Slices
Prepare
‘Every name is a sound worth saying.’* Listen to yourself saying your own name.
*G Kelly, ‘God sees diamonds’
Bible passage
The genealogy of Jesus the Messiah
1 This is the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah the son of David, the son of Abraham:
2 Abraham was the father of Isaac,
Isaac the father of Jacob,
Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers,
3 Judah the father of Perez and Zerah, whose mother was Tamar,
Perez the father of Hezron,
Hezron the father of Ram,
4 Ram the father of Amminadab,
Amminadab the father of Nahshon,
Nahshon the father of Salmon,
5 Salmon the father of Boaz, whose mother was Rahab,
Boaz the father of Obed, whose mother was Ruth,
Obed the father of Jesse,
6 and Jesse the father of King David.
David was the father of Solomon, whose mother had been Uriah’s wife,
7 Solomon the father of Rehoboam,
Rehoboam the father of Abijah,
Abijah the father of Asa,
8 Asa the father of Jehoshaphat,
Jehoshaphat the father of Jehoram,
Jehoram the father of Uzziah,
9 Uzziah the father of Jotham,
Jotham the father of Ahaz,
Ahaz the father of Hezekiah,
10 Hezekiah the father of Manasseh,
Manasseh the father of Amon,
Amon the father of Josiah,
11 and Josiah the father of Jeconiah and his brothers at the time of the exile to Babylon.
12 After the exile to Babylon:
Jeconiah was the father of Shealtiel,
Shealtiel the father of Zerubbabel,
13 Zerubbabel the father of Abihud,
Abihud the father of Eliakim,
Eliakim the father of Azor,
14 Azor the father of Zadok,
Zadok the father of Akim,
Akim the father of Elihud,
15 Elihud the father of Eleazar,
Eleazar the father of Matthan,
Matthan the father of Jacob,
16 and Jacob the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary, and Mary was the mother of Jesus who is called the Messiah.
17 Thus there were fourteen generations in all from Abraham to David, fourteen from David to the exile to Babylon, and fourteen from the exile to the Messiah.
Explore
The growth of online genealogical research has become huge, as people seek to find out the stories from the generations before them. My father traced our family line back many generations, long before the internet. What stories did your grandparents tell you? Who were the goodies and baddies? The ones whose lives were less ordinary than perhaps your own?
For each of us, our names will have significance, carefully chosen or at least with a story of how they came to be. Each of us will have both a good heritage and often a poor heritage at different stages. Jesus too is reported as having saints and sinners in his lineage – but God has been at work in and through each. Matthew’s genealogy reminds us of God’s actions and sovereignty through the years, and Jesus’ links to key characters from the story of God’s people.
Read through this list of names again – even if some are hard to pronounce! Notice the ones you recognise as ‘goodies’ and then those you know to be presented as ‘baddies’! And there are probably some you have no idea about. Try a search for any that you don’t know. Each one is worthy to be known. Both good and bad parts of their lives were intertwined, but none disqualified them from being in Jesus’ family line.
Respond
‘I have engraved you on the palms of my hands’ (Isaiah 49:16). Give thanks that God knows you by name, and that your worth to the Lord is personal and deep.
Bible in a year
Read the Bible in a year: Haggai 1,2; Revelation 16
Pray for Scripture Union
Pray for Mission Partner Coniston Christian Fellowship as they facilitate outreach to the children and young people of Coniston. Pray for God’s direction as they oversee the various children’s and youth groups, and other initiatives with volunteer support from the local churches.
