Four Unlikely Women

Before going on, let's think about these four women for a moment:

Tamar: Incest, immorality, feigned prostitution, a Gentile
Rahab: Harlotry, lying, deception, a Canaanite
Ruth: A woman from Moab—a nation born out of incest
Bathsheba: Adultery

Four unlikely women:

Three are Gentiles
Three are involved in some form of sexual immorality
Two are involved in prostitution
One is an adulteress

All four are in the line that leads to Jesus Christ!

Why would God include women like that in this list? But it's not just the women. Think about Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and David. They were sinners, too. Why include people like that?

A Message to the Self-Righteous

I think there are three answers to that question:

1. He did it to send a message to self-righteous people.

Matthew was written especially to the Jews. Many of their leaders (the Pharisees in particular) were self-righteous and judgmental toward others. They truly thought they deserved eternal life. What a shock it would be to read this genealogy because it is filled with liars, murderers, thieves, adulterers and harlots. Not a pretty picture. Not a "clean" family tree. This list was a stinging rebuke to that kind of judgmental self-righteousness.

Do you know what this means? Jesus was born into a sinful family. He came from a long line of sinners.

2. He did it so that God's grace might be richly displayed.

If you come from a family like this, you can't exactly boast of your heritage. Sure, your ancestors were rulers and kings, but they were also great sinners.

Question: Can a prostitute go to heaven? Yes or no? Can an adulterer go to heaven? Can a murderer go to heaven? Can a liar go to heaven? You'd better say yes, because Rahab and David are both going to be in heaven—and Rahab was a prostitute and a liar and David was an adulterer and a murderer.

When you read the stories of these four women—and of the men on the list—you aren't supposed to focus on the sin, but on the grace of God. The hero of this story is God. His grace shines through the blackest of human sin as he chooses flawed men and women and places them in Jesus' family tree.

3. He did it so that we would focus on Jesus Christ.

Many people are intimidated by Jesus Christ. They hook him up with a lot of religious paraphernalia—big sanctuaries, stained glass, beautiful choir, pipe organs, formal prayers, and all the rest. When they look at the trappings, it's all very intimidating to them. To many in the world today, Jesus seems too good to be true.

This genealogy is in the Bible to let us know that he had a background a lot like yours and mine. He called himself "the friend of sinners," and he said he didn't come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. He said, "The Son of man has come to seek and to save that which is lost." (Luke 19:10)

Home for the Holidays

It's almost Christmastime, and many of us will be traveling home to spend time with our families. Some of you don't feel too good about that. You would rather not be going home this year, but you have to. You may have family members who embarrass you. Some of you are going to have to spend time soon with people who have hurt you deeply in the past. Fathers and mothers and brothers and sisters and uncles and aunts and grandparents and distant relatives. Some of them you'll be glad to see. The others? Some of them you'd rather not ever see again.

Some of them are incestuous. Some are adulterers. Some are liars. Some are murderers. Some are filled with anger and bitterness. Some are evil in bizarre ways. And you wish you didn't have to do what you've got to do—go home and face those family members at Christmastime.

Jesus understands the way you feel. He came from a disreputable family. His family tree was decorated with notable sinners. He knows what it is like to have relatives who embarrass you. He knows all about a dysfunctional family situation.

Good News From Jesus' Family Tree

My final point should greatly encourage you: No matter what your past, Jesus can save you.

Any murderers reading these words? Any prostitutes? Any adulterers? Any liars? Any cheaters? Any angry people? Any thieves? Any hypocrites?

Good News! No matter what you've done in the past, Jesus can save you. If a prostitute can be saved, you can be saved. If a murderer can be transformed, you can be transformed. If an incestuous person can be saved, then there is hope for you.

No matter what your past looks like, or your present feels like, no matter where you've been or what you've done, God can give you a fresh start.

Hope for the Hurting

After I preached this sermon in the early service, a man who is going through a difficult divorce said these words to me: "I'm glad to know somebody else comes from a broken family." He's right. There's a lot of dysfunction in Jesus' family tree. There's a lot of brokenness and a lot of pain.

He knows exactly what you are going through this year at Christmastime.

I hope you won't skip Matthew 1 in your Bible reading. This unlikely list of unlikely people may be the greatest chapter on the grace of God in all the Bible. In these forgotten names from the past God turns the spotlight of his holy grace on fallen men and women, and through their lives, we see what the grace of God can do.

Good news! Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. Good news! Call his name Jesus, for he shall save his people from their sins. He didn't come to make you religious, he came to save you from your sins. He didn't come to make you pious, he came to save you from your sins. He didn't come for moral reformation, he came to give you eternal salvation.

As strange as it may seem, the worse you are, the better candidate you are for the grace of God. He came to do for you what you could never do for yourself. He came to save you from your sins.

The same grace that Rahab experienced is now available to you. I invite you in Jesus' name to come and be forgiven. He's already made the first move. The next step is up to you.    
 
©2006 Keep Believing Ministries • Dr. Ray Pritchard • All Rights Reserved