Genealogy: A really really really long list of names, indicating the lineage of a person or people group.
I highly doubt anyone's first instinct is to turn to a genealogy in the Bible. And let's be honest, how many of us have totally skimmed or skipped over them? Guilty.
Last night I was video-chatting my dear friend, and we finally had the time to start our Bible study on Matthew. Of course the first 17 verses record the genealogy of Christ. [Strongly encourage you to read it].
So at first glance, you see that are many names. And you underline a few that you recognize and maybe put a question mark over the really bizarre names like Jechoniah and Shealtiel.
The listing of all these names is really so important. Matthew wrote his book with the Jews in mind. The Jewish people cherished their history so much. They had studied the Torah and the teachings of old. They knew the stories of the giants of the faith. Matthew establishes that Jesus did not come out of thin air. He had a specific heritage. This gives him credibility and honor in the eyes of the Jews.
As you read, you notice that there are four women listed as well (5 including Mary, but we will get to her later.) Gen. 38:6-30)
Tamar, Rahab, Ruth, and the wife of Uriah (Bathsheba)...
All these women have unique stories. And would hardly be expected to be in the line of Christ save his grace in each of their stories.
Tamar (the mother of Perez from Gen. 38:6-30, not Absalom's sister from 2 Samuel 13)
Tamar was a Cannanite who married the son of Judah whose name was Er. After Er's death, she marries Onan, who refuses to impregnate her since doing so would perpetuate the line of Er instead of his own. And when she is supposed to marry the youngest son, Shelah, according to law; his father Judah makes her wait for Shelah to grow up. Even after he has grown up, Judah still does not give him to her so she exchanges her widow's garments for the veil of a prostitute. She deceives Judah and conceives twins by him. This is an unpleasant story to say the least, but Tamar and her father-in-law Judah carry on the lineage that becomes Christ's.
Rahab (Joshua 2, 6:22-25)
Rahab was a Gentile woman in the city of Jericho and a known prostitute. However, she safely harbors two Israelite spies because she had heard of the mighty works of the God of Israel, and trusted in Him. Her faith earns her protection of herself and her family. She even becomes the mother of Boaz by Salmon.
Ruth (the book of Ruth)
Ruth is certainly an honorable woman, but still a Moabite. She proves her faithfulness to the God of Naomi by following her mother-in-law back to Bethlehem, a Jewish city. Ruth is redeemed by Boaz, after a potentially vulnerable situation at the threshing floor. She maintains her morality and is the mother of Obed, the grandfather of David. Even "in the days when the judges ruled" and "everyone did what was right in his own eyes," a Moabite woman demonstrates her faithfulness to God [Ruth 1:1; Judges 21:25]
Bathsheba (2 Samuel 11)
Bathsheba is only called the wife of Uriah in the genealogy. This is probably to remind the Jews of the sins committed by David. Bathsheba was the wife of the Hittite, so perhaps she was also a Gentile. David desired her as his own and she conceived a son by him. To cover up his tracks, he killed her husband by placing him in the front lines of the battlefield. Bathsheba has shame surrounding her story, she even had the tragedy of losing her first son. However, God still has her birth the future King Solomon, yet another father in the lineage of Christ.
And finally we get to Mary:
To everyone's eyes she had been unfaithful to her betrothed Joseph. But on the contrary, she was called on because of her faithfulness..because He desired to use her to be the mother of Jesus by the Holy Spirit. She brings honor to the women of her past. Joseph redeems her from her shame by marrying on the prompting of the angel Gabriel. As each woman is grafted into the lineage of Christ, they regain their honor and have a new beginning in Him. The foreign, Gentile women become daughters of God. And even the ugliest of sins are made beautiful through the grace and blood of Christ. And how different are we than these women, if it were not for the grace of God?
The imperfections and sins present in the lives of Tamar, Rahab, and Bathsheba all show the fallen world's perversion of marriage and reproduction.
The story of Ruth and Boaz foreshadow more clearly the beauty of marriage and the joy of having a child who continues a legacy.
Mary and Joseph's union further demonstrates this with the birth of Jesus by the Holy Spirit.
And Jesus is the one who dies and rises again in order to redeem His bride.
The church that is imperfect and filthy in sin without Him, becomes new again and receives an everlasting bond with Him. A perfect relationship unmarred by the flesh.
