THE GENEALOGICAL LINE OF JUDAH’S DESCENDANTS given in Matthew’s Gospel follows the history of the nation all the way from its father, Abraham, to the birth of Jesus, the fulfillment of all messianic prophecy, the One “who is called Christ.” This grand finale is what we celebrate in the weeks of Advent.
The planting of the male “seed,” which was to germinate and ripen in the furrows of successive generations, was a vital responsibility as the Jewish nation looked forward to the Messiah, who would be born in that same Judaic line of succession. For every man in this long list there was a woman: a wife, a mother. Yet only five women were named. It is profitable for us to ask Why? Why choose these five women for particular mention?
Each one, in her own way, was considered seriously flawed. Two of them, Rahab, a Canaanite, and Ruth, of the hated Moabite nation, were aliens. Two of them, Tamar and Rahab, were not only immoral but deceptive as well. Bathsheba and Mary were stigmatized for their presumed sexual activity, Bathsheba as a victim of King David’s appetites and Mary as pregnant out of wedlock. All of them were, however, commended for their behavior at critical change-points in their lives. All of them were risk-takers and women of initiative, well fitted, as it turns out, to be part of this stream of humanity as it poured from generation to generation. God’s ideas of fitness for his service may not coincide with ours.
Perhaps we may consider this a reminder as to how we may live in our own day. It was Henri Nouwcn who made the important distinction between productivity and fruitfulness. Productivity suggests a machine grinding out a commercial product. By contrast, fruitfulness gives us the organic image of a tree, rooted in rich soil, tempered by weather and seasons, by cold and wind and sun, able to give shade, to bud and flower, and to bear fruit.
Years ago a friend of mine who had also lost her husband gave me a magnetic motto for my refrigerator—”Live generatively.” It was encouragement to me to be a risk-taker, a “universe-disturber for good.” To move in a life-giving direction, not only for one’s own sake but for that of others. To contribute to the energy of the world.
Mary, Jesus’ mother, lived generatively from the moment of the Annunciation, through pregnancy and childbirth, all the way to her presence along with the disciples in the upper room of Acts 1. Because she said “Yes” to both shame and glory, Jesus, offspring of Abraham and Judah and David, the flower and fruit of her womb, became the Savior of the world.
~From Lucy Shaw, “Third Saturday in Advent,” in GOD WITH US: Rediscovering the Meaning of Christmas, edited by Greg Pennoyer & Gregory Wolfe
