Real Hope: The Jesus Genealogy - What's the Point?Sýnishorn

Women In A Genealogy? What!

Jews didn’t list women in their genealogies but Matthew records five.

Woman 1 is Tamar. She was Judah’s daughter-in-law and he had sex with her producing twins. The evil he represented in his actions and his lying is embarrassing at least and devilish at worst. Woman 2 is Rahab, an innkeeper and a harlot. Woman 3 is Ruth who came from the Moabites but Boaz married her and she became the great-grandmother of King David. Woman 4 is Bathsheba, and she was married to Uriah. David committed adultery with Bathsheba and had Uriah killed. Woman 5 is Mary, and her story is landmark. She announced to everyone in her small village that she was pregnant and that she was still a virgin. You can imagine the whispers in town.

All of these women had reason to be embarrassed at some impropriety and indignity in their lives. Why did Matthew include them? Perhaps to help us understand his own thankfulness. Matthew 21:31 says, ‘Jesus said to the Pharisees (the religious leaders of the day), ‘Truly I say to you that the tax collectors and prostitutes will get into the kingdom of God before you’. Matthew as a tax collector was despised by most Jews. Prostitutes were similarly discarded by society. Yet, grace abounds to those who desperately call on the Lord. Your background may be sketchy or daggy, but God can make His Messiah come to and through you. Don’t be afraid – it’s the Father’s good pleasure to give you the Kingdom.

Written by BOB MENDELSOHN

Want more? Check out the Real Hope Conversations Podcast and delve deeper into the Genealogy of Christ with Bob Mendelsohn. Available wherever you listen to podcasts.