Ordinary, Called to Be Extraordinary
(Uniquely) Ordinary People
Read Matthew 1:1-17
Every person ever born belongs to a family. Every family includes ancestors, people in each family who lived a few years ago or hundreds of years ago. Part of understanding who a person is includes knowing their family story. Some family stories include famous people - inventors, musicians, royalty. Every family story includes ordinary people through whom God has done extra-ordinary things.
The Gospel according to Matthew begins by telling the story of Jesus’ family. Before we read about Jesus’ birth; before we meet Mary and Joseph; before we learn about the wise men from the East; before we hear anything about the grown Jesus preaching, teaching, and performing miracles; before we are told anything about Jesus’ life, death and resurrection - the gospel writer wants us to know the story of Jesus’ family.
But why? We look at the first 17 verses of the Gospel according Matthew, see a lot of names - some of which we might not be sure how to pronounce! If we know more of the story of the Bible we might recognize some of the people included in the list. But many of them mean nothing to us. Many of us simply skip over these opening verses and jump right to the good part - the Christmas story. If we do that, we miss the point of what the gospel writer wants us to know before we even hear the Christ child’s very first cry.
“An account of the geneology...”. The word “geneology” can also mean “birth” “creation” or “beginning.” Geneology comes from the same word as genesis. Genesis - the first book in the Bible whose opening words are “In the beginning.” The first book of the Bible tells of the beginning of all that is. The first book in the New Testament tells of a new beginning. Jesus’ geneology can be traced all the way back to the beginning of time. His ancestors were God’s chosen people who were waiting for the coming of the Messiah, the Christ, God’s anointed servant, the one who would bring a fresh start and the fulfillment of everything God had ever promised. The Gospel according to Matthew was written for a specific audience - a Jewish audience - and the writer is going to do everything they can to connect the dots and show that Jesus is in the Messiah who they have been waiting for.
And just as the very first affirmation in Genesis is that before anything existed, God was there (“In the beginning when God...”), the Gospel according to Matthew affirms that God is the one behind this new beginning. All of creation and everything about this new creation is from God.
Click on the header above titled "Week of December 2-8" for age-appropriate activities you can do individually, as a family or with a group to explore further "(Uniquely) Ordinary People."
Every person ever born belongs to a family. Every family includes ancestors, people in each family who lived a few years ago or hundreds of years ago. Part of understanding who a person is includes knowing their family story. Some family stories include famous people - inventors, musicians, royalty. Every family story includes ordinary people through whom God has done extra-ordinary things.
The Gospel according to Matthew begins by telling the story of Jesus’ family. Before we read about Jesus’ birth; before we meet Mary and Joseph; before we learn about the wise men from the East; before we hear anything about the grown Jesus preaching, teaching, and performing miracles; before we are told anything about Jesus’ life, death and resurrection - the gospel writer wants us to know the story of Jesus’ family.
But why? We look at the first 17 verses of the Gospel according Matthew, see a lot of names - some of which we might not be sure how to pronounce! If we know more of the story of the Bible we might recognize some of the people included in the list. But many of them mean nothing to us. Many of us simply skip over these opening verses and jump right to the good part - the Christmas story. If we do that, we miss the point of what the gospel writer wants us to know before we even hear the Christ child’s very first cry.
“An account of the geneology...”. The word “geneology” can also mean “birth” “creation” or “beginning.” Geneology comes from the same word as genesis. Genesis - the first book in the Bible whose opening words are “In the beginning.” The first book of the Bible tells of the beginning of all that is. The first book in the New Testament tells of a new beginning. Jesus’ geneology can be traced all the way back to the beginning of time. His ancestors were God’s chosen people who were waiting for the coming of the Messiah, the Christ, God’s anointed servant, the one who would bring a fresh start and the fulfillment of everything God had ever promised. The Gospel according to Matthew was written for a specific audience - a Jewish audience - and the writer is going to do everything they can to connect the dots and show that Jesus is in the Messiah who they have been waiting for.
And just as the very first affirmation in Genesis is that before anything existed, God was there (“In the beginning when God...”), the Gospel according to Matthew affirms that God is the one behind this new beginning. All of creation and everything about this new creation is from God.
Click on the header above titled "Week of December 2-8" for age-appropriate activities you can do individually, as a family or with a group to explore further "(Uniquely) Ordinary People."