Day 40 - Matthew

So, we've been walking through the Bible and we're finally to the New Testament.  39 books of the Old Testament, and now we're on to the New Testament.  Everything changes in the New Testament.  Jesus changes everything.  But, the Old Testament and the New Testament don't stand apart for those that follow Jesus, they stand together.  Though there are lots of great stories in Matthew about the birth, ministry, death and resurrection of Jesus, I think one of the coolest parts is probably the least read section:

1 A record of the genealogy of Jesus Christ the son of David, the son of Abraham:



2 Abraham was the father of Isaac,
Isaac the father of Jacob,
Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers,
3 Judah the father of Perez and Zerah, whose mother was Tamar,
Perez the father of Hezron,
Hezron the father of Ram,
4 Ram the father of Amminadab,
Amminadab the father of Nahshon,
Nahshon the father of Salmon,
5 Salmon the father of Boaz, whose mother was Rahab,
Boaz the father of Obed, whose mother was Ruth,
Obed the father of Jesse,
6 and Jesse the father of King David.
David was the father of Solomon, whose mother had been Uriah’s wife,
7 Solomon the father of Rehoboam,
Rehoboam the father of Abijah,
Abijah the father of Asa,
8 Asa the father of Jehoshaphat,
Jehoshaphat the father of Jehoram,
Jehoram the father of Uzziah,
9 Uzziah the father of Jotham,
Jotham the father of Ahaz,
Ahaz the father of Hezekiah,
10 Hezekiah the father of Manasseh,
Manasseh the father of Amon,
Amon the father of Josiah,
11 and Josiah the father of Jeconiah and his brothers at the time of the exile to Babylon.
12 After the exile to Babylon:
Jeconiah was the father of Shealtiel,
Shealtiel the father of Zerubbabel,
13 Zerubbabel the father of Abiud,
Abiud the father of Eliakim,
Eliakim the father of Azor,
14 Azor the father of Zadok,
Zadok the father of Akim,
Akim the father of Eliud,
15 Eliud the father of Eleazar,
Eleazar the father of Matthan,
Matthan the father of Jacob,
16 and Jacob the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ.
17 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 Christ.

          (Matthew 1:1-17)
Why does the genealogy of Jesus matter?  First, it ties the Old Testament together.  It shows that Jesus is part of the greater story of God among His people.  This has been in the works for a while.  However, the thing that speaks to me the most is that people matter.  There are lots of names in there you might recognize:  Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, David, Solomon, and Joseph.  But there are more names that we don't know.  Names of people that show up only here.  But they are part of the story.  They have a role -- a pretty important one!  People matter.  Individuals matter.

We live in a big world and in between loads of laundry, cooking dinner, and monotonous days at work we can begin to feel insignificant.  We start feeling like we are small, that we don't matter, that we don't play much a part in God's story.  But we do matter.  Even though we might not become famous Abrahams or Davids, we play an important part of the story.  Don't get lost in this big world thinking you're small.  Don't get lost in the laundry and the long days and the countless dinners and the routine.  You matter.  Play your role and do it the best you can...because only you can do it.