genealogy of Christ – Art & Theology

Advent, Day 24 (Christmas Eve): Genealogy of Christ

December 24, 2024 Victoria Emily JonesLeave a comment

LOOK: Genealogy of Christ and the Adoration of the Magi, from a Beatus manuscript

Genealogy with Adoration of the Magi — Bifolium with part of the Genealogy of Christ and the Adoration of the Magi, from a Beatus manuscript, Spain, ca. 1180. Tempera, gold, and ink on parchment, each folio 17 1/2 × 11 13/16 in. (44.4 × 30 cm). Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

LISTEN: “Christ” by Poor Bishop Hooper, on Firstborn (2018)

Abraham fathered Isaac
Isaac fathered Jacob
Then Jacob fathered Judah and his brothers
Judah, he fathered Perez
Who fathered Hezron, who fathered Aram
Aram fathered Amminadab
Who fathered Nahshon, who fathered Salmon

Salmon fathered Boaz by Rahab
Boaz fathered Obed by Ruth
And Obed fathered Jesse, and Jesse was the father of King David
Then David fathered Solomon by Uriah’s own wife

Solomon, he was the father of Rehoboam, who fathered Abijah
Who fathered Asa and then Jehoshaphat
Jehoram fathered Uzziah
Who fathered Jotham
Jotham, he fathered Ahaz, who was the father of Hezekiah

Manasseh, he fathered Amon (who fathered Josiah)
And Jeconiah (and his brothers) amidst the exile
Shealtiel fathered Zerubbabel (who fathered Abihud)
Who fathered Eliakim (who fathered Azor), who fathered Zadok
Zadok fathered Achim (who fathered Eliud), who fathered Eleazar
(Who fathered Matthan) Who fathered Jacob

And Jacob was the father of Joseph
And Joseph took a virgin for his wife
And Mary was the one who gave birth to the Son of God
(Mary was the one who gave birth to the Son of God)
Mary was the one who gave birth to the Son of God
(Mary was the one who gave birth)

And his name is Jesus
And his name is Jesus
And his name is Jesus
And his name is Jesus
Who is called the Christ (Jesus)
Wonderful Counselor (And his name is Jesus)
Almighty God, the everlasting Father (And his name is Jesus)
Prince of Peace, Almighty God (And his name is Jesus)
Who is called the Christ

Who knew a sung genealogy could be so captivating? Jesse and Leah Roberts are a married couple from Missouri who write, sing, and record songs together as Poor Bishop Hooper. The lyrics of “Christ”—a list of Jesus’s ancestors—come straight from Matthew 1. This recording from their home studio premiered at the virtual Songs for Hope: A TGC Advent Concert on December 6, 2020.

“What the Body Knows” by Jean Janzen

December 4, 2021December 4, 2021 Victoria Emily Jones3 Comments

IE TCD MS 58, fol. 200r

IE TCD MS 58, fol. 200v

IE TCD MS 58, fol. 201r

IE TCD MS 58, fol. 201v

IE TCD MS 58, fol. 202r

Maybe it’s the ocean’s rhythmic tug
that helps me sleep, my body’s own
surge remembering its deepest pulse.

Think of those Celtic monks who
scaled the slippery rocks carrying
vellum and inks while the sea broke

and battered beneath them. High
in a crevice, a hidden stone hut
with cot and candle. The scribe

dips and swirls his quill to preserve
the story—Luke’s genealogy,
name after name, letters shaped

like birds in every color, a flight
of messengers released into history.
Each word unfurls the promise,

like Gabriel kneeling. The body
knows that wings, like waves,
can break through walls and enter,

that the secret of the story
is love, that even as we sleep,
its tides carry us in a wild safety.

The poem “What the Body Knows” by Jean Janzen is from her collection What the Body Knows (DreamSeeker Books / Cascadia Publishing House, 2015) and is used here by permission of the publisher.

