The good, the bad, and the ugly in Jesus’ lineage.
by Mike Wallace
Many people are excited to study their family genealogies: Where did we come from? Are we related to anyone famous? I know several people who spend much of their time studying family history. One interesting group called Random Acts of Genealogical Kindness has hundreds of volunteers who go to cemeteries and look up family histories for folks. The discoveries are amazing and sometimes disheartening.
My wife has been trying to figure out my family history for years. Her only conclusion is that my family is not who we thought we were. However, it turns out that I am distantly related to actor Humphrey Bogart and journalist Tom Brokaw. After much research, it turns out her family and mine come from the same canton in Switzerland about three hundred years ago.
Genealogy studies can be exhilarating, exhausting, and disappointing. One never knows what they will find in their past.
Imperfect women
Matthew and Luke both delve into the genealogy of Jesus. As the Son of God, Jesus was perfect, but those He descended from were not. Fortunately, we have a loving, forgiving Savior in Jesus.
Let’s look at the five women listed in the genealogy of Jesus. Could your family history be like this?
Tamar (Matthew 1:3) was the daughter-in-law of Judah, son of Jacob. According to her story in Genesis 38, she was first married to the eldest son of Judah named Er. He died and she was given to Onan, who also died. Tamar was then asked to wait for the younger son, Shelah, to grow up so she could become his wife. Instead, Judah ignored her and did not fulfill his promise. Tamar secretly played the harlot with Judah (her father-in-law) and became pregnant with twins.
Rahab (Matthew 1:5), who lived in Jericho, realized the city would be destroyed by Joshua and Israel. The Hebrew isshä zonä, used to describe Rahab in Joshua 2:1-24, literally means “a prostitute woman.” She is also possibly described as an innkeeper. In that day, innkeepers and harlots often had dual careers in the same home. Despite her way of life, Rahab saved the two spies sent by Joshua and was rewarded with God saving her entire family.
Ruth (Matthew 1:5) was not even an Israelite but was from Moab, an ancient enemy of Israel. Despite this, when her mother-in-law, Naomi, left Moab to return to Israel, Ruth insisted on going along to a foreign nation with completely different customs and culture. When Naomi told her to stay in Moab, Ruth’s answer echoes “love” to this very day:
“Entreat me not to leave you, or to turn back from following after you; for wherever you go, I will go; and wherever you lodge, I will lodge; your people shall by my people, and your God, my God. Where you die, I will die, and there will I be buried. The Lord do so to me, and more also, if anything but death parts you and me” (Ruth 1:16, 17).
God blessed Ruth: This foreigner became the great-grandmother of King David.
The wife of Uriah the Hittite (Bathsheba, Matthew 1:7). One day, King David saw a beautiful woman bathing, and his lust got the better of him. As king, he had her brought to his bedroom and impregnated her. Though her husband, Uriah, was a loyal servant-warrior of King David, David had him killed and then married Bathsheba (2 Samuel 11-12). Adultery, murder, palace intrigue. Eventually, after David’s repentance (Psalm 51), Bathsheba became the mother of Solomon.
Jesus reconciles us back to Himself through His grace, by our faith. It took His entering human genealogy to accomplish this grace, and He used imperfect men and women to do it.
Of the four mentioned so far in Jesus’ genealogy, two are foreigners, two are harlots, one is an adulteress, and one a loving daughter-in-law from a foreign country. Faith is the common factor among them.
Mary
And now, the last in the long line of women.
Mary, the mother of Jesus (Matthew 1:16), was chosen by God himself. She became pregnant by the Holy Spirit, having never “known” a man. Matthew quotes prophecy: “‘Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,’ which is translated, ‘God with us’” (v. 23). When Mary hurried to share the news with her cousin, Elizabeth said to her, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb!” (Luke 1:42).
Jesus, God with us, the Creator of all, was born to the human Mary!
Adoption
In the realm of genealogy, we are all descended from Adam. Luke gives us the lineage of Jesus and concludes with “the son of Enosh, the son of Seth, the son of Adam, the son of God” (3:38). Jesus, the son of Mary, was the creator of Adam, the son of God. In His own genealogy we recognize Jesus to be both fully man and fully divine — God in the flesh. Studying genealogy can be full of twists and turns and unexpected discoveries. No matter what we find, Jesus entered our earthly family tree so that we might be adopted into His eternal family tree (Romans 8:14-17). And that is all the family that really matters.
