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Q. Thank you for your July column about reading and understanding the Bible. I took your advice and started with the Gospels, but to be honest, the genealogies confused me right off the bat. Any help?
This is a very fair question; before responding, let me give the context.
Back in July, I proposed that one helpful way to read the Bible without getting confused by all of the rituals and rules is to focus on the “historical” books, which are easier to understand.
But as this question indicates, that still doesn’t clear up all of the confusion, as the very first Gospel illustrates: Matthew begins with Jesus’ genealogy, starting with Abraham and going through King David all the way to Jesus himself. And for many of us, the series of “so-and-so begat so-and-so’s” is completely lost on us.
So, I have two solutions. First: start with St. Mark’s Gospel instead. I’m only slightly kidding! The truth is, Mark’s Gospel is the shortest and most action-packed of the Gospels; in fact, one of Mark’s favorite words is “immediately.” Throughout the Gospel, he uses it as a transition from one event to the next, almost making it seem that Jesus is running from place to place in the Holy Land.
Having said that, there will be times when Mark’s Gospel also confuses us, and this gets to my second solution, which I alluded to back in July: If we truly want to read and understand the Bible, then it will require some time and effort on our part. Before getting into the details, let me say: That investment of time and effort is most definitely worth it. When we go beyond a surface-level understanding of Sacred Scripture and really begin to study it, the Word of God truly comes alive for us. When we are able to make sense of Scripture, its meaning and relevance to our lives quickly become apparent.
So, how do we go about truly studying the Bible? The simplest answer is to make the real investment in a good study Bible, like the “Ignatius Catholic Study Bible.” A study Bible has the written text of Sacred Scripture on each page, but it also includes notes that explain what the scriptural text means. And these notes are supremely helpful for making sense of the more confusing passages in Scripture.
Let’s return to the genealogy of Jesus at the beginning of Matthew’s Gospel as an example. Again, at a certain level, this is just a series of names, most of which mean absolutely nothing to us. But a good study Bible helps us understand why St. Matthew began his Gospel with this series of names. For example, the “Ignatius Catholic Study Bible” tells us this: “The Abrahamic and Davidic ancestry of Jesus establishes his credentials to be the royal Messiah of Israel. God long ago promised that ‘kings’ would stem from Abraham’s line and later swore a covenant oath that David would always have a dynastic heir.” So, Matthew begins with this list of ancestors because it’s important for the sake of demonstrating his claim to be the Messiah. That might be lost on us as 21st century Americans, but for Jews living in the first century, it was supremely important: if Jesus was not of David’s lineage, he could not be the Messiah.
This and other study Bibles include additional notes and commentary of this sort to explain and unpack the many parts of the Bible that are lost on us, and therefore, they are an indispensable tool for helping us to dive more deeply into the depths of God’s Holy Word.
I cannot encourage you enough to take that leap and make the dive. It will be worth it.
