They said, “Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph,
whose father and mother we know?
How does he now say, ‘I have come down from heaven’?”
John 6.42 ESV
The crowned jewel
Joanne has done incredible research on her family tree. It is interesting and revealing. Why do you think ancestry is important? Could it be in our DNA to be a part of something bigger than ourselves, something binding? We were recently vacationing in Watercolor and there were four generations present. Of course, Clara Louise, the fourth gen, dominated the show. What a joy!
It made me stop and reflect on God and his order for his creation. Right in the first chapter of Genesis, after creating Adam, he said it is not good for man to be alone. Eve was formed from his body for companionship, but for much more. To procreate, fill the earth with countless generations of people. You have heard, ‘blood is thicker than water’. True, there is something very special about being in a family, an ever-extended family. God said; ‘let us make man in our image’. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit!! A relational God! We are created for relationships. And family is the crowned jewel.
Jesus’ heritage
Especially in the Old Testament, we see names that are identified with father and mother and grandparents as a part of their identification. This says something about our family ties, and as it relates to who we are, and whose we are. Growing up in Franklin, TN, I was identified as Chester’s and Clara’s boy, Billy. How about you?
And to add emphasis of the highest order, let’s look at the family heritage of Jesus. In Matthew, it starts out this way—“The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.” And then it proceeds to name the family tree from Abraham to Joseph, Jesus’ earthly father. “So all the generations from Abraham to David are fourteen generations, from David until the captivity in Babylon are fourteen generations, and from the captivity in Babylon until the Christ are fourteen generations”. In Matthew 1, Joseph was visited by an angel of the Lord in a dream saying “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take you Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit”. It is so significant that Joseph was identified as being a descendant of David.
God’s eternal family
And the other side of his genealogy is recorded in Luke 3. 23-38. From Jesus through his father Joseph’s lineage all the way back to Adam. Matthew seems to reflect Jesus’ priestly or spiritual heritage, where in Luke, it is his humanity all the way back to Adam. Both give credibility to who Jesus was, and most importantly, is. All of this points to just how important our family history is for each of us. Family matters!!
And equally important, are you a member of Christ’s eternal family? Have you been born again, born from above, into a living relationship with the Triune God? Jesus’ credentials allowed him to go to the cross, die for your sins, and rise from the dead to give you an eternal hope of salvation. Being ‘in family’ is awesome but temporal, while being ‘in Christ’ is eternal. Bloodline has no bearing on being in the family of God through Christ. The Jews were pointing to their descendancy from Abraham. Jesus was quick to point out that they were relying on the wrong thing. We who are in Christ are all adopted into his family and have become heirs of the King. It is by grace through faith alone!! I trust you are adopted sons and daughters. If you are not sure, let’s talk. I’ve got ‘good news’.
