Christmas: The Story of a Father's LoveSample

All Those Family Skeletons and Jesus

It is so tempting when we read the Bible to skip over the lengthy genealogies. So many weird and unpronounceable names fill pages and pages!

The Bible tells us that Joseph was a just man and that Mary was favored, but the lineage that bore them was indeed speckled with wayward behavior. That means Jesus’ lineage had plenty of colorful characters.

The most famous is David. His adulterous affair led him to murder.

Lot’s incestuous family also made it into Jesus’ gene pool.

Thankfully, God didn’t describe all the thoughts of many of the ancestors of Jesus, or we might just close that quaint, little Christmas story, citing it as far too racy to read while rocking our little ones to sleep.

But God doesn’t hide or gloss over many relatives we would probably want to forget. Why is the speckled nature of Jesus’ ancestry important to note in the Bible?

Somehow, Jesus’ ancestry didn’t soil Him. The exact opposite is true. His own presence changed everything, the entire course of the world. He changes us, too!

Unexpectedly, holidays like Christmas can bring a deep sadness with all those glittering lights, pumpkin spices, and unfulfilled, fairy tale Christmases. If you are keenly aware of your own brokenness, these genealogies are for you! Not one ugly piece of history can keep you from our loving Abba Father. Nothing that you have done, and nothing that has been done to you can keep you from climbing on His large and loving lap.

Let Him tell you of your own genealogy with all the ugliness.

Let Him tell you the story of His Firstborn Son, who redeems everything in your genealogy. Because Jesus came, you can face all those sordid characters in your past, even if, and especially if, you are one of them!