Yesterday we heard in the reading of the Infancy Genealogy that there were fourteen generations in each of the three major epochs leading up to the birth of Christ. Quite clearly, St. Paul s insights from the Apostle today configures with the Jewish expectation of the Messiah in the Gospel of St. Matthew. Firstly, and chronologically, it was a long time a-coming. 42 generations is a long time to wait for the coming of Jesus. This generation cannot wait the span of one human life for anything let alone the 42 that the People of God waited for Jesus.
Mass consumerism is built on such absurdity.
Christmas, therefore, bids us to wait a while maybe even dying with our hopes and dreams unfulfilled, but knowing that our children, or their children, or their children and so on, will reap the reward. This extremely long term view is necessary because human culture is organic. This works on many levels. At a personal level we can say that there had been no one before like the Theotokos. She was Israel s richest fruit, matured over a long time in the vineyard.