Day 1 - History

Day 1: Matthew 1

HISTORY (1:1-17)

Read Matthew 1 here first

I believe all scripture is God-breathed. It's a good thing to believe, mainly because it's in the Bible. However, I find parts like the gospels a lot easier than books like Leviticus or Numbers, or these big lists. There's an old Simpsons episode where Homer is listening to the Bible on cassette, reaches a big list of names and hits fast forward. If we're honest about it, most of us probably do the same. If we read Matthew 1, we can glaze over until verse 18 when Jesus comes on the scene.

I believe there's a lesson we can learn from this though. Matthew puts this list in to show that Jesus fulfils the prophecies in the Old Testament, establishing Jesus as the Messiah. As we look over the list, we see a real mix of people. There's some of the all-time greats in there, like David, Abraham, Ruth etc. There's also some rough guys in there. There are liars, murderers, idol worshippers. This is the family Jesus came into. In some ways the best family that mankind could produce. However, even the best family tree will never be anywhere near good enough.

My family has been a big part of my journey of knowing God. They're a proper no-nonsense, Northern family. I remember as a child being told off by my auntie for moaning while I had stitches out of my head after I'd been hit by a car. Hard as nails. Also, when Anna (my wife) met my family for the first time, my sister told me that she was out of my league. To reinforce the point, she then said 'No, she's seriously out of your league.' Yeah, cheers, I get it.

They're so much more than just that though. My mum is a great woman of faith who has trusted God in some huge ways, and my dad is one of the coolest people I know. Very few conversations will pass without him trying to crack some (usually lame) joke, and I love him for it. However, for a few years I really struggled with being part of my family. As I grew up, I felt like my family were some kind of Christian Mafia. My family were deacons, missionaries, worship leaders, preachers, kids workers, the lot. As I grew up in church, moving from being a mouthy kid into a cocky teenager that was difficult for me. I knew many people at the church didn't like me and I felt like I wasn't good enough to fit in with all the good things my family did.

On the other hand, I have a friend who comes from a family of big drinkers. He doesn’t remember much happiness when he was growing up and lived his life surrounded by arguments and fights. His childhood is not one you’d wish on anyone. He loved his family, but hated being around them at night. My friend had real reason to not like his parents, but he genuinely loved them despite their problems. During our teenage years, both of us had an encounter with Jesus and became Christians. After we made our decisions to follow Jesus, our lives and attitudes began to change. Our families remained the same, but we now saw them differently. I began to see mine as genuine people who had nothing but love for me, and my friend began to believe that his family could change.

You see, you can’t choose your parents. You can’t swap them. As they are your parents, you will have characteristics from them. Nevertheless, they do not dictate who you are and who you were created to be. In the list of names in Matthew, there are plenty of messed up people in the family tree. However, verse 16 tells us that this is Joseph's line. The great thing is that Jesus breaks into this line from the Father. Jesus may be born into this line, but he is not from Joseph. Jesus calls us to be born again, and as we take him up on that offer, we step outside of our own line and enter into His line. We become co-heirs with Christ and we can be shaped and moulded by a perfect father.

As we embark on this journey of walking through the book of Matthew, take some time out to reflect on areas where we have been shaped by God since making that decision to hand our lives over to him. Let's also spend some time thinking and praying into areas where we know we need to be more like Him, so we may reflect Him as we seek to live out our lives.