What's In Your Family Tree?

I find it amazing to look at the family tree of Jesus, for it is not what one would expect of the Savior of the world. The Gospels of Matthew and Luke give us two different Family Tree's of Jesus. Some stumble on this by setting aside the Bible and conclude it is full of errors. Upon closer examination though, we see that Matthew, who wrote to the Jews, recorded the legal line from King David to Joseph. Matthew's account is a list of "Who's Who" in Judah's history. Many of the names recorded were kings of Israel. Luke records the biological line of Jesus through Mary. It was the custom of the day to not list the mother. In Luke 3.23, Luke said "Jesus...was the son, so it was thought, of Joseph," and then proceeded to list the Family Tree. God said through the prophet Jeremiah (22.24-30) that none of Jeconiah's children would ever sit on the throne of David. If Joseph, a direct descendent of Jeconiah, were the father of Jesus, then Jesus could not sit on David's throne nor fulfill the promise given to King David that one of his heirs would one day sit on his throne forever. The Bible tells us that Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit, not Joseph.

There is also the matter of five women being mentioned in Matthew's Family Tree of Jesus. They are" Tamar (1.3), Rahab (1.5), Ruth (1.5), Beersheba (1.6 described but not mentioned by name) and Mary (1.16) Very unusual to record a woman in the family tree. But these were no ordinary women. Tamar posed as a prostitute and became pregnant by her father-in-law; Rahab was a prostitute in Jerricho who helped the two Israeli spies escape; Ruth was from Moab- an outsider; Beersheba commited adultery with King David; and Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph- a status similiar to our engagement period but according to Jewish law were legally married. During the engagement period the bride and groom were to be kept apart until the wedding day. Mary's pregnancy was a scandal in the little village of Nazareth. You could say that the Family Tree of Jesus was messed up. Yet God worked through both the faithful and sinful of Judah to bring His Son to earth to save us from our sin.

Perhaps you may be thinking your Family Tree and life are messed up. Perhaps your family tree has a few scandals of its own. Perhaps there is a history that you would like to sweep away. Perhaps you see your own children living life apart from God. Yet, even in the worst of circumstances God is at work and accomplishing His plan. Take your eyes off of the failures and place them on the One who is Perfect, Holy and who died on the cross for you. Put your trust in Jesus, who overcame the curse on his Family Tree and became a curse on Calvary's Tree in order that we may have the curse of sin removed from us and live a life in freedom, love, joy and peace with God. For this is why Jesus came to earth and why we celebrate His birth.
Merry Christmas,
Pastor Pete