“And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots” ~Isaiah 11:1

When I was younger (we’re talking teen years here), I tended to skip over the portions of the Bible that lay out genealogies. Admittedly, I didn’t get the point. I thought they were boring. What did it matter who begot who begot who? But then, one day, I began a new reading of the gospels–one of many I’ve undertaken over the years–starting with Matthew 1. This time, I didn’t skip. I didn’t skim. For some reason I couldn’t have identified–call it a spiritual nudge, if you will–I felt compelled to read the genealogy of Jesus slowly, one name at a time. As I did, names leapt out at me, almost as though I’d never seen them there before.

I think I sat stunned for a moment. The lightbulb had flashed on. I flipped over to Luke, searching wildly. My fingers found Luke 3.

Adam. Adam!

For the first time, it came home to me, that thing Christians hear repeatedly in church sermons and Bible studies, that piece of Truth we toss around almost tritely to comfort ourselves or reassure others or to explain what we can’t otherwise explain about grace.