Jesus' Family Tree

Jesus’ Family Tree  by Seminarian Intern Kristy Woodrow

Scripture:  Matthew 1: 1-17 

Genealogies are extremely important in many cultures. Even in our culture many people are interested in researching their family history. There are so many internet tools available to help you trace your family line. Learning your family history gives you a new sense of identity. It’s sometimes called finding our roots, and it’s fascinating to find your place in history. Personally, I love genealogy. I’m so fascinated by stories of the past and the people who were involved in getting us to this point in time. So, I figured, why not kick off my favorite time of the year with two of my favorite subjects – genealogy and the Bible!

Genealogies have a long history. They were especially important to the Jewish people. They were maintained by the Sanhedrin, and until the records were destroyed in seventy C.E., every Jew could tell you their lineage and which tribe they came from by consulting their genealogy.

It was not unusual to begin a book with a genealogy. For example, the Jewish historian Josephus began his autobiography with his genealogy. If you have ever read the book of First Chronicles, the first nine chapters are all one long genealogy! Genealogies are important, because people are important, and each person is important to God.

 I’ve been researching my own family tree since high school. I can trace one line on my mom’s side of the family confidently back to roughly fifteen-thirty in Scotland – a whole fifteen generations! While impressive, it’s not forty-two generations like Jesus’ family tree is, as it’s been presented to us in Matthew. I know when my ancestors first came to the young colonies before the American Revolution and where they settled. But I don’t know much about my earlier ancestors back in Scotland, at least not as much as we know about Jesus’ earlier ancestors. And he certainly has some interesting ancestors!

Before I jump into the juicy details of some of these ancestors, you’re probably wondering why I’m using this long, otherwise boring passage for a sermon. After all, it’s not a passage normally preached on, nor is it something we really read or talk about in Sunday school or Bible studies. But I believe that this passage has an important message for us all as we enter into this season of Advent. Not only does it demonstrate that Jesus’ life is rooted in divine history, but it teaches us that we are all a part of God’s divine history, even with our failures, doubts, and imperfections.

Let’s take a closer look at some of the people in Jesus’ family tree. Matthew starts by naming two very well-known figures: Abraham and David. Abraham was the patriarch who was given three great promises from God. These were the nation promise, the land promise, and the seed promise found in Genesis twelve, fifteen, and seventeen.

In his old age, Abraham had his long-awaited son – Isaac. What a gift to Sarah and Abraham to have a son to continue on their family line! The miraculous birth of Isaac in the Old Testament foreshadows the miraculous birth of Jesus in the New Testament. And so Matthew’s genealogy both begins and ends with the miraculous birth of a child in fulfillment of God’s promises.

But when Isaac was still young, Abraham took him up on a mountain to sacrifice him. He must have had to deceive both Isaac and Sarah to do this as I can’t imagine either would be too thrilled for Isaac to die! Luckily for them all, God saw Abraham’s faith and provided a ram for the sacrifice so Isaac would be able to grow and continue the family line.

Let’s fast forward fourteen generations to David. David was not a perfect king. He did a lot of good for Israel but he was also an adulterer and murderer, among other things. David lusted after Bathsheba after spotting her on a rooftop. He slept with her and got her pregnant. And when he learned of this, he called for Bathsheba’s husband, Uriah, to return from battle so that he might sleep with her and think the baby was his. Uriah refused so David sent him off to the front lines where he would certainly be killed.

According to the story, David’s punishment was the death of his and Bathsheba’s firstborn son. David and Bathsheba’s second son, Solomon, was unfaithful to God as were many of the kings who followed him. I imagine David expected Solomon to fulfill the promises that God made with David. Second Samuel chapter seven verse twelve reads “When your days are fulfilled and you lie down with your ancestors, I will raise up your offspring after you, who shall come forth from your body, and I will establish his kingdom”. Solomon instead turned away from God and did not sit on the throne forever as God had promised to David a son of his would do. Instead, the Israelites would have to wait for this promise to become fulfilled in a later generation.

Israel had many kings and leaders between Solomon and Jesus. Some were good kings and leaders, while others sinned and did evil. Manasseh was one of the kings who did evil. In fact, Manasseh was considered one of the most evil of the kings. Second Kings tells us that Manasseh misled the Israelites to do “more evil than the nations had done that the Lord destroyed before the people of Israel”. He also shed so much innocent blood that he filled Jerusalem from one end to another with it. In Second Chronicles, we learn that Manasseh repented of his sins and turned back to God. He removed idols and stopped the worship of foreign gods in his kingdom, restoring the altar of the Lord and sacrificing on it. He turned from his wicked ways and was faithful unto his death.

