To study the Gospels is to study the first-century context in its depth. To read the first four books that shape the main corpus of the story of Jesus is to inundate ourselves in a world that is foreign to our eyes, our ears, and our taste. We are called to experience the dusty days of Jerusalem and the rain of God’s mercies among stubborn people.
When we consider the genealogy of Jesus, we are considering a long line of characters from Abraham to Mary that connects the Scriptures in all its covenant unity. It traces the lineage of our forefathers with the precision of a scalpel surgically tuned to its purpose. Far from tedious, it reveals in vivid language the precipitous fall of every attempt to break the sacred line. The Scriptures of Matthew stir the imagination to see the unfolding drama of the sacred violence of old and the new sacred peace far as the curse is found, the journey through the wilderness to the arrival at the promised mount of Calvary.
