Prepare the way of the Lord; Make His paths straight

 The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the Son of David, the Son of Abraham:

Abraham begot Isaac, Isaac begot Jacob, and Jacob begot Judah and his brothers.  Judah begot Perez and Zerah by Tamar, Perez begot Hezron, and Hezron begot Ram.  Ram begot Amminadab, Amminadab begot Nahshon, and Nahshon begot Salmon.  Salmon begot Boaz by Rahab, Boaz begot Obed by Ruth, Obed begot Jesse, and Jesse begot David the king.

David the king begot Solomon by her who had been the wife of Uriah.  Solomon begot Rehoboam, Rehoboam begot Abijah, and Abijah begot Asa.  Asa begot Jehoshaphat, Jehoshaphat begot Joram, and Joram begot Uzziah.  Uzziah begot Jotham, Jotham begot Ahaz, and Ahaz begot Hezekiah.  Hezekiah begot Manasseh, Manasseh begot Amon, and Amon begot Josiah.  Josiah begot Jeconiah and his brothers about the time they were carried away to Babylon.

And after they were brought to Babylon, Jeconiah begot Shealtiel, and Shealtiel begot Zerubbabel.  Zerubbabel begot Abiud, Abiud begot Eliakim, and Eliakim begot Azor.  Azor begot Zadok, Zadok begot Achim, and Achim begot Eliud.  Eliud begot Eleazar, Eleazar begot Mattham, and Matthan begot Jacob.  And Jacob begot Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus who is called Christ.

So all the generations from Abraham to David are fourteen generations, from David until the captivity in Babylon are fourteen generations, and from the captivity in Babylon until the Christ are fourteen generations.

* * *

In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea, and saying, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!"  For this is he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah, saying:

"The voice of one crying in the wilderness:
'Prepare the way of the Lord;
Make His paths straight.'"

Now John himself was clothed in camel's hair, with leather belt around his waist; and his food was locusts and wild honey.  Then Jerusalem, all Judea, and all the region around the Jordan went out to him and were baptized by him in the Jordan, confessing their sins.

- Matthew 1:1-17; Matthew 3:1-6

 The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the Son of David, the Son of Abraham:   Abraham begot Isaac, Isaac begot Jacob, and Jacob begot Judah and his brothers.  Judah begot Perez and Zerah by Tamar, Perez begot Hezron, and Hezron begot Ram.  Ram begot Amminadab, Amminadab begot Nahshon, and Nahshon begot Salmon.  Salmon begot Boaz by Rahab, Boaz begot Obed by Ruth, Obed begot Jesse, and Jesse begot David the king.  David the king begot Solomon by her who had been the wife of Uriah.  Solomon begot Rehoboam, Rehoboam begot Abijah, and Abijah begot Asa.  Asa begot Jehoshaphat, Jehoshaphat begot Joram, and Joram begot Uzziah.  Uzziah begot Jotham, Jotham begot Ahaz, and Ahaz begot Hezekiah.  Hezekiah begot Manasseh, Manasseh begot Amon, and Amon begot Josiah.  Josiah begot Jeconiah and his brothers about the time they were carried away to Babylon.  And after they were brought to Babylon, Jeconiah begot Shealtiel, and Shealtiel begot Zerubbabel.  Zerubbabel begot Abiud, Abiud begot Eliakim, and Eliakim begot Azor.  Azor begot Zadok, Zadok begot Achim, and Achim begot Eliud.  Eliud begot Eleazar, Eleazar begot Mattham, and Matthan begot Jacob.  And Jacob begot Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus who is called Christ.  We begin a new cycle with readings from the Gospel of Matthew.  Matthew gives us a genealogy of Jesus, answering the question, "Who is He?" and beginning with an understanding of His birth.  The name Jesus means, "O, Lord, save," according to my study bible.  The first thing we learn about Jesus is His role as Savior.  Christ, of course, means "Anointed One," in other words, the Messiah.  That is, the One who is filled with the Holy Spirit.  My study bible tells us that though the Son alone became Man, God the Father and the Holy Spirit work in Jesus Christ to save us.  Matthew's genealogy clearly shows us Jesus' Jewish identity as human being, from the lineage of Abraham, the father of all Jews, and of David, Israel's greatest king and prototype of the royal Messiah.  Matthew's genealogy reveals that the Son of God identifies so strongly with the human condition that He takes it on Himself and becomes part of it -- His ancestry includes both the righteous and the wicked, "faithful kings and murderers, Jews and Gentiles, kings and peasants" (says my study bible).  Through Abraham, God established the Old Covenant, but also promised to bless all the tribes of the earth:  Jesus Christ is the fulfillment of that promise, Abraham's greatest Son.   It should be noted that while Jewish genealogical lists normally included only men, here Matthew is unusual in giving us women ancestors of Jesus (Tamar, Rahab, Ruth, and Bathsheba).  Each one was either a Gentile or a sinner.  My study bible says that this declares God's graciousness and the calling of the Gentiles into the Church; it also emphasizes the role of women in God's plan of salvation, and anticipates the place of the Virgin Mary in that plan.  There is a special place for King David in this lineage.  David was anointed by the Prophet Samuel, and made king.  David, in turn, through his psalms, was revealed as a great prophet.  David, says my study bible, foreshadows both the royal and prophetic nature of Jesus Christ (Psalm 109).  David was both adulterer and murderer, and so functions also as a type for all repentant sinners.  Psalm 51 remains the great psalm of repentance for all the Church.  Matthew names Joseph as Jesus' immediate predecessor; Old Testament marriage laws assign hereditary rights on both adopted and biological sons.  However, when Matthew writes about "Mary, of whom was born Jesus," of whom is feminine in the Greek, and refers only to Mary and not Joseph.   It emphasizes He was not begotten of Joseph.

