I have to admit, I love a good Hallmark movie.

You know the plot: Ms. Sweet-now-Single leaves loss behind and moves back home, where working hard to make a new life, she meets Mr. Everything-You-Could-Ever-Want, who pledges true love and becomes her happily ever after.

What is it about these movies that keeps us coming back? The rescue? The perfect man? Or maybe it’s the true love.

These are the elements in the story of Ruth, the third unlikely woman named in Jesus’ family tree.

But Ruth’s story is so much more than a great romance. Why is Ruth in the genealogy of Jesus? The greatest love story ever.

(If you’re just joining us, you can find the introduction here, and posts on Tamar here and Rahab here.)

Ruth’s story starts in the little village of Bethlehem. Yep, that Bethlehem.

[Read more…]

Ever feel like you’ve been sidelined? Everyone else’s life is moving forward and you’re stuck in what feels like perpetual waiting?

That was Tamar.

Today we’re starting with the first of five women named in Jesus’ family tree. If you missed yesterday’s introduction, you can catch it here.

Yesterday we saw that in a list of patriarchs, fathers and sons, Matthew named five women. 

We saw that Jesus not only came to a world fractured and hurting, but fractured and hurting was right there in his own family tree.

Today, we’re looking at the the scandal of Tamar in Jesus’ family tree. 

[Read more…]