Friday 12th December
Read Matthew 1:3a, 5ab, 6b, 16
“Judah the father of Perez and Zerah, whose mother was Tamar,
Salmon the father of Boaz, whose mother was Rahab,
Boaz the father of Obed, whose mother was Ruth,
David was the father of Solomon, whose mother had been Uriah’s wife,
and Jacob the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary, and Mary was the mother of Jesus who is called the Messiah.” (NIVUK)
Hebrew genealogies were nearly exclusively male. Matthew has placed five women in his genealogy – something his readers would be sure to notice! Not just five normal, modest, appropriate women either. These women were Gentile (Tamar, Rahab, Ruth) or Gentile adjacent (Uriah was a Hittite – perhaps explaining why Bathsheba lost her name? All of them were associated, willingly or unwillingly, with sexually questionable behaviour. The question we are challenged to ask by Matthew is obvious.
One explanation for these inclusions relates to the emphasis on Abraham in the genealogy, and specifically the promise made that all the nations of the earth would be blessed through him. Jesus’ genealogy includes those from the nations, those whom would otherwise be assumed to have no part in God’s saving purposes. It is a strong signal that although the gospel we will read is steeped in Israelite history and presents Jesus going to the Jews first – the saving purpose that lies underneath His coming is one that extends to the nations.
The good news of Jesus’ arrival is good news for Jews and Gentiles alike – and Matthew makes that clear through his deliberate inclusion of these amazing women.
