There’s a big trend these days to discover our ancestry. You can go to a site on the internet to find out where you came from and some clues to who you are. I think we all like to know what our background is – what is our nationality – what did our great, greats do for a living – were there any skeletons or scandals in our lineage. However, what if you found out you were descended from a serial killer? What if one of your ancestors was an assassin? For most of us, we’d prefer to be connected to a former president – a corporate magnate – or a shining star in the entertainment business or a famous inventor. We hope for the best, but it doesn’t always turn out that way.
I have a curiosity about my paternal grandfather. I know he was Irish – he was a tailor, by trade – he fathered four children with my grandmother – he deserted the family when all four children were very young. There are speculations that he was a gambler and was being pursued by those to whom he owed money. At the time, they lived in Canada and there was no record of his death. This curiosity has always gnawed at the back of my mind, but what if I found out the worse thing possible about this man – or what if I discovered that he went on to do great things in the world?
My grandmother never spoke of him, It was as if he never existed, but still the evidence of his life was carried on through his children.
When we look at the genealogy of Jesus, we find all kinds of characters in the mix. His bloodline goes all the way back to Adam and Eve – listing every begat and begotten from them until that of His own mother and stepdad. We know that His earthly parents were Jewish and followed the traditions of the church, celebrating all the holidays and making pilgrimages throughout the years. We know that his step dad was a carpenter and His mother was a humble, trusting, young woman, who had other children with Joseph. We don’t know about Jesus’ years from age twelve to thirty, but as a writer I always like to find out as much about the character in a story as I can. The Author of the Bible doesn’t go into detail, because those years weren’t the important ones.
In the next few posts I want to look at what was going on during that time when Jesus walked the earth. I also want to take a look at those who were in His genealogy. Sometimes there are missing pieces to a story that we feel compelled to know. The Bible tells us the really important highlights of Jesus’ life, death and resurrection, but there was so much more to Him. He was divine yet human. What happened during those years between?
I’d be interested to hear some of your thoughts on this subject as I continue to research this. Since I’m not a theologian, I will be doing this simply as a believer in Jesus, Christ, Son of God and Son of man – individual, yet part of the trinity of God. I’ll be exploring the history at the time of Jesus’ life – looking back at those in his genealogy – the political atmosphere – the various occupations of people – the financial situation and other aspects. The beauty of having God’s Word is that the entire family line is listed for us to view. There were kings and simple men in Jesus line. There were evil men and those who defended Jehovah with their lives.
I think this will be a fun research project, but also maybe it will answer some questions people have regarding JESUS.
atimetoshare.me 