Orthodox Sermons & Articles

Every year on the Sunday before Christmas the Holy Orthodox Church assigns us the reading of a very interesting and unusual Gospel passage. This passage is all about Jesus Christ’s genealogy. Many names were mentioned today during the reading but for some of us those names are nothing but a mystery. Therefore, I’d like to stop on the most important figures in Christ’s genealogy.

Before we review all the names, I’d like to tell you that Matthew wrote his gospel mainly to the Jews who knew the Law and the Scripture, and through this genealogy could be convinced of the messianic significance of Jesus Christ. Starting from the very first verse, St. Matthew tells the truth: "The book of genealogy of Jesus Christ, the Son of David, the Son of Abraham". King David and his forefather Abraham were the two persons on which the belief of the coming Messiah depended – The Jews all believed that according to the Scriptures the Messiah would be born from the Abraham - David lineage, and St. Matthew shows that Jesus is the One for whom they were waiting so long.

Abraham is the one with whom God established the first covenant. He was faithful to God even while living among pagans. Although his faith was proved strong, God took him out of land of his origin and brought him to the Promised Land where he and his children had to stay and be blessed. His faith has been tested by God for a long period of time. God promised Abraham that he and his wife would have as many children as the stars in heaven but they could not conceive a child for a long time. Sarah his wife gave birth to their son Isaac when Abraham was a hundred years old. God had showed that Abraham was the one who walked in the path of God. God kept His promise and gave to Abraham a son.

Isaac was dearly loved. You all probably remember the story when God asked Abraham to sacrifice his only son to God. Abraham was ready to do it because of his strong faith in God. But God actually did not want Isaac to be sacrificed: God Himself had prepared a ram for the offering and Abraham was called the father of all believers. So, Isaac later was blessed with his own son, Jacob. Jewish genealogical lists included only the first-born sons; this is why we see only a few names in the genealogy. Isaac had Esau and Jacob, but Esau sold his first-born rights to Jacob for a bowl of soup. This is why we see Jacob in the genealogy. Jacob was faithful to God as well and was blessed by 12 strong sons and many daughters.

Then we heard name of Judah. Judah wasn’t the first-born son of Jacob, but the forth one. When Jacob called his sons to bless them he gave the first-born right to the forth son Judah because his first three sons proved to be ignorant of the Law of God. Then St. Matthew mentioned other names of more or less significant figures in the history of the Jewish people including King David. King David mystically typifies the royalty of Christ. Through his anointing by the prophet Samuel, David received the authority of kingship to lead Israel and preserve the covenant of God. As an adulterer and murderer, however, he is a repentant sinner. Although Jesus is David’s descendant, He is a more exalted King; King of the Church, Whose Kingdom cannot be destroyed.

Solomon, the son of David, was a wise and wealthy king whose glory reached far beyond the border of his kingdom. He built the Temple of God in Jerusalem and his kingdom was one of the best in the world at the time. But he failed to keep his faith in God. Solomon had many wives who were not from his nation but were Gentiles. Later in his life Solomon even burned incense in front of idols that his numerous wives worshiped.

Then we heard many other names and at the end of the genealogy the name of St. Joseph is mentioned. We do not know much about him from the Scripture but from the holy Tradition we know that he was an honest and just man, who was quite old. He was previously married to a woman who passed away long time before his betrothal with Mary. With his first wife they had sons and daughters, who later were called brothers and sisters of Jesus.



So, dear brothers and sisters, reading the genealogy of Jesus Christ we find that not all of his ancestors were just. Many of them sinned but they also repented. Christ never denied His ancestors but instead showed to all that every person who has repented in his or her sins is close to Him. This indicates God’s graciousness and love to all His people. This fact gives us hope to reunite with Christ after repentance for our sins.

The fact that many of Christ’s ancestors were sinners only underlines His love to humankind and the necessity of a Savior for us. Humankind cannot manage on their own; this is why the Son of God had to be born – a Just One to save unjust ones; a Mighty One to help the ones who are weak.

We all know the story of Christ’s birth. The role of Mary was significant because through Her devotion and dedication to God the Savior’s coming into the world became possible. She undertook a great weight on Her shoulders. But Her strong faith in God had been Her source of survival in a dishonest world. Looking back and analyzing the genealogy of Jesus Christ, we find many of His ancestors only had their strong faith to support them in dealing with all kinds of difficulties. I strongly believe, dear brothers and sisters, that our faith in Jesus Christ should be strong and unaffected by the difficulties of our life. Although there are some forces who try to hold us back from our worship, we have to be strong in dealing with these problems in the Christian way: we have to deal with them with love. Only then will the Name of the Lord be praised among the nations.

We Orthodox Christians should be messengers of love first to God and then to all people. Proclaiming God’s works is not going to help much if we do not follow Christ’s commandments ourselves. No matter what the world says about us we have to glorify the Most Holy Name of the Son of God, Who for-knowing His shameful death on the Cross, came into the world so that we could enter His Kingdom. His extraordinary love to His people moved Him to this act. Can we after all just stand aside and do nothing? No, we cannot forget what was done by Jesus Christ on the Cross. Today, when we are just a few days from the Nativity of Jesus Christ we should remind ourselves and others as to why we call ourselves Christians and why we celebrate the day of Christ’s birth so solemnly. We are glad on these days not because we have holidays or a Christmas tree or because we get presents, but because on this day our salvation became possible and very near to us. This is our strong belief and this is why we celebrate this feast. This is why we say "Merry Christmas!" This feast is very important for us. This is why we prepare ourselves through fasting and prayer in order to meet this feast worthily. We should always remember that we couldn’t truly unite with Christ without true repentance.

May the Merciful Lord give us strength to witness our faith in Him and to proclaim the Good News to all nations! Amen.