The Family Tree of Jesus (Its pretty messed up!)
"The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the Son of David, the Son of Abraham..."
-Matthew 1:1-16
Its Christmastime yet again. This Christmas season, as with others before it, will no doubt be teeming with family, food, gifts, movies, hot cocoa, letters to Santa, decor (endless decor!), festive music and the list goes on. This is truly a joyous time of year, for many anyway.
I'm not sure what your family's Christmas traditions are, but if you are a Christian, hopefully the reading of the Christmas story or something from Scripture is a part of your celebration - after all, as Christians, Jesus is the entire reason for celebration! One thing that is often overlooked and skipped altogether in the reading of the Christmas story, both in homes and in Christmas services in churches, is the genealogy presented before everything takes place with King Herod, and the wise men, and the shepherds, and the manger scene. When it comes to lists of names, or lists of anything in Scripture, we generally deem these passages as inconsequential, they don't matter, and we skip on by them without giving them another glance.
This is a major mistake!
Consider with me the genealogy of Jesus presented in Matthew's gospel account. There's a major purpose behind the Holy Spirit leading Matthew to record the family tree of Jesus. Although it isn't an exhaustive list (as Matthew skips several generations), the main idea is clear: Jesus clearly fulfilled prophecy by coming from both the royal and ethnic bloodline required of the prophesied Messiah. Simply put, Messiah would need to be both Jew and of the royal bloodline of King David. Jesus was both.
I won't list the entire genealogy here, as that would make for a rather lengthy post however, I will make reference to some key figures. As I present some of these to you, keep in mind your own family tree and even the families of others you may know. Doesn't every family have that one "crazy uncle?" Or that "wild child" or weird cousin? Every family seems to have someone who is successful and someone who is a troublemaker. In light of our own family trees, we would probably consider Jesus, the Son of God, Creator of all things, and King of the universe to have a perfect, holy family tree. The reality is quite contrary. Let's take a look at some key names in His bloodline:
Abraham, who somewhat 'kicked things off' for the family, was a rich man who didn't worship God until after the age of 75.
Jacob was a crook and a cheat, looking to take advantage of any situation he could.
Judah slept with his daughter-in-law, Tamar, believing she was a prostitute.
Tamar dressed up as a prostitute to seduce Judah out of desperation for children.
Salmon married a non-Jew who was a prostitute, Rahab.
Ruth was a Moabite, a clan formed from incest.
David was king and a "man after God's own heart" who also had a man murdered to cover up his adulterous one-night-stand with the man's wife while that man was off at war.
Solomon, the wisest and wealthiest man to ever live, had 700 wives and 300 concubines who was driven to find pleasure in this world for most of his life, which he shares in Ecclesiastes is a "meaningless pursuit."
Rehoboam, Solomon's son, was a failed king whose arrogance caused the Israelite kingdom to split in two.
Ahaz and Manasseh were both supremely wicked kings who worshiped idols and sacrificed their own children to Satanic gods.
Josiah was a Godly king who led major reform in the land.
And then you have Jesus' earthly parents, Joseph and Mary. Joseph was a small-town carpenter and Mary was simply a young woman whose life changed forever.
These are just a few of the names in the genealogy of Christ. This is his earthly family. Of all the people God could have chosen to be apart of His family when He came down to this earth in human form, He chose these people. Some were good, but many were awful. Several were insignificant - only having their names mentioned once in all the Bible, but no stories.
What is the take away from this?
1) God can use anyone to accomplish His will - even messed up people!
2) God came to earth to save messed up people.
This is why Christmas needs to be about Christ instead of all the other things that come along to distract us from Him. Christmas represents the greatest gift ever given - the God Man, Jesus Christ, the Savior of the world, the Messiah, the Redeemer, our Advocate, the Great High Priest, the Everlasting King. He came through a prophesied bloodline of jacked up people to save jacked up people.
