… the story of God’s grace… Five women. Five stories. All had questions surrounding them.

… the story of God’s grace… All of their stories resulted in the glory of God. All of their stories emphasize one word… Grace! The story of Christmas is a story of God’s grace!

… the story of God’s grace… Story #1: Tamar Matthew 1:2-3 Abraham begot Isaac, Isaac begot Jacob, and Jacob begot Judah and his brothers. Judah begot Perez and Zerah by Tamar… Some background…

… the story of God’s grace… Notice where Matthew starts, with Abraham. This is a book written to believing disciples.

… the story of God’s grace… If we know our Bible, we know that the story of the coming of Christ began with Abraham.

… the story of God’s grace… The Baby in the manger fulfilled centuries of prophecies and anticipation for Israel about the coming of the Son of Abraham, the Son of David.

… the story of God’s grace… A nation in trouble Genesis 34 = Simeon and Levi Genesis 35 = Reuban Genesis 36 = Esau strong… and pagan

… the story of God’s grace… A nation in trouble Genesis 37:26 = “He ain’t heavy, I’ll just sell him…” “The Lion of the tribe of.. Oh,oh…” Genesis 38 = Get them outta there!

… the story of God’s grace… Tamar Unbelief Immorality Self-righteousness

… the story of God’s grace… Grace! Great shame to great blessing! Ruth 4:12 “May your house be like the house of Perez, whom Tamar bore to Judah, because of the offspring which the LORD will give you from this young woman.”

… the story of God’s grace… Story #2: Rahab Matthew 1:4-5 …Nahshon begot Salmon. Salmon begot Boaz by Rahab…

… the story of God’s grace… Nahshon was… the brother-in-law of Aaron, the High Priest (Ex. 6:23) the leader of Judah, the largest tribe in Israel (Num. 2:3) When Israel moved out, Judah went first, led by Nahshon (Num. 10:14)

… the story of God’s grace… Nahshon was… Nahshon may well have been regarded as the third most powerful man in Israel, behind Moses and Aaron His son’s name was Salmon… …which sounds fishy to me…

… the story of God’s grace… His parents now dead, Jericho now destroyed, the son of this powerful man chooses a wife… … a Gentile…and… …known by everyone with the title… “the harlot”… Rahab.

… the story of God’s grace… Grace But… Rahab is a woman of faith. Her son learns that even living with a Gentile can be alright and honor God. To Rahab and Salmon is born Boaz.

… the story of God’s grace… Story #3: Ruth Matthew 1:5 …Boaz begot Obed by Ruth…

… the story of God’s grace… Ruth is questionable in the genealogy due to her place as another Gentile, a Moabites. Yet, few stories in Scripture highlight the godly character of a person more than the story of Ruth.

… the story of God’s grace… Grace Ruth, a Gentile woman, ends up being the grandmother of King David.

… the story of God’s grace… Story #4: Bathsheba Matthew 1:5b-6 Obed begot Jesse, 6 and Jesse begot David the king. David the king begot Solomon by her who had been the wife of Uriah.

… the story of God’s grace… Rather than using her name, Matthew simply refers to her Bathsheba as “(the one) who had been the wife of Uriah”. Her story, along with David’s, is famous for immorality, for betrayal of a noble man, and for mass murder.

… the story of God’s grace… It marked a turning point in the life of David. Grace Solomon = Peace!

… the story of God’s grace… Story #5: Mary Mary stands as the fifth woman in this story. To many, it was assumed that Mary had sinned (John 8:41b, 48).

… the story of God’s grace… After all, without the revelation of God, what else would they assume? But, they would be wrong.

… the story of God’s grace… Grace Through Mary came the Savior of the world! Question Why does the New Testament begin this way?

Of all people, disciples of Jesus Christ should be the most gracious… And we are often the most legalistic, unforgiving, unkind, demanding people. It’s not altogether surprising.

People who understand and value holiness, like the Jews did, can fall into a trap. We can create our own systems, our own “checks”. And, we forget what God is like. We forget what we are like.

Self-righteousness is subtle. Our memories are short. But… We serve a God who is gracious. We serve a God who can “fix” life.

The story of Christmas is a story of God’s grace. That should be our story …for the New Year… …for every year!