GUS LISING
Filipinos usually have the best spreads to welcome family and friends for the traditional Noche Buena (Christmas eve celebration). I recall our parents buying us new clothes to wear for our Christmas dinner. It is time for pretty things, presents, and clothes. We all look forward to this festive occasion. Unfortunately, the truth is that it’s too festive, that we lose the real message of the event.
Matthew 1
Upon reading the first 17 verses of Matthew 1 in the bible, we only see the names of the Genealogy of Jesus. To some, the word begat (Old English) causes the reader to skip the names and miss their relevance.
To a Jew, however, the names were significant. Tracing the roots of Jesus’ ancestors was to validate His purpose and His person as savior and king. As we read the names from verses 1-17, included are women’s names. For a Jewish, this is unheard of in a genealogy. Only the names of fathers are written down!
The Message
The Gospel immediately gives the message. It is the MESSAGE OF INCLUSIVENESS. Paul, a pharisee, a Hebrew scholar, said it so well in his letter to the Galatians, chapter 3:28-29.
There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free person, there is not male and female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s descendant, heirs according to the promise.
Matthew knew what he was doing. He was a good Jew. To show this, Matthew seldom uses the name of God. He often uses the Kingdom of Heaven, not God, for fear that he might write or say God’s name in vain. Therefore, when Matthew included the names of women, there was a purpose. He did not only include names of women; he even mentioned some of the ill repute. They were Tamar, Rehab the prostitute, Ruth the Moabite.
I can surely identify with them.
A checkered past, “ten miles of bad road.” There is hope for a person like me! Matthew scandalized his readers further when he mentions David in verse 6. He was the father of Solomon, whose mother HAD BEEN Uriah’s wife! Remember Bathsheba!
The Good News
Matthew did not water it down. We tend to hide our past like what Adam did -conceal. We have so many masks that sometimes we do not even know what we have on. BUT, the Gospel is Jesus, who has come to make our messes beautiful. That is “His Movement, His Symphony, His Tapestry.”
And this is what Christmas is. Yes, Jesus came to our messed up world because He knew we could not make it whole and alone. Only He can do it. Again Paul said it so clearly in Romans 8:1.
“for there is no condemnation for those who are IN CHRIST JESUS.”
Wow, the Gospel is for messed up people. It is indeed the Good News! The operative phrase is, to those who are in Christ.
We truly are blessed to have a Blessed Christmas because He came to redeem people who believe in it and acknowledge their need for it.
Thank you, Gus. Your message brings new light, invigorated hope that through the road map Christ gave us from Bethlehem to Calvary, we shall, indeed, find meaning, grace and redemption through our mess!
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