Ancestry.com is the largest for-profit genealogical company in the world. It boasts access to approximately 40 billion historical records from 80 different countries of origin, has over 3 million paying subscribers, and more than 23 million people in their DNA network. User-generated content tallies to more than 131 million family trees, and subscribers have added more than 800 million photographs, scanned documents, and written stories. Needless to say, what used to be an elementary school project has now become big business.
Why are genealogies such a big deal? Genealogies matter culturally because they can be utilized to trace ethnicities as well as the geographic movements of families. Genealogies matter medically because they contribute to diagnoses and preventative care due to the hereditary nature of many diseases. Genealogies matter economically because they can determine whether or not you are entitled to someone else’s estate or qualify for particular types of government funding.
While genealogical research is growing in popularity today, it should be noted that it has always been popular in Jewish culture. So, it should be no surprise that the genealogy of Jesus is recorded in two of the four Gospel accounts (Matthew 1:1-17; Luke 3:23-38). Both accounts consist of a list of names in keeping with the Jewish practice of ancestral records. Quite honestly, it is tedious reading and differs from the narrative style of writing to which we are accustomed in the Gospels. So, why is it preserved for us?
The most obvious reason Jesus’ genealogy is preserved for us is because it reveals His fulfillment of Messianic prophecy. In particular, the genealogy of Jesus shows that He is the “offspring” of Abraham through which “all the nations of the earth [shall] be blessed” (Genesis 22:18; cf. Matthew 1:2; Luke 3:34). Additionally, it proves that He is the “righteous Branch” of David that “shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness” (Jeremiah 23:5; cf. Matthew 1:6; Luke 3:31). Thus, Jesus’ genealogy is provided so there will be no doubt that He meets the qualifications of a Messiah based on prophetic proclamations presented in the Old Testament, and, as a result, we can be confident that the son of Joseph and Mary was, in fact, the Son of God.
However, I don’t believe that’s the only reason Jesus’ family tree is recorded in the Bible. That’s because, in addition to including heroic individuals like the Hebrew forefathers (i.e., Abraham, Isaac, Jacob) and renowned Israelite kings (i.e., David, Solomon, Hezekiah, and Josiah), Jesus’ genealogy includes some of the most scandalous stories in Jewish history.
For example, Matthew 1:3 records that Jesus descended from Judah through his son, Perez, whom he had with Tamar. As the story goes in Genesis 38, Tamar portrayed a prostitute in order to coerce her father-in-law, Judah, to sleep with her, and, thereby, produce an offspring for her. The reason she orchestrated this immoral episode was because Judah was refusing to allow her to marry his youngest son in keeping with the practice of Levirate marriage. Such a salacious story of sexual immorality seems unnecessary if the sole purpose of the genealogy is simply to trace the ancestry of Jesus.
Additionally, Matthew 1:5 includes Rahab, the Canaanite prostitute who, according to Joshua 2, was spared from Jericho’s destruction because she protected two Israelite spies and acknowledged that the God of the Israelites “is God in the heavens above and on the earth beneath” (Joshua 2:11). Although Rahab is esteemed as a hero of faith (Hebrews 11:31), her name is synonymous with her profession, and her inclusion is not only unnecessary but also unwanted by the average Jew who would not want the public to be reminded of her non-Israelite DNA or shameful occupation.
Finally, Matthew 1:6 makes reference to Bathsheba; however, she is referred to as “the wife of Uriah,” which brings to mind her adulterous affair with David and his subsequent murderous coverup operation, both of which are recorded in 2 Samuel 11. Although Jesus’ relationship to David must be emphasized genealogically, it hardly seems necessary to reference the sexual sin of the “man after God’s own heart” with “the wife of Uriah.”
Jesus’ genealogy includes references to these embarrassing relationships without qualification or hesitation. The identification of these individuals indicates that even though Jesus was perfect (2 Corinthians 5:21; Hebrews 4:15), His family tree was not. This may be an insignificant observation in the grand scheme of things, but I think it shows that Jesus was not defined by His heritage or His background, and, therefore, we don’t have to be defined by ours either.
Along those lines, I am reminded of Paul’s presentation of his religious heritage in Philippians 3:4-6. After listing those details, he said that he counted “whatever gain” he had from such a history “as loss for the sake of Christ” (Philippians 3:7). In other words, his relationship with Jesus was far more important than his background. Then, a few verses later, he said that he was “forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead” so that he could “press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:13-14). In other words, he indicated that his future reward was far more important than his past mistakes. Paul then concluded by instructing “those of us who are mature” to “think this way” (Philippians 3:15).
The point is that your past may be problematic, but, if you are in Christ, your future is glorious. Therefore, there is no reason to be defined by the past. And if you’re being weighed down by your background, then maybe you need to “lay [it] aside” so that you can “run with endurance the race that is set before us” (Hebrews 12:1).