Daily Lesson for December 2, 2019

Today’s Daily a lesson comes from Matthew chapter 1 verses 1 through 16:

 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.

This morning we are given the genealogy of Jesus. Like most young people I used to think genealogies were boring and of little value, but like a lot of people when they old, I’m suddenly into them and what they might tell us.

One thing Jesus’ genealogy tells us is that he didn’t come from the purest of Israelite stock. Yes, he had royal ancestry, but he also had slaves, swindlers, foreigners, a prostitute a woman faked being a prostitute so she could conceive a child with her father-in-law (you read that right), and a ruler whose youthful arrogance was the downfall of the entire kingdom of Israel.

Not exactly a spotless pedigree.

But the genealogy reminds us that God has been working out God’s purposes since the beginning of time, sustaining each successive generation through trial and tribulation.

God is the God of all in our genealogies — even the mean and rascally ones. As we say in West Texas, “It ain’t always been pretty”; but it’s been true. And even more so, God has been true. And, somehow, we’ve made it this far.

Thanks be to God.