A Miracle from a Mess

This powerful message takes us deep into Matthew chapter 1, where we discover that God's redemptive plan didn't come through a sanitized, perfect family tree—it came through mess. As we journey through the genealogy of Jesus, we encounter five remarkable women: Tamar, Rahab, Ruth, Bathsheba, and Mary. Each carried scandal, brokenness, or social stigma, yet God intentionally included them in the lineage of the Messiah. This isn't decoration—it's declaration. God wrapped glory in grit and put a miracle in the mud. The profound truth here is that Jesus didn't wait for humanity to clean itself up before stepping into our world. He jumped down into our mess, became what we are so He might make us what He is. These women remind us that no degree of mess is beyond God's redemptive power. Whether it's incest, prostitution, poverty, adultery, or misunderstanding, God specializes in pulling miracles out of mess. The beauty of Advent is that Emmanuel—God with us—didn't arrive through spotless bloodlines but through real, broken, complicated people who needed a Savior. And that's exactly why we can have hope: if God can work through their mess, He can certainly work through ours. We're not disqualified by our past; we're positioned for redemption by His grace.