David Bahn – Reflections

The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.

² Abraham was the father of Isaac, and Isaac the father of Jacob, and Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers, ³ and Judah the father of Perez and Zerah by Tamar, and Perez the father of Hezron, and Hezron the father of Ram, ⁴ and Ram the father of Amminadab, and Amminadab the father of Nahshon, and Nahshon the father of Salmon.

I sometimes joke that I know the names of maybe twelve celebrities – fourteen if you include athletes and news anchors. It’s a bit of an exaggeration, but true enough: I’m not much for celebrity culture. And these days, I’m forgetting names more easily, even the ones I should remember.

But God doesn’t forget names. He saw fit to preserve many in Scripture – some famous (like Moses), and some infamous (like Onan). If you scan chapters like Genesis 46 or Numbers 7, you’ll find lists of names – names that meant something, even when the people behind them failed.

Matthew opens his Gospel with a genealogy, and he names names: Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Judah, Perez, and others. From Genesis 38, we learn that Judah had a son named Onan, who refused to fulfill his duty to his deceased brother’s wife. The Lord was displeased with him, and Onan died. But Judah’s story didn’t end there. His own actions – deceptive and morally compromised – involved an encounter with his daughter-in-law Tamar, whom he mistook for a prostitute. And yet, from that union came Perez, and from Perez… the line of the Messiah.

God works through sinners – some notorious – to bring about His redemptive plan. The genealogies aren’t just about lineage; they testify to grace. They show that God can bring life out of brokenness and purpose out of sin-stained pasts.

Some mothers proudly point to their sons – like Mary at Cana, nudging Jesus to intervene. But there are also those whose family stories are hidden in shame. I remember when I first realized that Jacob was more of a scoundrel than the flannelgraph figure I’d seen in Sunday school. It was disorienting. And yet, the Bible doesn’t whitewash the heroes of faith. Scripture records not only the good, but also the bad and ugly. Abraham lied about his wife. Isaac played favorites. David committed adultery and murder. The list goes on.

But there is one name that stands above all the rest. The name of Jesus – the only name that is holy, undefiled, and worthy of all praise. At His name every knee will bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father (cf. Philippians 2:9–11).

Baptized into the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, we carry the only name that ultimately matters. The name that saves. The people named in these genealogies testify of God’s far-reaching grace. Shown in Jesus. Celebrated by saint and sinner alike.