How far back can you trace your ‘family tree’? Do you enjoy watching TV programmes about tracing people’s ancestors? Perhaps you remember seeing EastEnders actor Danny Dyer discovering he was descended from King Edward III (watch on Youtube).
Two of the passages of scripture which our Advent Calendar has taken us to have mentioned that the Saviour who God was promising to send would be able to trace his ancestry back to King David, Israel’s most famous and successful King. Isaiah 9: 7 tells us that:
’He will reign on David’s throne and over his kingdom…’
and in Luke 1: 32-33 the angel tells Mary:
‘the Lord God will give him (the Saviour) the throne of his father David, and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants for ever; his kingdom will never end.’
So, just from these two statements we begin to see why people in Israel thought this Saviour would win mighty battles and overthrow those who had invaded their country. We also see why King Herod, who couldn’t trace his ancestry back to King David was more than anxious when he was told by the wisemen that they thought Isaiah’s prophecy had been fulfilled.
Read Luke 2: 1-7 - spot the phrase from today’s Advent calendar window.
A census was to be made linking every person in Israel back to their ancestral roots, and then the information used for tax purposes. Our bible reading also tells us that Joseph can trace his ancestry back to King David, and though Joseph isn’t physically related to Jesus, his family tree does bring about the right circumstances for Jesus to be born in ‘Royal David’s city’ the ‘little town of Bethlehem’.
Both Matthew’s and Luke’s gospels give us family tree’s linking Jesus back to King David. The two lists are different, although they both become identical twenty generations back from Jesus. It is thought that one of these genealogies is Joseph’s family tree and the other, Luke’s is Mary’s family tree. While women in Israel in those days didn’t have the equality which we take for granted today, the laws of Israel concerning nationality stated that you were a Jew if your mother was a Jew (even if Dad wasn’t!), so we see that Jesus does fulfil the Old Testament prophecy about the Saviour being a descendant of King David.
Some of you are probably thinking ‘So what?’ Well, we see how Jesus arrival wasn’t a last-minute good idea, but part of God’s original plans and purpose; God had always intended to bring us Salvation, although this plan did rely on Mary and Joseph listening to God and choosing to trust him.
When we think about God’s plans and purposes, we should always remember that their fulfilment usually relies on people listening to him and then being willing to do whatever God has asked them to do. We each always retain our free-will to make choices – good or bad.
For God’s plans to become reality it requires people to listen to him and trust him enough to carry out his will. We perhaps too quickly overlook the turmoil that Joseph would have wrestled with. We are so very familiar with the events and we also perhaps think that if an angel appeared to us, we would unquestioningly do what he asks. But would we? Joseph’s encounter with God’s messenger happened as he slept, and no matter how vivid the recollection was when he awoke, it would have taken a lot of trust on Joseph’s part to go ahead with marrying Mary.
Both Joseph and Mary chose to trust God and do what he asked them to do, even though they didn’t know the full picture - they chose to trust that God would continue to guide and lead them and through doing this they became part of God’s plan to being salvation to all mankind.
Are you still thinking ‘so what?’ or are you beginning to think about how willing you are to trust God and be involved in God’s great plan to bring salvation to all mankind? Are you willing to trust God as he nudges you to be his witness – to show and share the magnificent love, grace and mercy of God with those you meet, and with those who are your family and friends? Are you willing to trust God with the next few steps, while not being able to see where they will eventually take you?
The wisdom of God was to not tell Mary and Joseph how the next thirty years of their life would unfold, or even to tell them about what the next 12 months would look like, but instead the wisdom of God is for Mary and Joseph to trust him to guide and lead them through the next event and then as they see God’s faithfulness, trust him with the next event which occurs.
Twelve months ago, none of us knew what lay ahead for us, and we would have struggled to believe all that has happened, but hopefully like Mary and Joseph we have trusted God to help us with each new event as it happened. God is faithful, but we only discover this truth as we trust him to guide us through the next few steps.
Use these lyrics to lead you into prayer. Talk to God about wanting to trust him each step of the way through whatever the future holds for you.
God will make a way where there seems to be no way
He works in ways we cannot see - He will make a way for me
He will be my guide, hold me closely to His side
With love and strength for each new day
He will make a way, He will make a way
(Don Moen © 1990 Integrity's Hosanna! Music)