It’s that time of the year again—the time of the year when we turn our thoughts to the incarnation of Christ. As I returned from Thanksgiving celebrations, I found myself opening my Bible to Matthew 1 and soaking it in a bit. The setting of this chapter is right before the birth of Christ.

The chapter opens with a genealogy, which to many people might not be the most fascinating way to begin a chapter. But if you have done your Biblical homework, you probably understand the significance of this genealogy and why it would be both essential and exciting news.

The people of God had been waiting for a savior. It began in the garden directly after the fall, and then continued later as God made a promise to a man named Abraham, and then to Isaac, Jacob, and Judah. Prophecy tells us the Messiah will come from the line of David. So, if we begin reading this genealogy with the background story of the Old Testament, it can be exciting as we see the unfolding redemptive plan of God throughout the generations. We can wonder at the perfect spacing of 14 generations between Abraham and David, David and the Babylonian captivity, and then from that time to Christ.

But with Old Testament knowledge, we can look at this line of names and marvel in a different way. These names remind us of the kind of world the Messiah enters.
The people on this list were sinful men.

Abraham’s deceit had led his wife to be taken into another man’s house. His failure to trust God had led him to heed Sarah and take a concubine. His son Isaac followed his father’s deceitful example. His great-grandchildren sold their own brother into slavery. The first woman mentioned in this genealogy is Tamar, and we can remember the sketchy circumstances by which she ended up conceiving Perez and Zerah. The next woman mentioned is Rahab, whose occupation would raise eyebrows. The list continues, and we see the King after God’s own heart fell into adultery and murder. The wisest man fell into gross idolatry and things got worse from there as we continue through a line of kings who, despite warnings from the prophets, follow idols and lead their people into the Babylonian captivity.

And yet, we can look at this list through another lens. Hebrews 11 reminds us that Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Rahab and David all had faith in God.

This list of Jesus’ ancestors brings reality and hope together in the same way the incarnation of Christ does. This list shows us the sinful world Christ would enter. It reminds us that the greatest men of faith did not rest on their own merit but trusted in the future Messiah.

We see the imperfection of our world even as we pass from the genealogy into verse 19:

And her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly.

Jesus would enter a world of shame and divorce. Although the angel came and prevented a divorce between Mary and Joseph, he still entered a world of shame and a world where divorces occur.

Do you ever struggle with the reality of your world? I know I do. This world is filled with pain. This world is filled with sin. Every day you face it in one way or another. An argument, unkind words, selfishness, pride, malice, envy, deceit, unfaithfulness, and the list grows from there.

What a depressing thought that is if we don’t follow this knowledge with the hope of the Messiah.

Joseph is in the middle of this kind of situation as he considers divorcing Mary.

But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, ‘Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.’

Matthew 1:20

If the Bible had failed to show the reality of the world of Jesus’ ancestors, might this have been less amazing to us? If we somehow bought into a sanitized, watered-down version of the Bible, might we miss the truth and power of this message? It’s when Joseph’s hopes are crushed, his betrothed appears to be unfaithful, and he is contemplating divorce that the angel shows up and gives him hope—not just in his future marriage, but for all sinful men for all time!

All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet;
‘Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel.’

Matthew 1:22-23a

God with us.

The incarnation.

There are days when I struggle mightily to keep my head up in the world in which we live. The real world is often difficult. But it is precisely this broken and sinful world that Jesus entered. He entered it knowing just what it is like—the very worst of it. He entered because it is like this.

Some days I struggle to enter the hard places of life. I have seen God work and redeem on so many levels, but as we continue in this world, we will continue to see more until his second coming. On these days I am both convicted and comforted by Jesus who willingly entered this world.

I am beyond thankful for the God who despite everything we have done chose to be with us.