You don’t get to choose your ancestors. Each of us are born into families filled with wonderful people, along with those we tend to not discuss. All our people are sinners, of course, so we inherit that trait along with crooked teeth and stringy hair. We are broken people who come from broken people. Which is why the grace of God means so much.

Jesus came from the tribe of Judah, and the paterfamilias carried his own baggage. Judah joined his brothers in getting rid of Joseph, their younger brother. They debated killing him, but Judah had a better idea. He argued, What profit is it if we kill our brother and conceal his blood? Come, let’s sell him to the Ishmaelites. After the transaction they claimed Joseph was killed to their father, who mourned for years.

Judah next cheated his daughter-in-law Tamar out of her rights as a widow. Only after being found out in a most dramatic fashion did Judah finally admit to his guilt. God put two of his sons to death, because they were wicked in the sight of the Lord. All to say, Jesus didn’t come from the purest of stock. His family tree contained men and women of great faith, and others so corrupt God ended their lives prematurely.

My forbearers, near and far, may not measure up to certain ideals. But upon closer inspection neither do I. Thankfully, the Lord redeems each of us based on our own response to Him. Jesus, The Lion of Judah, inherited good and bad from his family history, and certainly overcame the villainous people of his lineage. The Lord empowers you and I to do so as well.

Genesis 37 & 38

Photo by Anne Nygård