Most of us rush through the genealogies (the “begats”) – long lists of strange names! Then we say, “Certainly there is nothing in there that will interest me.” Galatians 4:4 says, “But when the fullness of the time was come, God sent forth His Son, made of a woman, made under the law.” A precise time was chosen by God. A precise lineage of people was also chosen by God, so that we could know that Jesus Christ was truly sent by the Father to be the Savior of the world (I John 4:14; Isaiah 9:6). Let’s take a look at Hebrews 2:6-18 to get a better idea of how Jesus was made of a woman, made under the law.

Jesus was made a little lower than the angels – Hebrews 2:6-9.
This comes from Psalm 8:4-6. Christ, made lower than the angels (human form), will be later crowned with glory and honor. All things will be put in subjection under His feet (Psalm 2). Before He could be crowned He had to be made lower than the angels for the purpose of suffering and death (Hebrews 2:9 cp. Philippians 2:6-11). Christ was born to die – to taste death for everyone!

Jesus was made perfect through sufferings – Hebrews 2:10.
Jesus did not need to be perfected morally or spiritually. Rather, Jesus needed to perfect, or complete, His qualifications as the captain of our salvation. This required a physical body, a human life that could experience temptations, pain and physical weakness. He would overcome these things and qualify Himself to be our righteous savior and compassionate high priest (Romans 7:24 – 8:4; Matthew 4:1-11; John 8:28-29; I John 2:1-2; Hebrews 2:17-18; 4:14-16; 5:7-9).

Jesus was made a brother and father of God’s “forever family” – Hebrews 2:11-13.
Jesus became one of us, so that He could sanctify us – separate us from the world, making us God’s special family (Hebrews 10:5-14; John 17:8-26).

Jesus was made a partaker of flesh and blood – Hebrews 2:14-15.
This enabled Jesus to conquer Satan and destroy the power he had over flesh and blood (humans), who were controlled through fear of death (I John 2:12-14; 4:4; Revelation 12:9-11).

Jesus was made the nature of the seed of Abraham (Hebrews 2:16-18).
Jesus’ lineage (through Mary [Luke 3:23-38] and His adoptive father, Joseph [Matthew 1:1-17]) verifies the promised seed (Genesis 3:15; 12:1-3; 15:1-6; Romans 1:3; Galatians 3:16-29). Hebrews 2:16 needs to be read in the KJV (See also the Amplified Version). Christ came not as an angel (a messenger). Rather He came as a descendant of Abraham who is the father of our faith (Romans 4:11-25 ~ especially vs. 11-13, 16, 18). Christ is the author and finisher of our faith (Hebrews 12:2). As stated earlier, this nature that Christ took upon himself qualifies Him to be a merciful, faithful high priest and helper of those who are tempted in this body of flesh.

“The seed of Abraham” (Hebrews 2:16) brings us back to Matthew chapter one. Since Jesus is not ashamed to call us brethren (Hebrews 2:11), we need to look at the lives of the fallible humans in that list. We should be amazed how Christ gladly identified himself with sinful man. An old theological term for the incarnation of Christ is “the humiliation of Christ.” It is uncommon to have women listed in a genealogy. Let’s notice the five women in Christ’s genealogy.

• Thamar / Tamar was a Canaanite woman who played the part of a prostitute, seducing her father-in-law Judah, after the death of her husbands, Er and Onan (Matthew 1:3 cp. Genesis 38).
• Rahab was a Gentile prostitute (Matthew 1:5 cp. Joshua 2).
• Ruth was a Moabite woman who, originally, worshipped idols (Matthew 1:5 cp. Ruth 1).
• Bathsheba was Uriah’s wife (one of David’s soldiers). She committed adultery with David. David arranged Uriah’s death, so that he could marry her (Matthew 1:6 cp 2 Samuel 11).
• Mary was of pure character. Nevertheless, she had to live with the reputation of being pregnant out of wedlock because of the divine conception done by the Holy Spirit (Matthew 1:16, 18-25).

Christ is called the friend of sinners (Matthew 11:16-19 cp. John 8:1-11; I Timothy 1:15). He was not afraid to become like us. He was willing to die and redeem us. He is not ashamed to call us brethren. Are we afraid or ashamed to identify with Him? Christ died for us. Will we live for Him? You cannot do this in your own strength. It must be done through Christ, who has provided everything we need to be His faithful followers (Please study Romans chapter 8 cp. Galatians 2:20; Colossians 2:6-10; II Peter 1:2-4).