Everyone Is Invited

Everyone Is Invited

Women In Jesus’ Ancestry

Read: Matthew 1:1-16

Although Jewish genealogies didn’t typically include the names of female ancestors, five women are specifically named in Jesus’ genealogy in Matthew. Except for Jesus’ mother, Mary, all the women were probably non-Israelites. From a human standpoint, some of these women had shameful blots on their life stories that made them unlikely candidates for being included in the ancestry of God’s Son.

Tamar was probably a Canaanite. When her father-in-law, Judah, failed to arrange her marriage with his surviving son as the Law required, she pretended to be a prostitute and had sex with her father-in-law. God allowed Judah’s line to be traced through one of her twin sons. Rahab was a prostitute in the city of Jericho, which God destroyed because of its wickedness. When she chose to believe in God, she married an Israelite and their descendants included Boaz.

Ruth came from Moab. According to Deuteronomy 23:3, no Moabite could be “admitted to the assembly of the LORD.” When she settled in Israel, Boaz married her, and their son was King David’s grandfather. Because Bathsheba was originally married to Uriah, she may have been a Hittite. The child born from her adultery with David died, but they later had Solomon, who succeeded his father in ruling Israel.

God included these women in the Messiah’s line despite their backgrounds and mistakes, which reveals something about his character and his mercy. God did not choose the Jewish nation as his special people to exclude anyone, but to draw the entire world to himself. Nothing can keep us from being a part of God’s family if we choose to believe in him. Our family background or past mistakes are neither hindrances nor excuses. No one is outside God’s grace unless he or she chooses to be there.

Everyone who calls on the name of the LORD will be saved.

Joel 2:32