Grace and the Incarnation, Part 2 - Matthew 1:1-6; 16-17; Galatians 3:28-29

 

Grace and the Incarnation, Part II: Five Women, and God’s Grace

Matthew 1:1-6,16-17; Galatians 3:28-29

Introduction. Last week we had an overview of the genealogy of Jesus that opens the first Gospel. By opening this way, he is rooting his Gospel in history. He is not writing a series of fables to give advice about good living. He is bringing Good News, facts rooted in time and space, Good News that changes everything. God has entered human history in His Son, making a way for sinners to be reconciled to God. Matthew is writing the Book of the Genealogy of Jesus Christ. He began with Abraham, and he emphasized David the king. Probably to make it easier to memorize, he divides it into three lists of fourteen, 1) from Abraham to David, 2) from David the deportation to Babylon, and 3) from the deportation to Christ. Someone asked me after church last week what was the significance of three sets of 14? I don’t know. It may have something to do with the name “David,” the letters of his name in Hebrew add up to 14. It may be that those three eras add up to 42, six times seven, which might imply that the seventh seven, the Messianic Age, would now be initiated through the coming of Jesus Christ.

       We do see God’s gracious promise, human failure, and God’s faithfulness, as He guides history to carry out His redemptive plan.   The Big Idea we focused on last week was that History is His Story, and that the genealogy of Jesus highlights the depth of our need, and the extent of God’s grace. We see that idea carry over as we focus on another surprising aspect of the genealogy: the mention of five women.

       Matthew mentions four women early in the list (1:3-6), and then highlights Mary, the mother of Jesus at the end (v.17). At least two of these women were foreigners (some scholars say four). Some of them were suspected of immorality.  Matthew is intentional in drawing attention to them by mentioning them (since that was not the norm, it would grab the reader’s attention), and only them in the Messiah’s line, until finally he points to another woman, a young Jewish virgin, Mary. Why these?

        Matthew expects his readers to think of the people and their stories behind these names. These are not names a Jewish reader might have expected in the Messiah’s lineage! Usually, if we are talking about our ancestors, we wouldn’t highlight the less savory characters. Every family has them. And why does the writer divert from the patriarchal norm and list any of the women? That was unusual, in their societies, women were largely without rights. To make matters worse, two or more of them, were foreigners, born outside of God’s chosen people, without hope and without God. Gentiles in the genealogy of the Jewish Messiah?  He wants us to see that God was guiding history as he sent His Son into the world. He used fallen humans, men and women, Jews and gentiles, to accomplish His purpose.  Here, at the very beginning of His Gospel, Matthew is showing that God is interested in the whole world, and that He will use people, despite their background, despite their sin, as He continues to build His church. In fact, as we consider the stories of these women (as with the men!) in the genealogy, we are being reminded that this is why Jesus came, to heal our brokenness, to die for our sins. Some of these were of questionable reputation, or they conceived in questionable circumstances. Their only hope was God’s amazing grace. Adam brought death, Jesus brings life!

       As we consider their stories, think about your own. Do you ever feel like you are beyond being forgiven, that your sin is too much, that your past is too dark? That is why Jesus came! Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. If you have put your trust in Jesus, be assured of this: whatever you have done, whatever nags you and fills you with regret, was nailed to the cross. Remember the song: “My sin, O the bliss of this glorious thought, my sin, not in part, but the whole, was nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more, Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord, O my soul!” I love the song by Natalie Grant, Clean, she is singing to God and says, “I see shattered, You see whole, I see broken, You see beautiful…” That is what God was doing in bringing His Son into the world. He came to heal our brokenness, and to make us whole, clean, forgiven, beautiful in Christ.

       My original plan was to have a five-point message, touching on the story of each of these women. By Monday afternoon I realized, no, I couldn’t do it in a single sermon. Each of these women would be a sermon in itself… maybe someday. But for this second Sunday of Advent, we’ll try to focus on answering some questions about why their names are included here, what does it teach us about what God is doing?

The Big Idea: The inclusion of five unlikely women in the genealogy of the Messiah shows the depth of our need and the extent of God’s grace. We’ll consider that as we answer three questions, 1) Why include women in the genealogy? 2) Why include foreign women in the genealogy of the Jewish Messiah? 3) Why include people who are so obviously flawed and broken, sinners, in the genealogy? First…

I. Why include women in the genealogy? This was not the norm in ancient genealogies; the focus was usually on the fathers. Matthew is showing us what Paul would later state, “…in Christ, there is neither male nor female…” (Gal 3:28). We are all humans created in the image of God. When we return to our study in I Peter, we will come to a passage alluding to the different roles of men and women established by God. We are not the same. We are different by design. But we are equal in Christ. Some say the Bible is sexist in its view of women. Quite the contrary. In its historical context, the Bible is revolutionary in elevating women; in God’s sight they are in no way inferior to men.

