I’m a mutt. Part this, part that. My dad’s grandfather was part Cherokee, while my mom’s maternal grandfather was Chickasaw and her paternal grandfather was German... Wessel, pronounced Vessel, with emphasis on the “V”. Beyond that, I’m quite sure that in my family tree, there must have been famous inventors, dukes, and tycoons... and maybe a stagecoach robber or the like. I’m really just part this and part that... a slumgullion of DNA.
Jesus was a Jew. He could trace His Hebrew blood directly to David, the great king, and all the way back to Abraham, His great, great, great ... grandfather. As a matter of fact, Matthew starts his Gospel with ... “An account of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the Son of David, the Son of Abraham: Abraham fathered Isaac, Isaac fathered Jacob, Jacob fathered Judah and his brothers” and so forth (Matthew 1:1, CSB).
In the days leading up to Christmas, let’s explore the genealogy of Jesus, remembering His interesting Hebrew heritage. Interesting indeed!
Let’s start all the way back in Genesis 10 and 11. Noah had come out of the Ark and the population of the planet jumped from eight to... lots. “The whole earth had the same language and vocabulary. As people migrated from the east, they found a valley in the land of Shinar and settled there. They said to each other, ‘Come, let’s make oven-fired bricks.’ (They used brick for stone and asphalt for mortar.) And they said, ‘Come, let’s build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the sky. Let’s make a name for ourselves’ ” (Genesis 11:1–4, CSB).
You’d think that our ancient ancestors would have learned a lesson from the deadly flood, but they seemed more interested in their own agenda than God’s. So “the Lord scattered them throughout the earth, and they stopped building the city. Therefore it is called Babylon, for there the Lord confused the language of the whole earth” (Genesis 11:8–9, CSB).
The eleventh chapter of Genesis ends with the genealogy of Noah and gives enough detail to calculate the time of Abram’s birth, 292 years after the flood. Many scholars scoff and suggest thousands of years must have passed. Call me silly, but I trust Moses’ account.
So, Abram, a descendant of Noah, grew up in a pagan family during a time of confusion and division. Many years later, Joshua reminded the Israelites of their humble beginnings. “Long ago your ancestors, including Terah, the father of Abraham and Nahor, lived beyond the Euphrates River and worshiped other gods” (Joshua 24:2, CSB).
What did Abram do to deserve a place in the genealogy of Jesus? Absolutely nothing!
Abram was chosen by the God of amazing grace! So that’s where the genealogy of Jesus begins... with grace.
What did we do to deserve a seat at the King’s table? Why were we adopted into the family? Yep, you got it! Grace!
South Georgia Baptist Church
Amarillo, Texas
Mike Martin, Pastor
mike@southgeorgiabaptistchurch.org