What We Can Learn from Jesus’ Family Tree
When I’m reading the Bible, sometimes I slosh. Do you know the sensation? I liken it to trudging through half-melted snow. Or drinking lukewarm coffee. I’m reading the words, but my mind is far from fully engaged in the experience.
This is especially true when I’m reading biblical genealogy. I try to keep in mind that I should appreciate genealogy because God cares about families. He cares about the details. Even as an individual, I am valuable to him. But as I read, my mind races. I don’t know how to pronounce the names or understand the context of who these men might be. Their stories are confined to a few lines, the son or father of someone else.
I was surprised a couple of years ago when I was sloshing through my reading, and it suddenly struck me (like a wet snowball to the face). There are women mentioned in Jesus’ genealogy!
Naturally, there are women in the family tree, as there would be no tree without them. But in Old Testament records, women’s names aren’t always included. However, in Jesus’ genealogy in Matthew 1, there are five women mentioned:
Tamar, Rahab, Uriah’s wife, Ruth, and of course, Mary, the mother of Jesus.
All of these women have their own stories in the Bible.
Tamar was creative. After repeatedly being denied an heir, she deceived her father-in-law, Judah, and became pregnant, carrying on the Israelite clan.
Rahab, a career prostitute in the city of Jericho, showed her bravery when she protected two Israelite spies. She saved her family and joined the Israelite wanderers.
Ruth gave up her home and accompanied her mother-in-law to an unknown land, where Ruth’s faithfulness caught the eye of a landowner, securing her place in the family tree.
And then there’s Uriah’s wife.
Who was Uriah’s wife?
Maybe you’ll recognize her by her name: Bathsheba.
Gasp! You remember the story?
David had many wives. Why continue the line of Jesus through Bathsheba? Why emphasize that she was Uriah’s wife? Scandal, anyone?
Growing up, I watched reruns of CBN’s Superbook and performed Bible stories with cousins. Sunday school songs played on repeat at my house. I was very familiar with certain parts of the Bible by the time I attended my Christian elementary school. During a lesson in second grade about the ten commandments, someone asked what rule seven’s “adultery” meant. My teacher picked up a piece of chalk and wrote out the word. She explained that it was an “adult word” because it had the word adult in it. When we became adults, we would have to follow the rule.
As I grew older, my teachers explained Bible stories in greater detail. Like many believers who grew up in Purity Culture, I learned the story of David and Bathsheba as a Bible story of shame. The message emphasized was that Bathsheba, depicted as beguiling by my teachers, bathed in full view of the king’s palace.
Whatever Bathsheba’s intent, she drew King David’s eye, she accepted his summons and became pregnant.
However, in my growing up years, no one ever unpacked the rest of the story.
The story after David murdered Uriah . . .
After Nathan the prophet confronted David . . .
After David fasted and repented, hoping God would spare the life of their child . . .
King David got up, worshiped God, and then comforted his wife, Bathsheba. Fast forward nine months, and Soloman was born. The future king of Israel.
King David and Bathsheba’s story is ultimately a story of sin, repentance, and forgiveness.
King David’s Repentance
We know that King David was repentant from the familiar words he composed in Psalm 51.
The foreword states, “For the director of music. A psalm of David. When the prophet Nathan came to him after David had committed adultery with Bathsheba.”
The opening lines continue with his heartfelt confession:
“Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love; according to your great compassion blot out my transgressions. Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin” (Psalm 51:1-2, NIV).
We can assume that God also forgave Bathsheba because God blessed the couple with Solomon after the death of their firstborn. God was pleased with Solomon’s birth. In 2 Samuel 12:25, it says that God loved Solomon. And amidst all David’s sons vying for the throne, Solomon was chosen to be the next king of Israel and to build God’s temple.
So did the author of Matthew purposely want to remind the readers of this salacious story?
The Gospel According to Matthew
Traditionally, the Gospel of Matthew is thought to be written to a Jewish audience by one of Jesus’ disciples, Matthew. It is the most complete of the Gospels because it includes events and teachings of Jesus in a precise, chronological way. As a tax collector, Matthew would have been detail-oriented.
A Jewish audience would be familiar with Bathsheba. Here, Matthew is labeling Bathsheba as Uriah’s wife. Matthew couldn’t hide the people in Jesus’ family tree, but did he need to showcase Bathsheba?
The deceiver, the brave woman with a dishonorable job, the outsider, and the adulterer—all a part of God’s plan, which culminated in the birth of his son from a virgin. They each paint a picture of what Jesus came to earth for: to save those who are lost and separated from God. Jesus came into the world so that all can be saved.
That’s what the writer of Matthew wanted his Jewish audience to see.
And that’s what we can celebrate this Christmas season.
Christmas This Year
Is there shame in your family tree? Don’t slosh through your Christmas season. Enjoy the twinkling lights and the smell of fir. Embrace the excitement of wrapped surprises. But take some time, too, to sit down with your grandma or your parents. Hear the details of your family story. Not for the sake of shame or embarrassment, but so that generations from now, your descendants can see God’s redemptive grace through your story. Crooked branches on our family tree don’t determine who we are today.
How will Jesus’ story transform your Christmas?
is a wife, mother, and self-appointed adventure curator. As a lifelong learner, she enjoys exploring the coastal South where she lives and painting her experience of motherhood with words.
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