Jesus had ancestors
As we enter the Advent season, it is a good time to be reminded that Jesus was a real person, who had a real family, and real ancestors. His ancestors were sovereignly appointed by God, who steered history all the way to the virgin birth. Here is a list of Jesus’ ancestors by name, along with the meaning of each name. While this may be a hard concept for us today (we often choose names that have no meaning), Hebrews were generally very aware of the significance of a name. Obviously, a person was given their name before they had their character revealed (although there are examples of people who had their name changed to reflect their current conduct–Israel, Naomi, etc.), but part of the Hebrew's trust in God’s sovereignty was a recognition that God is sovereign over birth, and over names. Thus the connection between a name and conduct was much more direct and atemporal than Americans can imagine. With that said, read through the meaning of the names of Jesus’ ancestors, and see how...