DECEMBER 11 FROM DYSFUNCTION TO DELIVERANCE By Corey Abney Pastor, Bell Shoals Church
This is the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah, the Son of David, the Son of Abraham. (Matthew 1:1)
The Christmas story to which we are accustomed centers around a beautiful baby born in a manger where cute animals are lying around and comfortable straw provides a nice bed. Wise men bring gifts, people are happy, and the baby is perfectly content; after all, “The little Lord Jesus, no crying He makes.” The problem is, our story of Christmas is too sanitized. The true story of Christmas is not a sanitized story but a scandalous one. And the story begins not at a manger scene, but with a dysfunctional family. Surprisingly, Matthew opens his Gospel with a genealogy that traces the dysfunction of Jesus’ family, which is not the type of introduction to the Christmas story we hear today. You see, ancient genealogies were like resumes; they show a person’s credibility and legitimacy. Biblical genealogies are not exhaustive; rather, they are selective for a purpose. For Matthew, of course, it was important to show that Jesus’ earthly parents were direct descendants of Abraham and David, and that Jesus is the fulfillment of the Old Testament messianic prophecies. Matthew’s list of names, however, is quite unusual due to the number of suspicious characters who are unnecessarily included. Matthew goes out of his way to highlight the dysfunction of Judah and Tamar, the presence of Rahab and Ruth, and the unfortunate circumstance of “Uriah’s wife” (Bathsheba), who Matthew does not even name. Matthew is showing us that God brings deliverance out of dysfunction , so that God receives the glory for His incredible work of salvation. We don’t look at the history of Israel and marvel at the faithfulness of its kings and leaders (just look at Jesus’ family tree); rather, we marvel at the faithfulness of our God! Similarly, Christmas is a reminder to all of us that we worship a God who is faithful to us despite our dysfunction and disobedience. Jesus is the hero of human history, of my story, and of your story!
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