I don’t know about you but I have read through the Bible many times and I always have a tendency to skip or at least rush through the genealogies and lists found there. I mentioned this to a seminary professor who challenged me to write a paper on the genealogy found in Matthew. I won’t share the paper it was a mostly academic project but it did change my perspective on genealogies in the Bible. They are there for a reason. I used to simply overlook the one found at the beginning of Matthew as an effort to connect with his largely Jewish audience but there is more to it. Let’s look at it together today.

This is the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah the son of David, the son of Abraham:
2 Abraham was the father of Isaac,Isaac the father of Jacob, Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers, 3 Judah the father of Perez and Zerah, whose mother was Tamar, Perez the father of Hezron, Hezron the father of Ram, 4 Ram the father of Amminadab, Amminadab the father of Nahshon, Nahshon the father of Salmon, 5 Salmon the father of Boaz, whose mother was Rahab, Boaz the father of Obed, whose mother was Ruth, Obed the father of Jesse, 6 and Jesse the father of King David. David was the father of Solomon, whose mother had been Uriah’s wife, 7 Solomon the father of Rehoboam, Rehoboam the father of Abijah, Abijah the father of Asa, 8 Asa the father of Jehoshaphat, Jehoshaphat the father of Jehoram, Jehoram the father of Uzziah, 9 Uzziah the father of Jotham, Jotham the father of Ahaz, Ahaz the father of Hezekiah, 10 Hezekiah the father of Manasseh, Manasseh the father of Amon, Amon the father of Josiah, 11 and Josiah the father of Jeconiah and his brothers at the time of the exile to Babylon. 12 After the exile to Babylon: Jeconiah was the father of Shealtiel, Shealtiel the father of Zerubbabel, 13 Zerubbabel the father of Abihud, Abihud the father of Eliakim, Eliakim the father of Azor, 14 Azor the father of Zadok, Zadok the father of Akim, Akim the father of Elihud, 15 Elihud the father of Eleazar, Eleazar the father of Matthan, Matthan the father of Jacob, 16 and Jacob the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary, and Mary was the mother of Jesus who is called the Messiah.

All of these names and so many more were involved in ultimately bringing about the birth of the Messiah. Some followed God well, others not so well. We have Kings and prostitutes, some who were great leaders others who were the least of their own families. In God’s ultimate plan to redeem us He used them all. Many of these people most of us have never heard of before. To me that is incredibly encouraging. That means even if we think we are in significant God can and will use us for great things and for an amazing purpose. When we seek Him and listen He will guide and direct us to paths that will yield amazing results. None of us have a Messiah coming as a great great grand kid but God wants to use all of us to change lives for eternity if we are simply willing. I pray that He will use each and every one of us to share His great love with the world.

In His Grip,
Pastor Dave