Daily Devotional For Monday, December 18, 2023

The Christmas word for today is FAMILY. Christmas is a time when many of us gather together with our families, with all of the good, and certainly some of the bad, that comes with that. With our family gatherings in mind, I’d like you to think with me for just a moment about the family of Jesus. 

They didn’t gather for Christmas—there was no Christmas yet! But they would have gotten together for Sabbath days and for special celebrations like Passover. Imagine Jesus at 8 or 9 years old, and one of his uncles decides to tell him the story of their family. His mother had probably already told him all of what He was about to hear, but the uncle considered himself the steward of the family genealogy. We can read the genealogy of Jesus through the line of his mother in Luke 1, and through the line of his father in Matthew 1. What seems to us to be a long list of names was family history for Jesus. 

If such a conversation had happened, the first names to be mentioned would almost certainly be King David and father Abraham. This is exactly how the family story begins in Matthew 1:1, “This is a record of the ancestors of Jesus the Messiah, a descendant of David and of Abraham” (NLT). Every Jewish family felt unique because they were descended from Abraham, the father of their faith and the one who trusted God’s promise to make a nation from his offspring. Jesus’ family also had the great distinction of being in the line of King David, and so had royalty in their heritage, regardless of the circumstances of their lives. 

At a time when the nation of Israel was under Roman occupation, there had to be some interesting conversations in Jesus’ family about the promise of David’s kingdom and line never ending. All to whom Mary and Joseph had told the message that angels, wise men, and shepherds had brought them. They would have known that in this little boy Jesus, there was to be the fulfillment of those promises!

In Matthew 1, we see four women mentioned in the family line of Jesus. We should expect that Jesus’ family would have also talked with Him about the women that were in His family genealogy. Although women were not often mentioned in genealogies in Jesus’ day, each of these women is mentioned in the history of the Old Testament. One has an entire book of the Old Testament named for her. In the stories of these women’s lives, we find one of the most powerful expressions in all the Bible of how the grace of God works through His plan for our lives.

Matthew 1:3, "Tamar was the mother of Zerah (NLT). This woman whom God used in the family line of Jesus was first married to Er, who was born of a forbidden marriage between Jew and Canaanite. When her husband died and her family refused to allow her to marry a brother as required in the Jewish law, she used lies and seduction instead of prayer to get an heir. With Tamar, we see that God’s grace is greater than our sin!

Rahab was the ancestor of Boaz, whose story is found in the book of Ruth. When the people of Israel entered the promised land, Rahab was saved from the destruction of Jericho by her hiding of the Jewish spies. She told them in Joshua 2:11b, “For the LORD your God is the supreme God of the heavens above and the earth below: |”(NLT). In Jericho, Rahab had worked as a prostitute, yet through her faith, she is not only rescued from certain death, but is also given a place among God’s people and becomes included in the line from which the Savior was to be born. With Rahab, we see that God’s grace changes everything! 

Ruth was the mother of Obed and the great-grandmother of King David. Her wonderful story of grace covers an entire book of the Old Testament. She was not a Jew, and when her Jewish husband died, her mother-in-law told her to return to her people. Ruth’s response is famous for its clear commitment. Look at Ruth 1:16b, “Wherever you go, I will go; wherever you live, I will live. Your people will be my people, and your God will be my God (NLT). You’ll have to read the book of Ruth to see how God in his kindness provided Ruth a husband in Boaz and a place in the line of Jesus. With Ruth, we see that God’s grace shows us undeserved kindness!

The final woman mentioned in Jesus’ family line is David’s wife, Bathsheba. The story of David’s sin with Bathsheba and murder of her husband to try to cover that sin is well known even to those who have never read a Bible. What is not so well known is that it was through Bathsheba that Solomon was born, who would carry forward the line of David. When Solomon is born, 2 Samuel 12:24b tells us, “. . . The Lord loved the child.” (NLT). While we might have hesitated to choose Solomon because of the sin in his father’s past, God allows him to become one of the greatest kings of Israel and a part of the line of Jesus. With Bathsheba, we see that God’s grace will often surprise you with the depth of God’s love.

Scripture To Meditate On: Matthew 1:16, “Jacob was the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary. Mary gave birth to Jesus, who is called the Messiah” (NLT).

Prayer To Pray: “Father, I am grateful for the grace you have shown me in Jesus. You have forgiven me. Your grace is greater than my sins. You are working in me and through me; your grace changes everything. You are patient with me; your grace shows undeserved kindness. You so often surprise me with the depth of your love. I am grateful for your grace! In Jesus’ name, I pray. Amen.”