April 20: Believing His Salvation.
HIS REACH.
Jesus, the Messiah, the son of David,...David was the father of Solomon by Bathsheba who had been the wife of Uriah.--Matthew 1:1, 6
I was sitting with a young adult, talking about her future. She asked me if God could bless her even though she had not done everything according to what God wanted her to do: "Can God bless me with a good marriage even if I have not done things God's way?" I responded with the story of Bathsheba, the woman with whom David committed adultery and then killed her husband, Uriah the Hittite. God blessed them with a son named Solomon (2 Samuel 11; 12), who became the king to succeed David and was the wisest man in the history of the world. Why would God have blessed them with this son? And even more shocking, why would this woman be included in Jesus' lineage?
Great question! As a matter of fact, we can expand our query to: what was Matthew thinking when he, contrary to the customs of the day, decided to include four foremothers in Jesus' genealogy in the first chapter of this Gospel? The four women mentioned in Matthew 1:3-6 are Tamar (Genesis 38), Rahab (Joshua 2; 6), Ruth ( the book of Ruth), and the wife of Uriah (Bathsheba), who became David's wife after his adultery and homicide (2 Samuel 11; 12). Tamar was a Canaanite who posed as a prostitute to get pregnant by her father-in-law because the kinsman-redeemer provisions had not been fulfilled. Rahab was a prostitute from Jericho in Canaan. Ruth came from Moab, and Bathsheba was the wife of a Hittite. Wouldn't you have chosen someone like Sarah or Rebekah? The four unlikely women in Matthew 1 were not considered purebred Israelites. They even have questionable reputations! This is Matthew's way of proclaiming that the reach of Jesus' ministry would supersede all expectations! God's salvation cannot be boxed in by a particular pedigree or social status. We are all unworthy of His salvation and yet we are included, blessed, and assured. Whenever we are weighed down by our past mistakes or discouraged by our background, let's remember these women and rejoice! We are invited and we are included!
My Response:_______________________________________________________
HIS REACH.
Jesus, the Messiah, the son of David,...David was the father of Solomon by Bathsheba who had been the wife of Uriah.--Matthew 1:1, 6
I was sitting with a young adult, talking about her future. She asked me if God could bless her even though she had not done everything according to what God wanted her to do: "Can God bless me with a good marriage even if I have not done things God's way?" I responded with the story of Bathsheba, the woman with whom David committed adultery and then killed her husband, Uriah the Hittite. God blessed them with a son named Solomon (2 Samuel 11; 12), who became the king to succeed David and was the wisest man in the history of the world. Why would God have blessed them with this son? And even more shocking, why would this woman be included in Jesus' lineage?
Great question! As a matter of fact, we can expand our query to: what was Matthew thinking when he, contrary to the customs of the day, decided to include four foremothers in Jesus' genealogy in the first chapter of this Gospel? The four women mentioned in Matthew 1:3-6 are Tamar (Genesis 38), Rahab (Joshua 2; 6), Ruth ( the book of Ruth), and the wife of Uriah (Bathsheba), who became David's wife after his adultery and homicide (2 Samuel 11; 12). Tamar was a Canaanite who posed as a prostitute to get pregnant by her father-in-law because the kinsman-redeemer provisions had not been fulfilled. Rahab was a prostitute from Jericho in Canaan. Ruth came from Moab, and Bathsheba was the wife of a Hittite. Wouldn't you have chosen someone like Sarah or Rebekah? The four unlikely women in Matthew 1 were not considered purebred Israelites. They even have questionable reputations! This is Matthew's way of proclaiming that the reach of Jesus' ministry would supersede all expectations! God's salvation cannot be boxed in by a particular pedigree or social status. We are all unworthy of His salvation and yet we are included, blessed, and assured. Whenever we are weighed down by our past mistakes or discouraged by our background, let's remember these women and rejoice! We are invited and we are included!
My Response:_______________________________________________________
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