Horse Thieves

Today’s Gospel passage about the detailed genealogy of Jesus (Matthew 1:1-17) is explained by Father Richard Rohr in his 2008 book "Preparing for Christmas: Daily Meditations for Advent.”  I cite part of his December 17 meditation here entitled: “The Authority of those who have suffered.”

It begins: “The artificially created family tree for Jesus is a brilliant theological statement much more than anything even remotely historically accurate.  But the amazing thing is the deliberate inclusion of four foreign, non-Jewish women, of whom at least three were of easy virtue, or even public ‘sinners.’  Why would the Gospel risk saying there were ‘horse thieves,’ as it were, among his ancestors?  It clearly wanted to say that he came from the ordinary, the human, the broken, the sinful, suffering world, as all of us do.  His birth accepted the human condition, which becomes his first step toward the cross.  It is that full and transformed humanity that gave Jesus authority in his actual lifetime.  Remember, no one knew he was the Son of God; they trusted him for other reasons…”

Today we remember that many of us are “horse thieves” and sinners as well.  We are part of his family tree and accepted by him.   We trust him because, like him, we are part of a broken, suffering world.  In fact, many of us are broken and suffering, and we turn to Jesus during Advent for comfort and healing.  He has become our Christ.

Deacon David Pierce