Tonight’s Gospel passage from Matthew is what I like to call JESUS ANCESTRY DOT COM, AKA, Jesus’ Family Tree; the Book of the Genealogy of Jesus Christ, the Son of David, the Son of Abraham. I remember growing up and hearing the priests at Christmas Vigil Masses read this gospel passage, which has many names, some of which are difficult to pronounce. After the roll call, the priests would say, “The Gospel of the Lord.” Instead of responding, “Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ,” I always felt like responding, “Really? You just called a bunch of names that I am not even sure you pronounced well, and you say, “This is the Gospel or Good News of the Lord? What is Good News about the bunch of names you just read out?”
That was my feeling about today’s Gospel passage. But as I matured in the faith, I discovered that those names are not a boring list; they are a window into the heart of God. I began to see that there is a lot of Good News here. The Good News is that God, out of love for us, has decided to identify with us humans in several ways as revealed in this Gospel passage. First, when the time came for God to save us, he decided to come to earth through a family just like us. So, the one we worship became a human being, and it is real. You can trace his ancestry if you are interested in doing so. God did not pretend to be human; he became one. Second, at that time, women were usually not mentioned in genealogies. They were just regarded as property of their father or their husband. They were dismissed, hidden, and overlooked. That is why part of the morning prayer of a Jew is to thank God for not creating him a Gentile, or a slave, or a woman. The focus was usually on the male forebears. However, when presenting the ancestry of Jesus, we have four women or five, if you include the Blessed Virgin Mary. The four of them are Thamar, Rehab, Ruth, and Bathsheba. The Good News is that God identifies with those who are on the fringes of society. God is saying loud and clear, “I see the ones society ignores.” The Christmas message is not about perfect people earning God’s attention. It is about God bending toward those who feel invisible. Third, these women were foreigners; they were not pure Israelites. Tamar and Rahab were Canaanites, Ruth was Moabitess, and Bathsheba was probably a Hittite. God intentionally wove foreigners into the very DNA of our salvation history because Jesus came not for one tribe, one race, one nation, or one “type” of people; he came for everyone.
During his public ministry, Jesus said, “I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance” (Luke 5:32; Matthew 9:13). Thus, we also see this happening in his genealogy. Being God himself, we would have expected him to come through a family where everyone was righteous, but that is not the case with Jesus. He gave sinners a chance to be part of our salvation story. Among the women listed in his ancestry, we have some women of easy virtue. Rahab was a harlot of Jericho (Joshua 2:1-7); Thamar was a deliberate seducer and an adulteress (Genesis 38); and Bathsheba, the mother of Solomon, was the wife of Uriah. David seduced her from Uriah and orchestrated the assassination of Uriah (2 Samuel 11 and 12). Despite this shameful history, Jesus, the second person of the Blessed Trinity, came from this family. My dear friends, in case you think you are from a dysfunctional family, I have news for you: Jesus is from a dysfunctional family, Pro Max, and he is not ashamed of it. Why? He wants to tell you: “No matter how complicated your story is, I am not afraid to enter it.”
This genealogy reveals a God who is comfortable with imperfection. A God who transforms sinners into vessels of grace. A God who turns broken history into a holy story. Maybe you came tonight carrying memories you wish you could rewrite, or mistakes you think God cannot forgive, or family situations that feel beyond redemption. Hear this: With God, there is no hopeless case. None. If he can bring the Savior of the world from a family tree full of drama, trauma, scandal, and sin, he can bring beauty out of your ashes, too.
My dearly beloved in Christ, this is the story of Christmas: The story of a God who breaks every barrier between men and women, Jews and Gentiles, saints and sinners, to reach you. Christmas is the proof that God would rather come into your chaos than leave you in it. So tonight, whether this is your first time in church in a long time, or you come every week, please hear this invitation: Give God a chance. Let him into your story. There is room for you in his family tree.
May this Christmas bring: reconciliation where there has been distance, healing where there has been hurt, peace where there has been anxiety, deliverance where there has been bondage, and grace overflowing to every corner of our families, until we all come to our heavenly inheritance, through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Homily for Christmas Vigil Year A 2025
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