Mothers of Jesus: Rahab
For Meditation
On this second Sunday of Advent, we are continuing our dive into Matthew’s geneology of Jesus by giving special attention to the five “mothers of Jesus” that he includes. As we heard last week from Elisabeth Hayes, the stories of these women are not going to be found in Children’s Bibles or on the front of Christmas greeting cards. But God saw them and came to them in the midst of their story. And through them, the Son of God comes to us in the midst of ours. The Bible is a book about how God delights to use the most surprising, and sometimes the most broken people—people up to their necks in the mire of their embodied humanity—to accomplish His purpose of restoration in this world.
The second mother that we encounter in the genealogy is Rahab. We first meet Rahab in Joshua chapter 2 when Joshua sends spies into Jericho to scope out the land before they conquer it. The two spies sneak into the city and lodge in the home of Rahab the prostitute. The king of the city finds out and sends Rahab a message demanding her to hand over the spies. The only logical thing for her to do was to obey the king’s order, which likely would have given her favor, perhaps a reward, and potentially lifted her out of her desperate position. But in a major twist, Rahab hides the spies, defies the King, lies to him about their location, and breaks allegiance with her city and culture. What led her to do such a radical thing?
In short, Rahab’s unlikely and remarkable faith. She had heard the stories of the God of Israel, and she believed. Against everyone and everything around her, she chose to align herself with the God of Israel and literally entrust her life into the hands of this God. Her faith is so radical that it is held up as a model both in Hebrews 11 and James 2.
But there is even more to the story. Rahab is indeed rescued by the God of Israel. But not only is she rescued, she is brought to Israel, marries a man named Salmon, and becomes a great great grandmother to King David and in turn a matriarch in the family of Jesus. The story is not only about Rahab’s faith, but about the scandalous grace of God, which takes outsiders like Rahab and brings them right into the center of God’s rescue plan for the world.
As you prepare for worship this week, read the whole story of Rahab in Joshua 2 and invite God to give you faith like Rahab in response to his scandalous grace.
Matthew 1:1-5a
1 This is 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,
Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers,
3 Judah the father of Perez and Zerah, whose mother was Tamar.
Perez the father of Hezron,
Hezron the father of Ram,
4 Ram the father of Amminadab,
Amminadab the father of Nahshon,
Nahshon the father of Salmon,
5 Salmon the father of Boaz, whose mother was Rahab...
Joshua 2:8-13
8 Before the spies lay down for the night, [Rahab] went up on the roof 9 and said to them, “I know that the Lord has given you this land and that a great fear of you has fallen on us, so that all who live in this country are melting in fear because of you. 10 We have heard how the Lord dried up the water of the Red Sea for you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to Sihon and Og, the two kings of the Amorites east of the Jordan, whom you completely destroyed. 11 When we heard of it, our hearts melted in fear and everyone’s courage failed because of you, for the Lord your God is God in heaven above and on the earth below.
12 “Now then, please swear to me by the Lord that you will show kindness to my family, because I have shown kindness to you. Give me a sure sign 13 that you will spare the lives of my father and mother, my brothers and sisters, and all who belong to them—and that you will save us from death.”