Through The Bible in a Year - June 3, 2026

"When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit....  An angel of the Lord appeared to him [Josheph] in a dream, saying, ’She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.’" - Matthew 1:18-21

Bill (not his real name) had an origin story almost too painful to bear. All he remembered from childhood was his parents physically fighting outside his bedroom door. His father deliberately drove his mother insane so he could have an affair with a neighbor.

Now Bill was an adult, married, with no model of healthy family life. He flew into rages. Sexual addiction was destroying his family. He didn't know what to do.

What convicted him? Learning that his wife had been on her knees every day for a year, praying: "Father, enter my husband's life. Convict his heart. Turn him around. Change him."

When Bill learned how his wife had served him through her prayers, it broke him. He came asking: "How can I follow Jesus Christ as my wife does? How do I stop these rages? How do I stop this addiction? How do I stop hurting my family? How can I have God’s help?"

If you saw Bill now, you'd see a man—repentant, humble, gloriously walking with Christ for the beauty of his family. He would say: "God did something beyond what I could have imagined. God worked a grace I can hardly believe still happens. He gave me a new heart."

That's ultimately what the genealogy of Jesus teaches us. God doesn't just purify sin—He takes what is broken and redeems it, constructing something entirely new.

Look at the women in the genealogy of Jesus:

• Tamar: abused, neglected, shamed → used to bring forth the Messianic line of Judah.

• Rahab: prostitute, betrayer of her people → ancestor of David and Christ.

• Ruth: refugee, widow, gleaning in fields → great-grandmother of David.

• Bathsheba: adulteress, married to her husband's murderer → mother of Solomon

• Mary: scandalized teenager marked by an unwed pregnancy → mother of God

God took their mess and built fulfilled his promise of a Messiah.

Look at the men in the genealogy of Jesus:

• Abraham: impatient, doubting, betrayer of his wife, attempted murderer of his son → the father of our faith.

• Judah: betrayer of Joseph, abuser and accuser of Tamar, adulterer, liar → chosen to inaugurate the lineage of Jesus.

• David: adulterer, murderer, shameful father, prideful king → ancestor of Christ the King.

You know the stories of the rest. God took their mess and built Christ’s Church and our eternity upon the Messiah their lives produced.

Through it all God says: "I know the mess. I can clean up the mess. And I can construct something from it more beautiful than human minds can fathom."

Respond:

What is God’s message to you out of the messiness of Christ’s lineage? Could it be that God wants to take the very thing you're most ashamed of and turn it into your greatest blessing?

What if your mess becomes your message?

What if your pain becomes your platform?

What if your deliverance becomes someone else's hope?

Stop saying: "God could never use someone like me."

Look at Christ’s lineage. God used Tamar, Rahab, Ruth, Bathsheba, and Mary. God used Abraham, Judah, David and so many others—every single one was a mess.

Yet from their mess, God brought the Messiah.

Your mess isn't the end of your story. It’s the beginning of your mission if you will believe that your God is the Lord over the messes that make the Messiah known.

Prayer: Father, I've been so ashamed of my past that I never considered You might want to use it. But You took Tamar's shame, Rahab's profession, Ruth's refugee status, Bathsheba's adultery, and Mary's scandal—and You built the lineage of Jesus. You don't just forgive the mess. You construct something new from it when we follow you in faith. Show me who needs to hear my story of faith. Show me who needs to know that You can wash away sin and build something beautiful. Turn my mess into my mission. Turn my pain into someone else's hope. Use me, Lord. In Jesus' name, Amen.