The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham. Matthew 1:1

We are tempted to gloss over the genealogies in Scripture, but Jewish readers would have slowed down. Matthew was not beginning with filler. He was opening with credentials. Before Jesus preached a sermon, healed a body, or called a disciple, Matthew anchored Him in Israel’s long story. He was the promised Son of Abraham and the royal Son of David. God had not forgotten what He promised centuries earlier. Jesus did not simply appear out of nowhere. He entered a real family line, carrying generations of history with Him.

What arrests me in Matthew’s account is the presence of women. It’s unusual enough to make me pay attention. Their stories are not polished. Tamar’s is tangled with injustice and scandal. Rahab had been a prostitute. Ruth was a foreigner. Bathsheba’s name is not even given; Matthew calls her “the wife of Uriah,” leaving David’s sin exposed in the family record.

And then comes Mary. Jesus’ genealogy is not a pristine hallway lined with spiritual trophies. It is a family history marked by failure, outsiders, sorrow, sexual brokenness, courage, and mercy. Perhaps that is exactly the point.

God did not wait for a spotless human story before entering it. He threaded redemption through what was fractured and finally stepped into the bloodline Himself.

Lord, redeem what I cannot undo, heal what I did not cause, and let grace have the final word over every chapter of my story. Amen