It is the onset of the Advent season, those four weeks Christians anticipate and celebrate the birth of Christ. It’s a time for the lighting of Advent candles in our worship services and reading of scriptures that pertain to the Christ child. Last year I read through the book of Luke as part of preparing my own heart and mind for His birth; this year I have chosen the book of Matthew. So, today, December 1st, I read Matthew 1: 1-17 which gives us the genealogy of Jesus. Why does Matthew begin his record by telling us the lineage of Christ? I believe it’s because he wants us to know that Christ came from people who truly existed, are recorded in Old Testament history and would have been very familiar to the Jewish people. With the named are Abraham, Isaac, David, Solomon, Rahab, Ruth, Tamar, Jacob. In total, there are three sets of 14 generations listed by Matthew up to and including Joseph and Mary, the earthly parents of Jesus. (verse 17)

An exhaustive study of each man and woman listed in the genealogy would reveal with absolute certainty that not one them was a perfect human being. I won’t give a character report on all of them, but I do want to point out several, and I chose to look at the women listed here by Matthew. First is Rahab. She was a prostitute. She was not a Jew, therefore, she most likely worshipped other gods. Yet, God used her in a mighty way to protect and carry out a big plan. Second, we have Ruth. She is not a Jew either; she had married a Jewish man and was widowed. By later marrying Boaz, her kinsman redeemer, she is in the lineage to bear children, for the future of King David’s arrival. Third, there is Tamar. She was the daughter in law of Judah and when she was widowed she fell prey to being ignored by her brothers in law who were supposed to marry her and give her a male child to continue the bloodline of their deceased brother. So, she tricked Judah, seduced him and became pregnant. Lastly, there is Bathsheba, who became the wife of King David after an adulterous affair.

Do any of these women sound of pristine character to you? Certainly not by worldly or biblical standards. But God! These women are among a group of men, who by their own doings, failed tremendously to live perfect lives. Abraham himself fathered a child with his wife’s maidservant. King David lusted after Bathsheba and even had her husband killed in battle in order to cover up his indiscretions.

Forty two generations of imperfect people led to the exact moment in history to give the world a perfect savior. I found it interesting how Matthew broke down the generations by stating: “Thus there were fourteen generations in all from Abraham to David, fourteen from David to the exile in Babylon and fourteen from the exile to the Christ.” Why break the genealogy into three segments? The number 14 in Hebrew means “deliverance” or “salvation”. (www.biblestudy.org)

I’m looking forward to reading the book of Matthew with a new set of eyes during the month of December. I hope you will come along for the journey and discover new and deeper understanding in the person of Jesus. Who He is. What He came to do. And how we can know Him better and with great intimacy.

Read Matthew 1: 1-17