Tuesday, December 9th

Back to the coming of Christmas through the eyes of Matthew.

Matthew 1:2-3- 2 Abraham was the father of Isaac, Isaac the father of Jacob, Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers, 3 Judah the father of Perez and Zerah, whose mother was Tamar, Perez the father of Hezron, Hezron the father of Ram… Wait, what? Go back.
 
Did Matthew just mention a woman? Tamar? Why is there a woman mentioned in the genealogy? It was supposed to be male dominant. And why would you mention Tamar?
Jewish readers would have known the scandal of Judah and Tamar…. This is a story they skipped in Sunday School class. This is a story that makes you blush or at least embarrassed to read it in a group, especially this size.

I won’t read it all, I’ll leave that up to you. Check in out, Genesis 38. But I will give you the cliff notes version, because Tamar is a part of the line of Jesus.

This story happened 1500 years before Jesus was born. Judah was one of the twelve sons of Jacob. The older brother of Joseph. Judah had a son Er, who married Tamar. Er was wicked so the Lord put him to death.

Tamar was now a widow. In ancient cultures, it was called Levirate or Kingsman redeemer, which we see in Ruth. It was a common practice where a widow married her deceased husband's brother or another close male relative to provide financial support, security, and continue the lineage, ensuring children were raised within the family.

Back to the story. Judah told his other son Onan to sleep with his sister-in-law Tamar, so the family line would continue. But Onan was wicked as well and each time he slept with her …I’ll let you read it. But ultimately never got her pregnant and because of his wickedness, the Lord put him to death. Judah decided to send Tamar to live with her father’s family as a widow, until his youngest son, Selah, was old enough to provide a child.

As time went on, Tamar feared that she had been forgotten and would always be a widow.
Judah was traveling with his sheep and Tamar found out that her father-in-law was nearby.
She devised a plan, took offer her widow’s clothes, put on a veil to disguise herself and sat at the entrance of the town. When Judah saw her, he thought she was a prostitute and did not recognize her, went over by her and said, “come now, let me sleep with you.” Tamar, the daughter-in-law, said, “what will you give me to sleep with you?” Judah replied, a young goat.” She responded, “give me a pledge until you send it.” So Judah gave her his seal, its cord and his staff. Which all was uniquely identified as Judah’s. She agreed and Judah slept with Tamar.

Judah sent his servant to give Tamar the goat; his servant couldn’t find her anywhere. To the point of asking the towns people, “where is the prostitute that sits out by the entrance.” The town’s people responded, “We haven’t had a shrine prostitute for years, we don’t know what you are talking about.” Judah never found where the woman went and didn’t receive his seal, cord or staff back.

Three months later Judah got word that his daughter-in-law was guilty of prostitution and as a result she is pregnant. Judah was outraged and said, “bring her out and have her burned to death.”

As she was being brought out, she sent a message to her father-in-law. “I am pregnant by the man who owns these,” she said. And she added, “See if you recognize whose seal and cord and staff these are.” 26 Judah recognized them and said, “She is more righteous than I…”

Who said the Bible was boring? I get it, that’s crazy, that’s uncomfortable. I’m sure you have so many more questions. But in the chaos, don’t miss the coming of Jesus. Because this
chaotic, scandalous story is in the line of Jesus…. And you thought you had a “crazy Uncle Eddie” in your family.

To be clear, this is hard to hear with our modern ears. In ancient culture, you had to provide for the weak and the vulnerable, your family line was of most importance. Judah says Tamar is more righteous, because Judah should have provided for her and he wanted to ignore her. He wanted to move on, he didn’t want to provide redemption for her.

What is Matthew showing us? Coming of Christ in the midst of our chaos, yes, but for what? The best of the best came to accept the worst of the worst. No matter your story, no matter your past Jesus, the King, came to accept you. You are accepted. That’s what Tamar longed for. Accept me, redeem me. That’s what Matthew illustrated in including her in the genealogy. And, I think it was also personal for Matthew. But hold that thought for second.

What stands out to you to see that the story of Judah and Tamar was a part of the genealogy of Jesus?
What does it mean to be accepted despite all the chaos?
How is God getting your attention in unexpected ways?