On the penultimate Sunday before Christmas, the Church remembers all the Old Testament righteous saints and relatives of the Saviour. These were people who lived righteously and faithfully in the midst of a pagan and fallen world, keeping the true faith and awaiting the coming of the Messiah—the One who would deliver all mankind from the devil, sin, and death.
Yet a curious question arises: Why, among the many men listed in the genealogy of our Lord Jesus Christ, are only three women mentioned—Tamar, Rahab, and Ruth? Moreover, these three women were not Israelites but came from pagan, impure Canaanite nations. Two of them even had seemingly dubious reputations. Tamar bore sons by seducing her father-in-law Judah. Rahab was a harlot of Jericho. Ruth, though a righteous woman, boldly proposed marriage to Boaz.
Why Are These Women Glorified in Scripture?
The inclusion of their names in Christ’s genealogy (see Matthew 1) reveals something profound: God came not for the righteous alone but to save sinful, fallen humanity. The Lord calls sinners to repentance and opens for them the gates of the Kingdom of Heaven. This message shatters all pride, for no one can boast of lineage, merit, or good works. These three women—Gentiles and sinners—are remembered because they humbled themselves, repented, and received God’s mercy.
Take Tamar, for example. She did not act out of lust or lawlessness when she conceived children by her father-in-law Judah. Her intention was to restore his lineage after he unjustly refused to give her his third son in union, as was required by the Old Testament law of Levirate marriage. Judah himself acknowledged her righteousness, saying, “She is more righteous than I” (Genesis 38:26). Tamar’s desperate act was not condemned by God but rather pardoned because of her humility and her desire to fulfill a higher purpose.
Rahab, too, demonstrated extraordinary faith and courage. A harlot living in the wicked city of Jericho, she broke free from her sinful past and the pagan traditions of her people. By hiding the Israelite spies and relying solely on the God of Israel for salvation, she showed a faith that transcended her circumstances. “For the Lord your God, He is God in heaven above and on earth beneath” (Joshua 2:11), she declared. Her bold decision to protect God’s people not only saved her life but placed her within the lineage of Christ.
Ruth, a Moabite woman, displayed similar faith and humility. After the death of her husband, she chose to leave her homeland and follow her mother-in-law Naomi to Bethlehem, saying, “Your people shall be my people, and your God, my God” (Ruth 1:16). Ruth willingly forsook her own people and their idolatrous ways to serve the true God. Her love, loyalty, and humble proposal to Boaz were honoured by God, and she became the great-grandmother of King David—and thus an ancestor of Christ Himself.
These women’s lives demonstrate that God’s grace reaches beyond human sin, cultural boundaries, and societal judgments. They remind us that repentance and humility open the doors of salvation.
Humility—The Key to Salvation
The Egyptian saint, Venerable Mark the Ascetic, wrote: “When you hear the words of Scripture that the Lord will reward each one according to his deeds (Psalm 62:12), do not think that deeds themselves merit either Gehenna or the Kingdom. Rather, Christ rewards each according to whether their deeds reflect faith or unbelief in Him as Creator and Redeemer.”
We are not saved by our own strength, virtues, or merits, but by the grace of God alone. However, this grace requires humility. How often do we hear people lament: “Father, I confess the same sins over and over. I cannot stop sinning!” It is essential to understand that God sometimes allows us to stumble to save us from the far greater sin of pride.
Why does this happen? Because we are often unprepared for virtue. When we achieve a small measure of success in prayer, fasting, or abstinence, pride creeps into our hearts. Subtle and hidden at first, this pride grows into a dangerous monster that can lead us to spiritual delusion and destruction. Even prayer and fasting, meant to draw us closer to God, can become distorted when they feed our pride instead of humbling us.
Thus, God permits our struggles to teach us humility—the same humility shown by Tamar, Rahab, and Ruth. Humility is the only door to salvation; it is the foundation upon which all other virtues are built. Without God, we can do nothing good, but with Him, “all things are possible” (Matthew 19:26).
Our task is to humble our hearts, souls, minds, and bodies before the Lord. We must bend to His will and seek above all else the salvation of our souls. When we do this, God’s mercy will transform us. He will make us His beloved sons and daughters, like David—a man after God’s own heart (1 Samuel 13:14).
As we approach the Nativity of Christ, let us remember the example of Tamar, Rahab, and Ruth. Through humility, repentance, and faith, they were brought into the lineage of the Saviour. Their lives are a testament to the transformative power of God’s grace—a grace that is offered to each of us, if only we humble ourselves and open our hearts to Him.
Translated by The Catalogue of Good Deeds
Source: https://pravlife.org/ru/content/v-rodoslovnoy-spasitelya-vspominayutsya-tri-zhenshchiny-chto-eto-znachit
Glory to God!
This was the most humbling tract to read, showing how very, very far I am from humility and any virtue, and how pride, that horrible evil, creeps in everywhere. To be reminded that we are only saved by God’s grace not our own strength or virtues is humbling. Also I have never thought if any good deeds I do manage to do reflect my belief in God our Saviour and how vital that is.
Thank you for this lovely piece. I’ve sometimes said one could do a good Bible study about the women in Christ’s genealogy, and here it is. But there’s another woman, although she’s not mentioned by name: “David begot Solomon by the wife of Uriah.” I suppose she’s not mentioned by name because, unlike the three discussed here, she’s not really an active participant in the story. The whole disaster of David’s adultery and murder is presented as something that happens *to* her, not something she *does.* But her inclusion is an important piece of the story, because it casts Christ’s ancestor David not in terms of his being the great and heroic and wise king but as the repentant sinner who needed the salvation of Christ, his earthly descendant.