Greetings!
Every year as we walk through the advent season, I look at the women surrounding the birth of our Christ. And every year, their stories and how their lives intersect with the birth of Jesus encourage me. I ponder and desire to have the willingness of Mary, Jesus' mother, who said, "Behold the bondslave of the Lord; be it done to me according to your word," after she heard that as a teenager she would be pregnant with God's son. I ponder and desire the faithfulness of Elizabeth, who was unwavering in her faithful service to the Lord and beside her husband, even as her womb was empty, and her arms must have desired to hold a baby. And I ponder and desire the awareness of Anna. Anna was advanced in years and was only married for seven years before being widowed and left alone. When we find her in scripture, she is serving in the temple, praying and fasting, and immediately was aware that she was in the presence of Jesus, her Redeemer, when Mary and Joseph brought baby Jesus to be circumcised. Each woman exhibits willingness, faithfulness, and awareness, although her life did not look like she expected.
Then there are the women in Jesus' genealogy that are shocking and yet beautiful to me! Traditionally women would not have been mentioned in the written genealogy. Luke holds to this tradition in his desire to show Jesus as the savior of all humankind, and goes all the way back to Adam to show Christ as the last Adam, but doesn't mention any women. In Matthew's account, he is primarily writing to Jews and shows the kingly succession that leads to Jesus, and he includes women, something that had to have been scandalous. Still, as I sit here writing, my heart is filled with gratitude that he included them!
Who are these women?
There is Tamar. We find her story in Genesis 38. She was a woman of grief and a woman that was treated unjustly. To find justice for herself, she resorted to trickery, dressed and posed as a prostitute to trick Judah, her father-in-law, to get her pregnant so she could have a son within the family linage and receive what was rightly hers. Judah was a sinner in this story too, but Tamar, because of this act, is often referred to as a prostitute, a blemish for sure on the family linage, right?
Rahab is identified through scripture as "Rahab, the prostitute." We find her story in Joshua 2 and 6. She is working as a prostitute and living on the wall of Jericho. She took in the spies and hid them so the plan of God could go forward. This woman is also mentioned in Hebrews in the faith chapter as a prostitute and a woman of faith!
Then there is Ruth, we all love her story and the love story between her and Boaz, don't we? But wait, Ruth was not a God follower for a large portion of her life. She was from Moab, which most likely means she was an idol worshiper and far away from God.
And how about Bathsheba? You remember her. The woman that King David saw, wanted, sent for, had sex with and then had her husband killed to cover up his sin. She was a victim of David's lust and had no choice in the abuse, actions, or consequences that played out.
Who needs a lifetime movie? Just pick up your bible! You can't make this stuff up, and it's recorded for us on the pages of holy writ. These women are powerful reminders that Jesus the Great Redeemer came to do just that, redeem. To purchase us, to make us His, and to transform us for His glory. He reaches across every dirty detail of trickery, prostitution, the selling of one's soul and the obstacles of injustice, idol worship, abuse, grief, rejection, and being far off and brings those who's lives are stained near, applying to their stained lives the bloodstain of the cross. I rejoice to see these women's names attached to Jesus' story, for they speak truth to me. The truth that none are too far gone, too broken, or too stained. As we focus on advent this season, don't leave the babe in the manger; follow Him to Calvary. See your story swallowed up in His story and sing at the top of your lungs, Joy to the world, the Lord has come!
Christmas Blessings,
Kim
I have lots of songs on my Advent playlist, but here is one that I've been listening to on repeat.
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