The Day I Was a Knight
Once upon a time a relative of mine did our family tree. Yeah, I know there are nuts on family trees, but you don’t know about them by simply looking at names. You have to go to your dad or grandfather for that kind of information.
 My dad told me about a sea captain on our family tree from years ago who ended up being hanged for a dastardly deed. Then there was the fisherman with a wooden leg . . . but I’m beginning to bore you.
What I found interesting was the discovery that my family arrived in England in 1066, with Bill. Remember Bill? He’s better known as William the Conqueror. But it turns out that my great (to the power of 16 or something similar) grandfather knew him as Bill.
After the Battle of Hastings—at a place now called Battle, near Hastings—my great16 grandfather served Bill (we get to call him Bill too because he was a family friend; you lesser mortals should stick with William) so well he was given a title and lands.*
Why is it that because we may have had a hero in the family we think we’re heroes too? Like, I can picture myself back then, in armour, riding into battle; striking down the enemy (as a Christian I would do that gently, of course). A more realistic picture might be me driving into Battle to buy a carton of milk.
Every family tree will have nuts, but it will also have heroes. Unfortunately, we never get to hear of most of them; they’re forgotten over time.
I was thinking about my family tree when I came across Luke chapter 3 where we find the lineage of Jesus. This isn’t a tree, it’s a direct line from God through Adam through a whole stack of others to Mary and Joseph to Jesus.
No branches, just a direct line.
But it’s what happened after that caught my imagination. Check out John 1:12 some time. Those who believe in Jesus become sons and daughters of God—we become family!
No direct line now, branches shooting out all over the place. These are branches with nuts and heroes as well as regular people. There’s a place for anyone. And we all have something in common. Jesus.
That’s different to other family trees; you have to be born into them. Not everyone would have a sea captain like ours in their family. His story? One day he got into a brawl and . . .
*You’ll find his direct descendant, the Duke of Rutland, living in the family homestead, Belvoir Castle, near Nottingham. (Trivia: Belvoir Castle was featured in The Da Vinci Code movie.)
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Bruce Manners (left) is senior pastor of
the Avondale College church.