I love genealogies. For Christmas one year I received a subscription to ancestry.com. I ended up devoting the next 12 months to tracing my lineage as far back as I could go and down all the branches I could find.
One of the most fascinating things about tracking one’s family history is the connection you feel not just to “the past,” but specifically to “your past.”
I felt a unique interest in my ancestors not only because of their place and time, but because they are mine. In a very real way, their stories are my stories.
I have always enjoyed history and biography, but I am not nearly as eager to learn about the lives of someone else’s ancestors as my own. When I read history books or walk through cemeteries or scan photo albums, I don’t think twice about most of the names or faces I see, but I always give Jacksons a second glance.
When I read Jesus’ genealogy, I can and should approach it with the same passion as my own family tree–because it is my family tree.
Paul tells us in Romans 8:17:
Now if we are children, then we are heirs–heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.
We are co-heirs with Christ. We see also in Romans 8:29 and Hebrews 2:11 that we believers are called the brothers of Jesus. Jesus himself tells us who his family is in Mark 3:
“Who are my mother and my brothers?” he asked.
Then he looked at those seated in a circle around him and said, “Here are my mother and my brothers! Whoever does God’s will is my brother and sister and mother.”
This is all so amazing to me. I am a brother to Jesus. As much as I am a servant and slave to Christ, I am a family member, adopted into the fold of this divine family.
And so when I read the opening verse of Matthew–“This is the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah the son of David, the son of Abraham”—I see that this is my genealogy too.
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