“The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.” (Matthew 1:1, RSV)

    My Brazilian identity card, in addition to my own name, bears the names of a south Texas cotton farmer and a school secretary — my father and mother. Simple people, simple lives, no great fortunes, no entries in the history books.

    In another time and another place, a carpenter and a housekeeper were registered as the parents of another child. In a sense it was an adoption. The carpenter wasn’t really the father. Some rumors even spread about the child’s birth, though no one bothered to investigate further. They were simple people, with simple lives — nothing extraordinary that anyone could see.

They were simple people, with simple lives...

    Years later, a friend and disciple of that child would recount his lineage. He would reveal that this child, of such a common and even dubious birth, was the culmination of a royal dynasty — the fulfillment of divine promise. Matthew reminded a nation that had risen and fallen, that they could rise again, all because of this child of apparently common descent.

    The day is coming when another heritage will be revealed. A book will be opened and names will be read. We will discover on that day our true lineage. May we learn on that day that we, too, are descendants of Abraham. May it be revealed that we, too, were adopted into the covenant of faith and promise. May we learn that we, too, are children of the King.

How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! ... Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when he appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. (1 John 3:1-2, RSV)