Here's the link to Matthew 1.
Matthew 1 outlines Jesus' lineage beginning at Abraham. The Bible (especially the OT) has lots of lists of who-begat-who and who's-your-daddy, which I personally find very difficult to read. In fact, any time I have attempted to read the Bible cover-to-cover, I always seem to lose the wind in my sails around the time that these lists begin. I can't tell you how disappointed I was when I decided to be intentional about reading the NT, and the first words I'm reading are, "the son of X, the son of X, the father or X."
But I need to at least try to find meaning and substance in ALL of these words. So, I did my research.
There is actually a lot to learn from these tedious lineage lists! According to the study Bible I use, Jesus' lineage is unusual because it includes 4 women. Lineage lists usually include men as a way to honor the person in question by ascribing their ancestry to heroes or legendary characters in history. So it's interesting that Jesus' lineage not only includes 4 women (as women were considered to be "lower" than men), but also that the 4 women in question had...you could say...eyebrow-raising backgrounds.
Three of the women were Gentiles, and three of them came from questionable sexual histories. Tamar was a prostitute with her father-in-law, Rahab was a prostitute also, Ruth was a "sexually aggressive widow," and Bathsheba was an adulteress. All of these women eventually became acknowledged and admired for their faith. Most people came to accept that they were part of God's plan, even though they they were non-Jews and very visible sinners.
It's no coincidence that Matthew then launches into the story of Jesus' conception. By including these women in Jesus' lineage, Matthew may be trying to illustrate how Mary's unusual pregnancy was also part of God's plan. People reading Matthew's writing struggled (and people today still struggle) with the "immaculate conception" idea. Not only is the virgin birth simply supernatural and a little preposterous, but so is this idea that God would become man...that the baby born would be "God with us." Imagine the faith, boldness, and strength it would have taken Mary and especially Joseph to follow-through with God's plan. Make no mistake, it is the most precious, perfect, loving, merciful, life-giving plan the world has ever known!
Matthew 1 outlines Jesus' lineage beginning at Abraham. The Bible (especially the OT) has lots of lists of who-begat-who and who's-your-daddy, which I personally find very difficult to read. In fact, any time I have attempted to read the Bible cover-to-cover, I always seem to lose the wind in my sails around the time that these lists begin. I can't tell you how disappointed I was when I decided to be intentional about reading the NT, and the first words I'm reading are, "the son of X, the son of X, the father or X."
But I need to at least try to find meaning and substance in ALL of these words. So, I did my research.
There is actually a lot to learn from these tedious lineage lists! According to the study Bible I use, Jesus' lineage is unusual because it includes 4 women. Lineage lists usually include men as a way to honor the person in question by ascribing their ancestry to heroes or legendary characters in history. So it's interesting that Jesus' lineage not only includes 4 women (as women were considered to be "lower" than men), but also that the 4 women in question had...you could say...eyebrow-raising backgrounds.
Three of the women were Gentiles, and three of them came from questionable sexual histories. Tamar was a prostitute with her father-in-law, Rahab was a prostitute also, Ruth was a "sexually aggressive widow," and Bathsheba was an adulteress. All of these women eventually became acknowledged and admired for their faith. Most people came to accept that they were part of God's plan, even though they they were non-Jews and very visible sinners.
- Thinking/Praying point: How is God using me--a sinner--for his plan? Does my faith and love for my Father supersede my sinfulness in a way that an outsider might notice?
It's no coincidence that Matthew then launches into the story of Jesus' conception. By including these women in Jesus' lineage, Matthew may be trying to illustrate how Mary's unusual pregnancy was also part of God's plan. People reading Matthew's writing struggled (and people today still struggle) with the "immaculate conception" idea. Not only is the virgin birth simply supernatural and a little preposterous, but so is this idea that God would become man...that the baby born would be "God with us." Imagine the faith, boldness, and strength it would have taken Mary and especially Joseph to follow-through with God's plan. Make no mistake, it is the most precious, perfect, loving, merciful, life-giving plan the world has ever known!
- Thinking/Praying point: Am I being open to God's plan for my life, no matter how crazy it seems? Am I praying that he bring me to situations where his will can be done, and praying for boldness and strength that I will hear him calling and react appropriately?
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