Every family has secrets. It might be something like a family member who was in prison or a mistake in the past that the family still feels ashamed of. It might be something that happened a long time ago, or something that’s taking place now. The truth is that every family has a flaw somewhere in its background, but it may be surprising to learn that Jesus didn’t come from a perfect family either. The Bible records the details of Jesus’ ancestry, and it includes some flawed people. There’s Tamar, who tricked her father-in-law in order to seduce him, and Jacob, who took advantage of his brother and his father-in-law in order to get rich. And then there’s King David – one day he’s writing psalms, and the next day he’s seducing the wife of one of his army officers. The list goes on, and Scripture records it to let us know two important truths: 1) We are not alone. If our family tree has damaged fruit, Jesus wants us to know He’s been there. And since He wasn’t reluctant to call His ancestors family, we can be certain that He’s not ashamed of us either. 2) Jesus doesn’t look at our past in order to decide our future. The Bible says: ‘If anyone belongs to Christ, there is a new creation. The old things have gone; everything is made new! All this is from God. Through Christ, God made peace between us and himself, and God gave us the work of telling everyone about the peace we can have with him’ (2 Corinthians 5:17-18 NCV). So let’s not be afraid to tell others that what Jesus did for us, He’ll do for them when they put their trust in Him.

What Now?

Spend some time reading about Jesus’ ancestry and the people in it. Then take a few moments to thank Him that background doesn’t matter and for making you a new creation through Him.