Living Stones – Wednesday, December 20, 2017
Scandalous
Matthew 1:5-6
Salmon begot Boaz by Rahab, Boaz begot Obed by Ruth, Obed begot Jesse, and Jesse begot David the king. David the king begot Solomon by her who had been the wife of Uriah.
Matthew crammed thousands of years of human and redemption history into a carefully curated genealogy in the first seventeen verses of his Gospel account and the New Testament, Matthew 1:1-17. We say carefully curated because it is obvious that Matthew was selecting elements of the genealogy that fitted the story he was telling, and that contributed to the literary symmetry he was constructing, “So all the generations from Abraham to David are fourteen generations, from David until the captivity in Babylon are fourteen generations, and from the captivity in Babylon until the Christ are fourteen generations.” Matthew 1:17.
Luke, who has a full narrative of the events and people in the story of the birth of Jesus, also has a genealogy included, Luke 3:23-38. However, his genealogy is very different, includes some different characters, lacks the beauty and symmetry of Matthew’s, and seeks to prove that Jesus is the son of God.
For Jewish people of that time a man’s genealogical record would sometimes have some explanatory notes, this feature could be seen if we took the time to review some of the many genealogies that appear throughout the Old Testament, for example, Genesis 5:1, 10:1, 11:27, and I Chronicles 1-9, Ezra 2 & 8.
The purity of your lineage was all important to these Jews, there should be no foreign blood mixed in, and if, perchance, there was foreign blood identified the person whose genealogy was being examined could face consequences, including, sometimes, being put in a place where they are no longer considered to be a fit and proper Jew.
A priest, for example, needed to have his lineage stretch all the way back to Aaron, and his wife must be able to show her genealogy stretching back for at least five generations. Look at what Ezra did when he was reorganizing worship after the exiles had returned from captivity in Babylon, the children of Habaiah, Koz and Barzillai were barred from serving because their genealogical records could not be found, Ezra 2:62.
With this in mind, here comes the scandal of the family of Jesus. Matthew, careful as he was, includes women in this genealogy. Matthew includes these women at a time in history when socially, politically, religiously and culturally, women had no legal rights. Often at that time a woman was hardly even regarded as a person.
But not only did Matthew include women, the women he included were not like the blessed virgin Mary, these women who were included were some of the most colourful characters of the Old Testament. Rahab a whore from Jericho, Joshua 2:1-7. Ruth was a Moabite, a foreign woman, Ruth 1:4. (check Deuteronomy 23:3,4 to see what the law says about Moabites) Tamar was a seducer and an adulteress, her story is told in Genesis 38. And then there is the gorgeous Bathsheba the mother of Solomon, the woman who was Uriah’s wife and who was the woman seduced by David.
Today Bathsheba, as a woman, would be able to accuse David of sexual harassment, misconduct, and abuse of power and office. He would have been humiliated in the court of public opinion and would have to leave the throne in disgrace. But, we’re talking about thousands of years ago.
God, through the agency of the Holy Spirit, lets Matthew spill the beans. This genealogy records the ugliness of the stories in the family history and exposes the secret that this Jesus, the Jewish Messiah, had Gentile blood coursing through His holy and royal veins. When we sing with Andraé Crouch at our communion time, “The blood that Jesus shed for me,” we’re singing about blood in which we were included.
Jesus, the son of Abraham, was born to die. Born to die for the sins of the world not just the sins of the Jews. The promise to Abraham was that “in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” As the men, and women, in Jesus’ family tree, struggled with their own sin and frailties, God was at work carefully preparing Jesus to be the Lamb of God that could take away the sins of the world because He would have them in His bloodline.
If, at Christmas, we keep thinking only of His birth we miss the story. This is a child born with purpose if ever there was one. We, therefore, must always have the purpose in view when we look at the birth. This is what Matthew wanted us to see, this is what God wants us to see.
A closing note. Remember, it doesn’t matter what is the scandal in your family tree, God can still cleanse you and use you for his purpose and to bless others. Come to think of it, it doesn’t matter if you have a personal scandal, God has already proven that He can use the scandalous for His glory
Think on these things:
- Are there any secrets and scandals that you family tries to hide?
- Have you any scandals and secrets in your own life that you are hiding right now?
- Do you carry any fears about your family scandals or your own secrets even coming out?
- How are you preparing for this Christmas, apart from family, food, and fun, is there a place for sharing the Gospel story?
Prayer focus:
Let us pray today that we would be able to face the truth about our families secure in the knowledge that none of this is an obstacle to God.
In His Grace
Pastor Alex