envelop spinner search close plus arrow-right arrow-left facebook twitter

Detecting Christmas November 30 Devotional

by David Joynt on November 30, 2023


MATTHEW 1:3 | 3 and Judah the father of Perez and Zerah by Tamar, and Perez the father of Hezron, and Hezron the father of Aram

 

If we skip the genealogies we also miss the surprises. Jewish genealogies included only the male predecessors. Yet here we have Tamar, and later Rahab, Ruth, Bathsheba, and Mary. Matthew understands that when God works in human history he is upsetting our assumptions, disrupting our expectations, and dismantling our hierarchies. The unmentionable get mentioned. Those considered unworthy get included. This is a preview of the many women Jesus honored and included in his ministry despite the canons and conventions of Jewish practice and the ancient world.

 

What else do you notice about these women?

(Look also at verses 4-5)

 

 

Gracious God,

You are full of surprises. You work through unexpected people in startling ways. Grant me openness to your ways and will. Amen.

 

About the Author
David Joynt

Dave Joynt began his service as a pastor at Valley Presbyterian Church in Paradise Valley, Arizona in September 2014. This meant a move away from the Northeast, where he has a long history, growing up in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania and then serving congregations in Delaware and New Jersey for a total of 23 years.

Dave was nurtured in a great church in Bethlehem where his parents, Anne and Carey, served as elders. He graduated in classics from Lehigh University where his Father taught, and then from Oxford, where he met his wife Julia. Ordained in 1988, he completed a Ph.D. from Princeton Theological Seminary in 1993.

He and Julia have a son, Tristan, and a daughter, Madeleine.

More from Pastor Joynts Devotionals

return to Pastor Joynts Devotionals