Women up the tree

I'm currently right in the middle of a sermon series looking at the women in Jesus' family tree. Out of the whole list of men, there are four women who are mentioned in Matthew chapter 1. (I suppose five if you include Mary.)

Now it was not usual to include women in such a list, so these women are clearly included for a particular purpose. Was it because they were well-known? Well, they were well known, but perhaps not as well known as Sarah or Rebekah, who could have been included in the list.

What they all have in common, is that there was something slightly dodgy about them, certainly in the way in which they were perceived. Another thing that they have in common, is that they were all victims of men in a very patriarchal world.

Tamar had one husband die on her, one who refused to consummate the marriage properly (and according to the law), and then died. The third husband she was promised to was not given to her, and she ended up pretending to be a prostitute and sleeping with her father in law.

Rahab was a foreigner, a resident of Jericho, who was a prostitute. A rather bold woman, she saw which way the wind was blowing and switched sides. She turned traitor and helped the Israelite spies escape (where else should spies hide but in a brothel?!). Her treachery earned her her freedom and protection from the Israelites and from God.

Ruth and Bathsheba are yet to come, so I don't want to include too many spoilers, but suffice to say that the Sunday School versions of the stories do not perhaps capture the meaning of the Hebrew text...

One of the things that we learn from these stories, if we need the lesson to be reinforced, is that God uses ordinary, often broken people, to be a part of his amazing purposes.

He uses people who have been victims of others, and he uses those who have failed. He can take each of us and transform us as we identify with him in Christ. We can be forgiven, redeemed and restored.