Read: Mark 3:33-34
“Finding Your Roots,” hosted by Dr. Henry Louis Gates on PBS, fascinates me every week. I love to watch celebrities laugh and cry when they discover amazing facts about their ancestors. But my favorite part is at the end when the program reveals that they’re related to another celebrity. They shout for joy each time, even when the other celebrity doesn’t share their ethnicity.
Jesus was born in Bethlehem, and like the PBS program, we can trace His roots back to King David. Thus, with His birthplace and lineage, He fulfilled the first two prophecies about the coming Messiah. Isn’t it ironic that such a child was born in a stable and not a palace? Even at His birth, Jesus turned the world’s value system upside down.
Years later, when informed that His mother and brothers were waiting for Him, Jesus stretched society’s emphasis on genealogy to include all people who do God’s will.
By His death on the cross years later, Jesus would wash us clean before Father God and unite all of us into His sacred family—despite our total unworthiness. According to God’s command, we must love God and others.
Not so easy. Sometimes our brothers and sisters in Christ, or those we want to bring to Christ, can be difficult to love. Perhaps love is a verb and not a noun. As a noun, love can be a feeling, and we can’t always change our feelings about some people. But as a verb, we can love the lost or those who try us by praying for them. In love, we can extend respect to all, or help people in need without judging them.
Lord Jesus, grant us grace to love others as You command. Remind us we are one human family, each loved by You from the moment of conception. Grant us the power to love according to Your Word.
