Each of Jesus’ ancestors proclaims God’s unfailing promises.
Each of Jesus’ ancestors proclaims God’s unfailing promises.
Advent Day 20, The Genealogy.
If I asked to trace our family ancestors, many of us could go back two possibly three generations.
After that, who knows, for many of us, it's a big blank space.
But God's people record and update their genealogy regularly, so much so that whole books of the Bible devote themselves to the task.
We may get lost in the names and the bagats, and that's okay.
In fact, it's normal.
But today, let's listen to Jesus's genealogical record.
Let's let it tell us the great story that God promised to save people from sin and death, and He does it by sending His Son to be born, to live, to die, and to rise again.
Matthew, one of the Gospel writers, records Jesus' ancestry.
For him, the genealogy is of critical importance, for it sets up his book's theme, Jesus is the Messiah, promised and sent by God.
He says in Matthew 1, 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, 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 Eliad 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 14 generations, and from David to the deportation to Babylon, 14 generations, and from the deportation to Babylon to the Christ, 14 generations.
The names wash over us like waves, 42 generations of people who live and die.
Their names roll, dive and crest, David the king, Solomon, Zerubbabel, who helps rebuild the temple.
A few surprises too, at least for the Jewish people of Jesus' day.
Tamar and Rahab, Ruth and Bathsheba, women in the genealogical record, "Yes," says Matthew, "Yes," says God. 42 generations come and go from the time of Abraham to Jesus' day.
How is this lengthy record a testament of God's faithfulness and steadfast love?
42 generations.
It contains people we might avoid at holiday dinners or refrain from mentioning in public.
Liars and cheaters, cruel kings.
The list also contains faithful companions and faithful builders, protective shepherds and wise kings.
Each person important in their own way, made in the likeness of God, yet part of something bigger, something grander, God's story.
Advent invites us to remember Jesus, the human.
Why is it important to remember Jesus was and is and always will be human?
Advent simultaneously invites us to remember Jesus, the divine Son of God.
Why is it important to remember Jesus was and is and always will be divine?
(gentle music) God's story continues to this day with us.
Anyone who believes in Jesus as the savior of the world becomes a part of the great genealogy and story God has been and is writing.
But we don't become a part of God's story and forget our past.
We remember who we are and rejoice that is not who we are anymore.
In Christ we have been made and are being made new.
The story isn't over.
It keeps rolling forward until that glorious day when Jesus returns.
What does that mean for us today?
It means we live with hope.
This world is not our home, nor can it ever satisfy our deepest longings.
We have a forever home and it is with God.
Where joy and peace reign forevermore.
It means we hope in Jesus whom we celebrated Christmas.
He is the reason we celebrate and the one we celebrate.
Jesus arrives born as a vulnerable baby to rescue us and set us free from sin and death.
How is Jesus your hope this year and in this season?
It means we share our hope with others.
Even when we experience suffering and sorrow, we tell people the good news that Jesus, God's Son, was born.
Jesus lived the sinless life we cannot so that we might live by faith in Him.
And it means we overflow with hope.
How can we not?
We have been brought from death to life, from wrath to mercy, from despair to living hope.
Jesus is our hope and He is Emmanuel, God with us.
Our history gives us hope.
We can trace our lineage and the pages of Scripture and in the pages of our lives.
Where do you see or find hope in your history, even if it's a hard history?
What would it look like to renew your hope in Christ this Christmas?
How could you share your hope in Christ this Christmas season?
Let's pray together.
Heavenly Father, your steadfast love endures forever from generation to generation.
Thank you for giving us your story, recorded in Jesus' genealogical record.
Thank you for promising a Savior and for sending that Savior.
Here's the reason we sing.
Here's the story we tell.
Help us to live into your story and to live with hope for what you promise you fulfill.
Amen.