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!
