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He Came...To a Family?!!!!!!


I'm reading Matthew again and thinking about the Christmas story.  I've always skipped the 16 verses of Genealogy, wondering why Matthew would use take so much time to detail it.  What is the big deal??

This year finds me working on my own family tree, giving new meaning to Matthew 1:1-16.  

Jesus was born to a family.  Verse 16 states, "and Jacob the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ."

Jesus was born to an imperfect family.  To a humble family. 

A letter referencing Andy Stanley's "An Unexpected Christmas" DVD made a profound statement.  Gayle Hadden with Mom's in Touch stated, "there’s some eye-popping family dirt highlighted in this genealogy that would have made his contemporary Jewish audience gasp at its inclusion. Was there really a need to dig some people out of the family closet? Why allude to Judah who sold his brother Joseph into slavery and committed incest with his daughter-in-law Tamar? Why include Rahab “the harlot,” the foreign Gentile Ruth or Bathsheba’s husband Uriah whom King David had murdered? Let’s face it, as a despised and traitorous Jewish tax collector, Matthew himself was unqualified to be in the lineup as a disciple of Jesus the Messiah. And that’s the point he makes in this genealogy."

Jesus, "God with us," was born to a family.

Jesus, "The King of King and Lord of Lords" was born in a manager to a family.

Jesus Christ, Our Savior, made his entrance through a family.

Jesus, who conquered death, sin and hell.... introduced to the world...through a family.

Jesus, "Friend of Sinners" and a stumbling stone.  The one who changed the world was first held on earth by a man and a woman.

The Christmas story is not a one dimensional story from "back then."  

The Christmas story is a living multifaceted powerful WORD BECOMING FLESH AND LIVING AMONG US.

The truth of the Christmas message brings hope to you and me.

Hope through Truth.


 


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