Where We Are From!

Matthew 1:1-16 (NLT)
1:1 This is a record of the ancestors of Jesus the Messiah, a descendant of David and of Abraham:
2 Abraham was the father of Isaac. Isaac was the father of Jacob. Jacob was the father of Judah and his brothers.
3 Judah was the father of Perez and Zerah (whose mother was Tamar). Perez was the father of Hezron. Hezron was the father of Ram.
4 Ram was the father of Amminadab. Amminadab was the father of Nahshon. Nahshon was the father of Salmon.
5 Salmon was the father of Boaz (whose mother was Rahab). Boaz was the father of Obed (whose mother was Ruth). Obed was the father of Jesse.
6 Jesse was the father of King David. David was the father of Solomon (whose mother was Bathsheba, the widow of Uriah).
7 Solomon was the father of Rehoboam. Rehoboam was the father of Abijah. Abijah was the father of Asa.
8 Asa was the father of Jehoshaphat. Jehoshaphat was the father of Jehoram. Jehoram was the father of Uzziah.
9 Uzziah was the father of Jotham. Jotham was the father of Ahaz. Ahaz was the father of Hezekiah.
10 Hezekiah was the father of Manasseh. Manasseh was the father of Amon. Amon was the father of Josiah.
11 Josiah was the father of Jehoiachin and his brothers (born at the time of the exile to Babylon).
12 After the Babylonian exile: Jehoiachin was the father of Shealtiel. Shealtiel was the father of Zerubbabel.
13 Zerubbabel was the father of Abiud. Abiud was the father of Eliakim. Eliakim was the father of Azor.
14 Azor was the father of Zadok. Zadok was the father of Akim. Akim was the father of Eliud.
15 Eliud was the father of Eleazar. Eleazar was the father of Matthan. Matthan was the father of Jacob.
16 Jacob was the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary. Mary gave birth to Jesus, who is called the Messiah.

When I read this passage this morning I started thinking about how complete the record is. I don't have anything to recall past a few generations. I am the son of Lyle, who is the son of William, who is the son of ???, who is the son of ???
My grandfather's family came here from Germany in the 1860's. He, supposedly, was born in 1872. No one has the date for certain, but it was somewhere's in that time. He was born in America, the first in his family if I got the story correct. My father was born in 1913, and my mother in 1915. I was born the 6th (ok, my twin brother was 5th and I was right behind as 6th) out of a family of 7 kids.

I can remember the modern record, but I don't have the generations in reverse...not like Matthew did for Jesus' line. There are 14 generations from Abraham to David, 14 from David to the Exile, and 14 from the return from Exile to Jesus...impressive!

The people in Jesus' day longed for a Messiah, one who would relieve them of their bondage under the Romans. They wanted someone who would make them proud of who they were and reclaim the dignity of God's chosen people. Don't we all want to know and feel that relationship connection?
We don't get it by genealogical backtracking to see where we came from. It's fascinating to discover, but not essential to faith in Christ. It is enough to be linked by faith to our "birth in Christ".

Matthew said "Jesus is the son of David, the son of Abraham." Didn't Matthew know that Abraham came before David? Of course, but his purpose is to say Jesus is the King, who's glory lies in the promise to Abraham: "Genesis 12:3b (NIV)
"...and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you."

It's Paul who writes later: Galatians 3:16 (NIV)
The promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. The Scripture does not say "and to seeds," meaning many people, but "and to your seed," meaning one person, who is Christ.

SO, this Advent day #2, let us stop and give thanks for our heritage. Our physical heritage of family, and our spiritual heritage of Christ. In Jesus we see God's purpose - a bring all of the families of the earth together into his Kingdom, and for his Son to reign as King. We are children of the King! That is where we are from.