1 The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.2 Abraham was the father of Isaac, and Isaac the father of Jacob, and Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers, 3 and Judah the father of Perez and Zerah by Tamar, and Perez the father of Hezron, and Hezron the father of Ram, 4 and Ram the father of Amminadab, and Amminadab the father of Nahshon, and Nahshon the father of Salmon, 5 and Salmon the father of Boaz by Rahab, and Boaz the father of Obed by Ruth, and Obed the father of Jesse, 6 and Jesse the father of David the king. And David was the father of Solomon by the wife of Uriah, 7 and Solomon the father of Rehoboam, and Rehoboam the father of Abijah, and Abijah the father of Asaph, 8 and Asaph the father of Jehoshaphat, and Jehoshaphat the father of Joram, and Joram the father of Uzziah, 9 and Uzziah the father of Jotham, and Jotham the father of Ahaz, and Ahaz the father of Hezekiah,10 and Hezekiah the father of Manasseh, and Manasseh the father of Amos, and Amos the father of Josiah,11 and Josiah the father of Jechoniah and his brothers, at the time of the deportation to Babylon.12 And after the deportation to Babylon: Jechoniah was the father of Shealtiel, and Shealtiel the father of Zerubbabel, 13 and Zerubbabel the father of Abiud, and Abiud the father of Eliakim, and Eliakim the father of Azor, 14 and Azor the father of Zadok, and Zadok the father of Achim, and Achim the father of Eliud,15 and Eliud the father of Eleazar, and Eleazar the father of Matthan, and Matthan the father of Jacob,16 and Jacob the father of Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom Jesus was born, who is called Christ.
Matthew 1:1-16
Why list a genealogy? Don’t we all just skip these parts of our bible? (Just me?!) Be honest, you totally just skimmed it or skipped it altogether. It struck me the other day just how many people from the genealogy of Jesus would be “canceled” in today’s culture. David was guilty of adultery and murder. Judah slept with his daughter-in-law (who he mistook for a prostitute?!) Rahab was an actual prostitute. Without question, we could go down through the list and find something cringe-worthy in each individual. Yet, rather than canceling or tossing these people into the trash, the gospel gives a message of hope and redemption to sinful humanity (which, for the record, is the only type of humanity there is -Rom 3:23) The Gospel is kind without being soft. The Bible has much to say about accountability and the consequences of sin. Nobody gets away with anything. But it always does so in hopes of restoration and redemption. It’s what allowed Saul to become Paul. It allowed Simon to become Peter. In the end, if canceling is the answer, there will be nothing and no one left. We all get canceled. The Gospel presents a better way to live- A life of repentance and sorrow for sin. A life of hope we can do better and learn from our mistakes. A life of offering forgiveness to others, because we all will need it ourselves one day.