Today's Gospel in Art - The Genealogy of Jesus the Messiah

The Tree of Jesse, by Master of James IV of Scotland,1510 © Getty Museum, Los Angeles

Gospel of 17th December 2020 - Matthew 1:1-17

An account of the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah, the son of David, the son of Abraham.

Abraham was the father of Isaac, and Isaac the father of Jacob, and Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers, and Judah the father of Perez and Zerah by Tamar, and Perez the father of Hezron, and Hezron the father of Aram, and Aram the father of Aminadab, and Aminadab the father of Nahshon, and Nahshon the father of Salmon, and Salmon the father of Boaz by Rahab, and Boaz the father of Obed by Ruth, and Obed the father of Jesse, and Jesse the father of King David.

And David was the father of Solomon by the wife of Uriah, and Solomon the father of Rehoboam, and Rehoboam the father of Abijah, and Abijah the father of Asaph, and Asaph the father of Jehoshaphat, and Jehoshaphat the father of Joram, and Joram the father of Uzziah, and Uzziah the father of Jotham, and Jotham the father of Ahaz, and Ahaz the father of Hezekiah, and Hezekiah the father of Manasseh, and Manasseh the father of Amos, and Amos the father of Josiah, and Josiah the father of Jechoniah and his brothers, at the time of the deportation to Babylon.

And after the deportation to Babylon: Jechoniah was the father of Salathiel, and Salathiel the father of Zerubbabel, and Zerubbabel the father of Abiud, and Abiud the father of Eliakim, and Eliakim the father of Azor, and Azor the father of Zadok, and Zadok the father of Achim, and Achim the father of Eliud, and Eliud the father of Eleazar, and Eleazar the father of Matthan, and Matthan the father of Jacob, and Jacob the father of Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom Jesus was born, who is called the Messiah.

So all the generations from Abraham to David are fourteen generations; and from David to the deportation to Babylon, fourteen generations; and from the deportation to Babylon to the Messiah, fourteen generations.

Reflection on the Illuminated Manuscript Page

In our Flemish illuminated manuscript page from 1510, we see the Old Testament figure Jesse, dressed in sumptuous medieval garments, reclining on a bed. A tree trunk grows out of him, its branches filling the page. Old Testament kings (most wearing crowns and carrying sceptres) occupy the branches. We can see King David holding the harp. The tree culminates in a blossoming lily holding the Virgin and Child within a golden aureole. The image is a visualisation of a prophecy of Isaiah: "And there will come forth a shoot out of the root of Jesse, and a flower will grow out of his root." But it also depicts the ancestry of Jesus in today's reading, as son of David.

This genealogy that Matthew outlines at the beginning of his Gospel spans the whole history of salvation, from Abraham on, through David, in six groups of seven names, seven being the perfect number for the Jewish people. The story culminates in Jesus, and His birth is what Israel has been waiting for, for two thousand years. God had long begun the groundwork for the coming of His Son.

The genealogy lists all sorts of people, holy people, less holy people, sinners, outcasts… God worked with and through all these people for the coming of His Son. All of them were partners in God's plan… and so can we participate in His plan too…

LINKS

Today's story - https://christian.art/en/daily-gospel-reading/639

Christian Art - www.christian.art/index.php