… the story of god’s grace… five women. five stories. all had questions surrounding them
TRANSCRIPT
…the story of God’s grace…
All of their stories resulted in the glory of God.
All of their stories emphasize one word…Grace!
The story of Christmas is a story of God’s grace!
…the story of God’s grace…Story #1: Tamar
Matthew 1:2-3 Abraham begot Isaac, Isaac begot
Jacob, and Jacob begot Judah and his brothers. Judah begot Perez and Zerah
by Tamar…
Some background…
…the story of God’s grace…Notice where Matthew starts, with
Abraham.
This is a book written to believing disciples.
…the story of God’s grace…If we know our Bible, we know that the
story of the coming of Christ began with Abraham.
…the story of God’s grace…The Baby in the manger fulfilled
centuries of prophecies and anticipation for Israel about the
coming of the Son of Abraham, the Son of David.
…the story of God’s grace…A nation in trouble
Genesis 34 = Simeon and Levi
Genesis 35 = Reuban
Genesis 36 = Esau strong… and pagan
…the story of God’s grace…A nation in trouble
Genesis 37:26 = “He ain’t heavy, I’ll just sell him…”
“The Lion of the tribe of.. Oh,oh…”
Genesis 38 = Get them outta there!
…the story of God’s grace…Grace!
Great shame to great blessing!
Ruth 4:12“May your house be like the house of
Perez, whom Tamar bore to Judah, because of the offspring which the LORD will give you from this young
woman.”
…the story of God’s grace…Story #2: Rahab
Matthew 1:4-5…Nahshon begot Salmon. Salmon
begot Boaz by Rahab…
…the story of God’s grace…Nahshon was…
• the brother-in-law of Aaron, the High Priest (Ex. 6:23)
•the leader of Judah, the largest tribe in Israel (Num. 2:3)
•When Israel moved out, Judah went first, led by Nahshon (Num. 10:14)
…the story of God’s grace…Nahshon was…
• Nahshon may well have been regarded as the third most powerful man in Israel, behind Moses and Aaron
• His son’s name was Salmon…• …which sounds fishy to me…
…the story of God’s grace…His parents now dead, Jericho now destroyed, the son of this powerful
man chooses a wife…
… a Gentile…and…
…known by everyone with the title…
“the harlot”… Rahab.
…the story of God’s grace…Grace
But… Rahab is a woman of faith.
Her son learns that even living with a Gentile can be alright and honor God.
To Rahab and Salmon is born Boaz.
…the story of God’s grace…Ruth is questionable in the genealogy due to her place as another Gentile, a
Moabites.
Yet, few stories in Scripture highlight the godly character of a person more
than the story of Ruth.
…the story of God’s grace…Story #4: Bathsheba
Matthew 1:5b-6Obed begot Jesse, 6 and Jesse begot
David the king.
David the king begot Solomon by her who had been the wife of Uriah.
…the story of God’s grace…Rather than using her name, Matthew
simply refers to her Bathsheba as “(the one) who had been the wife of
Uriah”.
Her story, along with David’s, is famous for immorality, for betrayal of a
noble man, and for mass murder.
…the story of God’s grace…Story #5: Mary
Mary stands as the fifth woman in this story.
To many, it was assumed that Mary had sinned (John 8:41b, 48).
…the story of God’s grace…After all, without the revelation of God,
what else would they assume?
But, they would be wrong.
…the story of God’s grace…Grace
Through Mary came the Savior of the world!
QuestionWhy does the New Testament begin
this way?
Of all people, disciples of Jesus Christ should be the most gracious…
And we are often the most legalistic, unforgiving, unkind, demanding
people.
It’s not altogether surprising.
People who understand and value holiness, like the Jews did, can fall
into a trap.
We can create our own systems, our own “checks”.
And, we forget what God is like.
We forget what we are like.
Self-righteousness is subtle.
Our memories are short.But…
We serve a God who is gracious.
We serve a God who can “fix” life.