Have you ever wondered what Jesus’ family tree looked like? Wonder no longer!

 

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.

¹⁷ 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. (Matthew 1)

I have read this passage so many times and until recently I often dismissed the passage as just a list of names. In the last few months however I have read the genealogy of Jesus in a very different way. I love seeing the names of different people who make up the family tree of Jesus. Their stories are all so interesting and diverse. Some of the people in this family tree are people that I read their name and remember their stories from the Old Testament.

I find it refreshing that Jesus didn’t come from a perfect family. There were people like Abraham whom God promised so much to including that all people on earth would be blessed through him and what a wonderful fulfilment of this promise Jesus is. Then there were people like Rahab, who was a prostitute, but because of her kindness and faithfulness to the Lord became part of the family tree of Jesus. There were people like David who was a great King but was human and was tempted by this world. There are many other stories that come from this messy family tree of Jesus that it makes the story so great that the saviour of the world came from this to bring blessing to the nations. How very great that Jesus came as a baby over 2000 years ago and then as an adult took on our sins so that we can become part of his family despite our messy lives. Jesus has come from a long list of names but his name is the name above all names.

 

Head: Have a look at the names of the family tree of Jesus, which name or names stand out to you? Why do they stand out to you?

Heart: Is there a name on your heart of someone you would love to see become part of God’s family tree?

Hands: Pray for and invite this person along to one of the Christmas services in the next 2 weeks.

Prayer: Dear Heavenly Father, we thank you for all of the people in the family tree of your son Jesus. We thank you that even though his family wasn’t perfect, Jesus, the perfect one, came to bring the blessings you promised to Abraham. Lord we thank you that these blessings mean that we can become part of your family through Jesus’ death and resurrection. Lord we pray for all of our friends and family who aren’t yet part of your family. We pray that we would be bold in inviting them along to church and in sharing the great news of your son, Jesus, with them. Please give us courage as we seek to reach out to others this Christmas. We pray all of these things through the power of your spirit and in the name of your son, Jesus, Amen.

A song to listen to: O Come, O Come, Emmanuel

Emily Andrews

This Grow Daily was originally posted as part of a previous Christmas series in 2016. During the School Holidays we take the opportunity to look back at the best of Grow Dailys over the years.