Sun. Sept. 22, 2013 (Tony Tremblett)

Tony Tremblett spoke on "The Genealogy of Jesus Christ the Messiah" from Matthew 1:1-17. While it may be tempting to dismiss the long lists of whom begat whom as mundane trivia, tracing the lineage of Jesus back to Abraham helps us to understand God's love, judgment and mercy. In Jesus' day, one's pedigree was an important source of respect and privilege. Of the four mothers mentioned in the patriarchal line, three were notorious for their questionable morals and two were non-Jews. As the fulfillment of God's promises to Abraham and David to bless all peoples and all generations, Jesus came from mixed blood. The prophet Amos -- also in Jesus' family tree -- called on Israel to remember the poor and stop taking advantage of them in contradiction to our religiosity. In the fullness of time, God's faithfulness was revealed in Jesus to those waiting for the Messiah to come as the offspring of Abraham out of the House of David. Since then, Blood has been replaced by Faith in making us the Children of God. When we become forgotten names to our offspring, will we be remembered in the mind of God?

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