SKELETONS IN THE FAMILY CLOSET (Part I)
During nearly seven decades of
life, I have discovered that all too often we judge one another, not by the
“content of our character” (as Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. suggested), but by
the pedigree of our family tree. To wit, most of the ‘Who’s Who’
publications produced by our society are focused on familial bloodlines and
material acquisitions, with their resultant power and
prestige. In America, the very bluest of the ‘blood-bloods’ proudly
trace their ancestry to passengers on The Mayflower, the ship that arrived in
1620 at Plymouth Rock, Massachusetts. Ironically, those present on
that ship were not necessarily the crème de la crème of European society but
actually were religious and social castaways. Such is life.
Most families boast on their best
and brightest. But when we delve beneath the surface of any family
tree, we are apt to discover deep dark secrets that only a few dare mention in
public discourse. It does not matter whether our surnames are
Rockefeller or Rothschild, DuPont or Vanderbilt, Mellon or Carnegie, Douglas or
Tubman, Garvey or King, McClendon or Bass, there are people in our family tree
who fester in sin and foster embarrassment. They are the real-life
situations many would love to forget.
Such is the case with the family
of the greatest human being who ever walked the face of this
earth. Did you know that JESUS CHRIST was the product of a
demonstrably disgraceful and unsavory family lineage? When we preach
about Him, we typically refer to the great patriarchs and august kings in his
bloodline: Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, David, Solomon. But consider
this. After Jesus called Philip to be one of twelve disciples,
Philip ran immediately to Nathaniel and testified: “We have found Him of whom
Moses in the law, and also the prophets wrote – Jesus of Nazareth, the son of
Joseph.” Nathaniel’s response was fascinating: “Can anything good
come out of Nazareth?” (John 1:43-46) His was a cynical question,
but an insightful one as well because our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ,
entered the earth realm by way of a veritable family mess!
I will elaborate in greater
detail, but the mere fact that Jesus achieved a completely righteous and
victorious life in spite of whatever came before is indisputable
evidence that it does not matter where you and I have come from…it only matters
where we are headed!
Let’s take a look at Jesus’
family tree, shall we? He was the Son of God, but he was also
the son of man. In the interest of full disclosure, Jesus did
have some ‘good guys’ in his family tree: righteous people like Hezekiah, Boaz,
Ruth, and others. NEVERTHELESS…suffice it say that there were
numerous individuals who represented ‘issues’ in His family DNA. In
fact, if Jesus were running for president of the United States in our time, the
international press would have a field day! Paparazzi would stalk
him; reporters would push microphones in his face; all would interrogate him
about his family background. Because Jesus Christ came through a
mess!
Even Abraham, the beloved father
of the faith, who lived 42 generations before, in Jesus’ family, even Abraham
had some serious issues. Although he initially demonstrated
unreserved faith in God, he later doubted God’s promise of a son and heir,
causing him to go into Hagar (his wife Sarah’s handmaiden) to father a
child. Arguably, this poor decision resulted in the ongoing
political conflict between the offspring of Isaac and the descendants of
Ishmael, divisive ripples that continue to this very day. Jesus Christ came through a mess!
Abraham’s grandson, Jacob, was so
partial that his favoritism toward Joseph (along with his son’s dreams) caused
eleven brothers to abandon him to be sold into Egyptian slavery. And
even though God providentially blessed this family through Joseph, who rose to
the position of prime minister in Egypt, if the truth be told, it was his
father Jacob’s partiality and poor judgment that caused the Israelites to
eventually become slaves in Egypt for over 400 years. Jesus Christ came through a mess!
Jacob’s son Judah, an ancestor of
Jesus, the Lion of the Tribe of Judah, disobeyed God and married a Canaanite
woman outside of the Jewish faith. Eventually, Judah ended up in hot
water because Tamar, his daughter-in-law, dressed up like a prostitute and had
a sexual encounter with him. The end result was twin sons, who had
such ‘bad blood’ that they were fighting before they were born. The
Bible recounts that Perez, the twin son who was Jesus’ ancestor, wrestled with
his brother inside the womb. As a result of that conflict, Perez was born first
and received the inheritance. Jesus came through a mess!
Perez had a
great-great-great-great granddaughter named Rahab, who was a female prostitute
and a citizen of Jericho. She turned against her own people when the
Israelites showed up to fight against Jericho. But Rahab found grace
in the eyes of the Lord for helping God’s chosen ones and thus became a distant
ancestor of Jesus. I repeat: Jesus came through a mess! It is my hope that these tawdry details
enable you to discern the fact that there is extraordinary hope for YOU because
even though JESUS’ family was saddled with extremely negative conditions – HE
prevailed and won absolute victory over sin and shame. Stay tuned…more to come tomorrow!
Sisters and brothers, be continually blessed, and
please (above all else) MAKE SURE YOU ARE READY TO MEET OUR SOON COMING KING.
Maranatha!
