Jesus' Genealogy could Preach!

One must not rush through Jesus’ genealogy in Matthew 1:1-17. One must take time with it, because Jesus's genealogy could preach.  It witnesses to God’s love that crosses all national, racial and gender boundaries to incorporate people of all types into one- big-happy-family of God. 

Matthew mentions Tamar (3), Rahab (4), Ruth (5), Bathsheba or the wife of Uriah (6) in his genealogy of Jesus. In the Old Testament and in the Jewish culture of that time women were seldom mentioned in the genealogies. A genealogy was traced through male line. And if women were included there was usually a particular reason.  What was Matthew’s reason for including these women and not some other prominent ones such as Sarah, Abraham’s wife or Rebecca, Jacob’s mother? The reason lies in the fact that all three women, possibly all four were non Israelites. Tamar, Judah’s daughter in law like Judah’s wife was possibly a Canaanite (Genesis 38), Rahab, the prostitute from Jericho was a Canaanite (Joshua 2), Ruth (Ruth 1:4) was a Moabite, and Bathsheba was a Hittite like her husband Uriah (2 Sam.11:3). Matthew included these Gentile or non- Israelite women in his genealogy of Jesus, because he wanted to tell the story of God’s love for all and his plan to include all in his family, both Jews and non Jews and both men and women. God's love reaches out across race and gender barriers to include all. Through this genealogy Matthew is saying what Paul uttered eloquently in Galatians 3:28: There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female. For all of you are one in Christ Jesus.