Jacob the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary, of her was born Jesus who is called the Christ. St. Matthew lists the genealogy of Jesus as a “son of Abraham” up to Joseph. But Jesus was only the adopted son of Joseph, not the natural son. In other words, Jesus’s identity as “son of Abraham, son of David” was not due to biology, but something which he claimed. It made me think — when I was growing up you had the religion of your parents almost as an inheritance. That is not the case nowadays but maybe that is not such a bad thing. If Jesus had to claim his own place among the people of God shouldn’t believers today do the same?
