Jesus’s lineage is filled with enough scandal that it would make the Kennedy’s blush.

This is the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah the son of David, the son of Abraham: - Matthew 1:1

Booooring. 

Jesus’s lineage is filled with enough scandal that it would make the Kennedy’s blush.

How many of us look at the first chapter of Matthew and just skip right over it? I used to. Not anymore. Jesus’s lineage is filled with enough scandal that it would make the Kennedy’s blush. Honestly, it’s better than TMZ and I know we all love our TMZ. 

Abraham the father of Isaac – Matthew 1:2

Isaac wasn’t Abraham’s first son. Abraham slept with his servant and they had a child together named Ishmael. Abraham’s wife couldn’t handle the fact that Abraham had a son with his servants and Ishmael was sent away. 

Judah the father of Perez and Zerah, whose mother was Tamar – Matthew 1:3

There is this woman whose husband dies. By law she’s required to marry the husband’s brother. She does that but then that brother dies too. Well, by law she’s required to marry the next brother. That brother is so afraid of this woman that they have sex and he pulls out. That was a big no-no! You need a son for your lineage remember? Well God is not happy that he pulls out. God strikes him dead. This woman is desperate for a son. She dresses up like a prostitute and seduces her father in law. This is messed up. Her father in law sleeps with her. He doesn’t pull out. She gets pregnant. She comes to the father in law and he’s pissed. “Who did this to you!” he says. “You broke the law and you should be put to death!” But during sex she steals his seal, sorta like stealing a wallet. She says, “Whoever owns this seal is the father.” It’s his seal. Daaannngggg. This strong and crafty woman is in fact, Tamar. 

“Whoever owns this seal is the father.”

Salmon the father of Boaz, whose mother was Rahab.

Y’all know Rahab? Of course you do. She’s an Israeli war hero who hid some soldiers. She also happened to be a prostitute who hid these soldiers in her brother. Yeah, she was “hiding” soldiers. Rahab is another strong and crafty woman. 

David is part of Jesus’s genealogy. Do we remember that David forcibly took Bathsheba, raped her, and killed her husband Uriah. That’s all there is Jesus’s genealogy. 

We’ve given many anonymous names too. They were average Joes, or average Ahaz’s or average Zadoks. I know you love my joke. But this was on purpose too. The author of Matthew is very intentional of adding the names of regular, everyday people who in some capacity are remembered for their ability to simply live.

And let’s not forget the fact that at the end we get this piece that says,

Jacob the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary, and Mary was the mother of Jesus who is called the Messiah. – Matthew 1:16

This is there to call out Jewish leaders who said things like, Isn't this the carpenter? Isn't this Mary's son and the brother of James, Joseph, Judas and Simon? Aren't his sisters here with us?" And they took offense at him. – Mark 6:3

Mary’s son literally translates to the Hebrew word, Mamsa, which translates into English as Bastard.

Mary’s son literally translates to the Hebrew word, Mamsa, which translates into English as Bastard. So basically they were saying, “isn’t this Jesus the bastard of Mary?” You want to talk about impure bloodlines? You want to talk about an impure messiah? Jesus was widely considered the bastard child of Mary, not a savior, a redeemer. 

So maybe this genealogy is not so boring after all? 

This genealogy was not a group of the righteous. This was a group of imperfect people who made some imperfect decisions. But here’s the beauty. Their imperfections are what made them heroes of an incredible reputation. They were tested, twisted, turned, suffered loneliness, estrangement, they knew confusion and conflict, and yet they endured. It was in their endurance that the Messiah comes. 

They were tested, twisted, turned, suffered loneliness, estrangement, they knew confusion and conflict, and yet they endured.

This is their legacy. 

And in this difficult year where many of us are imperfect with our imperfect decisions and our pain, suffering, loneliness, confusion, and conflict, I must ask, 

What will your legacy be?

We are not accidents.

We are not victims.

We were planned for greater vision

We were planned for purpose.

We were planned for passion.

We were planned to leave a legacy.

You are fully a part of God’s plan to redeem this world, just like everyone involved in this ‘boring” genealogy. 

How will you go out and live as if that’s true? What will you do today to live that truth?

What will your legacy be?

- Jonathan Williams