The Family of Jesus

The Bible is very detailed in the description of the family line of Jesus. Luke gives us a geneology of Christ that goes all the way back to Adam! Luke's geneology is understood to be the lineage of Mary. Matthew's geneology is understood to be the family line of Joseph, and it includes four women. Usually a Jewish geneology would only include the names of the fathers, but it seems that this geneology includes these four women for a specific purpose. The four women mentioned in Matthew are: Tamar, Rahab, Ruth, and she who had been the wife of Uriah, who we know to be Bathsheba. Each one of their stories are told to us in detail in the Old Testament. God has included these stories for a reason, so we may learn from them, and see the lives of those in Christ's lineage. The story of Tamar is an astounding series of events, that leads up to Tamar playing the role of a prostitute, for the expressed reason of having a child by her father-in-law Judah. She does have the child, in fact she has twins named Perez and Zerah, and the Messianic lineage is carried on through Perez. You can read about it in Gen. 38. Rahab was a prostitute in Jericho, however she had faith in Israel's God, and knew that Israel would soon come into Jericho, and God would give Israel victory. So she saved herself and her family by the sign of the scarlet cord hanging from her window. Ruth was not a Jew, but was from Moab, and became a part of Jesus family line by her loyalty to her mother-in-law Naomi. Bathsheba was taken into adultery by David, and gave birth to Solomon, through whom the lineage of Christ continued. The stories of these women are stories of real life suffering, sin, desperation, determination, joy, and fulfillment. Each story relates to our lives in some way. The family line of Jesus was made up of real people, real sinners with issues that affect our lives everyday. Jesus is well acquainted with our human condition, and understands the trials and temptations of our lives. He is not ashamed to call us His brethren. We are His family, no matter what circumstances in life we have come through. These four women give us hope, that no matter what has happened in our lives, God is still working in us, and He chooses to work through history, to make it His history. We do not need to be discouraged. God is working His plan, and He has promised that He will never give up on us. Phil. 1:6 says, "Being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ."