Real Hope: The Jesus Genealogy - What's the Point?Sample

Just Another Nobody

Recently I was invited to speak at an international conference. It was an honour to receive the invitation and then the organisers sent me information about my hotel room and pick-up at the airport. I felt really privileged. To be fair, I was coming from a long distance, but even so, when I looked at the promotional materials for the conference, I saw some big-name celebrities and said to myself, ‘you don’t belong on the same page with those people’. It was not a false humility. They really were big names.

Matthew begins his genealogy of Yeshua (Jesus) with some other big names. Big for all people of faith: Abraham, Isaac, Jacob. Those are the patriarchs. They are mentioned daily in global Jewish prayers. You can’t get bigger names than those. Then there’s Judah and David and Ruth, Solomon and Mary. These are serious celebrities.

But also, there are dozens of lesser names, names like Joram and Jothan. Ahaz and Abihud. Unless you take some time away from the biggies, you might miss those men, and their participation in the heilsgeschichte (Holy history) of the Jewish people.

These people really had lives of value and particular relationship with the Lord. Their lives counted and they are listed in the genealogy of the Messiah. That’s no little thing.

And neither is your life. You count for much in God’s Kingdom.

Written by BOB MENDELSOHN