Today’s Reading: Matthew 1:3, Genesis 38, John 4:1-42

There are five women in the genealogy of Jesus — five women with stained reputations, but also five women whom God chose to bless by placing them in this royal lineage. As Jesus was growing up, I am sure his parents taught him the stories of his ancestors. We know that Jesus was well studied in the law and history of the Israelites. He would have known the stories of all the names in his genealogy — both the family lineage of the man who was known as his father, Joseph, and the family lineage of his mother, Mary.

Judah was the father of Perez and Zerah (whose mother was Tamar). – Matthew 1:3a

What would Jesus have said regarding Tamar, the first of the women in his paternal genealogy? Let’s consider her story — a story that included grief, abuse, rejection, abandonment, prostitution, deceit and finally redemption.

God had a plan — the Messiah would be a descendant of Abraham and a descendant of Judah and a descendant of Perez. But Judah married a Canaanite woman, whose influence on his sons caused them to be evil in the eyes of the Lord. In spite of all of this, God continued to work out His plan. In spite of Judah’s sins of selfishness, God took the unholy union of Judah and Tamar and made something beautiful. Tamar was pregnant with twin boys. Zerah began to come out first, but God’s plan was for Perez to be the firstborn, so he caused Zerah to pull back and Perez to be born first.

When the time came for Tamar to give birth, it was discovered that she was carrying twins. While she was in labor, one of the babies reached out his hand. The midwife grabbed it and tied a scarlet string around the child’s wrist, announcing, “This one came out first.” But then he pulled back his hand, and out came his brother! “What!” the midwife exclaimed. “How did you break out first?” So he was named Perez. Then the baby with the scarlet string on his wrist was born, and he was named Zerah. — Genesis 38:27-30

THIS IS THE STORY OF HOW TAMAR CAME TO BE IN THE LINEAGE OF JESUS.

In this story, Tamar is first a victim of the sinful choices of three men in the lineage of Jacob, but Tamar did not remain innocent in this story. Desperate for love, she devised a plan of deception that included sexual immorality. Instead of trusting God to take care of her, Tamar stepped out of His plan and created her own. What would the young man, Jesus, have to say of this woman in his family story? What would Jesus have to say of the man, Perez, whose birth was the result of an unplanned pregnancy?

Perhaps Jesus’ thoughts went to Tamar when he met the Samaritan woman at the well — a well that was near the field that Jacob gave his son Joseph. Perhaps he was thinking of Jacob’s daughter-in-law who would have perhaps drawn water from this same well at one time.

The story of the Samaritan woman had some resemblance to the story of Tamar — multiple husbands and then union with a man who was not her husband. Her story might have included the same elements as Tamar’s — grief, abuse, rejection, abandonment, prostitution, and deceit. What we know is that her story was one of redemption.

If you have some of these same elements in your story, perhaps these words of Jesus are for you today: “If you only knew the gift God has for you and who you are speaking to, you would ask me, and I would give you living water…Anyone who drinks this water will soon become thirsty again. But those who drink the water I give will never be thirsty again. It becomes a fresh, bubbling spring within them, giving them eternal life.” – John 4:10, 13-14

God’s perfect plan for your life did not include a lot of the pain that makes up your story, but His plan for you has always included redemption. He created you and now wants to make something beautiful out of your brokenness. He sent His son to be born of a woman pledged to be married to Joseph — whose family story was far from perfect. That same son died on a cross in order to complete your story — to forgive you of your sins, to redeem your past, and to plan your eternity. He is offering living water to you so that you will never thirst again.

Let us worship the One who was born and who died in order to offer us eternal life. Let’s humbly bow down and offer to Him our past so that we can walk into His future. May this Christmas be a season of healing as we shake off the crippling weight of our unworthiness and embrace the identity of Christ Jesus. May the King born in a humble manger silence the lies of the enemy so that we can be set free by the truth of redemption and restoration.

Pilate said, “So you are a king?” Jesus responded, “You say I am a king. Actually, I was born and came into the world to testify to the truth. All who love the truth recognize that what I say is true.” – John 18:37