The Mind-Boggling Story of Three Women in Two Texts

Matthew 1:5
Salmon the father of Boaz, whose mother was Rahab,
Boaz the father of Obed, whose mother was Ruth,
Obed the father of Jesse,
Matthew 1:6
and Jesse the father of King David.
David was the father of Solomon, whose mother had been Uriah’s wife,

Matthew Chapter one gives us the lineage of Jesus or Jesus’ family tree. It shows us that Jesus had relatives and could be traced back to Abraham through David. This was critical in affirming that Jesus was a real Jew, particularly for the Jewish readers of the gospel of Matthew. Later on, Matthew Chapter one goes into the story of the birth of Jesus. What captures our attention today is three women who are mentioned in the genealogy of Jesus. The three women are mentioned in the two texts cited above. This is the mind-boggling story of three women in two texts!

The three women are relatives of Jesus. Three women have a story about them that if it depended on many of us, we would not let them be relatives of Jesus. If we had the ability to influence history, they would not be relatives of Jesus. If we were involved in the inspiration of scripture, we wouldn’t let such a story be part of the story of Jesus. The fact that God allowed it to happen in the past and that He inspired the writers to include it, is mind-boggling. The mind-boggling story of three women in two texts!

If it was one woman, we would understand it as a human error that should be treated as ideally immaterial. But instead, it is three women, and who knows how many more were not mentioned. God let it happen with the first woman, then the second and then the third, then He allowed it written in the inspired Holy book! What? This is the mind-boggling story of three women in two texts!

First is Rahab. Rahab is listed as a relative of Jesus. Rahab is not even a jew. Rahab is the survivor of the fallen Jericho city. She was a prostitute who accommodated Israelite spies. A prostitute is a great relative of Jesus. A non-jew is a relative of Jesus. What does it tell you about God, to imagine that Rahab was made by God to be a relative of Jesus? This is the mind-boggling story of three women in two texts!

The second woman that boggles our mind today in the genealogy of Jesus is Ruth. Ruth was a Moabite. She was also a widow. She got married to Boaz in a polygamous union. Yet this union that no one could have ever thought would happen became the lineage of Jesus our LORD. This is the mind-boggling story of three women in two texts!

Thirdly is Bathsheba, Uriah’s wife. David committed adultery with Bathsheba. David killed Uriah in order to cover up evidence of pregnancy out of wedlock for a married woman. David’s marriage to Bathsheba was a low point in his leadership, yet it is now one of the highest. From this low point, God made something great. This woman whose husband was killed in order for David to have her was to become the great grandparent of Jesus. This is the mind-boggling story of three women in two texts!

The events of how these women came in show us that when you think something is an accident or coincidental, you do not know God. God can work out great purposes even through events that look like unplanned coincidences and accidents. The story of these women shows that God can still have His way when human beings reach the end of their abilities. Rahab had lost friends and home city and was coming to Israel with the derogatory status of a prostitute and almost slave, yet God made her great. Ruth came in poverty but God made her great. Bathsheba deserved complete contempt, but God made her great. This is the mind-boggling story of three women in two texts!

Many things boggle our minds. These are women in our religious standards we wouldn’t think deserve anything. Foreigners! Widows! Prostitute! We wouldn’t allow them to even sing in the choir. We would totally deny them religious joy, believing we are doing God a service. Yet the people we are vehemently denying access to religion are the people God prefers. This is the mind-boggling story of three women in two texts!

The fact that at our best and wisest moments we would reject these women and have nothing to do with them, shows that probably we are not in sync with God. We presume we are serving God zealously yet we are all a bunch of misguided egocentric religious actors and not true believers. This is the mind-boggling story of three women in two texts!

The story of these women forces us to rethink our attitude towards single mothers, pregnant youth who are not married. How do we treat people who are foreign to us and a minority? How do we handle people who have offended our religious tastes? We should strive to be as merciful and gracious as God. This is the mind-boggling story of three women in two texts!

God had not run out of good women to fix in the genealogy of Jesus. God then has it repeated as an inspiring story in the first gospel book. There is something about these three women that we shouldn’t miss by all means. Why out of all women did God prefer them? Is God saying something to all of us who think and believe we are qualified more than others? Is God rubbishing our concept of being qualified? Is there another concept of qualifies that only depends on God? Yes, it is known as grace. This is the mind-boggling story of three women in two texts!

From the story of these three women, no one is too bad to be dismissed from God’s plan. Human opinions of you are inconsequential if you are right with God. The worst of sinners is welcome into God’s circle. God will appoint you without a reference to your past or present weaknesses. Everyone who thinks they are too bad or too sinful should find hope in this story. Human standards and opinions are rubbished in this story. This is the mind-boggling story of three women in two texts!

Thank you, God, for this mind-boggling information. May it open our eyes to spiritual realities that will help us truly grow, be better, and treat others in a better way. May these stories also translate to be the stories of our life, in Jesus’ name, Amen!

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