In 1519 (500 years ago today) Orich Zwingli became the pastor at Grossmunster and would no longer follow the lectionary. He began preaching directly from God’s word with Matthew 1:1 and the Reformation began.
An account of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the Son of David, the Son of Abraham:
From Abraham to David
Abraham fathered Isaac,
Isaac fathered Jacob,
Jacob fathered Judah and his brothers,
Judah fathered Perez and Zerah by Tamar,
Perez fathered Hezron,
Hezron fathered Aram,
Aram fathered Amminadab,
Amminadab fathered Nahshon,
Nahshon fathered Salmon,
Salmon fathered Boaz by Rahab,
Boaz fathered Obed by Ruth,
Obed fathered Jesse,
and Jesse fathered King David.
From David to the Babylonian Exile
David fathered Solomon by Uriah’s wife,
Solomon fathered Rehoboam,
Rehoboam fathered Abijah,
Abijah fathered Asa,
Asa fathered Jehoshaphat,
Jehoshaphat fathered Joram,
Joram fathered Uzziah,
Uzziah fathered Jotham,
Jotham fathered Ahaz,
Ahaz fathered Hezekiah,
Hezekiah fathered Manasseh,
Manasseh fathered Amon,
Amon fathered Josiah,
and Josiah fathered Jeconiah and his brothers
at the time of the exile to Babylon.
From the Exile to the Christ
After the exile to Babylon
Jeconiah fathered Shealtiel,
Shealtiel fathered Zerubbabel,
Zerubbabel fathered Abiud,
Abiud fathered Eliakim,
Eliakim fathered Azor,
Azor fathered Zadok,
Zadok fathered Achim,
Achim fathered Eliud,
Eliud fathered Eleazar,
Eleazar fathered Matthan,
Matthan fathered Jacob,
and Jacob fathered Joseph the husband of Mary,
who gave birth to Jesus who is called the Christ.
So all the generations from Abraham to David were fourteen generations; and from David until the exile to Babylon, fourteen generations; and from the exile to Babylon until the Christ, fourteen generations.
The birth of Jesus Christ came about this way: After his mother Mary had been engaged to Joseph, it was discovered before they came together that she was pregnant from the Holy Spirit. So her husband Joseph, being a righteous man, and not wanting to disgrace her publicly, decided to divorce her secretly.
But after he had considered these things, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, don’t be afraid to take Mary as your wife, because what has been conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you are to name him Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.”
Now all this took place to fulfill what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet:
See, the virgin will become pregnant
and give birth to a son,
and they will name him Immanuel,
which is translated “God is with us.”
When Joseph woke up, he did as the Lord’s angel had commanded him. He married her but did not have sexual relations with her until she gave birth to a son. And he named him Jesus.Matthew 1
Jesus was born into a relatively obscure, yet religiously faithful, first century Jewish family. God knew what he was doing. All through the generations of Jesus, he was crafting a plan to save the world. There were some surprising characters in the line of the Messiah, but this highlights the fact God does not count our past or our reputations against us. God makes amazing and beautiful things through faithful people, like Mary and Joseph, regardless of what those around them think of them. And so God will do with you. Don’t worry about your past, don’t think your reputation should hold you back from being faithful. Have the same attitude as Mary and Joseph, who, when presented with the crazy truth God was going to use them (THEM!) they quietly said “ok” and just did it. Just do it. Stop worrying. Do it. Follow God’s lead this year. See you Sunday!
