inspireblog

inspireblog

For sure between now and Christmas, you will encounter a talk or discussion on the genealogy of Jesus. As I looked over the list of people in Matthew chapter one, I thought about my ancestors. I don’t know most of them beyond my great grandmother. I have visited my great-grandfather’s grave in Grand Detour, IL, but that’s about as far back as I can go
So I wondered, how many people could be in my past? Well, I started an inverted pyramid with myself, my parents, their parents, and so on (This does not include siblings). I did the math on 10 generations back. Now assuming everyone had two parents, that would mean there were 1,024 people that had a hand in my gene pool. That’s going back somewhere between 400-500 years.
This is true of all of us. Now going back to Matthew 1:17, we’re told that fourteen generations were between Abraham and David. Another fourteen between David and the Babylon captivity; still yet another from the exile to Christ. That’s a total of 42 generations.
Here’s your Bible math quiz. If you double one, forty two times, how many people would that be?
What’s the point in all of this? Well, I think it’s more than wonderful that Jesus was born when he was. Consider all the variables in design here. I think that Psalm 139 is primarily descriptive of Jesus being "fearfully and wonderfully made," and born when the time was right.
Now the math for Jesus would be different than for us. When you work out the figure for forty two generations (whatever that figure may be), you have to divide it by two. Why? Because the side representing Joseph doesn’t count. Joseph wasn’t really Jesus’ father; God is.
Those that fall to Mary’s side do count, because she was his mother. Jesus was ( as all of us were) conceived in his mother. The difference was that the conception came through the holy spirit of God. It’s for that very reason that Jesus is called the Son of God.
Yes, you will no doubt hear messages about the genealogy of Jesus before this Christmas season is over. But give it some thought. Look over the names. There are some famous and infamous people mentioned in the line of Christ. Yes, there are some skeletons in the closet.
Check out the birth of Perez by Tamar. Oh, what a scandal. Ruth and Boaz add a nice romantic touch to the tale. Solomon, who was king, was the son of David by Uriah’s wife. Remember that story of adultery and murder? King Manasseh was remarkable for how low he had fallen from God’s way (he did repent although).
I wonder what sort of individuals I’d find in my past. Perhaps both famous and infamous.