Family Matters
- Jilian Brown
- Dec 11, 2021
- 5 min read
The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.
Abraham was the father of Isaac, and Isaac the father of Jacob, and Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers, and Judah the father of Perez and Zerah by Tamar, and Perez the father of Hezron, and Hezron the father of Ram, and Ram the father of Amminadab, and Amminadab the father of Nahshon, and Nahshon the father of Salmon, and Salmon the father of Boaz by Rahab, and Boaz the father of Obed by Ruth, and Obed the father of Jesse, and Jesse the father of David the king.
And David was the father of Solomon by the wife of Uriah, and Solomon the father of Rehoboam, and Rehoboam the father of Abijah, and Abijah the father of Asaph, and Asaph the father of Jehoshaphat, and Jehoshaphat the father of Joram, and Joram the father of Uzziah, and Uzziah the father of Jotham, and Jotham the father of Ahaz, and Ahaz the father of Hezekiah, and Hezekiah the father of Manasseh, and Manasseh the father of Amos,c and Amos the father of Josiah, and Josiah the father of Jechoniah and his brothers, at the time of the deportation to Babylon.
And after the deportation to Babylon: Jechoniah was the father of Shealtiel, and Shealtiel the father of Zerubbabel, and Zerubbabel the father of Abiud, and Abiud the father of Eliakim, and Eliakim the father of Azor, and Azor the father of Zadok, and Zadok the father of Achim, and Achim the father of Eliud, and Eliud the father of Eleazar, and Eleazar the father of Matthan, and Matthan the father of Jacob, and Jacob the father of Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom Jesus was born, who is called Christ.
So all the generations from Abraham to David were fourteen generations, and from David to the deportation to Babylon fourteen generations, and from the deportation to Babylon to the Christ fourteen generations.”
~Matthew 1:1-17
In today’s Advent devotional, instead of focusing on one character, I want to take a look at the prequel of characters, if you will. Inspired by the song titled "Christ" on the Advent album by Poor Bishop Hooper, this week we look at the list of characters in Matthew 1:1-16. The genealogy of Christ is often easily skipped over, which is unfortunate.
I am not a huge Star Wars fan, but I do recall watching the original trilogy growing up and then at the end of my freshman year of high school, The Phantom Menace came out. I will never forget standing in that long line with my friends in the parking lot of our little movie theater in Carlsbad, NM. That was my introduction to “true fans” and the lengths at which people will go to celebrate their obsessions. I was fascinated by the movie. Watching Anakin as a child was one of the first times I contemplated the gravity of someone’s history and all the people and circumstances which lead up to the decisions they make and the people they become. There is a unique story making up every person we encounter and it is very rare that we get the privilege of knowing what it is.
The first time I attempted reading through the Bible in a year, I am pretty sure I took one glance at any genealogy list and turned the page(s) to the next narrative portion. It wasn't until High School when I did a Bible study on Ruth that I learned that she was in the lineage of Jesus—and she wasn't even an Israelite. Ever since then, I try not to ignore those lists of individuals, but figure out who they are and what their story is. After all, I would be pretty sad if generations from now, my family skipped over my story and I was reduced to a list of names no one cared about. The biblical genealogies give us proof of the historicity of the Bible, which is important. However, there is also a picture of humanity portrayed in the prequel to Christ. These are real, actual people who lived and their choices, marriages, faith walks, and moves played a part in the eventual coming of the Messiah. Obviously, God's sovereign hand reigned over all of that and it was not happenstance, but I also believe our own lineage is purposeful and meaningful.
The above picture looks like a bit of a mess and most people would find nothing special about it. However, the first two names listed are my great-grandparents who immigrated from Italy to the USA. Their choices, actions, and faith gave rise to my own. Their story is beautiful and complex, as that is not my grandfather's mother listed. She passed away after his little sister was born. This was the second wife of my great-grandfather who he returned to Italy to marry and brought back to Texas. He died not long after that in a mining accident. Their step-mother was not a citizen yet and she was going to be deported and the children placed in an orphanage. However, my great-grandfather's brother left everything in Italy to come to the USA and marry his brother's second wife so that the children would be safe. They then went on to have children of their own also. My family is built on sacrifice begetting love. It is woven into the fabric of who I am and it is something I have always valued. I wish I had more details, but my grandparents are now all together in heaven, so I will have to wait a little longer to find them out.
If you look at the lineage of Jesus, you will find imperfect people. Some who followed God faithfully their whole lives, others who did not. You see mistakes and miracles. Some were born as Israelites and others who were welcomed into the family tree by the God who always looked for the pure of heart over the pure of birth. You see mostly men in the list in Matthew chapter 1, but a few women as well, even Rahab the prostitute was allowed a prominent place in the line of Christ. You see three sets of fourteen generations. Three is the number for completeness, while seven is the number which marks completion of a God-given mandate. Two is the number for union, or incarnation, so fourteen (2X7) is double completion or perfection. Also, J. Richard Middleton points out in this article that the generations and even spellings of some of the names which Matthew uses point to the Davidic kingdom to signify that Jesus is the messiah. God is in the details. He cares deeply about them in the story of His son. He cares deeply about your details as well.
The Christmas season is one of the most family-oriented times of year. That can be wonderful and for some people that can bring tension, stress, or sadness. I challenge us to consider our family tree this Advent. Part of Advent is focusing on the "already and not yet." We are all clear about our longings for what is not yet, but perhaps we are invited to a time of contemplating what was already. Perhaps gratitude lives in that space. The sheer fact that many of our ancestors survived is miraculous given the many hardships and living conditions they faced. Maybe instead of skipping our history, we can examine it and find the good, the not so good, and the miraculous that brought us to this very moment. Christ came right on time. You are here right on time and your family, no matter how complicated, matters. Isn't it fun to wonder what God is up to in our stories?
Recommended Reading and Resources:
I did not use the RCL for today's post, but if you are interested in further reading about numbers in the Bible or the people who are in Jesus' lineage, here are some resources:
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