So all the generations from Abraham to David are fourteen generations, from David until the captivity in Babylon are fourteen generations, and from the captivity in Babylon until the Christ are fourteen generations.  The genealogy is arranged in three groups of fourteen generations.  My study bible says that fourteen is the numerical equivalent of the consonants in the name David, which underscores Jesus' descend from David.  It also shows the division of the leadership of the Jews:  under judges until David, under kings until Babylon, and under priests until Christ. 

In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea, and saying, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!"  For this is he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah, saying:   "The voice of one crying in the wilderness:  'Prepare the way of the Lord; Make His paths straight.'"  The lectionary takes us from the genealogy of Jesus -- His beginning as incarnate human being, to the preparation for His ministry, in the work of John the Baptist.  It links one birth with another, just as in the very early Church, our celebration of Christ's birth and also Jesus' baptism by John in the Jordan (called Epiphany, meaning "Showing Forth") were celebrated on the same day.  So His birth as incarnate human and also the birth of His ministry as Christ are importantly linked in today's reading:  we read the preparation for both, giving us an idea about the central question of the Gospel, "Who is Jesus?"  John the Baptist, considered the greatest prophet, and also cousin to Jesus, quotes from Isaiah (40:3) in preparation for the work of the Messiah, the ministry of Jesus Christ.  John preaches in the wilderness, a man devoted to God, preaching repentance in preparation for the Lord.  We "make His straight" through repentance.

Now John himself was clothed in camel's hair, with leather belt around his waist; and his food was locusts and wild honey.  Then Jerusalem, all Judea, and all the region around the Jordan went out to him and were baptized by him in the Jordan, confessing their sins.  John was a towering figure of his own time, and many of Jesus' early disciples were first John's disciples.  My study bible tells us that his ascetic life conformed to that of the Jewish sects such as the Essenes, who lived in the wilderness and whose purpose was to prepare for the coming of the Kingdom of God.  This gives us an idea of the tremendous expectation among the people awaiting the Deliverer, the Messiah.  John's clothing, my study bible says, was typical of a prophet (it mirrors that of Elijah; see 2 Kings 1:8).  The early monastic movement of the Church in the immediate centuries after Christ was patterned after John's manner of life.  We see John's popularity as a holy figure in the people who come for confession, from Jerusalem, all Judea, and all the region around Jordan -- the center of Jewish religious life.

Today's Gospel reading selection is all about preparation, beginnings.   Matthew tells us, in these readings put together here, about the importance of preparation as beginning.  Repentance is the key here, both in the central figure of King David in the genealogy, and in the ministry of John the Baptist.  David is known not just for being a great king, but as a figure of faith.  Even having committed great sins, he goes to God in penitence and acute awareness of his sin.  He is not a king given over to himself as sole law-giver, but remains a man of faith in God, as one who "fears God," reveres God.  John the Baptist teaches all about repentance, as preparation for the Lord -- for God -- to make His paths straight.  It gives us a clear sense that repentance is the way to make the path of Christ straight, so to speak, within our own hearts.  It's our awareness of our own state before God that clears the way for God's work in us.  Nothing is impossible to God, the Lord can do anything.  But we also have our own "work" cut out for us, a practice of humility, that helps our capacity to realize God's work in us, clears the way of the stumbling block of a "hardened heart" -- one that will not see and hear, in the language of Isaiah and other prophets which Jesus will quote so often:  giving us "ears to hear" and "eyes to see."   (See for example Isaiah 6:10.)   Lent is meant to be a time of such preparation.  It not only prepares us for Easter but it also shores up our own "work" in preparing ourselves through its historical practices of prayer and fasting.  We "make room" for God through such practices.  In imitation of the great prophets like John the Baptist, we simplify our lives, taking time out for the Lord, "making His paths straight" for His work in us.  Christ's Incarnation is the single central event in the world's history:  from one side and another, we pivot right there, all paths lead there.   In the Old Testament books we see the figure and face of Christ in so much that we read, and in our present time we look at history since and we seek His face in all things.  Today we ask ourselves how we best follow His commandments for our lives, our world.  What does it mean to love one's neighbor as oneself?  How do we prepare to understand what He asks of us?  How do we "make His paths straight" for the work of His Spirit, the illumination of His Light in our lives?  Today we focus on something a modern world doesn't appreciate much:  preparation.  We want instant gratification, prayers answered to our specifications just because we ask and have a sense of faith as belief.  But the whole history of the Church, and of the Old Covenant before the Church, teaches us about preparation and its central importance.  As human beings, we also have things to do, a way to fix our sights and our hearing upon something, preparation to make for the Lord.  We can't neglect what and who we are.  We lose when we forget about preparation and focus and the discipline of training our thoughts, even our bodies in expectation of God's great gifts, God's grace.  As human beings, we are integrated: body, soul, and spirit.  Notions of preparation and "making His way straight" have always taken this into consideration, and understood the nature of human beings in this very integral sense.   Prayers of the Hours, for example, give us reminders through the day of what it means to live in expectation for His Return, to take time out, to simplify, to make the movements of prayer.  That's one small example of something we might emphasize at times when we particularly need God's strength in our lives.  We focus, we move in the patterns of worship and prayer, and we take time out to do so.  As human beings, we need awareness -- particularly to do the work that allows His light in, so that we understand better our relationship to Him.  Let us remember who we are, and how important it is to do what it takes to make His paths straight.  His healing work in us, as Isaiah says, and as Jesus and St. Paul will quote, has so much to do with our spiritual eyes and ears.