“Thus there were fourteen generations in all from Abraham to David, fourteen from David to the exile to Babylon, and fourteen from the exile to the Messiah.” (Matthew 1: 17) 

‘Tis the season! Holiday catalogs and advertisements bombard us daily. Awesomely decorated houses, amazing holiday cookies, and the perfect present dominate my mail, television, email, and web browser.  I love the season of Christmas, but these advertisements stress me out.  Not only is the season  over-commercialized, but every year the standard for having a “perfect” holiday gets higher and higher.

But as I read through the genealogy of Jesus presented by Matthew, I see how God’s plan threaded through imperfect people, leading to the birth of Jesus.  I’m reminded that God’s plan is not about worldly pressures to celebrate perfectly. It’s about Jesus.

Matthew demonstrates Jesus’s lineage as a King.  He connects Jesus to great leaders like Abraham and David.  But he also notes the evil and terrible leaders who are part of Jesus’s heritage. He mentions those who ran to God and those who ran away.  Matthew speaks of the Gentile women Rahab and Ruth who had extraordinary impacts.  Both Jews and Gentiles are spoken of as part of the genealogy of Jesus. 

The common thread is not that every ancestor was pious and perfect. The common thread running through thousands of years of history was not the righteousness of Jesus’s lineage. It was God, and his plan.  All forty-two of these generations led to Jesus.  God made a covenant with the people of Israel, and Jesus came to renew that covenant, a renewal that is a source of profound joy for all.

Jesus is the common thread that runs through my life, and this is a season to prepare and celebrate with joy his coming into the world.  I’ll celebrate the best parts of the season, like being with my family on Christmas morning. I’ll also be aware of and compassionate to those who have a tough time around the holidays for any number of reasons.  

The genealogy of Jesus reminds me that God’s plan never uses perfect people.  But God’s plan includes everyone. As I celebrate Jesus this season, I’ll do more than just repeat the “Jesus is the reason for the season” mantra. I will slow down, accept my own imperfections, allow the thread of Jesus to mend what sin has broken, and find joy in the renewal of God’s covenant. 

As with the genealogy of Jesus, there are good things and not so good things we experience during the season. In areas where you celebrate, slow down to make sure Jesus is the common thread.  And in areas where you struggle, reach out to Jesus, and ask how he can be that thread that pulls you through.