In season 2 episode 6 (The Signal) of Ted Lasso team owner Rebecca Welton (Hannah Waddingham) yells down from her office to the practice field to see if Ted (Jason Sudeikis) has lunch plans. Rebecca is soon joined in the window by her mother Deborah (Harriet Walter). Deborah informs Lasso, the coaches and the team that she is "a work in progress, a voracious book on tape listener and a staunch believer that if you get dealt lemons in life, then you should make lemon lavender mojitos." After the exchange, Lasso turns to the other coaches and says, "I love meeting people’s moms. It’s like reading an instruction manual as to why they’re nuts." I love this little truth bomb, and so does Matthew.
The advent story recorded in the Gospel of Matthew begins with a genealogy. Let's be honest genealogies are among the most skipped sections of scripture. We've all fast forwarded over these lists of names looking for the next narrative. However, the genealogy that starts the New Testament is a little different. In the midst of all the men listed, five women are also name dropped. The mothers making the cut are: Tamar, Rahab, Ruth, the wife of Uriah (aka Bathsheba), and Mary.
These mothers of advent are each famous, or rather infamous, in their own ways:
Tamar (Genesis 38) is the wife of Er, the oldest son of Judah. Tamar's first husband dies. As does her second husband Onan, Er's brother. As was the custom she asked her father-in-law for another brother for a husband, and Judah told her to wait, because he didn't want to lose another son. Judah was clearly under the impression that Tamar was a black widow of some type. After Judah's wife dies he goes on a trip and Tamar dresses as a prostitute and tricks Judah into getting her pregnant (finally). Judah doesn't have cash to pay for the prostitute's services so he gives her his ring, cord and staff. When It is discovered that Tamar is pregnant, and accused of being immoral, she reveals that Judah is the father by showing the items he left with her as payment.
Rahab (Joshua 2 & 6) is a resident of the city of Jericho and also a business owner. The business was a brothel. Once it is discovered that Israel has sent spies into the city, Rahab hides the men (who were customers?) and they escape before the King of Jericho could find them and kill them. In return the men promised to save Rahab when they took the city. The spies keep their promise and save Rahab and she becomes part of the Israelite nation.
Ruth (Book of Ruth), a non-Israelite from Moab, chooses to return to Israel with her mother-in-law after both of their husbands die. Living in poverty, the only hope for Ruth and her mother-in-law is for a family member (known as a kinsman redeemer) to marry Ruth. Naomi has just the person in mind, the wealthy Boaz. Naomi sends Ruth to glean in the field of Boaz hoping that she would catch the man's eye and the plan works! Then Naomi instructs Ruth to get herself dolled up and to go to Boaz in the night and "uncover his feet." Chapter 3 of the Book of Ruth uses a lot of coded language, but it appears to me that Ruth seduces Boaz and in the end he takes her to be his wife.
The next grandmother of Advent is part of the most famous scandal in the Old Testament. Bathsheba (2 Samuel 11) is the wife of Uriah a Hittite who is serving in the Israelite Army under King David. The King had chosen not to go off to war. One night David is taking a stroll on his roof when he sees Bathsheba taking a bath and is attracted to her. David has his servants bring Bathsheba to him and he sleeps with her. In an effort to cover up the scandal and to keep Bathsheba for his own David rigs a battle so that Uriah is killed.
Mary, the mother of Jesus, is the fifth woman mentioned. Mary is an unwed mother (at least initially) claiming that she has been made pregnant by God himself. Aside from the claim of who the father is, an unwed teenage girl may not be as scandalous as Tamar, Ruth, Rahab, or Bathsheba's stories, but having a baby outside of wedlock in Mary's era meant that the baby would be considered a mamzer. A mamzer was the child of a forbidden relationship and it was believed that these children defiled a bloodline for 400 years. Interestingly, if that was the belief perhaps Jesus' bloodline was continually contaminated throughout the history that Matthew records.
Imagine if we, instead of the standard crèche, created nativities filled with these grandmothers and their partners. Suddenly Advent and Christmas would be marked by the remembrance of deception, incest, prostitution, seduction, a King using his power like Harvey Weinstein to get the woman he's lusting after, murder, and an unwed mother pregnant by mysterious circumstances. It might seem a bit odd to us to think of adding Tamar and Judah, Rahab and the spies, Ruth and Boaz, King David, Bathsheba and Uriah to our collection of Christmas figurines, but this is exactly what Matthew is doing. But, why? I believe it is because knowing Jesus' grandmothers and mother give us an instruction manual as to why Jesus is nuts, or perhaps why he does what he does.
In a culture where women had very low status, Matthew is making sure the grandmothers and mother of Advent are highlighted. In a world where a female could not give testimony in court, Matthew is assuring that these five women are able to give a witness. This fact alone declares that what Jesus is going to do will be different. This alone was a transformational shift, but this list of Advent mother's also offers a key to how Jesus lived and explains the things he did that were seen as nuts in his day.
When Jesus ate at the table of sinners, perhaps he had in the back of his mind these five women and how his family looked a lot like those gathered at the meal.
Perhaps when he was talking to the Samaritan woman at the well, an outcast woman on her sixth husband/partner, grandmother Tamar and her multiple partners was on his mind.
Can you imagine that as Jesus said, "Truly I tell you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God ahead of you." (Matt. 21:31) that he was thinking of Grandmother Rahab?
What if the low status, unclean woman that boldly pushes her way to Jesus in the crowd and touches his clothes (Mark 5:21) reminded him of his grandmother Ruth who was also an outcast and boldly did what needed to be done.
Was the punchy exchange with the Canaanite Woman (Matt. 15:21-28) a time when Mary's son was thinking about all the strong, unflinching non-Isaelite women in his family tree that wove their way into the story?
Is it possible that when Jesus is hanging in on the cross and says to the man hanging next to him, a criminal with a repentant heart, "Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.” (Luke 23:43), that he had in mind his criminal grandfather David?
I do not think that it is beyond belief that when the woman caught in adultery is thrown down in front of Jesus (John 8:1-11) that through his mind flashes the faces of the five mothers of advent. It is worthy of our speculation that perhaps what Jesus writes in the dirt are the names of these women, each with their own sexual scandal. Tamar, Rahab, Ruth, Bathsheba, and Mary may very well be on the Lord's mind when he says, "Then neither do I condemn you."
Each of these actions, all seen as nuts in Jesus' day can be understood through the lens of Matthew chapter 1. So I invite you this advent to meet the grandmothers of Jesus and in meeting them come to understand why Jesus is nuts.
Joel K
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