Today's reading focused on the genealogy of Jesus as written in Matthew 1:1-17. I always like reading the genealogies in the Bible - the names are interesting to me but even more of note are the little details that stand out in an otherwise undetailed list. In Matthew there are five women's names added to the list of men: Tamar, Rahab, Ruth, Bathsheba, and Mary. Why were these specific women mentioned?
"Each one, in her own way, was considered seriously flawed. Two of them, Rahab, a Canaanite, and Ruth, of the hated Moabite nation, were aliens. Two of them, Tamar and Rahab, were not only immoral but deceptive as well. Bathsheba and Mary were stigmatized for their presumed sexual activity, Bathsheba as a victim of King David's appetites and Mary as pregnant out of wedlock. All of them were, however, commended for their behavior at critical change-points in their lives...God's ideas of fitness for his service may not coincide with ours."
(God With Us, p. 95)"Each one, in her own way, was considered seriously flawed. Two of them, Rahab, a Canaanite, and Ruth, of the hated Moabite nation, were aliens. Two of them, Tamar and Rahab, were not only immoral but deceptive as well. Bathsheba and Mary were stigmatized for their presumed sexual activity, Bathsheba as a victim of King David's appetites and Mary as pregnant out of wedlock. All of them were, however, commended for their behavior at critical change-points in their lives...God's ideas of fitness for his service may not coincide with ours."
God doesn't care where we come from or who we used to be or what we've done in the past. More important is who we are now. One of my all-time favorite verses is 1 John 3:1 which says, "How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!" Jesus made this possible.
2 comments:
Where did you get all these incredible photos from?? I especially love this one!
oh, just online wherever. i searched for images of rahab and this was one that came up.
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