Jeffrey Kranz is a writer, designer, and consultant at OverviewBible.com, and he's created a pretty amazing infographic of the genealogy of Jesus, with an emphasis on bringing together the Messiah's human and divine origins. Most of us are aware that the book of Matthew opens with a complicated list of names in Jesus's family tree, and we usually skip over that part to get to the "good" stuff. But there's some good stuff right there!
The infographic represents both Matthew and Luke's genealogies, showing the legal emphasis (in Matthew) meant to prove Jesus's royal Israelite bloodline, and the biological emphasis (in Luke) traditionally linked to the family genealogy in Mary's home. The "big names" are given larger placement, with often humorous bits of info. Just a quick scan reveals how diverse, even scandalous, this genealogy really is - including kings and killers, prophets and prostitutes.
Perhaps it's precisely that human diversity that renders the divinity of Jesus - summarized in that glorious statement in John's Gospel and running alongside the Matthew and Luke's lineage all the way down - such a startling thing. This is truly the God who is also a man, the Logic of the Preexistent Creator and Sustainer who relinquished his position to be formed by human flesh, to become just like you and me.
This is truly Emmanuel, God with us.
Enjoy (click to enlarge, and download here):
