As we enter the Advent season, we are going to spend the next six weeks looking at Jesus' family tree. As we do that, we will engage with two main ideas or thoughts. First, many of the people that are listed in Jesus’ family tree are not people that you would expect to see mentioned in the family line of a great king. They tend to represent stories about the family that most people would want to hide and cover up, not flaunt and have out in the open. 

Second, we will see that many of these people foreshadow Jesus and his life in some way. Sometimes it is by the choices that they make, or by the circumstances they face. In many ways Jesus’ ancestors experienced similar situations and made similar choices to those that Jesus would one day make. 

We hope that by engaging with the family tree of Jesus, that it will help us rejoice in the goodness of God as we prepare to remember and celebrate the birth of the Messiah this Christmas season!