Reading Matthew

It seems as if everyone is reading the gospel of Matthew this month!
Starting out as it does, with that genealogy, Matthew seems just a little intimidating! How do we figure out all those names, and why do they matter?
Whenever I see the genealogies in Scripture, they always remind me of a cousin who knows all the family history, and can recite it whenever anyone asks her a family-history related question. She knows who everyone is, and how they fit together. Her stories are always interesting, because they touch our lives as we wonder how all these people who came before us affect the people we are today.
Same thing with Matthew, I think . . . the genealogy is nothing more or less than our “family history” in the faith. All those people Matthew lists and names have had some effect on us as people of faith.
The trick is figuring out what that effect is – and that's why we read on!