14 x 3 - december 17 2013

Persian rugs are very costly because only an expert can make a Persian rug.  It is done manually, usually with the assistance of a child.  The rug is made to drape like a curtain tapos ang expert nga mananahi is on one side and the assistant child is on the other side.  The expert can only shout out instructions to the child according to the pattern and the design she planned to do.  Pero sa madamo nga bes sala ang tublok sang bata sala, ukon kabos and the pattern would change.  Ano karon ang obrahon sang mananahi?  Puede niya matastas but it would be taxing and laborious.  So instead of repeating the project the expert would work through the mistake and make a new pattern.  It will not turn out according to plan but it would always come out as an extraordinary and unique work.  It is said that this is what makes a Persian rug costly – its unique pattern borne out because of a mistake that was reworked by a gifted artisan to become a beautiful work of art.

I believe this is the message of the genealogy of Jesus.  You may have heard name after name after name.  But behind the names are stories of real people, some of them admirable and saintly, others are unworthy and vile.  Jesus’ family is not a perfect family, it is not a perfect lineage but God is an expert artisan who works through our mistakes and failures.  Grace is more powerful than sin.  God is more powerful than the vilest intent.  We have to believe and trust that God will make all things work out for the good as he did in this most famous bloodline and genealogy – that of his only Son, Jesus.

There are things in life that we cannot explain – why did God allow this to happen to us, where is God, if God exists why do we have to suffer?  Many times we just have to live through these questions without answers, without expecting a reply.  But that is hope.  We believe without seeing, we obey without understanding at times, we walk without knowing where to.

Matthew divided the generation of Jesus into three fourteens.  Fourteen times three is forty two.  Hebrew numerology is symbolic.  Forty is the number for suffering, it is the number that represents trials, difficulties, struggles, obstacles, failures, tests, temptations.  We only have to recall the number of years Israel stayed in the desert before they reached the promised land or the number of days Jesus fasted in the wilderness.  Forty two however signifies rest after the trial, it signifies satisfaction after a period of tests.  In the book of Revelation the just rested from their tribulations on the 42^nd month.  Jesus is the 42^nd generation.  We can only rest when we see things and events in and through Jesus. Jesus is our rest.  Jesus is our assurance.