If you're like me, when you read the scriptures this Christmas season, there is a temptation to skip over or to read the genealogies with little or no interest. I mean, it's only a list of names and we want to get to the "good stuff". You know, singing angels, and wise men and shepherds and the baby in the manger. What can you learn from a list of names? Surprisingly there's plenty to learn from a list of names. For example in Matthew chapter 1 we see that the grace of God is wide.
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Matthew mentions five different women in this list (which was rare). Tamar, Rahab, and Bathsheba were all women of questionable behavior. Odd people to highlight in your family tree, for sure.
Tamar was a woman who was wrongfully denied motherhood by her husband and after he died, then her brother-in-law. They both refused to sleep with her, which was immoral and illegal. She disguises herself as a prostitute and ends up sleeping with Judah, the son of Jacob.
Rahab was a professional prostitute in Jericho. She’s a Gentile.
Bathsheba, was complicit in one of the most notorious adulteries of all time, not resisting the advances of the king while her husband risked his very life on their behalf.
Ruth is a godly woman, but she is a Moabite (sworn enemies of Israel).
Remember this is the family tree of Jesus! What in the world is Matthew doing here? He is showing us that God's grace is deep and wide. His grace condescends to the lowest. If you could gather all of Jesus' ancestors for Christmas dinner you'd have adulterers, prostitutes, warriors, heroes, wicked kings, good kings and Gentiles.
In the genealogy of Matthew, before you ever get to a baby in a manger or visits from wise men, you see the beauty and scandal of the Gospel. The glory of Christmas is that the baby we celebrate invaded earth to save us because we need it and he loves us.
Tamar was a woman who was wrongfully denied motherhood by her husband and after he died, then her brother-in-law. They both refused to sleep with her, which was immoral and illegal. She disguises herself as a prostitute and ends up sleeping with Judah, the son of Jacob.
Rahab was a professional prostitute in Jericho. She’s a Gentile.
Bathsheba, was complicit in one of the most notorious adulteries of all time, not resisting the advances of the king while her husband risked his very life on their behalf.
Ruth is a godly woman, but she is a Moabite (sworn enemies of Israel).
Remember this is the family tree of Jesus! What in the world is Matthew doing here? He is showing us that God's grace is deep and wide. His grace condescends to the lowest. If you could gather all of Jesus' ancestors for Christmas dinner you'd have adulterers, prostitutes, warriors, heroes, wicked kings, good kings and Gentiles.
In the genealogy of Matthew, before you ever get to a baby in a manger or visits from wise men, you see the beauty and scandal of the Gospel. The glory of Christmas is that the baby we celebrate invaded earth to save us because we need it and he loves us.
