Jesus' Family

The narrative David’s great sin against Bathsheba and her husband Uriah, is an important one, not only because it teaches us about sin and its consequences, but also about the kingdom that God is building. The nation of Israel was to be a righteous kingdom led by a righteous king, but instead, it fared little better than the surrounding nations. The story, of course, is that David uses his authority as king to compel Bathsheba to sleep with him and as a result gets her pregnant. To hide his sin, he conspires against her husband Uriah and has him killed in the line of duty. But even the way that Bathsheba and Uriah fit into the genealogy of Jesus tells us a lot about the kingdom of God. We have two genealogies, given to us by Matthew and by Luke, both gospel writers, and both as they are presenting the birth of Jesus. The two genealogies are very different. Matthew takes a Jewish perspective. He’s a Jewish writer, writing to a Jewish audience, trying to convince them that Jesus is the messiah promised in scripture. He takes the genealogy all the way back to Abraham, because it was to him that the promise was given to make him a great nation. But he does it through the lineage of Mary, Jesus’ mother, which was unconventional for his time. Genealogies were not typically followed through the line of the mother. He follows the genealogy through David and Bathsheba’s son Solomon and then adds four women, all of whom would have been diminished or abused by their culture. Also unconventional. He mentions Tamar, the daughter-in-law of Judah and wife to his son Er. Er has died and to fulfill the obligations of the Levirate marriage, she is given to Er’s brother, Onan. But Onan does not fulfill his obligation to give Tamar a son, yet is having sex with her. God kills him for his wickedness. Her father-in-law ignores the injustice and sends her to live with her father. Matthew mentions Rahab, who was a prostitute living in Jericho who is saved because of her faith in the promises of God to Israel. He mentions Ruth, also a widow and an immigrant, who finds herself in a very difficult and hostile place, completely dependent on the kindness of strangers. And he adds Bathsheba, a woman sexually abused by those in authority over her. Luke takes a gentile perspective and follow’s Jesus’ lineage all the way back to Adam. He is presenting Jesus as the savior for all mankind and looks through the lineage of Joseph. Joseph was Jesus adoptive father and a good man. But when he comes to David and Bathsheba son, he doesn’t mention Solomon, but instead names Nathan. Nathan was Solomon’s older brother and not the biological son of David. We know this because in 1 Chronicles, the sons of David and Bathsheba are mentioned and three sons are mentioned before Solomon, indicating they were older. Yet in the 2 Samuel account, David and Bathsheba had an infant child who died and then later had Solomon and there isn’t enough time between the two births, in allow for three more. The clear indication is that Nathan and his two brothers were the sons of Uriah, and David adopted them and raised him as his own. This remains consistent with Luke’s perspective of adoption. Maybe a way of looking at it is that Jesus is adopted into the family of man through Joseph, and we are adopted into the family of God through Jesus. So when you stand back and look at the genealogy of Jesus, by both Matthew and Luke, you don’t see the clear, linear lines one might expect from a genealogy. It’s weaves in and out of powerful tribal leaders or kings to vulnerable, diminished people. There’s an abused wife/widow, a prostitute, an immigrant and a woman sexually abused by those in authority over her. It’s diverse. There’s a Canaanite, a Moabite and Uriah was a Hittite, meaning that his family came from North Africa and Egypt. It’s a lineage of adoption. In fact, the two genealogies are so different from one another, it has caused some to question their authenticity. But that’s just the point. The kingdom of God is not one of lineage – it’s one of adoption. This is why John the Baptist told his generation that God can raise up children of Abraham of stones. The kingdom of God is made up of people who are messy, diverse, marginalized, and vulnerable. It’s upside down. The first are last and the last, first. It’s always been that way. This is Jesus’ family. This is you, this is me, this is us. So if you ever feel like you don’t belong or don’t fit in - your past is too messy, your future too unclear. Remember, you matter because you’ve been adopted into God’s family. You matter because God says you matter.