Queerying Narrative Lectionary 119

Pace Warfield-May queeries the Narrative Lectionary reading.

Matthew 1:1-17
¹The family tree of Jesus the Anointed One, the descendent of David and Bathsheeba, and of Abraham and Sarah.

²Abraham and Sarah were the parents of Isaac, and Isaac and Rebecca the parents of Jacob, and Jacob and his wives the parents of Judah and his siblings, ³and Judah the father of Perez and Zerah by Tamar, and Perez the father of Hezron, and Hezron the father of Aram, ⁴and Aram the father of Aminadab, and Aminadab the father of Nahshon, and Nahshon the father of Salmon, ⁵and Salmon the father of Boaz by Rahab, and Boaz the father of Obed by Ruth, and Obed the father of Jesse, ⁶and Jesse the father of King David.

And David and Bathsheba were the parents Solomon, ⁷and Solomon the father of Rehoboam, and Rehoboam the father of Abijah, and Abijah the father of Asaph, ⁸and Asaph the father of Jehoshaphat, and Jehoshaphat the father of Joram, and Joram the father of Uzziah, ⁹and Uzziah the father of Jotham, and Jotham the father of Ahaz, and Ahaz the father of Hezekiah, ¹⁰and Hezekiah the father of Manasseh, and Manasseh the father of Amos, and Amos the father of Josiah, ¹¹and Josiah the father of Jechoniah and his siblings, at the time of the deportation to Babylon.

¹²And after the deportation to Babylon: Jechoniah was the father of Salathiel, and Salathiel the father of Zerubbabel, ¹³and Zerubbabel the father of Abiud, and Abiud the father of Eliakim, and Eliakim the father of Azor, ¹⁴and Azor the father of Zadok, and Zadok the father of Achim, and Achim the father of Eliud, ¹⁵and Eliud the father of Eleazar, and Eleazar the father of Matthan, and Matthan the father of Jacob, ¹⁶and Jacob the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary. Mary gave birth to Jesus by the Holy Spirit, and Jesus is called the Anointed One.

¹⁷So all the generations from Abraham and Sarah to David and Bathsheeba are fourteen generations; and from David and Bathsheeba to the deportation to Babylon, fourteen generations; and from the deportation to Babylon to the birth of the Anointed One, fourteen generations.

Queeries for the text:
What is this text building on?
What is the accompanying text?
Where is this going?
What is skipped over?
Who are the women named in the genealogy? Why are so few named?
What is the importance of genealogy and ancestry?

What are your queeries?

Queerying Advent 4A and Narrative Lectionary 116

Pace Warfield-May queeries the Narrative and Revised Common Lectionary Gospel.

Matthew 1:18-25
¹⁸Now the birth of Jesus, the Anointed One, took place in this way: when Jesus' mother Mary was engaged to Joseph, she was found to be with child (from the Holy Spirit). This was before they lived together or had sexual relations. ¹⁹Mary's husband, Joseph, was self-righteous and unwilling to expose himself or Mary to public disgrace, so he decided to break off the engagement quietly. ²⁰But just as he had decided to do this on his own, an angel of the Becoming One appeared to him in a dream and said, "Joseph, scion to David, do not be afraid. Take Mary as your wife, for the fetus within her was conceived through the Holy Spirit. ²¹She will give birth to a son, and you both are to name him Jesus, from the Hebrew Yehoshua for God saves, for he will save his people from their sins." ²²All this took place to fulfill what had been spoken by the Becoming One through the prophet Isaiah:

"Look, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son,

and they shall name him Emmanuel (from the Hebrew for God is with us)."

²⁴When Joseph woke up, he did as the angel of the Becoming One had commanded him to do: he married Mary, ²⁵but he did not have sex with her until she gave birth to the promised son, and they named him Jesus.

Queeries for the text:
What is this text building on?
What is the accompanying Narrative Lectionary text?
Where is this headed?
How is Matthew using or misusing the Isaiah quote?
What is the importance of names?
What do dreams mean for us?
What was wrong with Joseph's 'righteous' plan?
How do you experience the promise that God is with us?

What are your queeries?