Through The Bible in a Year - June 1, 2026
"Abraham was the father of Isaac... Judah the father of Perez and Zerah... Boaz the father of Obed... and David was the father of Solomon by the wife of Uriah… Josiah the father of Jechoniah... Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom Jesus was born." - Matthew 1:2-3, 5-6, 11-12
If you were hiring someone to lead in the church today what would you think if you read these names in their background?
Abraham: Betrayed his wife twice to save himself. Slept with another woman out of impatience with God. Tried to kill his mistress and biological son by abandoning them in the desert.
Verdict: Unqualified.
Judah: Neglected his daughter-in-law. Unknowingly slept with her. Ordered her burned for the ensuing pregnancy he caused. Only repented when confronted with evidence.
Verdict: Unqualified.
Boaz: Married outside the faith. Pledged himself to a refugee from an enemy nation.
Verdict: Unqualified.
David: Adultery with a married woman. Murdered her husband. Raised terrible children. Ended his life with an arrogance judged by God.
Verdict: Unqualified.
Jechoniah: The worst of all Israel’s kings. As Babylon invaded, he turned to idolatry. Jeremiah cursed him: "No seed of Jechoniah shall sit on the throne of David."
Verdict: Not just unqualified—cursed.
And yet God said: "The scepter shall not depart from these descendants of Judah and the promise to David stands despite his sins and the sins of generations of his sons."
Here's one additional problem to consider: God promised David that the Messiah would come from his line. But then Jechoniah, in David's line, was given a curse by the Prophet Jeremiah: "No seed of Jechoniah shall sit on the throne of David."
How could God maintain his promise to bring the Messiah through the legal lineage through David but honor the curse of Jeremiah denying biological lineage through David’s biological descendant, Jechoniah?
Answer: Matthew 1:18.
"Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit."
God maintained the legal line of descent from David through Jesus’ earthly father, Joseph (who was in David's line through Jechoniah). But God kept Jeconiah from being the biological source of Jesus’ lineage through the virgin birth generated by the Holy Spirit. In his wisdom, God kept his promise to David and maintained his justice toward Jeconiah.
What do these remarkable events teach us?
God keeps His promises even when we fail. Every man in this genealogy failed spectacularly. Yet God's promise marched forward.
God works His grace beyond what we can orchestrate. Who could have imagined the virgin birth solution to the Jechoniah curse? God was working the blessings of his grace beyond what humanity could anticipate – reminding each of us that he can work beyond our messes and difficulties to rescue us from our circumstances and ourselves.
No one is beyond God's redemptive plan. If God could use sinners as great as Abraham, Judah, David, and even bring the Messiah through Jechoniah's cursed line, He can use us despite our sin.
Such sovereign grace is still present and working. I think of men in my church who have said: "God forgave me. And then by His Spirit, He built something new in me—new desires for Him, renewed love for my spouse, renewed commitment to my family. I'm different now. My family is different now. We're on totally new ground."
That's not crazy talk. That’s not impossible. That's what the genealogy of Jesus teaches us about what God can do.
Prayer: Father, I am unqualified for your care in my life. I have failed you in so many ways—as a father, as a husband, as a man. I look at my past and think, "How could God have a purpose for someone like me?" But then I look at Jesus' genealogy: murderers, adulterers, idolaters, failures—and You used them all. You kept Your promise despite their failures. You worked grace beyond what they could orchestrate. Do that in my life. Forgive my past. Build something new in my present. Use me in Your future. In Jesus' name, Amen.