The Family of God

I have never traced my family tree, mostly because I don’t know how to. I assume that Adam and Eve are at the top, and at some point there was probably a guy named John involved. Other than that, I really only know of my relatives that I have met. My wife’s family has traced their ancestry back to Wyatt Earp, which was amazing to me, since I didn’t know he was a real person.

In the opening chapter of Matthew’s gospel we see the family tree that led up to the birth of Jesus. In verse 5 we see Rehab, the prostitute of Jericho. In verse 6 we see David and Solomon, two kings whose demise was in their women; the former had an affair and killed her husband, and the latter had 999 more than he was supposed to. If we saw these people in our family tree we would probably try to saw that branch off.

But Jesus had the authority to choose the family through which He was born, and this is what He chose! We never see Jesus say, “Guys, I’d love to be your Savior, but my great great great grandmother was a harlot.” Or, “I wish I could restore your sight, but do you know how many wives Grandpa Solomon had?”

Jesus didn’t let His family history hold Him back from His Father’s business, and neither should you. Do what you were made to do, which is love God and love others. However God leads you to live that out, do it. Don’t be held back by the Rahab’s in your family tree.