Read Luke 3:23-38

The end of chapter 3 gives us the genealogy of Jesus. It traces the family of Jesus all the way back to Adam. It includes some memorable names throughout. One name that is significant is David as the people knew the messiah would come from his line.

How important is our name? How important is who we come from? The Jews put a great emphasis on who they came from. They wanted to be able to trace their heritage back to the forefathers of the Old Testament. It is not the same for us today. We may come from a family that has a long history a faithfulness to the Lord’s Church. We may come from a family that is new to the Church. We may come from a family that has no ties to the Church at all.

The important thing for us is to not get caught up in the past but in the present. Who we were or where we came from is not as important as who we are and where we are going. If we are holding up the tradition of being faithful as our family has shown, then that is good. If we are creating our tradition of faithfulness, then that is good too. We can’t change where we have been but with the help of Jesus we can control where we are headed. There is joy and peace in knowing that we can be free from sin and alive in Christ.