A Long List of Filthy Animals

When Matthew introduces Jesus, he begins with a genealogy that is full of messy, broken, and surprising people. Instead of hiding the scandals and outsiders in Jesus’ family tree, Matthew highlights them to show the depth of God’s grace. Tamar, Rahab, Ruth, and Bathsheba remind us that God redeems messy stories, rescues the broken, welcomes outsiders, and restores the fallen. The message of Christmas is not that we climb our way up to God, but that God came down to rescue sinners like us.