Matthew 1:1-6 NASB95
The record of the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah, the son of David, the son of Abraham: [2] Abraham was the father of Isaac, Isaac the father of Jacob, and Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers. [3] Judah was the father of Perez and Zerah by Tamar, Perez was the father of Hezron, and Hezron, the father of Ram. [4] Ram was the father of Amminadab, Amminadab the father of Nahshon, and Nahshon, the father of Salmon. [5] Salmon was the father of Boaz by Rahab, Boaz was the father of Obed by Ruth, and Obed, the father of Jesse. [6] Jesse was the father of David, the king. David was the father of Solomon by Bathsheba, who had been the wife of Uriah.
I find the genealogy of Jesus in the Gospel of Matthew very fascinating because it gives us deep inside into the heart of our God of grace. How many of you have lived with the “if only” syndrome. The “if only” syndrome is when we are consumed with regrets, and we constantly have the internal conversation that goes something like, “If only I had not done that, or if only I had done that, I could experience God’s best for my life, but now I have to settle for God’s second-best. The fact is there is no second-best in God’s mind and heart for you regardless of what you have done in the past. From this point on, your life can be the best God can do for you. It is ungodly, unbiblical, and certainly emotionally unhealthy to be consumed with the “if only’s.” It was important for the Holy Spirit to list in the genealogy that is in Matthew’s gospel all kinds of people from whom the Messiah came. Judah had sex with his daughter-in-law Tamar when she deceived him by disguising herself as a prostitute, and she gave birth to twins, one being Perez. Rahab, the prostitute, was the great-great-grandmother of King David. Ruth, the Moabitess, was David’s grandmother, and Solomon was born as a result of David’s adulterous relationship with Bathsheba, who was married to David’s best friend Uriah, whom David had murdered on the battlefield while he was trying to protect David’s kingdom. Why does the Lord list all this yucky stuff in the lineage of Jesus? It was important because to the Holy Spirit that we know that Jesus was in the bloodline of imperfect people because he doesn’t feel uncomfortable to be identified with imperfect people, and they can still have a first-class ticket to participate in God’s purposes. God wants us to know that His grace qualifies the unqualified. God takes our sins and weaves them into his plan to reveal how vast His heart of grace is. It’s not that God condones our sin; it’s that God is so good and so big that He can even use our brokenness and even our failures to advance our destiny and Him.