Remember this awesome truth this Christmas and make sure your celebration is about Him.
-Matthew 1:1-16
Its Christmastime yet again. This Christmas season, as with others before it, will no doubt be teeming with family, food, gifts, movies, hot cocoa, letters to Santa, decor (endless decor!), festive music and the list goes on. This is truly a joyous time of year, for many anyway.
I'm not sure what your family's Christmas traditions are, but if you are a Christian, hopefully the reading of the Christmas story or something from Scripture is a part of your celebration - after all, as Christians, Jesus is the entire reason for celebration! One thing that is often overlooked and skipped altogether in the reading of the Christmas story, both in homes and in Christmas services in churches, is the genealogy presented before everything takes place with King Herod, and the wise men, and the shepherds, and the manger scene. When it comes to lists of names, or lists of anything in Scripture, we generally deem these passages as inconsequential, they don't matter, and we skip on by them without giving them another glance.
This is a major mistake!
Consider with me the genealogy of Jesus presented in Matthew's gospel account. There's a major purpose behind the Holy Spirit leading Matthew to record the family tree of Jesus. Although it isn't an exhaustive list (as Matthew skips several generations), the main idea is clear: Jesus clearly fulfilled prophecy by coming from both the royal and ethnic bloodline required of the prophesied Messiah. Simply put, Messiah would need to be both Jew and of the royal bloodline of King David. Jesus was both.
I won't list the entire genealogy here, as that would make for a rather lengthy post however, I will make reference to some key figures. As I present some of these to you, keep in mind your own family tree and even the families of others you may know. Doesn't every family have that one "crazy uncle?" Or that "wild child" or weird cousin? Every family seems to have someone who is successful and someone who is a troublemaker. In light of our own family trees, we would probably consider Jesus, the Son of God, Creator of all things, and King of the universe to have a perfect, holy family tree. The reality is quite contrary. Let's take a look at some key names in His bloodline:
Abraham, who somewhat 'kicked things off' for the family, was a rich man who didn't worship God until after the age of 75.
Jacob was a crook and a cheat, looking to take advantage of any situation he could.
Judah slept with his daughter-in-law, Tamar, believing she was a prostitute.
Tamar dressed up as a prostitute to seduce Judah out of desperation for children.
Salmon married a non-Jew who was a prostitute, Rahab.
Ruth was a Moabite, a clan formed from incest.
David was king and a "man after God's own heart" who also had a man murdered to cover up his adulterous one-night-stand with the man's wife while that man was off at war.
Solomon, the wisest and wealthiest man to ever live, had 700 wives and 300 concubines who was driven to find pleasure in this world for most of his life, which he shares in Ecclesiastes is a "meaningless pursuit."
Rehoboam, Solomon's son, was a failed king whose arrogance caused the Israelite kingdom to split in two.
Ahaz and Manasseh were both supremely wicked kings who worshiped idols and sacrificed their own children to Satanic gods.
Josiah was a Godly king who led major reform in the land.
And then you have Jesus' earthly parents, Joseph and Mary. Joseph was a small-town carpenter and Mary was simply a young woman whose life changed forever.
These are just a few of the names in the genealogy of Christ. This is his earthly family. Of all the people God could have chosen to be apart of His family when He came down to this earth in human form, He chose these people. Some were good, but many were awful. Several were insignificant - only having their names mentioned once in all the Bible, but no stories.
What is the take away from this?
1) God can use anyone to accomplish His will - even messed up people!
2) God came to earth to save messed up people.
This is why Christmas needs to be about Christ instead of all the other things that come along to distract us from Him. Christmas represents the greatest gift ever given - the God Man, Jesus Christ, the Savior of the world, the Messiah, the Redeemer, our Advocate, the Great High Priest, the Everlasting King. He came through a prophesied bloodline of jacked up people to save jacked up people.
Remember this awesome truth this Christmas and make sure your celebration is about Him.
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