The gospel today has a message today for all families.
Yes, the gospel is shared with us to prove that Jesus is rightly called the Messiah, a child of Israel because of his blood line to King David and to Abraham. But it also presents us with a photo album of Jesus' relatives, each with a story to be told and some of those stories are unsavory including that of King David who had a man killed so that he could cover up his adultery with the man’s wife.
Through the winding thread of the real human history of our families, our relatives, skeletons and all, Jesus came among us to forgive us our sins, to teach us to love one another and to lovingly ... albeit slowly ... work to overcome all that keeps us apart.
We are in a season of great expectation that leads to the joy of Christmas. Let us pray that this expectation and joy fill the hearts of hurting families and dissipate whatever may be separating families, the family of our church and the family of nations.
