December 5

Today's Reading: Matthew 1:1-17

Let's be honest, most of us probably consider the genealogies in the Bible to be boring and we tend to just skim right over them. But this genealogy of Jesus is actually quite important - and interesting.

There is another genealogy of Jesus in Luke 3, which is quite different form this one. The most likely explanation is that the genealogy here in Matthew is that of Jesus' earthly father, Joseph. That would have been important to show that legally Jesus could trace His lineage back to David. The genealogy in Luke is likely Mary's genealogy, which also traces back to David. So Jesus fulfilled the biblical prophecies that the Messiah would come from the line of David both legally and biologically.

What is really fascinating about the genealogy here is that it includes the name of five women - Tamar, Rahab, Ruth, Bathsheba, and Mary. Most Jewish genealogies contain only the names of the men. All of the five women listed are just ordinary women, some with very bad reputations. This is significant because it shows that Jesus came to save all people, even a non-Jew like Ruth, or a prostitute like Rahab.