As we reflect upon and celebrate the birth of Christ, we may find ourselves drawn to the story of his birth, recorded in the gospels of Matthew and Luke.
Luke’s story reads like a movie script. But Matthew begins with an extensive genealogy, which many of us may be tempted to skip. Meaningful to Matthew’s original readers, this list of “was the father of” may seem boring or perplexing to the casual modern reader, and seem to focus too heavily on patriarchy for those who care about biblical equality.
So we’re delighted to find that one of our favorite egalitarian theological writers, Marg Mowczko, mines Matthew 1 and finds some gems of insight in her thoughtful blog post.
Matthew makes note of Jesus’ great-great-great grandmothers. These women’s stories were part of Jesus’ story–and therefore part of our story.
Marg notes that the genealogy, not surprisingly, only lists a few women. “Of the forty generations recorded, Tamar, Rahab, Ruth, and “Uriah’s wife” (Bathsheba) are the only women mentioned. Why these, and only these women?” she asks.
The answers will surprise you. And we hope, prepare your heart for Christmas. We highly recommend this short but insightful post. Click here to read it now.