firmament
of the heavens, the greater light, the sun to rule the day, the lesser light
for the night, and the stars. 1 Genesis 18 Gazing at sun, moon and stars with openness
of soul, we can sense the immensity of God, see the radiance of His glory in
their shining faces. On the 6th day. God calls to His angels, calls to
the light beings of sun, moon and stars, and says, ‘Let us make the human being
in our image, after our likeness.’ Genesis 1: 26.
The cosmic Human Being, a great, radiant, living being formed of rainbow
starlight, emerges from the bosom of God. He is a being woven of light.
This great cosmic image is then given earthly form in Adam
and Eve. But gradually, the cosmic radiance in human beings begins to dim. The
earth and all upon it falls into increasing chaos and destruction. God beholds
how tarnished and tattered, how nearly unrecognizable the image of the Human
Being has become in the hands of earthly human beings. And He knows that
humankind needs a new, a fresh copy of His divine blueprint.
So over long generations He prepares another couple, for a
new creation. And out of His bosom He sends them a pure spirit. And with him He
sends a never-before-used version of the great cosmic Human Being. He imprints
this image into the spirit’s heart. And He sends it to be born to the couple as
a tiny child. The child is born in the darkness of midnight , in a cave. But nothing can disguise the gentle intensity
of the gathered sunlight, the moonlight, the starlight that shines from His
eyes.
The cosmic light of the origins of the human being shines
from his eyes in promise. The Glory of God in the heights has come down to
earth. It has entered into a human being. Through Christ, all of mankind has
received a light-seed, a seed to plant and grow in our hearts. We have been
given a promise, which is ours to fulfill. For:
When nights are darkest
The earth enshrines
The seeds of summer’s birth
The spirit of man
Is a light that shines
Deep in the darkness of earth.[1]
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