The Family Line

Call in the New Testament

The Beginning of a Call
Live in the light of God (Isaiah 2:5) 

 

Called through Heritage

Matthew 1:6-15 New International Version

6 and Jesse the father of King David.

David was the father of Solomon, whose mother had been Uriah’s wife,

7 Solomon the father of Rehoboam,

Rehoboam the father of Abijah,

Abijah the father of Asa,

8 Asa the father of Jehoshaphat,

Jehoshaphat the father of Jehoram,

Jehoram the father of Uzziah,

9 Uzziah the father of Jotham,

Jotham the father of Ahaz,

Ahaz the father of Hezekiah,

10 Hezekiah the father of Manasseh,

Manasseh the father of Amon,

Amon the father of Josiah,

11 and Josiah the father of Jeconiah[a] and his brothers at the time of the exile to Babylon.

12 After the exile to Babylon:

Jeconiah was the father of Shealtiel,

Shealtiel the father of Zerubbabel,

13 Zerubbabel the father of Abihud,

Abihud the father of Eliakim,

Eliakim the father of Azor,

14 Azor the father of Zadok,

Zadok the father of Akim,

Akim the father of Elihud,

15 Elihud the father of Eleazar,

Eleazar the father of Matthan,

Matthan the father of Jacob,

 

For Reflection


All those "begats!" Why in the world would one need to know all about who came from whom? 

To the Jews, the bloodlines were a social ordering system. Tribal governance, families, and households were the centers of tribal life. It was a mode of identification of who belonged and who did not. It was a system of preservation and propagation.  If, for some reason, one had lost his family, in many cases, he or she also lost the ability to survive. There was almost no support system for those outside the family system.

Few people speak of the interruption of the systematic spiritual inheritance that the crucifixion represented.  Before the Christ event, worship of the God of the Jews was limited to those of Hebrew blood. Others, gentiles, were excluded from formal worship and the blessings offered under the Mosiac covenant.

Jesus, being of the line of King David, was given a special status. Even though he was born into an artesian family, to be from the linage of a royal family made him more acceptable as a spiritual "King." but when Jesus' blood was shed it remarked the end of the exclusionary system of worshiping God.  Christ's spilled blood gave those who were not Jewish blood the same access, rights, and privileges that the Jews had enjoyed for generations. The one true God could be worshiped and followed by all people. All people were invited into the household of God.

Pray

Pray, and be thankful for God who loved his creation so much that He sacrificed His Son so that all may enter God's Kingdom.  Pray so that you serve God humbly.  Pray so that when you celebrate communion, you remember that Christ's blood freed you to accept fully the blessing and the responsibilities of becoming a member of God's family.