What’s Past is Passed…On

Genealogy is a big thing.  We all wonder where we came from.  My family has been “in these parts” for over 200 years on both sides of the family.  I’ve found some interesting things by investing some time on an ancestry website.  In fact, I’m anxiously awaiting the results of the DNA test I mailed in a couple weeks ago to see what secrets are hidden in the intricacies of my genetic makeup.  Don’t you wonder sometimes why you look the way you do, or more importantly, why you ACT the way you do?  When you see that picture of your grandmother as a baby, don’t you see a bit or yourself in that face?  I’ve noticed my son sometimes strikes a posture that’s just exactly like my father used to do.  How is that possible?  Because we pass along some part of us to everyone who follows.

Isn’t it interesting that the first recorded words in the New Testament are a genealogy?  I know these are the parts that many of us skip when we read the Bible, but we can’t really know who we are unless we know from whom we’ve descended.  Here’s a part of the text:

The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the Son of David, the Son of Abraham:

² Abraham begot Isaac, Isaac begot Jacob, and Jacob begot Judah and his brothers. ³ Judah begot Perez and Zerah by Tamar, Perez begot Hezron…⁵ Salmon begot Boaz by Rahab, Boaz begot Obed by Ruth, Obed begot Jesse, ⁶ and Jesse begot David the king.  David the king begot Solomon by her who had been the wife of Uriah…¹¹ Josiah begot Jeconiah and his brothers about the time they were carried away to Babylon.  ¹² And after they were brought to Babylon, Jeconiah begot Shealtiel, and Shealtiel begot Zerubbabel...¹⁶ And Jacob begot Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus who is called Christ.   Matthew 1:1-16

While I condensed things quite a bit, I hope you go back to your Bible and read the whole text.  Maybe even go over to Luke 3 and read his genealogy of Jesus (which is different because it traces Jesus through MARY instead of this text that shows us how Jesus is descended legally through Joseph).  I do, however, want to point out a few of the characters in this passage from Matthew.  I’ve show the names in BOLD print so you don’t miss them, but let’s first consider the women listed here.  Listing women in ANY genealogy of the day was virtually unheard of, because women were held in such low esteem.  But God sees these women as critical to the story of Jesus.

Tamar slept with her father-in-law, Judah (he didn’t know it was her, but still…).  Rahab was a harlot who helped the Jews.  Ruth was a foreigner who honored God.  The “wife of Uriah” is Bathsheba, who was taken advantage of by King David.  And, of course, the young woman, Mary, who was chosen by God to bear His Son as a gift to the world.

The men?  There is the first Jew, Abraham, who is an example of faith.  He was followed a couple generations later by Jacob, who was a conniving liar, but who received the blessing of God.  King David, the man after God’s own heart, who messed up terribly with Bathsheba, yet fathered Solomon by her, is among those listed just a few generations before King Jeconiah, who was such a terrible man he was cursed by God.  And lastly, Joseph, who must have been an amazing man to have been chosen as the foster father for the Savior of the world.

What do we learn from all these names, some of which we can barely pronounce?  That God CAN and DOES use even the worst among us if we are available and willing to honor Him.  We can’t change where we were born, like Ruth, and we can’t change who our parents are or the circumstances of our birth, like Solomon.  We may do the wrong things for what we thought were the right reasons, like Abraham and Jacob, but if we believe God, He will use us for His glory.  And even if we live a quiet, simple life, like Joseph and Mary, God may just use us to introduce others to Jesus.

While it may be true that we pass along genetic material and cultural habits to those who come after us, what really matters is whether we pass along the faith and humility that God honors.  Because no matter how my DNA test comes back, I already know I’m a spiritual descendant of Abraham and David and Ruth and Joseph and Mary.  And Jesus.  I’m really hoping one of these days I start looking more and more like Him, and less like that old stinker, Jacob.  But I claim them all, and I’m thankful that they passed on to me the faith to believe in the God who made me who I am, and who made me His own.  Now it’s my job to do the same for those who come after me. 

Jacob