Today's Christmas.  Today is the day set aside for followers of Jesus to reflect on the miracle of God becoming man to begin the process of redeeming our lives, our souls, and all of creation back to Himself.  While Luke has the most detailed account of the Christmas story, Matthew's begins in a seemingly dull way.  It is Christ's geneology, and we get to read name after name of the generations leading up to Joseph, His step father.  Mary, too, was a descendant of David, so much of the geneology is the same for both sides of the family.

Today, while waiting for church to begin, I read through the geneology again.  I was struck by who I found there.  There was Judah, renamed Israel, and there was Ruth, the Gentile.  There was Isaac, concieved miraculously
and Solomon, concieved in adultery.  There was Jehoshaphat, the war hero, and Rahab, the whore / hero.  There was Abraham the wonderer, and Ruth the wanderer.   There was David, the man after God's own heart, and the woman with whom he had an affair.  In fact, there are three women - never included in ancient Hebrew geneologies - mentioned specifically in Jesus' family tree.  Four if you count Mary herself.

Our Lord's family tree includes saints, slaves and, above all, sinners.  Jesus' childhood itself was one of poverty, controversy and exile.  Christ's incarnation was for all people: men and women, saints and sinners, young and old, broken homes and Brady Bunch homes, all races, all backgrounds, all ages.  All.