We All Come from Someone

Every year on the Sunday before Christmas, the Church tells us of the ancestry of Jesus Christ. Anyone who has been Orthodox Christian for a while can remember the Gospel. “The Book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the Son of David, the Son of Abraham. Abraham begot Isaac….etc” (Matthew 1.1-17) In the Gospel of Luke, the ancestry of Jesus is told even from Joseph, the betrothed of Mary, and declares Jesus, “the son of Adam, the son of God.” (Luke 3.38)

It is important to know where we come from, and what our ancestors believed. In Jesus’ case, He is from God and His human ancestors were righteous people of God. Have you ever researched your ancestors to discover your roots? We all come from someone; who are your ancestors? If you consider the ancestors of Jesus Christ listed in the Holy Scriptures, some listed a blood relatives, while the others we could say are spiritual relatives since Joseph was not the biological father of Jesus.

In the same way, YOU have blood ancestors and also spiritual relatives. You probably know your blood ancestors; your parents, their parents, their grandparents, etc, but do you know who your spiritual relatives are? They are the righteous men and women of faith we call, Saints. If you read your ancestry in the same fashion we do for Jesus Christ, it might sound like, “Saint Andrew ordained Saint Stachys, and Saint Stachys succeeded Saint Onesimos, and Saint Onesimos succeeded Saint Polycarp….” These Saints of the Church are YOUR spiritual ancestors and they are just as much a part of your family as your parents. And if you go back far enough, tracing either your blood relatives or your spiritual relatives, you will find WE ALL have a common ancestor. We are all children of God.