All kinds of people are included in Jesus’ family tree. Some are kings; others are priests. Some obey God; others worship idols. Remarkably for a male-dominated society, there are even four women, and not all of impeccable character! But through these people, God brings about the birth of Jesus, his Messiah, the Rescuer (v 1).

Back in the beginning of the story, God promised Abram (later to be called Abraham) – the first of Jesus’ less-than- perfect ancestors – that ‘all peoples on earth will be blessed through you’ (Genesis 12:1–3). As a descendant of Abraham, Jesus fulfils that promise of blessing, but in a far greater way than Abraham could have imagined – for all people, for all time. Through Jesus, no longer does anyone need to live less than ‘real and eternal life, more and better life than they ever dreamed of’ (John 10:10, The Message). Flick forward to Matthew 5:3 to discover what Jesus himself says about those who know they need God.

‘Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding supper of the Lamb!’ (Revelation 19:9), says the angel in John’s vision. Blessing is the environment of heaven.

On this Christmas Eve, Lord, we thank you for your willingness to be Immanuel – God with us – in our troubled world.

It may be off-putting to the modern reader to open the first Gospel and be faced with a long list of ancient names they may never have heard before, but this is a trumpet blast announcing a royal and anointed arrival. Writing as a Jew for the sake of Jewish believers in Christ, Matthew begins with genealogy as a literary device designed to establish religious and historical Messianic credentials for Jesus. Records like this were common in the Old Testament, providing qualifications for people to serve in Levitical and priestly offices¹ as well as royal and military ones.² He sets out his list of generations in an abbreviated way – either to satisfy his own desire for symmetry and a love of numbers (v 17) or, more likely, to focus attention on Jesus as having the place of greatest honour. Whatever his system, Matthew’s message is clear: ‘Get ready – the Messiah is coming!’

It is surprising to see the less seemly side of the list: Tamar, the victim of Judah’s incestuous adultery with his daughter-in-law;³ Boaz, the son of Jericho’s converted prostitute Rahab;⁴ and Solomon, the son of David and Bathsheeba, who had been Uriah’s wife.⁵ This speaks of God’s redeeming grace as well as the important place of women in the Messianic lineage.

The numbers of people using ancestry-searching websites around the world today demonstrate that the desire to identify our roots is widespread. Imagine what it might feel like to discover that you had kings and queens in your ancestry? Jesus is not only born of a royal line, but he is also the apex of the whole regal list. Matthew reveals him as the pinnacle of ancient kings of Israel and Judah, as befits his New Testament title ‘King of kings and Lord of lords’.⁶

Thank God for the people in the ancestry of Jesus with problems in their lives – and for your own place in the story of redemption too this Christmas time.

¹ Neh 7:61–64  ² 1 Chr 8:28  ³ Gen 38  ⁴ Josh 6:25  ⁵ 2 Sam 11,12  ⁶ see Rev 19:16