Year of the Bible: Part Eight of TwelveSample

From Abraham to David, to the Exile, to Jesus, and to You

The genealogy of Jesus in Matthew's gospel is the lineage of our Savior through his father Joseph's line. Matthew wrote this to bridge the Messiah's story to the Old Testament promises that his Jewish readers were familiar with. It was necessary to assure the Jews that Jesus of Nazareth was the promised One they had been waiting for. It's also written here for you and me to see something very important!

God is faithful. He chose these people, all descendants of Abraham, to carry His presence—the ones through whom He would reveal Himself to all humanity! By recording this genealogy, Matthew documented the faithfulness God shows with His promises. He promised Abraham that all nations would be blessed through his descendants: this was fulfilled in Jesus, who came to bring salvation to Jew and Gentile. God promised David that his descendant would sit on the throne forever; again, this was fulfilled through the Messiah whose Kingdom shall never end. God then promised that even when Israel failed to represent Him well and was exiled, God would not forsake them but would restore them to Jerusalem to be the people through whom the Prince of Peace would be born. Jesus's lineage reveals the fulfillment of all these promises.

For us, it is significant that God used an imperfect family, one full of outcasts, to bring His Son into the world: Jacob, Judah and Perez (by Tamar), Rahab, Bathsheba, Rehoboam, and King Manasseh, to name a few. This gospel has been faithfully carried through generations, despite the imperfections of man; in the same way, God has trusted us, His imperfect children and perhaps even outcasts, to bring this good news of the Messiah to our generation. Future generations are relying on us to pass on the baton of faith.

Question: Jesus' genealogy is full of people who lied, cheated, murdered, or turned away from God. What does this say about God's amazing plan for you?

Prayer: Thank God for the way He fulfilled the gospel plan for thousands of years, faithfully working through mankind. Ask Him to help you be faithful in carrying the Light of God to those around you and the next generation.