An Exploration of “A Lineage of Grace” for Advent.
At the very beginning of the New Testament we get a genealogy. Something that doesn’t really look
like much on the surface, but reveals some surprises as you dig into it. In the ancient world,
genealogies were designed to confirm the legal status of someone important. So, the genealogy of
Jesus shapes his legal status as a descendant of Abraham and David. It establishes his credentials as
the heir of David, and so as the promised Messiah, the true King of Israel and of the entire world.
But the women in Jesus’s lineage speak of other things as well. Tamar. Rahab. Ruth. Bathsheba.
Mary. Each one of these women experienced extraordinary―even scandalous―challenges, but they
clung to faith and courage. Sometimes they made big mistakes, and yet God still used them to bring
forth the Messiah, the Saviour of the world. Their stories still hold great meaning and inspiration for
us today.
Tamar risked her life and her reputation to be the woman she was called to be. Rahab was exploited
by men who saw only her beauty, yet she held fast to her faith in God and was rewarded. Ruth’s
loyalty, especially toward her mother-in-law Naomi, helped her to persevere in the face of tragedy,
and God gave her a second chance at love. Bathsheba’s scandalous affair with David did not end in
one night. Mary is one of the most revered women in history. But first, she was an ordinary woman
striving to please God in the same way that women still do today. When God spoke, Mary responded
in obedience which changed the world forever.
For advent this year we will be walking through the stories of these four women in Jesus’ genealogy.
We will see how they form an Advent theme of their own. They point to the moment when this
promise of the Messiah became a glorious historical reality offered to all people and can encourage
us as we continue to wait for his return to set all things right.
Through them we will see how God uses our circumstances and our steps toward him, however
faltering, to fulfil his plan. We will discover how God seeks and finds those whose hearts are tender
toward him, no matter how far away they are. We will be encouraged that God will provide even
when all hope seems lost. We will learn that God is willing to restore those lost in the depths of
despair who call out to Him, and that he works through ordinary people who open up their lives to
his plan.
A book that has been very useful for me to see these women as real people going through real life
challenges is A Lineage of Grace: Five Stories of unlikely women who changed eternity by Francine
Rivers. This is not a typical Bible study as the book is historical fiction, and so she fills out the stories
with things we know from historical research and things she imagined. However, that kind of story
telling can make these women come alive in ways that a typical Bible study may not. If you have
copies of this book, we would encourage you to dig them out and read through the stories. Maybe
even read them out loud with others. There will be a few copies available from the church for those
who do not have one and would like to join in this journey.
May this Advent season be a time when we see a little more clearly how God is willing to engage in
our messy world. May we also be encouraged to see him active in our own lives and learn to trust
more deeply in his timing as we long for Jesus’s return.