Weekly Recap

Pastor Chris began the first week of Advent by having us read a long list of names - 42 generations of the family tree of Jesus.  We might wonder what we could possibly get out of this list and why it matters.  One good reason is it is God’s Word and that means, as Paul asserts in his letters to Timothy, it is God-breathed and useful to us.  All Scripture is inspired by God and that means God intended for us to read it and learn from it.  There are at least two big lessons we can learn from this genealogy in Matthew 1:1-17. 

 First, the Gospel is good news, not just good advice.  It doesn’t begin with the words, “Once upon a time” because it is not a fairytale.  The Bible records actual historical events and the listing of historical figures attests to this.  In addition, the Gospel turns the values of the world upside down.  In the ancient world, one’s genealogy was like a resume; one’s family was a big part of one’s value and worth.  Because of this, most people would highlight the good and important members of their families, but leave the questionable ones out.  However, that is not what God does; he includes women (virtually unheard of in a patriarchal society), and these women all had scandals attached to their names.

This genealogy of Jesus recorded in Matthew shows us that God is a God of grace; his ways are not man’s ways.  Jesus was not ashamed of these women - anyone can become a member of his family.  The five women listed in these verses are Tamar, Rahab, Ruth, Bathsheba, and Mary.  Tamar pretended to be a prostitute and seduced her father-in-law, Judah; Rahab was a prostitute who protected the Jewish spies in Jericho; Ruth was a Moabite whose ancestry had its origin in the incest between Lot and his daughter; Bathsheba suffered sexual abuse and the murder of her husband by King David, and Mary was an unwed pregnant teenager.

There are three things we can take away from this genealogy.  First, God welcomes imperfect people into his family; in fact, we have to admit our imperfections in order to get into God’s family!  Jesus not only came to save sinners, but his human ancestors were sinners.  As Martin Luther put it, “It is as though God intended this genealogy to say, ‘Oh, Christ is the kind of person who is not ashamed of sinners - in fact, he even puts them in his family tree.’”  In Romans and Ephesians, Paul reminds us that all of us have sinned and fall short of God’s glory, but we have been saved by God’s grace, not by anything we have done.  We have all broken God’s commandments - none of us have perfectly loved God with all our hearts, souls, minds, and strength, and none of us have loved everyone else in the same way we love ourselves.  It is a gift of God so that none of us can boast.

Not only does God welcome imperfect people into his family, he also works through them.  In his upside down kingdom, we are created in him to do the good works God prepared for us in advance to do.  He calls us his handiwork, or “poema”; we are his works of art.  God can overcome our human sin and difficult or seemingly impossible circumstances.  If we feel there is no way we could be used by God, we would do well to review this genealogy.  The people listed had consequences for their actions, but there was no sin that God could not overcome.  The genealogy leads us to think of what seems impossible in our lives - whether it’s relationships or circumstances - we can listen to the words of Jesus and apply the Gospel to them.  With man this is impossible but with God, all things are possible.  In spite of all the sin and failure in this family tree, God sent his son into the world to save it.  Because he has overcome, we are overcomers - we have everything we need in Jesus.  Jesus is our only hope; turn to him today.