The son

Today's reading of the will regards Joseph, the golden child. Levi gets God as his inheritance, so Joseph's two sons each get a share of the land. You would think that the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob would have continued the lineage of Jesus straight through Joseph and the younger of his two sons, which seemed to be the trend (see Jacob and Esau...Joseph himself was the 11th born).

If you look in Matthew's gospel, you see that the line goes through Judah. More amazingly is how we get in on the deal. This Sunday in worship, we hear that classical line, "If the Son sets you free, you are free indeed."

The funny (and culturally appropriate) thing is that the lineage, although it includes four questionable women, goes straight down to Joseph, not Mary. Jesus' daddy was God (through the Holy Spirit). Joseph was merely his step-dad and is out of the picture before Jesus is 30 (presumably he died, as life expectancy at the time wasn't exactly 80).

Mary was chosen by God to be a faithful servant. So are you. It doesn't matter where you came from. What matters is who claimed you.