It's in the genes

Have you ever been curious about how many famous people might be part of your family tree? I knew a family who had family pictures with Abraham Lincoln, who was related to them. We are family. If you believe the Bible, then you have to concede that we are all related Noah through one of his three sons. In fact, it logically follows that all of humanity can be traced back, generation after generation to Adam and Eve.

It’s from this perspective of bible genealogy that we have highlighted a special event in the genealogy of the Messiah. When we study the Bible under the illumination of the Holy Spiri,t we discover a finger print left in the text by God Himself. Have you ever taken the time to study the two genealogies in the New Testament? Most of us skip over these long boring sections in favor of more interesting reading; however it’s hidden within these texts that we find a truly amazing scarlet thread that weaves its way all the way through the Bible and right to our Messiah, Jesus Christ.

There were many evil kings both in Israel and Judah during the period that the kingdom was divided. Although, every once in a while a good king came along to turn the nation back to God. King Josiah restored the temple and the true worship of God which began just by dusting off and reading the lost scrolls. Unfortunately, one of King Josiah’s sons Jehoiachin, came into power leading the nation into destruction and captivity.

Jehoiachin was also known as Jeconiah or Coniah which makes this thread somewhat hard to follow. In Jeremiah 22:30  God speaks concerning Jehoiachin “Thus says the Lord: Write this man down as childless, A man who shall not prosper in his days; For none of his descendants shall prosper, Sitting on the throne of David, And ruling anymore in Judah.”

Now go back through the genealogy of Joseph, Jesus’ stepfather, which is recorded for us in the New Testament. In Matthew 1:11-12 we find both Josiah and his son Jeconiah listed in the genealogy. “Houston, we have a problem”.  So if Jesus of Nazareth is Joseph’s son, then God has just cursed him from taking the throne of his ancestor King David.

But remember I said there were two genealogies recorded in the New Testament? One in Matthew and the other is recorded in Luke where the Bible writers listed Mary’s, the mother of Jesus, genealogy. Joseph’s genealogy in Matthew establishes Jesus’ right to the throne through his step father while the genealogy recorded in Luke traces Jesus’ biological lineage through His mother Mary all the way back to Adam.

So what’s the big deal? One of the requirements for the Messiah was that he had to be a son of King David, the root of Jesse from the tribe of Judah. Mary and Joseph are both related to King David. But while Joseph is related to David through Jeconiah and David’s son Solomon, Mary is related to David through David’s son Nathan and skips the lineage through Jeconiah thus avoiding the curse God pronounced on Jeconiah’s future family line.

When you take the time to carefully look through the text and fit all the puzzle pieces together, you can begin to see a faint image of God’s own fingerprints. Now, if that isn’t enough to get your head spinning think about this: Mary was a virgin when the Holy Spirit overshadowed her allowing her to conceive. Most women know that a growing baby inside the mother’s womb gets their nutrients through a process of simple diffusion across a cellular membrane or, in other words, the mother’s blood never mixes with the baby’s blood while circulating through the placenta. That is how Jesus could be born 100% man as well as 100% God. His blood is pure, the most powerful thing in the entire universe!

Just as sin entered the world through the first Adam (one man), the curse was broken by the last Adam through Jesus’ victory on the cross. All this information was carefully included in the Bible 1500 years before Jesus was born in Bethlehem. What man could never accomplish, God has already completed through the blood of His Son Jesus. And that my friend is what we are going to celebrate shortly on December 25^th. “For unto us a child is born, unto us a Son is given; And the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of His government there will be no end, Upon the throne of David and over His kingdom, To order it and establish it with judgment and justice From that time forward, even forever.” Isaiah 9:6, 7