3. The Record of Jesus' Ancestors

Rose window on the south end of transept arm, St. Denis Cathedral, St. Denis, France. The stained glass depicts the Tree of Jesse (ancestors of Christ from Jesse onwards) in the Art Nouveau style. From Wikimedia Commons

January 2 or December 22

LINK:  Matthew 1:1-17, Luke 3:23-38 

BACKGROUND

3. The record of Jesus' ancestors  

Matthew 1:1-17

Matthew was a Jewish tax collector, and he wrote this gospel for a Jewish audience that awaited the Messiah who was to be the "son of David, the son of Abraham." That is why this genealogy is the first thing you read in the book of Matthew. This is very significant!

Matthew traces the legal or royal ancestry of the Messiah through Joseph, Jesus' legal (if not biological) father. Matthew's beginning point is Abraham. 

If you have been part of the Bible Book Club Old Testament readings, this genealogy will contain many familiar names. One example is Ruth, our family reads the book of Ruth for our Jesse Tree Christmas devotional (see REFLECTION and APPLICATION below), and we review that Ruth, a Gentile, was the great-grandmother of King David and King David was Jesus' grandfather times 28 greats!

It was common for generations to be left out as Matthew did when he arranged the genealogy in groups of 14 ("son of" can mean son or descendant). 

It should be noted that Jews have never questioned the lineage of Jesus.

It is also interesting to note that five women are mentioned in Matthew's genealogy: Tamar (Genesis 18:15-30), Rahab (Joshua 2:1-24, 6:21-25), Ruth (Ruth 1:1-19; 4:13-17), Bathsheba (2 Samuel 11), Mary (Luke 1:26-38). You can read backgrounds about them in a group of previous Bible Book Club posts HERE.

Genealogy of Jesus according to Matthew through Joseph's Line

Abraham Isaac Jacob Judah & Tamar Pharez Hezron Ram

Amminadab Nahshon Salmon & Rahab Boaz & Ruth Obed JESSE David & Wife of Uriah

Solomon Rehoboam Abijam Asa Jehosaphat Jehoram Uzziah

Jotham Ahaz Hezekiah Manasseh Amon Josiah Jeconiah -  CAPTIVITY

Shealtiel Zerubbabel Abiud Eliakim Azor Zadok Achim

Eliud Eleazar Matthan Jacob Joseph & Mary * Jesus

from "Genealogy of Jesus" at Wikipedia.org

Luke 3:23-38

It helps to see the two genealogies on top of each other. I have put where the generations overlap in bold blue and the person where they diverge in bold red. Note that Luke starts several generations before Matthew (non-bold blue).

Genealogy of Jesus according to Luke through Mary's Line

God Adam Seth Enosh Kenan Mahalalel Jared Enoch Methuselah Lamech Noah Shem Arphaxad

Cainan Shelah Eber Peleg Reu Serug Nahor Terah Abraham Isaac Jacob Judah Pharez

Hezron Ram Amminadab Nahshon Salmon Boaz Obed JESSE David Nathan Mattatha Menna Melea

Eliakim Jonam Joseph Judah Simeon Levi Matthat Jorim Eliezer Joshua Er Elmadam Cosam

Addi Melchi Neri - CAPTIVITY Shealtiel Zerubbabel Rhesa Joanan Joda Josech Semein Mattathias Mahath Naggai

Hesli Nahum Amos Mattathias Joseph Jannai Melchi Levi Matthat Heli Mary[5] & Joseph* Jesus

Luke traces the physical, or priestly, line of Jesus through Mary, His biological mother, and starts with Adam because he wrote primarily for the Gentiles. He wanted them to know they were part of God's wonderful plan because we are all sons of Adam. From Abraham to David, the Matthew and Luke genealogies are identical, but they diverge at the two sons of David: Solomon and Nathan. They come back again during the Babylonian Captivity at Shealtiel who was the biological son of Neri but the adopted heir of Jechoniah. Jechoniah had no male heirs because he was cursed by God for his sins (Jeremiah 22:30). 

REFLECTION

Genealogies may seem boring to some, but once you understand why they are there, it is quite exciting! To really understand the phenomenal thing about Jesus and the Scarlet Thread of Redemption, it is important to know His lineage. 

Every Christmas we do a "Jesse Tree" reading of Scripture where we trace the line of Jesus all the way back to Creation! Do you see Jesse's name in capital letters in both genealogies above (13 in Matthew and 34 in Luke)?  

Here is a little more about the history of the Jesse tree:

In the old days, in the front of any family Bible, a record was kept of that family's history: the marriages, the children born of those marriages, the marriages and offspring of those children. Over the course of generations, those fading, spidery lines spread outwards like branches and twigs from a single trunk. That is why we call such a record a "family tree." 

Similarly, there would have been in any number of churches, a "Jesse tree" -- a depiction of Jesus' family tree in wood, or stone, or stained glass. Church garments might even have been embroidered with a tree. 

Even thousands of years ago, when the stories of the Old Testament were first told, families were pictured as trees branching out from a single trunk.

"A shoot will spring from the stock of Jesse, and from his roots a bud will blossom." said the prophet Isaiah in the Bible (Isaiah 11:1-5), foretelling the birth of Jesus. It is this verse which gave rise to the tradition of Jesse trees in churches. 

Jesse trees were the Bible-storybooks of unlettered people. A priest could point to the figures or symbols, and tell the stories of those Old Testament kings, prophets, heroines, warriors. And the tree itself served to show how the New Testament grew out of the Old Testament; how, for Christians, the birth of Jesus was not just a beginning, but a completion. He was the flowering of a tree planted long before, by God's own design. By tracing his earthly ancestry back to King David and beyond, it was easy, too, to see Jesus as a real historical figure.  

That forest of ancient Jesse trees fashioned in the Middle Ages is long gone. Puritan vandals of the seventeenth century, in their attempt to destroy "graven images," smashed the heads from saints, the wings from angels, the figures from Jesse trees. No tree survives undamaged.

But in recent times, a new tradition has grown up -- a new strain of Jesse tree "grown" at home. Still planted for the sake of its stories, symbols are added day by day during the season of Advent, and day by day the old stories are retold, culminating in the stories of the first Christmas. (The Jesse Tree by Geraldine McCaughrean)

We love our "grown at home" version that we have done since Christmas 1997 when my kids were three and five. Even though both my kids are adults, they still love to read (or recall) each story (when they are home) and put the corresponding "ornament" on the tree. And this does not have to be for only those of you with children at home. It is for anyone, no matter what age. 

Here is a picture of ours:

APPLICATION

You might like to start your own Jesse Tree tradition next December 1. The whole month of November in YEAR THREE of the Bible Book Club is devoted to making your own Jesse Tree. But you can start anytime by going to the posts here:

The Jesse Tree (They are in reverse order so click on the calendar.)

I have also put all the posts in a downloadable devotional, so you don't have to read them in reverse order: 

The Jesse Tree Devotional

Here is a link to a handout with just the Scripture readings and activities for the family that can be tucked in your Bible for easy reference. I adapted it from an anonymous source several years ago. 

Jesse Tree Readings

Also, two of the women I have discipled have made really fancy Jesse Trees. One has pockets for the reading and the symbol for each day. If you want to contact these people, message me at Body and Soul Companion. 

Another possible application would be to ponder that God is with you! I find Immanuel Journaling really helpful for fully experiencing Him with me.

PRAYER

Lord, thank You for sending Jesus at just the right time in history to fulfill Your sovereign plan of salvation for the whole earth. Amen