Of all the names in this list we read, did you notice that there are four women mentioned towards the beginning? Listen again to verses three through six: “and Judah the father of Perez and Zerah by Tamar, and Perez the father of Hezron, and Hezron the father of Aram, and Aram the father of Aminadab, and Aminadab the father of Nahshon, and Nahshon the father of Salmon, and Salmon the father of Boaz by Rahab, and Boaz the father of Obed by Ruth, and Obed the father of Jesse, and Jesse the father of King David. And David was the father of Solomon by the wife of Uriah…”                                 

Why are these four women mentioned in the ancestry of Jesus, especially considering that this is the patriarchal line of Jesus’ family tree? Commentators have suggested several reasons. One is that they represent sinners saved by the grace of God. This is, of course, good news for us all. God’s grace is extended to all people. God’s grace knows no gender boundaries. But if we look at the stories of these women, we are reminded that Ruth was described as “without blame”. Rahab was a proselyte, converting to the Israelite religion. And Tamar was tricked by her father-in-law who refused to give her his remaining son and her husband and her other brother-in-law died, so she in turned tricked him, acting like a prostitute, and ended up giving birth to twins to right the wrong he had done to her. Only “the wife of Uriah”, Bathsheba, could be easily identified as a sinner with her historical title of adulteress.

While there are truths in the takeaways from the sinner representation idea, another common understanding is that these women represent Gentiles saved by the grace of God. Three of them—Tamar, Rahab, and Ruth—were most likely Gentiles. Tamar is the proselyte whom commentators believe may have converted to the Israelite religion upon her marriage to Judah’s son. Rahab was from Canaanite Jericho. And Ruth was a Moabite. Uriah’s wife, Bathsheba, may also have been a Gentile as her husband was a Hittite. The promise to Abraham, and fulfilled by Jesus, was that salvation was for all people and not only for the Jews. Matthew wants to point out that God’s grace has always been for all people, even in the days prior to Jesus’ birth.

The first seventeen verses of Matthew have an important meaning to us today. First, notice some of the names in the genealogy. The names of the women are essential, as well as the names of the men. Staring with Abraham and leading up to king David, we have Judah and Tamar, who were together because of Judah mistreating Tamar and Tamar, deceiving Judah by acting like a prostitute. Then, we skip ahead to verse five, where we see Rahab, a prostitute from Canaan, and Ruth, a Moabite who was not supposed to be allowed to enter Israel by the command of God. These three women do not have a stunning reputation, but at least Rahab and Ruth showed faith in God. Then, we get to verse six, where we read about the wife of Uriah, who committed adultery and was the mother of Solomon. There is nothing squeaky clean about this genealogy. Later on, we see Manasseh, who was the worst king Judah had ever known. Yet, Matthew brings all of these people to the forefront for a reason. God can bring those who seem the furthest away from him back into the fold and use them to glorify God’s name.

Matthew is calling attention to the presence of “outsiders” in the messianic lineage of Jesus. Some of Jesus’ ancestry had unusual circumstances in which they became a part of the family tree. This prepares us for the moment of Christmas – for the birth of Christ. Jesus was born under circumstances that would appear to be scandalous and unnatural. Joseph was betrothed to Mary – a virgin. God’s guiding spirit directs the history of Israel and brings it to its fulfillment, not through the patriarchal line of Joseph but solely through Mary. As the story unfolds, we learn that Joseph is the legal but not physical father of Jesus. We see this in verse sixteen of the genealogy, as Matthew again disrupts the rhythm of the genealogy to introduce Joseph as “the husband of Mary, of whom Jesus was born, who is called the Messiah.”

The skeletons in Jesus’ family closet point to the instabilities of Israel’s history, the long story of a very dysfunctional family. And that is good news for everyone who comes from a less than perfect family, anyone who has a few skeletons in the closet.

Matthew’s family history of Jesus correlates well with what the Apostle Paul says in Galatians chapter three, verses twenty-eight and twenty-nine: “There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.”

As we begin this Advent season, remember: We have the greatest blessing that could ever be provided in Christ Jesus. We have an eternal king who rules with justice and equity. We are set free from the sin and death that we deserve through his atoning sacrifice. This is good news for all of humanity. In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit: Amen.