The Generous Genealogy of Jesus

When you read the Bible, do you ever want to skip over the genealogies? Like, they’re boring and have nothing to do with us and our lives? Right? Wrong!

Take, for instance, the first chapter of Matthew. Although that Gospel writer aims to show God’s people the royal Jewish roots of Jesus, he also includes His not-so-royal ancestors. Why? Because it’s the truth, and as most of us have surely heard, Jesus IS the Way, the Truth, and the Life. (John 14:6)

To know the way we’re going, the truth about ourselves, and the life the Lord offers us, we need to know where we, the people of God, have been. That answer can come as we embrace Jesus’ genealogy as our own.

If you haven’t already done this, look up unfamiliar names in Matthew 1 to see the generosity of our Father God, Who welcomes into His family every person (as in, every person) who comes to Him through Jesus Christ.

Since that long chapter of Matthew may take a while to investigate thoroughly, I offer a brief summation that came to me this morning in senryu (haiku’s cousin.)

Jesus’ Family Tree
holds kings, killers, prostitutes –
also you and me!

©2023, Mary Harwell Sayler

By Mary Harwell Sayler

Mary Harwell Sayler received a Pushcart nomination for poetry and an ALA Award for Nonfiction from the American Library Association. A freelance and assignment writer for Christian and educational publishers, she’s placed 36 books in all genres and over 3,000 poems, prayers, articles, devotionals, and children’s stories with magazines, e-zines, journals, church take-home papers, and anthologies. Mary is also the founder of the Christian Poets & Writers group on Facebook.

4 comments

  1. Mary, dear sister-in-law and sister-in-my heart — I’m blessed that my family genealogy has included you for these many decades. You are constantly in my thoughts. ❤️ Chris

    Liked by 1 person

  2. You have indeed looked deep into the message of Jesus’ genealogies. I once had a full semester Seminary course on the women of Jesus’ genealogies.

    Peace and grace,

    Rev. Dr. Bill Olewiler United Methodist Pastor Retired, Virginia Conference Fleming Island, FL

    . . . And all manner of things shall be well.                 Julian of Norwich

    Liked by 1 person

Leave a comment

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Design a site like this with WordPress.com
Get started