“This is a record of the ancestors of Jesus the Messiah, a descendant of David and of Abraham….” Matthew 1:1-17 (NLT).
We all have skeletons in our closets, black sheep in the family, names we’d rather sweep under the carpet than bring up at the dinner table. Jesus’ family tree was no different. Yet, rather than dismissing some of his shadier ancestors, God highlights a handful of those disreputable predecessors: there’s Jacob the swindler, Rahab the prostitute, Ruth the refugee, and Solomon son of Bathsheba.
Why mention them? Because Jesus’ lineage is about grace. He came to save, not those who are whole, but those who are broken. He came to heal, not the healthy, but the sick. He came to rescue, not those who believe they have it together, but those burdened with faults and failures. Jesus’ genealogy is about redemption: finding worth in the worthless, pouring grace upon the unworthy, loving the unlovable.
Jesus’ genealogy serves as a sobering reminder that out of a less-than-stellar ancestry, a Savior would come. His mercy is not contingent on social status or repute but is rooted in love. It reaches out to those who feel unnoticed and unappreciated. It pursues the misfit, the has-been and never-been, the wounded, the weary, and worn-out.
John 3:17 states, “For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him.” His purpose in coming to our world was not to pronounce judgment but to set us free from the bondage of sin through His death on the cross. There is nothing in our past that is too dark for God’s forgiveness and grace.
To be fully known by God yet fully loved – now that is something worth celebrating!
Thought: “Amazing grace, how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me. I once was lost, but now I’m found, was blind but now I see” – John Newton
Excerpt from The Light Has Come: Daily Readings for the Christmas Season
Discover more from Author Renee Vajko Srch
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