”All those listed above include fourteen generations from Abraham to David, fourteen from David to the Babylonian exile, and fourteen from the Babylonian exile to the Messiah.“ Matthew 1:17 NLT
The disciple, journalist and author, Matthew, is extremely detailed in his historical and genealogical record of Jesus. Even though we plow through a long list of names, there is a story behind each one of them.
Notably, Matthew listed the names of five women – an unheard of move at the time. And in those five women, we have pictures of either their sinful past or their horrific, unjust circumstances. Tamar disguised herself as a religious prostitute and tricked her father-in-law Judah into getting her pregnant. Rahab was a prostitute and a Gentile. Ruth was a Moabite, again a foreigner, forbidden to marry for a Jewish male. Bathsheba, she is the woman King David raped, forcing an adulterous relationship with her and murdering her husband, Uriah, one of David’s previous “mighty men” crew. Then, of course, Mary herself, who was “found to be pregnant,” and Joseph wasn’t the father of the child! This is just some of Jesus’ “mom’s” story.
The men, through Jesus’ foster dad, Joseph, didn’t fair much better. In the list of Israel’s great kings, more than half were wicked leaders! Six were good kings, great men. However eight were awful! One of those worst kings, Rehoboam, listened to his young friends’ advice and it split the twelve tribes into two factions – Judah (10 tribes) and Israel (2 tribes).
In a sermon series called, “Coming Home,” I ask a couple of questions, “Why didn’t Jesus’ heritage come from a long and consistent line of righteousness, upstanding men, and women?” and “How does knowing that Jesus came from a sordid past give hope to those with imperfect families or pasts?” I really wrestled with some difficult questions in Jesus’ birth story. Why did God CHOOSE to do it this way? We’ve glamorized the Christmas Story in so many ways and I agree it’s a cute, wonderfully fuzzy tale to tell. The truth is much darker, mysterious and definitely not safe for young children – and apparently not safe for the church either!
It’s because in ALL THINGS, Jesus was human says, Hebrews 4:15. That included a some seedy family struggles that were not hidden in history, but openly listed to give us hope! If you have come from an imperfect family story, this should give YOU hope. Quit comparing yourself to the false narrative that church families have it all together and have some kind of holy, supernatural perfection in their family story. The only miracle we ALL share is that God’s grace is enough to change and redeem a broken family story and make it brand new!
Prayer
Dad,
You can and do make all things new! Even years of horrible family origin stories filled with pain, shame and struggle. But that’s why every one of the broken people, listed in Jesus’ genealogy were highlighted. In the darkest of situations, you shine bright with full disclosure and grace. Our stories, even filled with shame, should not be hidden, but should be told in light of your grace. It is not what we’ve done in sin, but what you have done in redemption! Let Your story eclipse ours, bringing light to shadows and our dark history. Thank you for your grace, mercy and enormous light that dispels darkness.