       So, we have four women, unlikely women at that, mentioned at the beginning of this genealogy. Tamar, who dressed as a prostitute and had relations with her father-in-law Judah. Rahab, a prostitute who lived in the city wall of Jericho and hid the spies at the beginning of the conquest. Ruth, a Moabite, from a cursed people (Moab was a child of Lot by incest with his daughter!). Ruth married a Jew who sojourned in her land, and was widowed. She followed her mother-in-law back to her land… and ultimately, she became the great-grandmother of David the king! And yes, Bathsheba, who is called the “wife of Uriah,” who, along with David, was guilty of adultery. All of this in the first six verses of the genealogy!  For a Jewish reader knowledgeable in the Scriptures, the mention of these names would evoke the well-known stories of their lives. Matthew is setting the stage for what he is about write about Jesus, and what he came to do. Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. Men and women, Jews and Gentiles. We all need grace. And, by the way, it is women who faithfully follow Jesus, often unnamed, behind the scenes. Women are there, even at the cross, even as most of the male disciples had scattered. It is women who are first at the tomb.

       The stories of these women were not easy. Rahab had been used by men for their pleasure, yet she feared the God of Israel, and hid the spies and delivered her family from death when the walls fell and the city was taken.

       Tamar was left childless when her husband Er, the first son of Judah, died. Judah gave her to his second son, who also died. The two sons of Judah she married were both described as “wicked in the sight of the Lord.” This is the word that described Nineveh when Jonah was sent to preach against it. It described the world of Noah’s day, when God sent the flood, and the evil of Sodom before God sent fire from heaven to destroy it. It is essentially the opposite of the “good” that characterizes God. We don’t know what Er did, but God knew his heart. Er’s wickedness brought judgment from God, as did his brother’s. Of both were “evil in the eyes of God and God killed him…” It was customary for the next brother to marry a widow to keep the brother’s line alive, Judah withheld his third son. Denied the right to have a child, Tamar took matters into her own hands. Read about it in Gen 38. Judah had to admit, “She is more righteous than I.”  

       Ruth, went back in the land with Naomi, a widow in a strange land, went to glean in the fields, providing for them both. Her love for her mother-in-law, and her choice to come with her back to the land her husband had called home, got the attention of Boaz. Did she just “happen” to find the field of Boaz? God had a plan! Four unlikely women.

        Bathsheba, was guilty of adultery, but she was not the only one who sinned in that story!  She was brought to David at his order. He was the king after all, and he abused his power to take her. And when Uriah was too righteous to be manipulated by David, to cover up his sin, David had him killed!  Nathan confronted David with his sin, not Bathsheba!  A sinner? Yes. But God had a plan, and she too would have a part in it. Her and David’s sin would have consequences. But God would show grace. These unlikely women graciously included in the genealogy of Jesus, show our need, and God’s grace.

II. Why include foreign women in the Genealogy of the Jewish Messiah? Following in that same passage in Galatians, Paul says that in Christ “…there is neither Jew nor Greek…”  God is interested in the Jews. He is also interested in people of every nation and race. Jesus died for every son and daughter of Adam. Just as surely as Adam’s sin brought the consequences of the Fall to every human, Christ’s obedience, and His substitutionary death, offers life to all who will believe. That means that race should not divide us. It means that we should be interested in reaching our neighbors regardless of their ethnicity. It means that we should support as we can God’s mission to the world.

       There is some question about Tamar’s ethnicity. Since Judah had married a Canaanite, some scholars believe that he would likely have reached out to the same people for a bride for his firstborn son, Er. Maybe, but I don’t see enough to decide for sure (maybe we’ll figure it out by Wednesday night!). Her name, Tamar, is Hebrew, so let’s assume she was Jewish. Rahab, however, was clearly a gentile, one of the people that the Jews would eradicate when they took the land. But she heard about the God of the Jews, and she believed. She feared God and protected the spies, asking for mercy when God would give them their certain victory over Jericho.  Was it just by chance that she was included in the story of Jericho, and in the lineage of the Messiah? God had a plan. And this foreigner, this gentile, and a prostitute at that, would be an integral part of God’s plan. Not only in protecting the spies so that they could bring their message back, but also in becoming a link in the line that would bring the Savior of the world!

       Ruth’s story is different, there are no signs or hints that she was suspected of immorality. But she wasn’t a Jew, she was a foreigner, a Moabitess. And God included her in the line of the Messiah! When she was widowed, she clung to her mother-in-law Naomi, and with her returned to the land of her husband and her father-in-law. She gleaned the leftover scraps of the barley harvest from the fields and provided for her mother-in-law. She “happened upon” the field of Boaz.  She was redeemed from her position of hopelessness and became the mother of Obed, the grandmother of Jesse, the great-grandmother of David the king. Amazing Grace!  Another gentile woman in the line of the Jewish Messiah! These unlikely women, graciously included in the genealogy of the Messiah, show the depth of our need and the extent of God’s grace.

