7 Deadly Sins – An Introduction Over the next seven weeks we will be looking at the ‘Seven Deadly Sins’: Greed, Lust, Envy, Gluttony, Anger, Pride and Slothfulness, exploring their relevance in today’s society and for our lives. For most of us though, the concept of the Seven Deadly Sins seems old and out-dated, something to be caricatured and laughed at or…
Posts by Jonathan Hamer
Matthew’s genealogy of Jesus climaxes at the final woman listed: Mary, the mother of Jesus. We have seen over the last four weeks how Tamar, Rahab, Ruth and Bathsheba all played vital roles in continuing the line of Abraham and David. We saw that each of these women, whether as a result of their birth or their actions, was deeply flawed. Yet…
Bathsheba is the final woman in Matthew’s genealogy of Christ before Mary. Like Tamar, Rahab and Ruth, she is a surprising choice: Bathsheba’s fame comes from being one half of the world’s most famous extra-marital affair. The story, recorded in 2 Samuel 11, is a shameful one on many different levels. From the roof of his palace, David sees Bathsheba bathing and…
We’ve been working our way through the women the gospel writer Matthew includes in his genealogy of Jesus; so far we’ve considered Tamar and Rahab. Both of these women were immoral, using sex for their own gain (Tamar to shame Perez her father-in-law, and Rahab as a prostitute in Jericho). While it has been surprising to see such women included in the…
The second woman mentioned in Matthew’s genealogy of Christ is a prostitute named Rahab. Like Tamar from last week, Rahab was not an Israelite – she did not come from God’s chosen people. Rahab was a morally corrupt and ethically impure woman and yet she showed more faith in the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob than the Israelites themselves. The story…
The first woman in Matthew’s genealogy of Christ is Tamar and her story, recorded in Genesis 38, is quite simply, shocking. Tamar is involved in deception, lying, cult prostitution and finally incest. It is one of those stories that leaves you wondering why on earth it was included in Scripture. The even more relevant question for us is why was Tamar included…
Today we begin a series on an interesting peculiarity in Matthew’s genealogy of Jesus Christ: the inclusion of five women. Matthew’s genealogy is a theologically important family tree which establishes the line of Jesus directly from Abraham through David. The family tree demonstrates that Jesus really is the Messiah, the fulfilment of the promises God made to Abraham and to David. It…
Many of you will be familiar with the 1981 classic film ‘Chariots of Fire’ which tells the story of Eric Liddell a young Scottish runner, who famously refused to run in the Olympics on Sunday because it was ‘the Lord’s Day’. Eric sacrifices his glory in the 100m race although goes on to win the 400m in record time. It’s a winning…
The Watergate Scandal was a major political scandal that rocked the United States in the 70s. The term ‘Watergate’ has since become a word synonymous with corruption, fraudulence and moral decay; it reflects a crisis that brought a great nation to the brink of destruction and destroyed a President. At the centre of it all was one man – the facilitator and…
Even if you have not heard of John Newton you will have heard of his famous hymn, ‘Amazing Grace’. His story and his life is one that shows the incredible power of God, His abounding love and His Amazing Grace. John Newton was born to a godly Mother and an irreligious Father. His Mother died when he was six, leading him to…