The Family Tree

By Jimmy Purchase

“This is the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah the son of David, the son of Abraham . . . Thus there were fourteen generations in all from Abraham to David, fourteen from David to the exile to Babylon, and fourteen from the exile to the Messiah. This is how the birth of Jesus the Messiah came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit.”—Matthew 1:1-18 (NIV)

What’s your family story? Have you studied your life and the stories of your ancestors?

In the movie Hitch (one of my all-time favs), Will Smith’s character takes his date to Ellis Island hoping to impress her by showing her the signature of her great-great-grandfather in the manifest archive. The scene builds to the moment when his date sees the signature, and as she sees it, she bursts into tears. . not tears of joy, but tears of sorrow. Why? As it turns out, her great-great-grandfather had committed some serious crimes, thus tarnishing her family name for generations.

Family can be a loaded word. For many, family trees are full of stories, good and bad. I’m sure there are stories of joy, siblings who formed deep bonds, and marriages that sustained the test of time. I’m also sure there are stories of brokenness, anger, and failed relationships. “What does this have to do with Christmas,” you might ask. A lot. Jesus' family tree is just like ours.

Let’s take a look at some of the stories of Jesus’ ancestry:

Abraham allowed his fear to get the best of him and chose to protect himself instead of his wife (Genesis 12:10–13).

Jacob lived a life marked by deceit, which resulted in years of family strife and brokenness (Genesis 28–33).

Judah, out of anger and jealousy, sold his brother Joseph into slavery (Genesis 37).

Tamar was a childless widow, so she dressed as a temple prostitute and seduced her father-in-law. She gives birth to twins, and one twin (Perez) is included in Jesus' family tree (Genesis 38).

Rahab was a prostitute and led a brothel in Jericho (Joshua 2–6).

Ruth was a foreigner from the Lot’s lineage, not Abraham’s. Lot has a huge, dysfunctional family story in Genesis 19.

Solomon is another famous name mentioned in Jesus’ lineage, “whose mother had been Uriah’s wife.” We know his mother’s name is Bathsheba, the married woman whom King David sinfully brought into his bedroom. King David would then go on to murder Bathsheba’s husband, Uriah, resulting in turmoil and deep family pain(2 Samuel 11–12).

In Jesus’ lineage, we see stories of deception, adultery, racism, sexism, murder, and so much more. But here’s the good news: All those stories find redemption in the gospel of Jesus.

Christmas shows us that Jesus came “to earth to taste our sadness” (from the hymn, “Come, Thou Long-Expected Jesus). His family tree shows us that He’s done just that! On the cross, Jesus bore all our shame. On the cross, Jesus bore the sin and shame of Abraham, Jacob, Tamar, Rahab, and everyone else in His family. The genealogy of Jesus shows us that only He can redeem every amount of dysfunction and brokenness. Jesus speaks a better word over any area of shame.

Maybe you think your family is too crazy to be part of God’s family, or your life is too broken, too damaged by sin and evil to be accepted by God. Because of Jesus, you can freely bring all your sins and shame to Him. It doesn’t matter what you’ve done or where you’re from - you’re never too far from the love of Jesus. He bore your sin and shame, and He alone can redeem any broken story and bring real restoration.

Pause: When you think about your story or your family story, what things come to mind? Is there anything you’re too ashamed of to bring to Jesus?

Practice: If Jesus carried all our shame to the cross, we can go boldly to Him and confess the part of our story, even our family story, that makes us feel the most ashamed. Knowing Jesus always meets us with kindness, pray, and surrender those things to Him.

Pray: Gracious Lord, because of my past mistakes shame can cause me to feel far from You. But in the gospel, I can see You’re the one running towards me. Though I may sit in darkness, you, Lord, are always my light. You have taken my shame and brought me restoration. And even though my story has deep levels of sin, You have saved me and brought me into Your redeemed family. You can redeem every story. Thank You for redeeming mine. Amen.