King of Kings, Lord of Losers:

This morning I began reading through the Book of Matthew. I expected to read four chapters like I do the majority of mornings; however, I only completed one chapter because I was struck by all I learned about Jesus. In Matthew 1:1-17 Matthew records Jesus's genealogy. In the ancient world, genealogies determined a person's status-whether you came from an honorable family or a shameful one. A person's family line says something about that person. Their character, their social status the types of people they would hang out with. And Jesus's genealogy says one thing loud and clear: Jesus is right at home with sinners, thugs, and outcasts.

Most genealogies list only the male descendants. Remember, the ancient world was patriarchal. Men were more valued than women, so there was no need to list women-thanks for bearing our children, but we'll take it from here. But Jesus's genealogy lists five women, most of whom have some shady event attached to their name.

The first woman is Tamar, the Canannite woman who dressed up as a prostitute in order to have sex with her father-in-law, Judah. Her plan succeeded, and she became pregnant with Perez, the one whom God would weave into Jesus's family line.

Next is Rahab, Jericho's down-and-out prostitute, who was the first Canaanite to receive God's grace. Among all the Canaanite leaders, among all the skilled warriors, Rahab was the only one who savored the majesty of Israel's God.

Then there's Ruth, the foreign widow burdening a famished society. A social outcast, a perceived stigma of God's judgment, Ruth was grafted into the messianic line.

Then there's "the wife of Uriah," Bathsheba, who was entangled in the sinful affair with King David-the man who murdered her husband.

Finally, there's Mary, the teenage girl who got pregnant out of wedlock. Though she would become an icon in church tradition, her name was synonymous with shame and scandal in the beginning of the first century.

You thought your family was messed up.

In conclusion, all of these women were social outcasts. They belonged under a bridge. Whether it was their gender, ethnicity, or some sort of sexual debacle, they were rejected by society yet were part of Jesus's genealogy-a tapestry of grace. Not only was God born in a feeding trough to enter our pain, but He chose to be born into a family tree filled with lust, perversion, murder, and deceit. This tells us a lot about the types of people Jesus wants to hang out with. It tells us that Jesus loves Tamars, Judahs, Gomers, and you.