Matthew 1:1-17
The bible reading set for today is a long list of names, 46 in total spanning 2000 years. Some are easy to pronounce, some more difficult. Some are well known, others more obscure. Some were people of heroes of faith, others had rather shady histories. Some were just ordinary people, whose names may only appear once. Some did some very bad things.
Take a look and see who you can find.
As we cross the halfway point of Advent we remember that this is all leading up to the celebration of the birth of the promised Christ.
The family history of Jesus tells us that God uses great people of faith – Abraham, Isaac, Ruth and David. But he also uses ordinary people whose names are quickly forgotten – Hezron, Ram, Nahshon and Akim. He uses men and he uses women – Ruth, Tamar, Rahab, Bathsheba. Ruth was a Moabite, Tamar was thought to be a Canaanite, Rahab was a prostitute, and Bathsheba was Uriah the Hittite’s wife. God used people of many different ethnic origins, and their shady past history did not exclude them from being part of God’s plan for the world, the birth of his Son Jesus to be our Saviour.
I have done some very elementary research into the ancestry of my family tree and have got back as far as the mid 1700s. These included a Jewish silversmith, an unmarried mother, coal miners and farm workers. There are no famous names, there are no particular “skeletons in the cupboard” – as far as I know. But what I do know is that I carry some minute trace of DNA from each of these people. They have all played some tiny part in shaping me.
God uses great people and ordinary people, people with a good pedigree and a shady past. There is nothing that excludes us from being part of God’s plan and from doing his will.
PRAYER: Sovereign Lord, we thank you for all those people who make up our past, and have helped shape us into the people we are. Help us to remember that whatever has gone before you have a plan for each one of us, and may we respond in turn, willing to be part of your plan for each one of us. AMEN.