Advent day 1: Names and those who name us

^{For this season of Advent, I wanted to try something mostly for myself. I wanted to really meditate on the story Jesus' birth. So for the next 25 days, we'll see what comes out of that.}

1 This is the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah the son of David, the son of Abraham:

² Abraham was the father of Isaac,
Isaac the father of Jacob,
Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers,
³ Judah the father of Perez and Zerah, whose mother was Tamar,
Perez the father of Hezron,
Hezron the father of Ram,
⁴ Ram the father of Amminadab,
Amminadab the father of Nahshon,
Nahshon the father of Salmon,
⁵ Salmon the father of Boaz, whose mother was Rahab,
Boaz the father of Obed, whose mother was Ruth,
Obed the father of Jesse,
⁶ and Jesse the father of King David.

David was the father of Solomon, whose mother had been Uriah’s wife,
⁷ Solomon the father of Rehoboam,
Rehoboam the father of Abijah,
Abijah the father of Asa,
⁸ Asa the father of Jehoshaphat,
Jehoshaphat the father of Jehoram,
Jehoram the father of Uzziah,
⁹ Uzziah the father of Jotham,
Jotham the father of Ahaz,
Ahaz the father of Hezekiah,
¹⁰ Hezekiah the father of Manasseh,
Manasseh the father of Amon,
Amon the father of Josiah,
¹¹ and Josiah the father of Jeconiah and his brothers at the time of the exile to Babylon.

¹² After the exile to Babylon:
Jeconiah was the father of Shealtiel,
Shealtiel the father of Zerubbabel,
¹³ Zerubbabel the father of Abihud,
Abihud the father of Eliakim,
Eliakim the father of Azor,
¹⁴ Azor the father of Zadok,
Zadok the father of Akim,
Akim the father of Elihud,
¹⁵ Elihud the father of Eleazar,
Eleazar the father of Matthan,
Matthan the father of Jacob,
¹⁶ and Jacob the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary, and Mary was the mother of Jesus who is called the Messiah.

¹⁷ Thus there were fourteen generations in all from Abraham to David, fourteen from David to the exile to Babylon, and fourteen from the exile to the Messiah.

Names are interesting. We all have them, we all create them, and they all hold meaning. My name for example in the Latin means "Brave Fighter". Anyone that knows me even halfway well just let out a small chuckle. But in many ways, I find the name to have a truth to it. Either way, our names tend to define us, don't they? Have you ever met someone and they said their name and your first thought was, "They don't seem like a ___"? Me too.

We all have expectations of what names will bring. Above, in the Gospel of Matthew, he starts out by giving us a list of names from which Jesus came from. Some of these names have some pretty retched things attached to them, and some of them are royalty. It's a fascinating line of people from prostitutes to kings: Jesus' family tree.

I began thinking of my own family tree. I was discussing with a friend just last night about my family. It made me realize how much, and how little, I'm shaped by certain people. I'm shaped my Mom's humor (her and I share the same gene of making jokes and being the only ones laughing at them) and my Dad's sense of keeping people close and the abundant, but very much picky, sense of trust. I thought of my brother and sisters and how little I actually know about their lives and how sad that is. But even the lack of knowledge has certainly shaped me. It took 20 years for all four of us to be in the same room. We share the same name, carry the same blood, but really never talk.

We as Christians carry the name of Jesus, or Joshua in Greek, it means "Savior" or "Salvation". He was to be brought from this line of sinners to take the sin away. I have to wonder if Mary and Joseph ever talked about how absurd it was that the Christ would come from their line; from their name. Or if they ever knew that it was His name they were carrying.

Hey God,

Thank You for this season. It gets so misshaped into something that has nothing to do with You, but I pray that I don't forget why You came here. Jesus, grant me the same humility it took to wrap yourself into human flesh, into nothing, and live my life with the sole purpose of serving You, and serving others. Thank you, and I love you.

Amen.