We all have “interesting” people in our family history. Some are fun and lovable with eccentric personalities. I have tried to learn magic tricks to perform at family gatherings for my younger nephews and nieces. That’s right—I am that crazy uncle! You can imagine what they think of me! Some family members, however, bring an oddity that is more damaging and hurtful. Jesus has such a family background, and his genealogy in Matthew 1 supports this. A careful examination of that list of historic figures will actually show that the only prerequisite to be identified as the True Israel is faith. This means anayone—men, women, Jews and Gentiles—can receive the covenant blessings of Abraham. In other words, Jesus is the “Christ for All Nations,” not just for Jews.
Recall that Matthew began his genealogy by establishing that in the coming of Christ God is covenantally faithful to the promises He made to His people in the past, specifically the covenantal promises to Abraham and David. After establishing this attribute of God, he continues to list the actual generations of Jesus. In many ways, this is a typical genealogy that demonstrates the growth of the line of Abraham through David for the reasons we mentioned in earlier blogs. There are, however, three unusual things going on here that are noteworthy.
Women in the Genealogy
First, Matthew includes women in his genealogy. The inclusion of women is unexpected, though no unusual. Notice the literary formula throughout the genealogy: “A was the father of B; B the father of C, C the father of D, etc.” Whenever Matthew breaks from this formula, he is adding some new angel that should grab our attention. One of these new literary elements is the introduction of women. The genealogy does not require their inclusion, so this is an enhanced effect. Four women are mentioned: Tamar (v.3), Rahab and Ruth (v.5), and “the wife of Uriah,” i.e., Bathsheba (v.6). Mary also appears as the birth-mother of Jesus; we will discuss her with greater detail in a later blog.
Gentile Women
The second observation is that at least two of the four women are non-Israelites. We know that Rahab was a Canaanite and Ruth a “Moabite” (something the Book of Ruth tirelessly reminds the reader, cf. Ruth 1:4, 22; 2:2, 6, 21; 4:5, 10). Tamar appears in Genesis 38 as the daughter-in-law of the Israelite patriarch Judah. Data on her background is not given any more than this. The same goes for Bathsheba. Was she an Israelite woman? If so, then why was she given a non-Israelite surname—“the daughter of Sheba”? What this tells us is that Jesus’s family line has an international background. In our day, this is not an issue (at least, it should not be). This may have been more of an issue in the days of the New Testament in a Jewish community.
Believing Gentile Women
Finally, all these women demonstrated faith in the Lord. Regarding Tamar, she was married to Judah’s oldest son who died, then married Judah’s next son who also died—each time without leaving behind a child. Judah had a third son, but he was too young to marry at that time, so Judah told Tamar to wait until he came to a proper age. When he got old enough, Judah forgot Tamar and neglected her. Ultimately, she had to take matters into her own hands and fool Judah into having physical relations with her, thus getting her pregnant. She gave birth to twins, Perez and Zerah. Through Perez would continue the genealogical line of the “seed of the woman” that would eventually produce David (cf Ruth 4:18-22). Therefore, she was commended by Judah who said “she is more righteous than me” because she understood and believed the promise of Gen. 3:15. In other words, she demonstrated a saving faith in the Lord.
Regarding Rahab, she was a Canaanite who, in Joshua 2, supported Israelite men who spied out the city of Jericho for Joshua. After Israel conquered and settled in the land of Canaan, she was taken into the Israelite community as a faithful woman and even recognized as a godly woman. When so many Israelites were turning to worship a false god, here is a Canaanite woman who shows more faith in the Lord than His own people. In other words, she also demonstrated a saving faith in the Lord.
Regarding Ruth, she was consistently referred to as a Moabite, meaning not an Israelite. Yet, she rejected her own Moabite family, her people, her own gods and embraced Yahweh as her own God and an Israelite as her people, even though the Israelites struggled to accepted her. This is compared to the idolatry of Israel. Again, like Tamar and Rahab before her, she also demonstrated a saving faith in the Lord.
By mentioning these specific women, this shows that to be part of the true Israel is not by genealogical descendant, but rather by faith in the True Abrahamite, the God-Man, Jesus Christ.
By including WOMEN and men, GENTILES and Jews, this shows that Jesus’s reign as the coming King is not merely over a small portion of the Greco-Roman world, but over all the earth. Therefore, the Gospel is for all peoples, men and women, Jews and Gentiles! Christ is for All the Nations!
Not bad for a genealogy!
Redeeming Chillingworth 