November 29, 2021 - Matthew 1:1-17
Family trees reveal some fascinating facts about our past and makes ongoing exploration exciting. The branches can shoot out into unexpected places, and we can find some curious and intriguing characters that we did not know were a part of our heritage. My mother and cousin have been exploring our background and has traced my mother's family back to the 1600's.
Matthew sets the stage for introducing the person of Jesus Christ with a family tree. He brings to us a record of the genealogy and origin of Jesus. Knowing a man's ancestry was important to people in the ancient world, especially the Jews. They needed to prove their Jewishness to take part in the temple worship. Also, ancestry was important to know which of the twelve tribes they originated from as this determined their roles within the community.
Jesus' family tree is rooted in the person of Israel's greatest king, David, as well as Abraham, Israel's greatest patriarch (v. 1). The root of the promised Messiah begins in the book of Genesis and helps us to see that God had a plan from the very beginning of man's existence. This lineage is describing the work of God through both the nation of Israel and the nobility of David's reign.
Generation after generation the promise of the Messiah was not forgotten or removed, but instead, restated and reinstituted within the prophecies given to the people of Israel. This was especially true in the darkest and most difficult times of Israel's history when they were in captivity and far removed from the promised land of their ancestors.
Hope was imparted to the people of God and the lineage of those ancestors provided the nation with a generation-by-generation reminder of God's work. A family tree might be interesting and helpful today but for Jesus and the nation of Israel, it was an essential basis of proof for His identification as the Messiah.
Despite the twists and turns in the history of Israel, God revealed the roots, trunk and branches of the Messianic tree. There were knots of sin and gashes of human rebellion noted in the tree but His purpose was not thwarted or stymied. We see in Matthew, the coming of the Messiah was now to be fulfilled.
He has allowed both good and bad circumstances to shape us into what we are today. He will continue to prune, water, weed, and fertilize our lives to conform us to His purposes. Reflect upon your own personal journey and how God has used the various relationships and history of your life to bring you to this place in your spiritual growth.