Admit it: you scan through or skip past Jesus’ genealogies (Matthew 1:1-17 and Luke 3:23-38) in the Bible. It’s an easy temptation. Some of those exotic names can be hard to pronounce, and if you’re reading the KJV, there’s that odd word “begat.”
I’m not judging you if you do that, but you’re missing out on some rich surprises. Matthew’s genealogy in particular is a cool lesson in how the gospel is for everybody. Let me show you.
Here’s the genealogy:
The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham. Abraham was the father of Isaac, and Isaac the father of Jacob, and Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers, and Judah the father of Perez and Zerah by Tamar, and Perez the father of Hezron, and Hezron the father of Ram, and Ram the father of Amminadab, and Amminadab the father of Nahshon, and Nahshon the father of Salmon, and Salmon the father of Boaz by Rahab, and Boaz the father of Obed by Ruth, and Obed the father of Jesse, and Jesse the father of David the king.
And David was the father of Solomon by the wife of Uriah, and Solomon the father of Rehoboam, and Rehoboam the father of Abijah, and Abijah the father of Asaph, and Asaph the father of Jehoshaphat, and Jehoshaphat the father of Joram, and Joram the father of Uzziah, and Uzziah the father of Jotham, and Jotham the father of Ahaz, and Ahaz the father of Hezekiah, and Hezekiah the father of Manasseh, and Manasseh the father of Amos, and Amos the father of Josiah, and Josiah the father of Jechoniah and his brothers, at the time of the deportation to Babylon.
And after the deportation to Babylon: Jechoniah was the father of Shealtiel, and Shealtiel the father of Zerubbabel, and Zerubbabel the father of Abiud, and Abiud the father of Eliakim, and Eliakim the father of Azor, and Azor the father of Zadok, and Zadok the father of Achim, and Achim the father of Eliud, and Eliud the father of Eleazar, and Eleazar the father of Matthan, and Matthan the father of Jacob, and Jacob the father of Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom Jesus was born, who is called Christ.
So all the generations from Abraham to David were fourteen generations, and from David to the deportation to Babylon fourteen generations, and from the deportation to Babylon to the Christ fourteen generations.
Matthew 1:1-17 (ESV)
For starters, Matthew includes women in his genealogy. That’s out of the ordinary for Jewish genealogies.
“Happily, we would not omit women in our genealogies today; most ancient genealogies, however, did so,” writes Craig Keener. “Had Matthew wanted to include the most prominent women in his list, he could have included Israel’s most famous matriarchs: Sarah, Rebekah, Leah, and (less directly relevant to Jesus’ line) Rachel.”
But Matthew doesn’t include those Israelite matriarchs. First off, there’s Tamar, Judah’s Canaanite daughter-in-law, who eventually bore children to Judah. Judah and his sons didn’t treat her right, but God redeemed her story (see Genesis 38).
The next woman in Jesus’ genealogy is Rahab. Not only was Rahab a native of Jericho, but Joshua 2 informs us that she was also a prostitute! Nevertheless, because she showed enough faith in the God of the Hebrews to protect their spies, when Joshua and his troops leveled Jericho, the Israelites took her and her family in, making them permanent members of the family. Joshua 6:25 tells us, “But Rahab the prostitute and her father’s household and all who belonged to her, Joshua saved alive. And she has lived in Israel to this day, because she hid the messengers whom Joshua sent to spy out Jericho.”
“God included gentiles in His covenant people even before the coming of Christ because it has never been His intention to limit salvation to one people group,” a recent Tabletalk devotion explains. “The church must receive anyone who trusts in the Lord Jesus Christ no matter the person’s national origin, for God wants men and women from every tribe and tongue in His blessed kingdom.”
Then there’s Ruth. She was a Moabite woman who refused to leave her Jewish mother-in-law Naomi’s side when their husbands died. Eventually, Naomi’s kinsman-redeemer Boaz took on the family, marrying Ruth and making her the great-grandmother of King David. The delightful book of Ruth tells this beautiful story.
Finally, there’s Bathsheba. Of course, this woman was David’s greatest temptation. He lusted after her as she bathed on the roof, and he wanted her. Whether you consider their dalliance rape or consensual sex, it’s hard to imagine that she could resist the king’s command. Nevertheless, David had Bathsheba’s husband killed and took her as his wife, and she bore the king’s successor, Solomon. 2 Samuel 11 and 12 tell her story.
Why does Matthew include not just women, but gentile women and women with checkered sexual pasts? It’s part of God’s message that salvation is for everyone.
“Matthew seems to be going out of his way to make clear to his Jewish readers that God had always intended for his blessings, his promises, his rule to be for people from every tribe, tongue, and nation — not exclusively for those who had pure Jewish blood in their veins,” Nancy Guthrie explains. “It seems as if Matthew wanted to make clear that being a part of the people of God, the family of God, has never been about blood but has always been about belief. It is about taking hold of the promises God made to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, which is exactly what Tamar, Rahab, and Ruth did.”
Take comfort and encouragement in the truth that God’s promises extend beyond His chosen people to the whole world. If He can bring women like these into His fold, you belong among His people, too, as long as you believe that Jesus is your Lord and Savior.
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