Written: 4/28/20 Tuesday, 5:00 PM. Patio

Some people are really interested in their ancestors. Why would a person scurry from courthouse to cemetery to Ancestry dot com looking up obscure names? Why did Luke bother with genealogy? Let me tell you about my Grandpa Fry, a man I never met.

The Story

(I use the New Revised Standard Version. But it’s copyrighted. The Open English Bible was translated and offered as public domain, and I use it here. Use whatever Bible you like!) Note: the OEB takes out the “son of” so-and-so language which NRSV carries all the way through. This matters, as you’ll see below.

Luke 3:23. When beginning his work, Jesus was about thirty years old. He was regarded as the son of Joseph, whose ancestors were –

Eli, 24 Mattith, Levi, Melchiah, Janna, Joseph, 25 Mattithiah, Amos, Nahum, Azaliah, Nogah, 26 Mattith, Mattithiah, Shimei, Joseph, Josheh, 27 Johanan, Rhesa, Zerubbabel, Salathiel, Neriah, 28 Melchiah, Addi, Cosam, Elmodam, Er, 29 Joshua, Eliezer, Joram, Mattith, Levi, 30 Simeon, Judah, Joseph, Jonam, Eliakim, 31 Meleah, Menan, Mattithiah, Nathan, David, 32 Jesse, Obed, Boaz, Salah, Nahshon, 33 Aminadab, Arni, Hezron, Perez, Judah, 34 Jacob, Isaac, Abraham, Terah, Nahor, 35 Serug, Reu, Peleg, Eber, Shelah, 36 Kenan, Arpachshad, Shem, Noah, Lamech, 37 Methuselah, Enoch, Jared, Mahalalel, Kenan, 38 Enosh, Seth and Adam the son of God.

Knowing the Story

Oh shoot, I’m not even going to try to memorize this. (And that’s why it’s dreaded. Even teachers of the Bible tend to skim over such things.)

But the author Luke has a purpose in setting down this genealogy. First, if you know someone’s family, you know something about them. Second, he wants to connect Jesus to all humankind (whereas Matthew just took the line back to the Jewish patriarchs). Important to note that Matthew and Luke differ in their recitation of Jesus’s genealogy. Nobody knows why for sure, there are theories.

Some of the names are famous or significant. Zerubbabel (where the gospels of Matthew and Luke begin to agree). David, Judah, Jacob, Isaac, Abraham. Adam. God. NRSV uses the language “son of…” for all these; son of David, son of Judah, son of Jacob… We’ll encounter some of them going forward: Jesus is called “son of David” and “son of God.” Important, because “son of David” and “son of God” were titles given to the Anointed One, the Messiah, the Christ.

Fun fact: Caesar was also called “Son of God” by in the Roman Empire. These two sons of God and Lords will clash going forward. Remember Mary’s song? How the powerful are tossed from their thrones? Yeah, that.

Telling the Story

The temptation in telling the story would be to rush through it. “Let’s get through this to the good stuff. Get ‘er done!” I would have to remind myself to slow down, pause at each of the many commas, and acknowledge the importance of this genealogy. I guess the alternative would be to speed the whole thing up like Danny Kaye in “Tchaikovski.” Go for the laughs? Nah.

Living the Story

I never knew my great-great-grandfather, W. H. Gilbert. He fought for the Union in the Civil War and was captured by the Rebs following the Battle of Chickamauga. I know this because, much later, he wrote a little memoir: “Seventeen Months in Six Rebel Prisons.” I typed it up–okay, my mother typed it up–for a class in eighth grade, I think it was. The story caught the attention of one of my teachers, so I showed him a little pocket knife my g’g’gpa had made. The prisoners used to make trinkets and trade them to the guards for luxuries, like food. Mr. Jansen said, “Is that bone? I wonder where he got it?” I said, “There probably were lots of bones around.” He said, “Human?“

That story comes to mind when I think of Mr. Gilbert.

Or sometimes I think of Leland “Sam” Fry, my mother’s father, sheriff of Benton County, Iowa. He lost his life knocking on the door of a house where an escaped prisoner holed up, who shot him.

Growing up, I heard stories about him; from my mother, about how she used to play cards with the Trusty prisoners in the jail, and visit the Sheriff’s office as a seven-year-old to get candy; from my grandmother, his wife, who was elected Sheriff in his place but declined; from people who knew the family, and from pictures, and from newspaper articles. As a kid, I didn’t really understand what it must have meant to a nine-year-old girl to lose her father. Then I had my own kids and I did.

Do I think about my grandfathers all the time? When I’m down, do I say to myself, “our family has survived worse”? I do not. But I do keep these stories in my back pocket and bring them out sometimes. I do the same with the Bible stories I’m memorizing, perhaps more often.

I used to know a man who would tell a story about a big family sledding party and then say: “In our family, we have fun.” There is such a thing as a family spirit. These stories of my family tell me that in our family we get through tough times.

Right now, there’s a pandemic, and we’re imprisoned, but it’s not like we’re in a Civil War prison camp. There’s confusion, but it’s not like the “man of the family” and wage-earner suddenly dies… at least, not like that for me.

For some, though, it is like that; and perhaps being part of a story of suffering overcome, triumph over adversity, even triumph over death; stories of how their own family made it through; could be comforting.

I think it must have been like that for some in Luke’s audience. Yeah, we’re oppressed, down and out, at the bottom of the ladder. But we’ve been there before. Remember David? A shepherd boy who became a king. Remember Jacob? A blessed trickster whose sons founded our twelve tribes. Remember Abraham? He left home for the unknown! Remember our family tree?

Maybe those stories of Jesus help us too. Through him, we’re adopted into his family tree, we’re his brothers and sisters, the stories of his ancestors are our stories too. Much later, Jesus will claim that his story and stories should be told to everyone, “to the ends of the earth.” Stories for everyone.

All that long line of faithful people… and now it’s coming to a head, says Luke, with Jesus. The genealogy takes us through the history of God’s action in the world. But now Jesus is here, says Luke. Just you wait.

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1. Tchaikovski: is on YouTube.

2. his little memoir: private, but quoted in full in Sunseri, Alvin R.: “Transient: The Reminiscences of William H. Gilbert.” University of Illinois Press: Journal of the Illinois State Historical Society (1908-1984), Vol. 74, No. 1 (Spring, 1981), pp. 41-50. While a student at the University of Northern Iowa, my brother Steve showed it to Dr. Sunseri for a class, who researched and published this article. The link is above, but you may need to register your e-mail in order to get free access.

3. Leland “Sam” Fry: a brief summary of the story here.  

For those who want to go deeper into the story, the town newspaper reports on the shooting (Cedar Valley Daily Times, 11/4/1938, p1).

And on his funeral. (Cedar Valley Daily Times)

And on Grandma’s nomination as sheriff. (Cedar Valley Daily Times)

Yeah, nobody wants to know that much–but now I’ve got it where I can find it again, and it’s my blog, right?