Who does Christ identify with?

1 The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the Son of David, the Son of Abraham:

2 Abraham begot Isaac, Isaac begot Jacob, and Jacob begot Judah and his brothers. 3 Judah begot Perez and Zerah by Tamar, Perez begot Hezron, and Hezron begot Ram. 4 Ram begot Amminadab, Amminadab begot Nahshon, and Nahshon begot Salmon. 5 Salmon begot Boaz by Rahab, Boaz begot Obed by Ruth, Obed begot Jesse, 6 and Jesse begot David the king.

David the king begot Solomon by her who had been the wife[a] of Uriah. 7 Solomon begot Rehoboam, Rehoboam begot Abijah, and Abijah begot Asa.[b] 8 Asa begot Jehoshaphat, Jehoshaphat begot Joram, and Joram begot Uzziah. 9 Uzziah begot Jotham, Jotham begot Ahaz, and Ahaz begot Hezekiah. 10 Hezekiah begot Manasseh, Manasseh begot Amon,[c] and Amon begot Josiah. 11 Josiah begot Jeconiah and his brothers about the time they were carried away to Babylon.

12 And after they were brought to Babylon, Jeconiah begot Shealtiel, and Shealtiel begot Zerubbabel. 13 Zerubbabel begot Abiud, Abiud begot Eliakim, and Eliakim begot Azor. 14 Azor begot Zadok, Zadok begot Achim, and Achim begot Eliud. 15 Eliud begot Eleazar, Eleazar begot Matthan, and Matthan begot Jacob. 16 And Jacob begot Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus who is called Christ.

As I read over the genealogy in Matthews’ Gospel I think of how many times I have had to read other genealogies in the old testament and how I despise to read them only because I can barely pronounce the words.

This genealogy is so different and mainly because it the direct line all the way from Abraham and through the tribe of Judah.

I myself have singled out certain people in this genealogy thinking “why in the world are they in there!!” And just amazed at others that are named in there, namely Tamar, Ruth and Rahab… Especially Rahab! Not just a woman but also a prostitute and not just that, but a gentile as well!!

But there are so many other names in this genealogy that we should be amazed at. BUT we should be amazed that there are any names in there.

To start off The patriarchs were liars, attempted murderers and thieves. David himself was a murderer and adulterer and the the Bible labels him “A man after Gods’ own heart!!” Some of the most wicked kings in Israel’s history are named here…

Then I have to ask myself “why” why would Jesus identify with such people?

I was going to go through every name one by one and talk about why I am so amazed at why such people would be in this genealogy…

But then by the sprits leading I got to thinking about me… me… Why would Jesus choose me?! Choose me to plant a Church and bring the gospel to the lost in this region.. As far as I am concerned I may not have sawn a prophet in two but according to Christ my anger towards others in the past has been the same as murder, and I am just naming one thing… I am the most filthy, rotten sinner that I know!!

We are quick to look at a list of these people and be in total amazement and rightly so. We should also be amazed that God would use us!! When I think about that I realize that I can identify with this list of people! I can identify and relate with 12 clueless people that Jesus chose to be his disciples and even prayed all night the night before.

Jesus you are amazing!!! Thank you for your grace and mercy to a sinner like myself!

Help me to show grace and mercy to others as you have shown it to me!!