Over decades, my dad collected and collated data that related to our family history.
In a letter dated August 31, 1962, he reached out to "Dear Kinfolks _ near & far," seeking assistance in adding to the records he had already accumulated, including "some forty old letters, telegrams, newspaper clippings, etc., and the Davis Family Bible, dating to about 1860..."
Kindly, kinfolk responded. So, too, did technology along with another 50 years of research, allowing my dad to connect centuries of names, assemble an array of family documents, DNA, and additional photos of various vintage. Fun fact: some of our ancestors rocked some stupendously prodigious facial hair! I suppose with Davis names like Eliakim, Eugene Bohanes, and Roderick Random, this phenomenon may be self-explanatory.
Tracing a generational timeline also reveals more than a family tree; common threads of fact and affection weave to display a family tapestry _ one that is able to unfurl a colorful storyline by way of a particular bloodline.
Recently I have preached several sermons from genealogies recorded in the Bible. Sometimes these lists of begats beget a yawn of boredom as verses multiply, like, "And Arphaxed begat Salah; and Salah begat Eber ... "One father fathering (begetting) another son. So-and-so, and so on. "So what?!" some say.
Yet in the book aptly called Genesis, the author purposefully records lists of "generations" (ex. Chapters 4, 5 & 10). Along the way, the eyes of faith are invited to see the Lord God at work _ his faithfulness, his favor, and his fatherhood. All tracing a straight line, and lineage, to the begetting of an only begotten Savior Son who, one day, would arrive to defeat the serpent who slithered and spoke deceptively in Genesis chapter three.
Matthew's gospel, picking up over a millennium after the Genesis account, begins with the words: "The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham." Following this, in Matthew 1:2-17, another list of relevant relatives effectively flows into a vibrant presentation of gospel truth, revealing a life-line from God to sinners in need of divine rescue.
The promise of this life-line in Genesis connects Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob to Judah and his royal line. Notably, this royal tapestry includes some dirt, as outsiders and outcasts thread through this family too: a woman from Moab, a Canaanite trickster, an adulteress, and a harlot from Jericho!
Meanwhile, Matthew's genealogy also repeatedly references "the deportation to Babylon," evoking the reality of God's judgment as consequence for disobedience. And this is precisely how the list ends _ with God's family of promise stationed decidedly outside of their homeland, in lonely exile.
Until the Son of God appears.
When, beautifully, Matthew's narrative goes beyond begats, the evangelist proceeds to unfold a full 28 chapters that consciously, and covenantally, connect Jesus Christ to God's Kingdom come. Because of Jesus, future generations will enter God's household; the family tapestry extends, even to me, a couple millennium later. I am included.
The genealogy my dad sent out in 1962 did not include me. That list ends with the birthdates of my two oldest brothers. My name got added later, once I, too, was begat.
Spiritually, since God's Spirit continues to give new birth in Jesus' name, I gratefully see that Matthew's genealogy details more than chronology; it offers theology _ the kind that invites receptive hearts to join God's family by turning from sin, and trusting in the king it reveals.
"She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins" (Matthew 1:21).
Merry Christmas.
