Five Wise Women in Christmas Story

The birth narrative of Jesus in the gospel of Matthew starts off with a genealogy where unusually we find the names of five women. Some had a bad reputation. For some it was not a choice. Some were widows. The good common thing is that they were all, wise and discerning.

Tamar – Sin No More

Tamar was the widow of the first son of Judah, Er.  Judah's next son, Onan cheated Tamar and he also died. The deaths were the judgement of God on these two men. The third son, Shelah did not want to marry Tamar. Judah also became a widower by that time. In the meantime, Tamar somehow wanted to beget a child. She wanted the family line of Judah to be passed on! In some tricky incident which followed, Judah unknowingly found himself in an adulterous relationship with Tamar, his own daughter-in-law.  But in an interesting turn of events, Judah came to know that Tamar got pregnant because of him. He also realized that she was more righteous than him because he failed to give his third son to her. But one cannot try to achieve a seemingly worthy goal by disobeying God like Tamar. Anyhow the good news is that she never sinned anymore after that incident (Genesis 38). Jesus stressed it in two incidents that forgiven sinners can sin no more (John 5:1-15, 8:3-11).

Rahab – Faith Through Hearing

Rahab was a prostitute who lived in the city of Jericho.   But she was a wise woman who knew what was happening in the world of her time. She was update with information about the mighty deliverance of the bonded Israelite slaves from the then super power Egypt. She was aware of the miracles and victories this wandering group enjoyed from the almighty God all along their journey. She knew the kings subdued by the Israelites, by names. She could also predict how the rulers of Jericho would melt in fear in front of these feeble, yet powerful Israelites. This discernment stirred Rahab to welcome the Israelite spies with peace (Hebrews 11:31).  The spies told her a way by which she and her family would not perish during the attack. Since she already knew the power of the Yahweh God, she obeyed the spies. Faith comes through hearing.  She and her family were the only survivors of the attack in the city of Jericho.  Rahab married Salmon, a Yahweh worshipper in the Israelite community thereafter (Joshua 2 & 6).

  

Ruth – Faith in Action

It is easy for anyone to interpret three widows living under the same roof as a result of some evil they had done in their past. With no men in the family there was utter hopelessness in this household.  Now one of those widows was Ruth who came from a non-Yahweh background. Her difficult choice to stick to her seemingly hopeless old widowed mother-in-law, Naomi and Naomi’s God brought all the change! A rich man named Boaz, who was a relative of her deceased husband, married Ruth. Hopelessness turned to hope. James 2:14-20 says that faith without action is dead and useless. Ruth showed her faith in action, by clinging to God and caring for her mother-in-law. This seemingly cursed family could live and procreate because of the living faith of Ruth.

  

Bathsheba – Receive Mercy

Bathsheba was an innocent victim of the the powerful king David. In his lustful pursuit, she lost her husband, Urriah and also became a joint sinner with David. She also lost her son born out of adultery.  The counsel of God came to David that he was a sinner. A good thing about this king however was that he accepted that he was a sinner (2 Samuel chapters 11 and 12). It may not be wrong on our part to imagine Bathsheba kneeling with David when he prayed those lines that we find in Psalm 51. A sinful past is cleared with a genuine confession to God. Proverbs 28:13 says that, people who conceal their sins will not prosper, but if they confess and turn from them, they will receive mercy.

Mary – Obedience Leads to Blessing

Mary was about to be divorced from her husband Joseph for he found her to be an unwed mother (Matthew 1:19). Mary had to carry her baby with a bad tag around her just because she obeyed the word of God given to her through the angel.  It is her surrender as a servant to God, that gave her a honourable tag as the mother of incarnate Jesus! (Luke 1:26-38) God spoke to Joseph after which he took good care of Mary and his foster kid Jesus. He safe guarded Mary from foul-mouthed people. Mary received her blessed status because of her obedience.

  

These women carry loaded messages for us today. In a time, when names of women seldom found entry in the genealogical records, Matthew could not resist recording the names of these five women in the birth narrative of Jesus. The underlying truth is that God can use people of all kind to work his wonders. Let us be encouraged that we are one of those precious bunch of people. Blessed Christmas, folks!