The Jesus Bible Reading PlanSample

THE GENEALOGY OF JESUS

Part of Matthew’s goal in writing his Gospel was to show Jesus as the true Messiah for whom the Jews had been waiting. Because the Messiah had to come from the line of David, it was important for Matthew to show Jesus’ legitimacy by connecting him not only to David, but all the way back to Abraham (v. 2; Ge 12:3). Another interesting point in Matthew’s genealogy is the mention of five women, specifically Tamar (Mt 1:3), Rahab (v. 5) and Bathsheba (simply called “Uriah’s wife” in v. 6). Tamar had deceitfully posed as a prostitute to bear her children (Ge 38), Rahab was a prostitute in the city of Jericho (Jos 2), and Bathsheba was the woman with whom David committed adultery (2Sa 11). Not only was it unusual for women to be mentioned in genealogies, but it was even stranger that Matthew decided to list three women of relatively low moral standing. The inclusion of Tamar, Rahab and Bathsheba shows that God is able to use anyone to accomplish his plan. God could have handpicked anyone to be in the genealogy of Jesus, but he included these and many other imperfect people to comprise the line that would eventually bring his Son into the world. These women are an incredible image of God’s sovereign desire to take what is broken and make it new. Matthew begins his Gospel by showing the legitimacy of Jesus and the redemptive power of God.

Jesus, thank you for loving all of us, regardless of gender, ethnicity or socioeconomic status. Thank you for allowing broken men and women—including me—to accomplish your plans. Amen.