Advent Week 2:
The Good, The Bad, & The Ugly

When you start reading the first gospel of Scripture, Matthew, the first thing that you see is a long list of names. If you’re anything like me, you’ve probably skipped over this section because honestly who needs to know that? But I want to challenge that thought. Think about it this way; you are not just reading a list of names, but rather the genealogy of Jesus, God incarnate. Although this may shift your perspective slightly, you might still ask, who needs to know that? One of the reasons that Matthew included Christ’s genealogy was due to his audience. Not only was Jesus a Jew, but many scholars agree that the general audience of Matthew’s gospel was converted Jews. In the Jewish culture, the lineage of a person made a significant impact on who they were, what rights they had, and what their status was. Genealogies were used to appoint kings, show political ties, and keep family descents. I don’t want to get too bogged down in the details about all those in His list of family, but I do want to point out a few things that stand out.

First, let’s talk about Abraham

The first person I want to mention is whom the genealogy starts with, Abraham. This is an important starting place because Abraham was considered the father of Jewish culture. Abraham’s son was Isaac.

Isaac’s son was Jacob, whose name was later changed to Israel. God fulfilled His covenant with Abraham from Genesis 17, which says, “As for Me, this is my covenant with you: You will be the father of many nations; no longer will you be called Abram; your name will be Abraham, for I have made you a father of many nations. I will make you very fruitful; I will make nations of you, and kings will come from you.” This leads us to the next individual I wanted to discuss, King David.

Now, let’s discuss David

David became king, which continued to fulfill God’s promise (which was later fulfilled by the King of Kings, Jesus). David is known as another patriarch of the Jewish heritage. Having these two men in His lineage confirms that Jesus was from the Jewish people and that He was, specifically, from the bloodline of David. This fulfilled another prophecy, which can be read in further detail here.

A Group Worth Talking About

Then, the genealogy does something that many did not. It mentioned women. This is also confirmation that the Bible is real and true. More about that at another time. Just know this, the fact that they were mentioned in this genealogy is an anomaly. I love this. Even in a culture that didn’t see women as valuable, God still mentions them as an essential piece of the story that led to Jesus. 

I want to take a deeper look at the women who were mentioned. If you are somewhat familiar with the Old Testament, you probably know the story of Ruth and perhaps even Bathsheba. Ruth was a strong woman with a significant role in stories outside her own (she was David’s great-grandma), so it makes sense that she’s mentioned in this list, but the others… not so much.

For example, Tamar. You can read the full story in Genesis 38, but I will summarize it. Tamar married Judah’s first son, but he was wicked, and God killed him. Then Judah told his second son to marry Tamar, but he was wicked too, so God killed him. Finally, Judah had a third son, but he did not want him to die, too, so he told Tamar to live as a widow, and when the youngest son was older, she could marry him. Time goes by, and Tamar gets tired of waiting. She decided to take matters into her own hands. She learns that Judah is traveling and tricks Judah into sleeping with her by pretending to be a prostitute. Here’s the wildest part, he gets her pregnant, and THEIR SON FROM THIS ENCOUNTER IS IN THE LINEAGE OF JESUS!

We could talk about more, but I want to encourage you to find their stories and read them. Get to know the family Jesus came through. The good, the bad, and the ugly.

So, Why the genealogy?

Let it be known that even though genealogies might seem unimportant and like a boring list of names, it matters. It matters because it helps us understand whom Jesus came from, it fulfilled prophecies, but most importantly, it shows the redemption Christ brings to people. It shows us that God can use anyone, not just those who have it all together, but those who mess up too. This is why Jesus came to die for us so that God can use us, even in our brokenness. This is the hope that Advent brings to us.