RUTH THE OUTSIDER

Stafford Greer, Bearspaw Lead Site Pastor

A Prayer of St. Augustine of Hippo (345-430)

Let the just rejoice, for their Justifier is born.
Let the sick and infirm rejoice, for their Saviour is born.
Let the captives rejoice, for their Redeemer is born.
Let the slaves rejoice, for their Master is born.
Let the free people rejoice, for the Liberator is born.
Let all Christians rejoice, for Jesus Christ is born.

Amen

We’re entering week three of Advent and this year we are exploring the genealogy of Jesus as told through the Gospel of Matthew. Although modern Christians can often approach Scripture as simply a historic account of Jesus’ life, akin to reading a transcript of a court reporter who is “simply stating the facts,” that’s not how the gospels (or any of Scripture, really) actually work.

There’s a strong case to be made that Matthew, when reporting on the genealogy of Christ, did so not to just give a historically accurate family tree, but rather used Jesus’ genealogy to make a literal and theological point to his primarily Jewish readers.

Matthew, through the genealogy, is attempting to set the stage for his argument that Jesus is the “Son of David” and heir to David’s throne. The Jewish people were waiting for the promised Messiah that would come through David’s lineage and to fulfill the promise that Yahweh made to David in 2 Samuel 7:16, “Your house and your kingdom will endure forever before me; your throne will be established forever.’” (NIV)

In Hebrew, each letter of the alphabet had a numerical value because letters were used for numbers in a system known as gematria. The name David, which is just the consonants D-V-D (there are no vowels in Hebrew) add up to 14 (4+6+4). Matthew divides the list of names in his genealogy into 3 sets of 14 generations. Not only is this very helpful for memorization (something very common for 1st century Jews as well as Christians today), it also reinforces, through literary device, Matthew’s emphasis on Jesus as heir of king David and the Jewish messianic king.

The five women included in his genealogy are also intentionally chosen by Matthew as people who clearly capture an essential element of Jesus’ ministry. This Sunday at all sites we will be exploring the story of Ruth, the third women mentioned. Ruth is a short book - only four chapters - and the author of the book also uses wonderful literary prose to tell a story of opposites: Naiomi, whose name means “pleasant; gentle” changes her name to Mara which means “Bitter.” They leave Bethlehem (which means “house of bread”) because there is no food there.

When tragedy strikes Naiomi and her family, it is the Moabite, Ruth, who shows khesed love towards her mother-in-law. Khesed is a Hebrew word that we don’t have an English equivalent for. The best we can do is perhaps calling it “loyal love” or “covenantal love.” It is a love that is not based on worth, value, or actions; a unconditional, unwavering, covenantal love towards her grieving Mother-in-law. It does not refer to any one specific type of action. Rather, it describes a posture in the relationship that can be expressed through many different acts.

Often times in Scripture, this love is expressed through God’s khesed towards us!

Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; His khesed endures forever. Ps. 118:1

He has shown you, O human, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To do justice and to love khesed and to walk humbly with your God. Micah 6:8

For as high as the heavens are above the earth, So great is his khesed for those who fear him; As far as the east is from the west, So far has he removed our transgressions from us. Ps 103:11-12

Ruth was an outsider, just like Rahab, but Ruth’s story is one of loyal love to her Israelite mother-in-law, Naomi. Both women were widows and destitute, yet Ruth rejected what was in her self-interest to go back home and remarry someone from Moab, and instead covenantly declared, “Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God” (Ruth 1:16). It is out of loyal love for her mother-in-law that Ruth bound herself to to Naomi, even if it meant a lifetime of poverty and suffering.

At Christmas, we remember Jesus’ choice to empty himself, leave the glory of heaven and the Father, take on flesh, and dwell with us (see Phil 2:5-11). The angel in Matthew’s gospel tells Joseph that Mary’s child will be called Immanuel meaning “God with us.” The message of Christmas is that in Christ, God has willingly chosen to share in our suffering and, like Ruth, he’s done this because of his loyal love for us.