Promise

Jeremiah 33:14-16New International Version (NIV)

The oldest complete Jesse Tree window
 is in Chartres Cathedral, 1145.

¹⁴ “‘The days are coming,’ declares the Lord, ‘when I will fulfill the good promise I made to the people of Israel and Judah.

¹⁵ “‘In those days and at that time

    I will make a righteous Branch sprout from David’s line;

    he will do what is just and right in the land.

¹⁶ In those days Judah will be saved

    and Jerusalem will live in safety.

This is the name by which it^[a] will be called:

    The Lord Our Righteous Savior.’

As a genealogist, the Jesse Tree and genealogy of Jesus have always interested me.  The scripture today states that Jesus is the fulfillment of the promise made to the people of Israel and Judah.  Re-reading that passage reminded me of a quote on Facebook I saw the other day. The Chickasaw poet Linda Hogan said, "Walking.  I am listening to a deeper way.  Suddenly all my ancestors are behind me.  Be still, they say.  Watch and listen.  You are the result of the love of thousands."

We are all the fulfillment of a promise made to our ancestors who struggled with a life not as comfortable as ours is.  Just knowing that their struggles, hardships, hopes and love brought me where I am, gives me the urge to be the right kind of fulfillment of their promise.  I may not save the world, but I can certainly "do what is just and right in the land."  I owe them.