Day 333 – Hanging from the family tree
Having a Heart in a Sometimes Heartless World
Scripture focus: Matthew 1 The family tree of Jesus Christ, David's son, Abraham's son: 2-6Abraham had Isaac, Isaac had Jacob, Jacob had Judah and his brothers, Judah had Perez and Zerah (the mother was Tamar), Perez had Hezron, Hezron had Aram, Aram had Amminadab, Amminadab had Nahshon, Nahshon had Salmon, Salmon had Boaz (his mother was Rahab), Boaz had Obed (Ruth was the mother), Obed had Jesse, Jesse had David, and David became king. 6-11 David had Solomon (Uriah's wife was the mother), Solomon had Rehoboam, Rehoboam had Abijah, Abijah had Asa, Asa had Jehoshaphat, Jehoshaphat had Joram, Joram had Uzziah, Uzziah had Jotham, Jotham had Ahaz, Ahaz had Hezekiah, Hezekiah had Manasseh, Manasseh had Amon, Amon had Josiah, Josiah had Jehoiachin and his brothers, and then the people were taken into the Babylonian exile. 12-16 When the Babylonian exile ended, Jeconiah had Shealtiel, Shealtiel had Zerubbabel, Zerubbabel had Abiud, Abiud had Eliakim, Eliakim had Azor, Azor had Zadok, Zadok had Achim, Achim had Eliud, Eliud had Eleazar, Eleazar had Matthan, Matthan had Jacob, Jacob had Joseph, Mary's husband, the Mary who gave birth to Jesus, the Jesus who was called Christ. 17 There were fourteen generations from Abraham to David, another fourteen from David to the Babylonian exile, and yet another fourteen from the Babylonian exile to Christ.
I have a friend who thinks her family tree disqualifies her from the kingdom of heaven. She’s decided that nothing good can come from her messed up and mixed up family – and so she lives each day trying to prove herself right. She has sex with men she makes pay for the privilege and does drugs like it’s her legacy. She’s abandoned her children and cheated on her husband. She’s stolen from her family and betrayed her friends. She’s a mess. Now, she’ll tell you that this is her parents’ fault. But what she really believes is that it is her destiny – and she’s just hanging from her family tree. When I look at her, I see a different woman. I see her true, God-created identity. I see her intelligence and ever-increasing glory potential. She, however, dismisses my viewpoint. Oh, how I wish she had studied the family tree of Jesus! Jesus grew up in a dysfunctional family – from a human perspective. His family tree is littered with “less thans” and losers. In the first place, women are mentioned in his family tree. This is a departure from tradition. Women usually weren’t given any attention in the mapping out of families in his day. When Matthew wrote down this account, it would be logical to think that perhaps he included the women because they were so…special…stellar…heroines of their day. Let’s take a look and see.
=The first woman in this list is Tamar. For a full account of her misdeed, see Genesis 38. She was the woman who posted as a prostitute and seduced her father-in-law. It’s a sordid tale – check it out.
=Rahab was a prostitute. Her life, and the lives of her family were spared by Joshua, because she protected the men he had sent to spy on her town. But she was still a lady of the evening.
=Ruth was a Moabite – a “less than” who married above her station. She turned out to also be a loyal daughter-in-law. But she’d still be considered a disgrace and an unwelcome member of the clan of her husband.
=Bathsheba, Uriah’s wife, was the mother of Solomon. But his daddy was David – so this makes him the son of adultery. Lest we forget, Uriah was murdered in order to protect the secret of this infidelity. What kind of legacy is that for a boy?
=Finally, we come to Mary. In her day she was considered an unwed teenage mother – not the mother of a Savior. Have you got some rascals hanging from your family tree? Maybe some genetic predispositions that you think hold you back from your grand epic adventures? Think again, my friend. God’s prevailing purposes prevail even in the face of all sorts of human limitations. May you swing from the limbs of your family tree today without shame, blame or condemnation! I pray that you see yourself as God sees you today!
Recommended reading: Daniel 6 and Psalm 109 in the morning; 2 Peter 3 and Psalm 110 in the evening
