“Jesus
was a Mixed-Blood” That phrase echoed in my spirit as I walked into the
convenience store. “How is that possible?” I wondered. God had my attention.
Hello, My Name Is Tony
and I’m a Mixed-Blood
As I’ve begun to embrace my Cherokee
heritage, the issue of being a mixed blood has been a point of contention. Many
of my English attributes are evident in my physical appearance. As a result, there
are those from both my Euro/American heritage and my Native heritage that would
see me as a “wannabe.” I’ve struggled with that as I’m sure many others
have as well. I didn’t know a lot about my Cherokee heritage other than the
stories I was told when growing up. But when I heard the drum…the heartbeat,
when I saw the Native people, when I was immersed in the beauty of Nature, I was
drawn to them. I knew that it was MY heartbeat. I knew
that they were MY people, even though I didn’t look like many of
them. I knew that I belonged out in the creation. It was an
unexplainable connection that I had to understand. That’s why God had my
attention. I never considered the idea that Jesus could understand what it means
to be a mixed blood person because, after all, He is the Son of God. So what was
God saying to me? He was saying that Jesus understood.
So
began the revelation. It was unveiled in three parts. The first was in the
revelation of Jesus’ genealogy; the second in the revelation of His
conception; and the third in the revelation of His redemption.
All in the Family
How many of you enjoy reading the
“begats” in Scripture? You know the routine…“Abraham begot Isaac, Isaac
begot Jacob, and Jacob begot Judah and his brothers…” I always kind of
glazed over them. Some of those names really made me appreciate my own. Names
like Shealtiel or Abiud would not be my first choice for boy names. But over the
years, God has revealed some really cool things to me in the “begats” and
this was one of those occasions. God took me to Matthew, Chapter One. If you
turn there, you’ll notice that it begins with the following phrase: “The
book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the Son of David, the Son of Abraham.”
Now I love genealogy research. I’ve done hundreds of hours of it. I’ve
always wanted to know where I came from—part of being a mixed blood. As I
started reading down through Jesus’ genealogy, something jumped out at me.
Beginning in verse five it says in part “…Boaz begot Obed by Ruth, Obed
begot Jesse, and Jesse begot David the king….” It hit me…David’s
grandmother was Ruth, and Ruth was a Moabite! David was a mixed blood, and if he
was, Jesus was! Further study would reveal that there are several occasions
where the genealogy of Jesus was mixed. I would even venture to say that every
race, every tribe, every nation somehow existed in Jesus’ blood line. After
all, His shed blood made atonement for every person who receives it.
Second, God began
reminding me of the events surrounding Jesus birth. Mary was a virgin. Yet when
the Holy Spirit hovered over her, she became pregnant with Jesus. This
represented the second mixing of blood. The divinity of God mixed with the
humanity of Mary and produced a perfect blend of the two—Jesus, the Son of
God. While in His mother’s womb, Mary’s blood nourished Jesus through His
umbilical cord—the blood of both Mary and Jesus intermingling with each other.
Yet again we see the picture of Jesus as a mixed blood. Please don’t
misunderstand what I am saying…I am not implying that Jesus’ blood was
anything less than what Scripture says it was and is. Hebrews 9 clearly
illustrates the finished work accomplished by Jesus’ shed blood. My point in
this is to explore who we really are, and to recognize that Jesus understands.
The Master Mix
The third revelation of this divine mixture
is the one that affects you and I the most. When we become born again, somehow,
by a miracle of God, we receive a divine transfusion. The blood of Jesus
cleanses us from the sin nature that separated us from our Father and blends
with us to make us a new creation. It is the ultimate divine mixture. Through
that transfer, the transformation process begins and we are changed from glory
to glory, faith to faith, until we become more and more like Him. I like to say
it this way…His holy DNA mixes with our DNA to create a unique, new creation
that never has, and never will exist again. It’s you plus God. Isn’t that
exciting?! The more time we spend with Him, the more we become like Him…all
because of His blood. He actually completes who we were created to be. He
infuses Himself into us; mixes with who we are to make us the best expression of
the Father’s original intention for us…culture and all! No longer should we,
as followers of Jesus, ever struggle with an identity crisis. It matters so
little what people even think of us because we are now “in Him” and He’s
in us—the perfect mix. God blended us so perfectly…He knew what He was
doing. No one can ever change that.
So in our mixture, we become a bridge between generations, between people groups, and between cultures. We are the ones who “…Shall build the old waste places; [we] shall raise up the foundations of many generations; And [we] shall be called the Repairer of the Breach, The Restorer of Streets to Dwell In.” (Isaiah 58:12) And we shall do so to the seventh generation.