I have been following Skye Jethani’s devotionals this week as he looks at the women mentioned in Matthew’s genealogy. He has some good comments, so I’ll paste them here as they appeared in his blog.<\/p>\n
“Although modern Christians often think the gospels are simply a historical account of Jesus\u2019 life akin to a police report in which the authors state \u201cjust the facts,\u201d that\u2019s not how the gospels actually work. There is clear evidence, for example, that Matthew stylized and curated his record of Jesus\u2019 genealogy. In other words, Matthew wasn\u2019t primarily interested in reporting a historically accurate family tree. Instead, he used Jesus\u2019 genealogy to make a literary and theological point to his readers.<\/p>\n
“This intentionality extends to the five women mentioned by name in the genealogy as well. Matthew chose them because each one\u2019s story captures an essential part of Jesus\u2019 ministry.<\/p>\n
“Traditionally we celebrate Mary because she willingly accepted the humiliation of being an unwed mother in a culture where that was beyond scandalous. We fixate on the sexual dimension of the story because that\u2019s what our culture\u2014inside and outside the church\u2014has trained us to do. But there was another layer to her courage we must not overlook. When Mary said, \u201cI am the Lord\u2019s servant,\u201d she was not just signing up to be an unwed mother\u2014she was signing up as the first recruit in God\u2019s revolution to turn the world upside down.<\/p>\n
“In Mary, we see the defiance of Tamar, the faith of Rahab, the loyalty of Ruth, and the humility of Bethsheba all come together. She is the climax of the genealogy because she epitomizes what it means to be a servant of God and an instrument of his kingdom. Mary and the other women in Jesus\u2019 genealogy, remind us that God does not limit sanctity to sexuality, and he does not sideline women in his work of salvation.”<\/p>\n
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