A Canaanite, a prostitute, a Moabite, and a wronged wife. These four women, Tamar, Rahab, Ruth, and Bathsheba, are listed in Matthew’s account of the lineage of Christ. This week I’ve been contemplating the advent story, and I wonder what did they know about their role? In the first verse of the first chapter of Luke, we read,
Many have undertaken to draw up an account of the things that have been fulfilled among us…
Like Luke, Matthew is intentional about the names he lists in the genealogy of Christ. God intentionally included four women, these broken branches lovingly grafted into Jesus’ family tree; did they know their significance?
In an age where so many people long to see themselves on the pages of scripture, Jesus’s advent story shows that He can identify with us all.
Redemption’s Story
Perfection came from brokenness. Redemption came into a world sorely in need of a Redeemer. He came for families with generational scars, open wounds, and those we often overlook. He came for me, for us. Only a heart like God’s could pinpoint each person’s role in the birth of our Savior.
Just as God used Anna, Elizabeth, and Mary, in the advent story, He also used Tamar, Rahab, Ruth, and Bathsheba. Their stories are not afterthoughts. Their lives reveal the light of hope, the depth of grace, and the heights of joy Christ would bring into the world. He looks beyond our faults and sees our needs.
Vulnerable But Perfect
May we give our stories to Him as we wait to celebrate His birth. And as we prepare to celebrate, let’s remember that God so loved the world that He sent Christ, a vulnerable but perfect baby, to the world. Let’s bring our vulnerable and imperfect selves before the Lord. And may we see our crazy, loud, broken, and redeemed family as part of Christ’s family tree this Christmas!
Amen & Amen.