SURPRISING GRACE

Matthew 1:1-17

Having been in ministry for many, many years now it seems like I have met with almost every kind of problem possible.  Some problems are small and some are really big.  Some make me want to weep and some tempt me to get angry.  Some problems are easily addressed from scripture and others require much prayer and study before they can be discussed.

In this latest chapter of ministry here in the Central Valley of California there has been one issue that has cropped up over and over again as I have served this congregation.  I have encountered this issue in the past but it has taken on a very new dimension in this particular situation.  In short, it goes like this…

I am sitting with someone who has had a very hard life.  Perhaps there has been substance abuse or addiction.  Maybe it has been jail or prison time.  It might be recurring sexual immorality and broken relationships.  I share the good news of freedom and a fresh start through the gospel of Jesus Christ with the person.  And whatever their situation, I have heard this more often than ever before, “Pastor, I don’t think the gospel applies to me.  You really can’t imagine how bad I really am.  I’m not worthy of being saved!”

That is a much more difficult problem than it appears to be on the surface.  I have found that it just doesn’t suffice to say something like, “Oh we are all sinners!  No sinner is too wicked to be saved by God’s grace!  Surely you must understand that there are many Christians who were far worse than you have been!”  Those kinds of statements come across as pastoral platitudes and they almost always fail to move the person.

So I was thinking about Matthew 1:1-17 recently.  You know the passage.  It is the genealogical passage that gives us the ancestors of Jesus, the royal line of Israel.  We find all the famous names of the Old Testament story there.  Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.  King David and Solomon.  Hezekiah and Josiah.  It is a testimony to the faithfulness of God as he kept his covenant with Abraham and David.

But there are four people mentioned in this genealogy who don’t really seem to belong.  One reason they don’t seem to fit is that they are women.  But that isn’t the main reason for the discomfort.  The thing that stands out is the character and/or the ethnicity of these women. 

Tamar is the woman who deceived her father-in-law, Judah, by playing the part of a prostitute.  She conceived twins, Perez and Zerah, who are both mentioned in the genealogy of Jesus.

Rahab was the Canaanite prostitute who was delivered safely from the destruction of Jericho because she hid the Hebrew spies.  She married Salmon and became the mother of Boaz.

Ruth was the Moabite widow who gleaned in the fields of Boaz.  He became her kinsman redeemer, married her, and she bore him a son named Obed who was the grandfather of King David!

Finally, we have Bathsheba, who is not mentioned by name.  The text reads, “And David was the father of Solomon by the wife of Uriah…” (Matthew 1:6).  An adulteress, she married David after he had her husband abandoned and killed in battle.

All four of these women received the highest possible honor; they were introduced to the royal line of David and Jesus, the Son of David.  They are examples of grace, as we all are.  No one ever needs to worry that he or she is too great a sinner.  None needs be concerned that they can’t receive grace.  It seems that God has a history of showing us that his grace is sufficient for anyone, including me!