I enjoyed reading Al
Mohler's post "Where does the Story of
Christmas Begin?" This thought in particular caught my attention: "A closer look at the narratives in
both Matthew and Luke reveals a richness that familiarity may hide from us. Matthew begins with the genealogy of
Christ...." Dr. Mohler, as usual, is on target. We tend to put aside verses in
the biblical text that don't appear to be of particular interest-- like
genealogies. However, this is not wise. The Holy Spirit included these names
for a reason. His version of the Christmas Story includes more detail than we
have become accustomed to thinking about. Each of the names in the genealogy
represents a story within the larger story of Christmas. In some cases, we know
very little about the stories of the persons named. But each one played a role
in God's plan of redemption. There is drama and wonder connected with each
name. For example, let's look at Rahab. Failing to understand her role in the
Christmas story robs us of some of the richness that Dr. Mohler writes about.
At first thought, it seems almost
inappropriate to speak about a prostitute in connection with Christmas. Thankfully,
the Holy Spirit has no such reservations. Rahab's story and the conquest of
Yet God did. All of human
history is anchored around the incarnation of Jesus Christ. Everything that had
happened up to the point of Christ's birth occurred in order to bring Mary and
Joseph together so that they would serve God's redemptive purpose. Joseph's
role was to provide the place of safety and family care for his virgin wife and
her unborn Son. Part of that plan, centuries earlier, was to call a prostitute
to give shelter to
Rahab enters into the
Israelite covenant community. She becomes the mother-in-law of Ruth, and she
becomes the great-great-grandmother of King David. The Holy Spirit's Christmas
story is rich in wonder and faith. It is the story of Christ, the Savior of the
world.
We will look at Ruth's part
in the story in the next post.
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