Jesus Christ's Family Tree

Jesus Christ is the center of Christianity, and He is considered to be the Son of God. The Bible also says that Jesus revealed Himself to humanity, when he was born from a virgin about 2000 years ago. Mary, his mother, was engaged to Joseph when she was told by angel Gabriel that she is pregnant with God's son, through the Holy Spirit. The Gospel by Matthew presents Jesus Christ's family tree starting from Abraham all the way to Joseph.

Therefore, the Bible splits the line in 3 sections: one from Abraham till King David, the other one from King David till the exile to Babylon, and the third one from the exile to the birth of the Messiah. All of these three sections consist of 14 generations. The importance of knowing Christ's family tree is given by at least two aspects.

The first one refers to the fact that God keeps His promises. From the moment Adam and Eve had sinned, God promised restoration, and He promised a Savior would come to save the world. Then God renewed this promise to Abraham, and He said that from Abraham's seed, the Messiah would be born, and all nations will be blessed by Him.

Furthermore, He reminded the same promise to King David, who was told that a new Ruler would arise from David's throne. The list in Matthew includes all these names giving consistency to God's promise.

The second aspect, for which knowing about the blood line of Jesus Christ's is important, regards the lives of those included in it, and what these lives tell about God and the way He works. There are some significant names in the list with noteworthy life stories.

Firstly, there is Abraham. God offered him the opportunity to be called the father of all nations. This sounds extraordinary, but the puzzling thing about it is the fact that Abraham was very old as well as his wife. Besides this, Sarah, his wife, was unable to have children.

But Abraham trusted God and therefore, God called Abraham His friend. Being human, Abraham had his shortcomings, and he had moments when he doubted the promise of God. This happened when he lied about the fact that Sarah is his wife, and being afraid to be killed, when they had no patience, and "helped God" by having a child with Agar, Sarah's servant.

All these actions had consequences but God still remained faithful and gave Abraham a son called Isaac. Every one of these actions shows that God offers resources, when He asks for something from people, and also that there is no natural of supernatural barrier for Him in order to stop Him from accomplishing what He desires.

Another interesting personality is Tamar. She eventually married Judah under very suspicious circumstances. She was the wife of one of Judah's sons, and after he died, she became the wife of Onan, the second son of Judah, as it was written in the Jewish Law.

Onan also died, and she was supposed to marry the third son of Judah. Now, Judah became superstitious that the third son would also die if he married Tamar, so he didn't allow them to get married. As a way of vengeance and also a way of regaining her honor, Tamar dressed up as a prostitute and got in Judah's way.

He slept with her, and because he had nothing to pay, he left her his ring. After a few days, Tamar put her widow clothes on her and went to Judah's house to show him the ring. He had to admit what he did, and because she got pregnant, he married her.

One may think this is a story too embarrassing to be part of Jesus' family tree, but God didn't feel ashamed. He presents Himself through this event as being a God who covers shame, and who can convert all the wrong things to the right ones.

A similar story is of King David and his son, who followed him for the throne. Because David did not go to war, as he was supposed to, he stayed home, and while he was walking on the roof he saw Bathsheba bathing. He ended up in an adulterous relationship with her, and then killed her husband. Again, disastrous consequences followed, but when he repented, God still forgave David and kept His promise.

In conclusion, Jesus Christ's family tree shows God faithfulness for his people, and illustrates His merciful and powerful way of working among people's life.