This phrase is normally thrown out after a family member has done something embarrassing and you think to yourself "I want to crawl (add your favorite phrase here)."
Well, that thought usually gives way to some form of admission that this person really is someone we love.
Imagine this, you are the leader of a world renown religion and you are here to tell people they need to stop things that are harmful and do things that are productive. Well if you are like some religious people you would distance yourself from the "misfits" of your family, even if you still loved them. If you don't believe me, just look on the face of a "believer" when one of their embarrassing relatives enter the conversation.
There was just such a person, who was called upon to be the leader of a world of religious people, and unlike some, he didn't hide those undesirables. As a matter of fact, his family line was chose before he came and is often known and the "lineage of David".
I love Max Lucado's version of this little known talked about fact about Jesus. You see if you and I were to make up a "god", he would not be from "us". He'd be "better" than us.
But Max writes...
"You've barely dipped a toe into Matthew's gospel when you realize that Jesus hails from the Tilted-Halo Society. Rahab was a Jericho harlot. Grandpa Jacob was slippery enough to warrant an electric ankle bracelet. David had a personality as irregular as a Picasso painting - one day writing psalms, another day seducing his captain's wife. But did Jesus erase his name from the list? Not at all...
Why did Jesus hand his family's dirty laundry on the neighborhood clothesline?
Because your family has some too. The dad that never came home. The grandparent who ran away with the coworker. If your family tree has bruised fruit, then Jesus wants you to know, "I've been there."
(From "Next Door Savior")
From unfaithful to unlawful, it's possible that you have some similarities to Jesus' family. Heck, you may be the "bruised fruit" for all we know. Here's the good news....
He knows. He loves. He invites. He's waiting.
For what? For you to admit you don't have it all together. Neither you nor your family tree.
And he says... "I didn't come to condemn". Don't believe me, look at his most famous quote of all time...
"For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved."
I may be bold in saying here that if you've felt condemned, it's been a "family tree denying" person who thinks they are ok with God. I think I can say that with pretty good confidence, you see, when Jesus was here on earth, he had religious people like that around him then too.
Don't stay away, come check out Jesus, even if you're not ready to jump in and be a "follower".
But by all means, don't look at those who deny their family tree in an attempt to look good, Jesus didn't do that so it's not a healthy way of living life.
Till Next Time...
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