Advent Day 21
Matthew 1:1-6
Abraham was the father of Isaac, and Isaac the father of Jacob, and Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers, and Judah the father of Perez and Zerah by Tamar, and Perez the father of Hezron, and Hezron the father of Ram, and Ram the father of Amminadab, and Amminadab the father of Nahshon, and Nahshon the father of Salmon, and Salmon the father of Boaz by Rahab, and Boaz the father of Obed by Ruth, and Obed the father of Jesse, and Jesse the father of David the king. And David was the father of Solomon by the wife of Uriah…
Notice what Matthew reminds us of as he begins to tell the story of Jesus.
There is always a choice in genealogies. You can choose either one man or a woman to represent a single generation. You can skip over certain unpleasant memories and individuals.
Often we do that. Every family has a black sheep somewhere. Every family has secrets that are avoided at the Thanksgiving meal. Maybe these are spoken of in hushed conversations one on one with those in the know.
Matthew is preparing a family history of Jesus at the beginning of his story, and he reminds us of both a prostitute (Rahab) and and adulterer (David) and a murderer (also David). These details didn’t need to be included. Certainly that little juicy tidbit “The father of Solomon by the wife of Uriah” could have been excluded. But Matthew doesn’t let us get by without reminding us of the truth.
Why?
Because he wants us to confront Jesus without glossing over the ugly truth.
My guess is that each of us has some ugly truth we don’t like to talk about. When we come to Jesus the truth needs to come to light.
Prayer
Jesus, help me come to you and to your people openly. Help me to confront and be honest about the ugly stuff that you are redeeming.
Today’s ADVENTure says
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