Christmas is not far off, so over the next couple of weeks I’m going to offer some reflections to help us think Biblcially in an ever increasing secularization of the time we celebrate Jesus’ birth.

If you don’t have a black sheep in your family, guess what?  YOU’RE IT!

black_sheepJesus had black sheep in his family.  All you have to do is read Matthew 1 (His geneaology) to find it!  Which by the way is proof the Gospel account of Jesus is true and not made up by his followers to start a new religion.  After all, if you are starting a new religion you want the leader to look as good as possible.  You would try to hide all the details that could be perceived as embarrassing.  So for Matthew to write what he did, it has to be true… otherwise it wouldn’t be written!

Here are the black sheep in Jesus’ family: Abraham lied about his wife Sarah; Rahab was a prostitute and a liar; Jacob was a deceiver; Ruth was a Moabite (See Deut 23:3); Judah was a fornicator; Bathsheba was an adulteress; David was an adulterer and murderer; and Solomon was a polygamist.

I’d call that a dysfunctional family history!  By the way… we all come from dysfuntional families… it’s just a matter of the degree to which our own family is dysfuntional (God is bigger than any person’s dysfunction!).  And here’s an aside for parents from David Jeremiah, “Parents take too much blame and too much credit for how their children turn out.”

So what’s the point of all the black sheep in Matthew 1?  There are several thoughts.  First, God is merciful, gracious, and forgiving.  No matter what you and I have done, God can still use us.  No person is beyond hope.  Second, Jesus was a real person with a real familly.  In other words, we have a real (Not contrived) foundation for our faith.  Last, we should never give up on ourselves becuase God has promised “Never to leave nor forsake us” (Hebrews 13:5).

So whether you are a black sheep or the “sap” of your family tree… God still loves you and can use you for His glory!