2018-12-17

朋友们，今天的福音记录了耶稣的族谱。证明耶稣并非来历不明对于玛窦来说是极其重要的。耶稣的出身于丰富多彩的家世。圣依勒内说，道成人身的历史悠久，天主逐步降生成人。

 

看看这长长的族谱中包含的人物：有圣人、罪人、骗子、娼妓、凶手、诗人、帝王、以色列人和外族人——他们都有份带出基督。当然，达味王是其中之一。他无疑是一个伟大人物，是统一了以色列民族的君王。但他也是一名奸夫和杀人凶手。

 

“称为基督的耶稣”就来自这长长的一系列伟大的和寻常的、杰出的和卑微的圣人和罪人、帝王和乞丐。就正是在我们所有的高雅和难堪之中、在我们所有的优美和平凡之中，天主成为了我们中的一员。天主有着一系列的祖先，他们就像大多数人类家庭一样都是鱼龙混杂。这是多么好的消息啊！这就是说即使是在我们这样的人之中，天主也可以使得基督诞生。

 

Friends, today’s Gospel records the genealogy of Jesus. It was desperately important for Matthew to show that Jesus didn’t just appear out of the blue. Rather, he came out of a rich, densely textured history. St. Irenaeus tells us that the Incarnation had been taking place over a long period of time, with God gradually accustoming himself to the human race.

 

Look at this long line of characters: saints, sinners, cheats, prostitutes, murderers, poets, kings, insiders, and outsiders—all leading to the Christ. Of course, King David is mentioned. He was, without doubt, a great figure, the king who united the nation. But he was also an adulterer and a murderer.

 

From this long line of the great and not-so-great, the prominent and obscure, saints and sinners, and kings and paupers came "Jesus who is called the Messiah." God became one of us, in all of our grace and embarrassment, in all of our beauty and ordinariness. God had a series of human ancestors, and, like most families, they were kind of a mixed bag. And what good news this is for us! It means that God can bring the Christ to birth even in people like us.