Advent Reflection: Friday, December 17
12/17/2021
As Saint Louis University embraces the holiday season, students, faculty and staff members were asked to share reflections on selected readings. Today Sibil Shibu, junior bioethics and theological studies student, reflects on Gospel, Matthew 1:1-17.
Reading for Friday, Dec. 17, 2021
The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ,
the son of David, the son of Abraham.
Abraham became the father of Isaac,
Isaac the father of Jacob,
Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers.
Judah became the father of Perez and Zerah,
whose mother was Tamar.
Perez became the father of Hezron,
Hezron the father of Ram,
Ram the father of Amminadab.
Amminadab became the father of Nahshon,
Nahshon the father of Salmon,
Salmon the father of Boaz,
whose mother was Rahab.
Boaz became the father of Obed,
whose mother was Ruth.
Obed became the father of Jesse,
Jesse the father of David the king.
David became the father of Solomon,
whose mother had been the wife of Uriah.
Solomon became the father of Rehoboam,
Rehoboam the father of Abijah,
Abijah the father of Asaph.
Asaph became the father of Jehoshaphat,
Jehoshaphat the father of Joram,
Joram the father of Uzziah.
Uzziah became the father of Jotham,
Jotham the father of Ahaz,
Ahaz the father of Hezekiah.
Hezekiah became the father of Manasseh,
Manasseh the father of Amos,
Amos the father of Josiah.
Josiah became the father of Jeconiah and his brothers
at the time of the Babylonian exile.
After the Babylonian exile,
Jeconiah became the father of Shealtiel,
Shealtiel the father of Zerubbabel,
Zerubbabel the father of Abiud.
Abiud became the father of Eliakim,
Eliakim the father of Azor,
Azor the father of Zadok.
Zadok became the father of Achim,
Achim the father of Eliud,
Eliud the father of Eleazar.
Eleazar became the father of Matthan,
Matthan the father of Jacob,
Jacob the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary.
Of her was born Jesus who is called the Christ.
Thus the total number of generations
from Abraham to David
is fourteen generations;
from David to the Babylonian exile, fourteen generations;
from the Babylonian exile to the Christ,
fourteen generations.
Reflection
In today’s Gospel, we see the genealogy of Jesus Christ in the Gospel of Matthew. It is easy to brush past this passage without contemplating the message Matthew was attempting to share. Through this genealogy, we are able to understand how Jesus is a descendant of Abraham and David.
In Genesis 22:18, God tells Abraham, “In your descendants all nations of the earth will find blessing, because you obeyed my command.” It is evident that the salvation we experience today can be traced back all the way to Abraham and his complete trust in God. In this season of Advent, let us place our complete trust in God, just as Abraham did.
Placing our complete trust in God will allow us to combat the trials and tribulations we face today with an inner peace. I pray that God grants each and every one of us the grace to trust in him, and allows us to open our inner eyes to the beautiful way in which he is writing each and every one of our stories.
-- Sibil Shibu, junior bioethics and theological studies student
Newslink will be running select reflections through Advent. All the reflections can be found on the Mission and Identity Facebook page.