The pages from the early ninth-century Book of Kells (IE TCD MS 58, fols. 200r, 200v, 201r, 201v, 202r) are sourced from the Digital Collections of the Library of Trinity College Dublin. They illuminate Luke 3:23–38 in the Latin Vulgate: Et ipse Iesus erat incipiens quasi annorum triginta ut putabatur filius Ioseph qui fuit Heli qui fuit Matthat qui fuit Levi . . . (“And Jesus himself began to be about thirty years of age, being, as was supposed, the son of Joseph, which was the son of Heli, which was the son of Matthat, which was the son of Levi . . .”) Click on the library link to zoom in and explore more, or on the individual images to view at full resolution.

Root of Jesse (Artful Devotion)

December 4, 2019September 28, 2023 Victoria Emily Jones4 Comments

Tree of Jesse (Chartres Cathedral) (full) — *The Tree of Jesse*, 12th century. Stained glass window (Bay 49), Chartres Cathedral, France. Photo: Painton Cowen.

There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse,
and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit.
And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him,
the Spirit of wisdom and understanding,
the Spirit of counsel and might,
the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.
And his delight shall be in the fear of the Lord.
He shall not judge by what his eyes see,
or decide disputes by what his ears hear,
but with righteousness he shall judge the poor,
and decide with equity for the meek of the earth;
and he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth,
and with the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked.
Righteousness shall be the belt of his waist,
and faithfulness the belt of his loins.
. . .

In that day the root of Jesse, who shall stand as a signal for the peoples—of him shall the nations inquire, and his resting place shall be glorious.

—Isaiah 11:1–5, 10

Tree of Jesse (Chartres) — The bottom panel depicts Nahum, Jesse, and Joel. This and all the following detail photos are by Dr. Stuart Whatling.

Tree of Jesse (Ezekiel, David, Hosea) — Ezekiel, David, Hosea

Tree of Jesse (Isaiah, Solomon, Micah) — Isaiah, Solomon, Micah

Tree of Jesse (Moses, Generic King, Balaam) — Moses, generic king, Balaam

Tree of Jesse (Samuel, generic king, Amos) — Samuel, generic king, Amos

Tree of Jesse (Zechariah, Mary, Daniel) — Zechariah, the Virgin Mary, Daniel

Tree of Jesse (Habakkuk, Christ, Zephaniah) — Habakkuk, Christ with the Seven Gifts of the Spirit (wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety, and fear of the Lord, per Isa. 11:2), Zephaniah

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SONG: “O Root of Jesse” | Text: Latin original from the sixth through eighth centuries, English translation from the Church of England’s Common Worship liturgy | Music by Ole Schützler (b. 1976) | Performed by the Junger Kammerchor Rhein-Neckar (Rhine-Neckar Youth Chamber Choir), under the direction of Mathias Rickert, on Advent (2014)

Latin:
O Radix Jesse, qui stas in signum populorum,
super quem continebunt reges os suum,
quem Gentes deprecabuntur:
veni ad liberandum nos, jam noli tardare.

English:
O Root of Jesse, standing as a sign among the peoples;
before you kings will shut their mouths,
to you the nations will make their prayer:
Come and deliver us, and delay no longer.

“O Radix Jesse” (O Root of Jesse) is one of the seven O Antiphons, names for Christ that are sung during Advent. (The others are O Wisdom, O Lord, O Key of David, O Dayspring, O King of Nations, and O God-with-Us.) Their precise origin is unknown, but their use in the eighth century is substantiated.

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Chartres Cathedral is “the high point of French Gothic art” (UNESCO) and one of my must-sees before I die. Its portals boast many exquisite figural sculptures, and its interior is renowned for, among other things, its stained glass windows. The Tree of Jesse, showing the royal lineage of Jesus, is one of three large, rounded lancet windows at the west end—the other two depicting the Life of Christ (center) and the Passion of Christ.

Lancet windows, Chartres — Photo: E. Vandenbroucque

This post belongs to the weekly series Artful Devotion. If you can’t view the music player in your email or RSS reader, try opening the post in your browser.

To view all the Revised Common Lectionary scripture readings for the Second Sunday of Advent, cycle A, click here.