Portraits of Grace: Tamar - Advent 2019: Portraits of Grace

Sunday officially marked the beginning of the Advent season. This year, we’ll look at an unfamiliar Advent text: the genealogy (family tree) of Jesus that opens the Gospel of Matthew, which contains a very surprising element: five special women used by God to further his unfolding plan of redemption. We begin with the story of Tamar, a woman who risked her life in order to secure justice. God used this surprising situation to further the line of Judah, a line that would one day lead to Jesus, the King and Savior of the world.