Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!

 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 Manassah, 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 Matthan, 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.

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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 with camel's hair, with a 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), 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 Manassah, Manasseh begot Amon, and Amon begot Josiah.  Josiah begot Jeconiah and his brothers about the time they were carried away to Babylon.  What can a genealogy tell us?  Jesus means "O Lord, save," which immediately establishes His role as Savior.  Christ means "Anointed One," or Messiah, the One who is filled with the Holy Spirit.  Though the Son alone became man, my study bible reminds us, God the Father and the Holy Spirit work in Jesus Christ to save us.  Jesus became Man as a Jew, from the lineage of Abraham, the father of all Jews, and of David, Israel's greatest king and the prototype of the royal Messiah.  Matthew's genealogy reveals that the Son of God becomes so fully human that He takes all the human condition upon Himself and becomes part of it.  His ancestry here includes both righteous and wicked people, faithful kings and murderers, Jews and Gentiles, kings and peasants, my study bible tells us.  In Luke's Gospel, the genealogy runs from Jesus back to Adam (Luke 3:23-38), but Matthew's list begins with Abraham, through whom God established the Old Covenant of circumcision, and to Jesus the author of the New Covenant.  In Genesis, God promises to bless all tribes of the world in Abraham (Genesis 12:3, 28:14); this is fulfilled in Abraham's greatest Son, Jesus Christ.  David, through anointing by Samuel, was made king, my study bible notes.  Through his psalms, David was revealed as a great prophet.  Thus, David foreshadows both the royal and prophetic nature of Jesus Christ (Psalm 109).  As adulterer and murderer, my study bible reminds us, David also functions as a type for all repentant sinners. 

 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 Matthan, 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.  Normally, Jewish genealogical lists would include only men.   But Matthew gives us several women -- Tamar, Rahab, Ruth, and Bathsheba, and this is quite unusual.  Each is either a Gentile or a sinner.  The inclusion of these women teaches us something important and powerful:  it both declares God's graciousness and prefigures the calling of Gentiles into the Church.  Additionally, it underscores the role of women in God's plan of salvation and anticipates the special place of Mary, mother of Jesus, in that plan.  Joseph can be called Jesus' immediate predecessor as Old Testament marriage laws confer hereditary rights on adopted as well as biological sons.  The church fathers teach that Mary was also descended from David.  The text refers to Mary when it says of whom was born Jesus; "of whom" is feminine in the Greek.  Jesus, therefore, is understood to be born of Mary, and not begotten of Joseph.

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 wilderness of Judea is a barren region which descends from Jerusalem to the Dead Sea.  In the first part of our reading, we were given the genealogy of Jesus, leading to His birth.  Here we begin with the preparation for His ministry in the world, beginning with John's call to repent.  Repentance, which accompanies faith, my study bible says, is a total about-face.  In Greek it literally means to change one's mind (metanoia), or more generally, to turn around.  In reality, salvation is an ongoing repentance, a deepening process which creates radical change of one's spirit, mind, thought, and heart.  That is, a complete reorientation of the whole of one's life.  Repentance is the start here, the first step in the way of the LORD.  It is accompanied by the confession of sins and the act of baptism, my study bible notes, and is followed by a life filled with fruits worthy of this change (see 3:8).  John echoes and fulfills the words of the prophets before him.  The text quotes from the prophecy of Isaiah (Isaiah 40:3) to indicate John's role as herald in the work of salvation.

Now John himself was clothed with camel's hair, with a 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 is given to us in the image of a prophet.  His clothing was typical of such, distinctively echoing Elijah (2 Kings 1:8).  His ascetic life conformed to those Jewish sects such as the Essenes, who lived in the wilderness and whose purpose was solely to prepare for the coming Kingdom of God.  The monastic movement in the early Church would be patterned after John's manner of life.  My study bible also notes here that the confession of sins is essential to baptism under both the Old and New Covenant.  John's baptism was a sign of repentance and the forgiveness of sins only.  It did not confer the power of total regeneration nor adoption as a child of God as does Christian baptism.

Today's reading is concerned with beginnings.  We're given the beginning of Christ's life, His mission and Incarnation, through a genealogy that starts with Abraham, he whose faith resulted in the covenant with God and began a radical journey of faith through history.   The other beginning we're given is the beginning of Jesus' public mission in the world, starting with the John the Baptist, who heralds the advent of the Christ and the fulfillment of the prophecy of the Kingdom, another world-changing beginning.  Both beginnings give us the sense of history as given in the Church:  that the Incarnation of Christ is the central event of all history, through and around which all else is arranged.  Although we're given "beginnings" here in a worldly sense, in the sense of the true nature of Christ and of creation, the eternal mission of salvation always was:   regardless of our state as human beings, God's love would always call us toward God and toward love and communion -- a depth of communion that asks us to become "like God."   From Abraham to John the Baptist, the central mission remains consistent through all the preparation and through the saints of whom we know:  the love of God reaching toward us and finding us wherever we may be, no matter how we may seem separated.  This central cosmic mission ripples all throughout history before and since and extends -- especially in our recent experience of Easter and the truths of Christ death and Resurrection -- to all those who have come before and will come in the future.  Time is relevant to this cosmic perspective, as each moment in our own lives serves also as beginning.  Now we listen to John the Baptist and consider our orientation to life and how our faith informs us where we are.  Now is the moment we remember Christ and pray to set us properly in our day today.  Now is the time we remember God is always with us and ask the Holy Spirit to guide our way, to show us what we need.  Now is the moment we pray to make wise decisions, for a guide and Helper to be with us.  Now is the moment we're grateful for the love of Christ.  The eternal present is always a beginning, regardless of our histories and what we think we know, for right now with God all things are always possible -- even the astonishing story of Christ in our midst and the ministry that is always with us.   For the kingdom of heaven remains, ever-present, at hand, calling us to wake up to what truly is.  Repentance becomes the act of reorienting ourselves to that reality and living it as fully as possible in the now that is always a beginning, God's love present even in the most intimate moments of our lives.