advent day nine

Jesus Christ came from the family of King David and also from the family of Abraham. And here is a list of his ancestors.

Matthew 1: 1

So far, so good. Jesus’ pedigree seems to have been established– everything you would expect from a King, the Son of God- he can trace his family back both to the founder of the nation God was to call his own, Abraham the Patriarch, and to the royal family headed by King David.

From Abraham to King David, his ancestors were:

Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Judah and his brothers (Judah’s sons were Perez and Zerah, and their mother was Tamar), Hezron; Ram, Amninadab, Nashon, Salmon, Boaz (his mother was Rahab), Obed (his mother was Ruth), Jesse and King David.

Matthew 1: 2-6

What is going on here? For a start, instead of concentrating on the paternal line, Matthew keeps interrupting to tell us who the mothers were. 21st century feminists may well applaud, but no Jewish reader would have been interested. And then if we look at these women, their inclusion becomes even more puzzling. Why not mention Sarah, Isaac’s mother, a godly and faithful woman? Or the lovely Rachel for whom Jacob worked seven years- twice!  But the women who are mentioned are Tamar, who tricked her father-in-law into sleeping with her by dressing as a prostitute; Rahab who never even disguised the fact that she was a prostitute; and Ruth who was a foreigner. They are not the sort of ancestors you would normally boast about– more like the skeletons in the cupboard.

But at Christmas, God shakes up expectations, order and pride. He bursts onto the human scene in a totally unexpected way, to show us what His priorities are because on our own, we keep getting them so badly wrong. He wants to show us that it is who we are that matters– not who our parents were, which school we went to, what job we do or how big our house is. His own son was born into a family of peasants and princes. And through him, God offers us the chance to be born again, as His children. 

But God chose the foolish things of this world to put the wise to shame. He chose the weak things of this world to put the powerful to shame.     1 Corinthians 1 :27

You are a child of God