Jesus' Lineage - Preparing For Christmas Series #1Sample

Messiah would come from the Tribe of Judah

Thoughts on the Passage

Jesus would come from a woman… from Abraham… and now from Judah, a son of Israel.

We see God’s hand through the generations as His promise of a Saviour works its way down through history.  Now we see how God promised to come through one specific son of Jacob (Israel).  We are not sure why God chose this son over the other eleven children of Israel.  Judah was not the most obedient or most honorable son.  Judah was not the most gifted son.  Judah was not the firstborn son – he was the fourth child of Leah.  Still, God saw something in Judah that caused Him to release this promise to Judah.  

Two things we know about Judah that God saw.  First, Judah paid the price to bring reconciliation with his brother Joseph.  That was really important to God.  God wanted reconciliation among the sons of Israel – Judah was the one who did what was necessary to make it happen.  Second, he did a terrible job of raising his first three boys – they were godless men.  However, the last two boys were men that became the foundation of the tribe of Judah – they were different.  Judah changed and it affected the way the children were raised.  

God gave Judah this special honor.  He bypassed Levi (where the priests came from).  He bypassed Joseph who was given the double portion honor from Jacob.  He bypassed all the other brothers and promised the Messiah would come through Judah.  

Be encouraged.  God chooses people who learn from their failures.  God chooses people who pay the price for reconciliation.  Let’s be those kinds of people.

Time to Pray

Father, As I walk through the history of Jesus and His coming to this world, I must stop at Judah and just marvel.  He was not a man I might choose.  He had a terrible record of failures.  We usually give up on these people.  You did not and Judah become a great leader of men.  He was willing to pay the price of obedience.  Father, let me meditate on this.  Let me understand this deeply in my spirit.  Let me see afresh the blessing You release on people willing to pay the price of obedience.  In Jesus’ Name Amen.