Do you pass over the genealogies of the Bible, such as that list in Genesis 10? Or Matthew 1, which traces the lineage of Jesus back to Abraham? I confess that these passages frequently bore me. There is a reason for every passage of Scripture to be in there, but lists are dull.
And when I ask other people their response to the biblical genealogies, their response is much the same. “I don’t read those, they’re boring.” “Why do we need to read about a family tree anyway? How is this relevant to the gospel?”
Yet, in spite of our disinterest in Christ’s family line, we still find ourselves fascinated by lineage. I noticed this at a birthday party recently, and the way an older crowd likes to trace themselves back through history.
1. Memories of a Long Life
My friend (we’ll call her Lois) was turning 88. At her birthday tea, I frequently sat back and listened as the rest of the gang (in their 80s) recalled when they first moved to town (or when they moved back), how they knew so-and-so, when their kids left, when someone died, etc.
“And do you remember Joan? Our kids all went to school together.” “Oh, yes, wasn’t she the sister of Jenny, the one who taught Home Economics?”
“No, you’re thinking of Jeanine; Jenny was their sister, remember she had a baby named Jill when she was 16 and her parents disowned her.
Then the Johnsons took her in, and they raised them both. Jenny died of a drug overdose before Jill graduated high school.” “Yes, so sad. Her daughter became a nurse if I recall. Poor Jack has passed on, but she still calls Mrs. Johnson Nan.”
Okay, I’m making this all up, but their conversation took this shape. Names, families, and stories — all part of the fabric of their lives, and it mattered because they were connected to one another through this common link.
I’m not sure if my friends and I do this sort of thing without noticing, yet it seems to be a significant feature of elderly people’s storytelling. They talk less about their own adventures than those of their grandkids or (like my Lois) about myadventures.
I know that lots of elderly people believe they don’t matter anymore; Lois even said to me that her life has become very small. She misses her children who live far away; misses her ability to travel, to just walk any distance, but her sharp mind is not matched by a strong body.
As the elders slow down, they spend a lot of time remembering; the past is coming into startling focus.
I wonder if tracing those lines of connection, even into family trees that aren’t theirs, guides them back to a solid root system they can hang on to when they feel feathery and inconsequential.
Perhaps that entire tree they are perusing as they recollect the past helps them to feel safe in the midst of other branches.
2. The Family Line
“So all the generations from Abraham to David were fourteen generations, and from David to the deportation to Babylon fourteen generations, and from the deportation to Babylon to the Christ fourteen generations” (Matthew 1:17).
In other words, there is more to the lineup Matthew describes than just a list; that list is packed with information. The Bible Project, speaking of the inclusion of what our elders would deem fallen women, serves an essential purpose.
Matthew’s aim is to show “that God has been using all types of people to move his plan forward. This portrait of an inclusive and expanding God and kingdom will continue to appear beyond Matthew’s genealogy into the rest of his gospel. He will continue to include the rejects and outsiders into his family.”
3. A Ragtag Crew
And Matthew 4:18-25 gives weight to this position — that Christ wants those broken people to be part of his family. After all, he called fishermen who were coarse, perhaps invisible. While walking next to the water, Jesus saw the brothers Simon (Peter) and Andrew.
They were fishing, “and he said to them ‘Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men’’ (v.19). James and John were also fishermen. Then they met with the sick and diseased, whom Jesus called to his side to be healed (v.23).
Not only were these individuals invited to either hear his message and be healed, or even to participate in the case of the fishermen-turned-disciples, but they were also invited into a family. That’s what a family tree is all about — tracing your personal roots as far back as possible.
It’s a different process for those who are adopted and who realize that they might not share much DNA with these people.
The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs — heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him (Romans 8:16-17).
4. Tracing the Grafting
In John 15, Christ assures the disciples “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father's commandments and abide in his love” (vv.9-10).
There is so much to say about this statement, but let’s focus on two of them: all believers are adopted into the family of God; we are secured by his love.
The Bible Project asserts that “this non-Israelite strand in Jesus’ family history will expand even wider in his final commission to his followers” as they obey his command to make disciples (Matthew 28:19).
The family tree of Jesus is not like any other family tree. You’ve possibly seen a genealogy that features an adopted person here or there over the generations.
Jesus’ lineage is mostly filled with adoptees; that is, people who cannot trace their line back through mom and dad all the way back to Abraham.
Remember what the Bible says: “To all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God” (John 1:12).
This comes right after John has described who Jesus is, going back to the very beginning with the creation of the whole earth and of human beings. Our lineage as believers is solid.
We have this fascination with people who pursued Christ’s love to their own deaths, or to the point of great sacrifice where they never gave up on their faith.
These men and women are frequently strangers to us, yet they are also family and they abided in Christ’s sacrificial love, both by finding their hope in that love and in imitating it.
It’s as though, by tracing them through the family tree, we want to remember our connection to them and gain encouragement from their lives.
These mere human beings are the same as us essentially, sons and daughters of the Living God. They were able to withstand the torments of persecution, and we can derive encouragement from their example.
After all, I think every generation that lives long enough will experience an event that causes them to ask, “Could I profess Christ if someone threatened my kid’s life, or if I was being tortured?”
Here, in the lineage that matters most, we see evidence that the Holy Spirit is our shared DNA, and the Holy Spirit will help us just as He has helped our brothers and sisters.
5. A Solid Root at the End
Jesus not only connects us to his own family tree, but he provides the root system too. He is Living Water in himself, so there’s no chance the roots will dry out. He is his own nourishment, satisfied in himself and in the Trinity: the soil will always be fertile.
This is one tree that will never blow away in a strong wind. But remembering emphasizes the fact that branches are vulnerable, so it is good to gather with other branches, and to bring smaller twigs into that fold and encourage them too with memories of the Saints.
Elderly lovers of Jesus, your stories of interconnectedness emphasize the power and hope of Christ, so keep telling them — please.
For further reading:
Are the Genealogies in the Bible Important?
A New Genealogy Through Christ
Is it Important to Know Jesus’ Family Tree at Christmas?
Photo Credit: ©iStock/Getty Images Plus/Liudmila Chernetska
