More than Names on a List
Did you read today’s passage? Be honest. How much of it did you skim or skip? If you didn’t read every name, you are not alone. Genealogies are quite frankly a long list of names that mean very little to most people. So why put them in? The Jews were obsessed with their lineage. They had public records, and most people could trace their ancestry back into the recesses of history. However, remember that Luke was not a Jew. As a Gentile, might we have expected a different layout of his gospel? In a way, we did receive one. If you did actually read the names, you might have noticed that Luke did not record the same names Matthew did either. The key to this truth is found in verse 23 where he wrote, “being the son (as was supposed) of Joseph” Luke understood that Joseph was Jesus’ adopted father; his true father being God. For this reason, Luke wrote his genealogy through Mary – something unheard of at the time.
Why are these genealogies important to us? It was important for the prophecies concerning the Christ. For these to be fulfilled, Jesus needed to have been a descendant of King David. Interestingly, God did not leave this up to speculation. Not only was Joseph a descendant of King David, but Mary was as well. God left nothing to chance. No matter how your brain understands the line of succession, you have to admit that Jesus fulfilled the requirement of being the Lion of the Tribe of Judah, and the Branch of Jesse. These genealogies not only prove Jesus’ birthright, they prove he lived. These were real people. They had real stories, real heartaches, real successes and real losses. They held their newborn babies in their arms and lovingly wrapped their dead in spices and linen.
This book we read is not a story. The men and women we study are not figments of someone’s grand imagination. It is truth, truth that can be traced through the pages of history. Simply because ‘science’ may not have found evidence doesn’t mean it won’t be discovered tomorrow. Time and time again, people who set out to dispel the Bible through science have given their lives to Christ when they realized it is all true.
We are characters in someone’s future letters. Our lives play an important role. The details of our lives, like those of the men listed by Luke, may be lost, but they matter. Every choice we make and each word we speak shapes the story of time. Your life matters. God made you and placed you as an important part of His master plan. Never forget that. We may not know the details of the life of Joda, the son of Joanan, the son of Rhesa, but we know that without him, the line of Jesus would be incomplete. You matter. In fact, you mean everything to so many.
(Written by Keegan Harkins.)
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