III. Why include people who were so obviously flawed, sinful people? Have any of you used ancestry.com? One pastor friend of mine says that he is a descendant of Davey Crocket. When we went on a trip to Tennessee once I brought him back a coon-skin hat. Usually, in genealogies or family trees we like to highlight successful, famous, or important people. We try to hide, or glance over the infamous. The Bible does not coverup the sins of the people it presents. Remember, this is God’s story. The effects of the Fall are obvious throughout the Bible, and among people... all of us. This is why Jesus came!  Apart from Christ, we all stand guilty. There is none righteous, no not one… for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. The effects of the Fall are universal, and the wages of sin is death. Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.

      Tamar, the first woman in the list, was a victim at many levels. She was “given” to Judah’s son Er, a man who was “evil in the sight of the Lord.” She was used by Judah’s second son, who also acted wickedly in God’s eyes so that God took his life as well. Judah broke his promise to give her his third son, and so, she was effectively denied her right to bear a child.  Then, she took matters into her own hands, she disguised herself as a prostitute she had sex with the recently widowed Judah, her father-in-law, and conceives. One of the twins born to her, Perez, is included in the messianic line!

       Rahab is described in Joshua chapter 2 and again in chapter 6 as “Rahab, the prostitute...” (“harlot” in the KJV). Yet she was saved when Jericho was razed because she feared the God of Israel and protected the spies. By grace she was included in the messianic line. Listen, Jesus was accused of being a friend of sinners. And he was! He said he didn’t come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. Do you know how many sinners are in this genealogy in Matthew? Every one of them, except Jesus Himself!  Are there any sinners in this church? Every one of us! Thank God that, for those who have believed, we are sinners saved by grace.

       Notice in 1:6b, “And David was the father of Solomon by the wife of Uriah...” i.e. Bathsheba. There is no cover up here. Matthew, in writing the lineage of Jesus, writing under the inspiration of God, continues with complete transparency.  In fact, Matthew draws attention to the story of David’s sin with Bathsheba, by mentioning the mother of Solomon, and calling her “...the wife of Uriah...” Why draw attention to the adultery committed by David and Bathsheba? A sad chapter in Israel’s history, why not just say “David became the father of Solomon,” and then go on? Matthew is highlighting human failure. He is showing us that despite our sin, God is sovereign, and He as the Lord of history will even overrule the sinful acts of humans to accomplish his good purpose. He wants us to grasp how desperately needy we are, and how his love, and his grace, is greater than all our sin. This is why Jesus came! The women graciously included in the genealogy of the Messiah show the depth of our need and the extent of God’s grace.

IV. Finally Matthew calls attention to one more woman: In verse 16… Mary. We’ll talk a bit more about her next week when we consider the story of Jesus’ birth. Here, we read,

“…and Jacob the father of Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom Jesus was born...”

       The language here is explicit in the original. The phrase “of whom Jesus was born.” The pronoun is feminine, referring to Mary. So, Joseph is the legal father of Jesus, but Matthew doesn’t say that Jesus was born “from him.” The language will be explained in the following verses, through the miraculous conception, and the virgin birth. We are so familiar with the story of Christmas, it is easy to skip over the incredible truth of what happened. Think of the initial confusion of Joseph, and the rumors that surely followed!

       An unmarried young woman is found to be pregnant! Her fiancé had not touched her… imagine his shock and heartbreak!  How could she have betrayed him? His life, his dreams, his hopes were shattered.  He still loved her, and so, as quietly as possible, he planned to break their betrothal, divorce her, privately. But God… in a dream, reveals to Joseph the truth of what had happened. Then, Joseph had that truth, but other family and friends had to take their word for it… or not. There were no doubt whispers of illegitimacy, of premarital sex, either between them, or even worse, between Mary and another.  God allowed the rumors, so that ultimately, those who believed could under-stand how it was possible that the death of one man could result in the salvation of many. Only the sinless Son of God, God incarnate, could be the Savior of the World.

What is God saying to me in this passage? God used ordinary people in His extra-ordinary plan to save broken people like us. These unlikely women, included in the genealogy of Jesus, show both the depth of our need, and the extent of God’s grace. God still uses ordinary people, like us, to carry the message of His grace to the world.

What would God have me to do in response to this passage? Our immediate response to the inclusion of these women with their stories of mistreatment, brokenness, heart-break, sin… and mercy, should move our hearts to thanksgiving and worship. This is God, working in history, showing us His love. We see broken, He makes whole. We see shattered. God makes beautiful. Because of Jesus, we are forgiven, clothed in the righteousness of Christ. This Christmas may we be so moved by His love for us that we pour our hearts into knowing Him better, because to know Him, the God who so loved us, is to love Him in return. And let’s consider the souls around us. Whatever they seem on the outside, they desperately need Jesus. He is the One who can make us clean, beautiful, forgiven. We celebrate that in the Christmas story, and at His table. Amen.