There
was a younger son, not yet of marrying age. The
daughter‑in‑law was told, “When he is
of age, I’ll give him to you.”
However,
the son was never to be given to the daughter‑in‑law.
She saw the writing on the wall: “He’s afraid this
son will die, too; he’ll never give him to me and
I’ll be left destitute.”
Taking
matters into her own hands, she disguised herself
as a prostitute. When her father‑in‑law
passed by, he approached her for favors (just as
she had hoped). Not having a goat to give her in
payment, he left her some personal effects as collateral.
He sent the animal later, as promised, but the woman
was nowhere to be found.
Not
long later, word reached the father that his unmarried
daughter‑in‑law was pregnant. “I’ll
kill him!” he said in anger. “Who did it?”
She
sent the personal effects to him with this message:
“The man who did this owned these things.”
He
immediately recognized the items and his folly.
The child born by this union is also part of our
hero’s family tree.
Our
hero’s most famous relative was rightly revered
both in his day and our own. Like the rest of us,
however, he was not without his faults.
One
day, when he should have been leading his troops
to battle, he was daydreaming on a roof. He spied
a beautiful woman bathing. Overtaken with lust,
he called her over to him. He was, after all, the
king, so she had no choice but to comply.
To
make a long story short, she became pregnant. In
order to cover his tracks, the king had her husband
killed. This man, revered for generations, was now
guilty of both adultery and murder. The child born
of their union died at birth, but she later had
a son who became the direct ancestor of our famous
man.
The
man with the dubious family tree was none other
than Jesus.
Yes,
it’s true. Among Jesus’ ancestors was a harlot (Rahab),
a child conceived in an act of prostitution (the
son of Judah and Tamar), and a child conceived through
adultery with the transgression compounded by a
murder (King David).
God
could have kept Jesus’ family line perfectly pure.
But he didn’t. Why? Because He values human freedom
too much to interfere with it. Because He specializes
in bringing good results out of bad decisions. Because
He loves to pour out His forgiveness on unworthy
people. Because imperfect people are a better canvass
for His lavish grace than are so‑called perfect
people.
