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“Genealogy of Christ” is inspired by Matthew 1:1-17

• This image was created as part of a bundle of Advent resources from A Sanctified Art. More resources can be found here: Sanctified Art Advent Resources.

In this image, I chose to represent Christ using a rose at the center of the composition. The women mentioned in the genealogy are imaged as foundational leaves building and upholding Christ. All of the women are looking at the viewer and holding objects to represent the fact that they took their life and survival into their own hands. They were catalysts who propelled the lineage forward. In the bottom left, Tamar holds her father-in-lawʼs insignia, which represents how she assumes his role as the cord which she lowered to ensure the safety of her family after supplying Israelite spies enough information to achieve victory in Jericho. Next, Ruth holds the wheat that she gleaned from the field. She knows that she must marry again in order to be protected, and so she takes initiative with Boaz. Batheshebaʼs name isnʼt even mentioned in Christʼs genealogy; she is referred to as the “wife of Uriah.” She withstands abuse from King David, survives the murder of her husband, and ensures that her son Solomon takes the throne. She takes matters into her own hands, becoming, as scholar, Dr. Wil Gafney, writes, “the queen mother of the united monarchy of Israel.”2 Finally, there is Mary who looks adoringly at the rose which represents her son. Here she holds the love and pride of a beautiful lineage that leads to the birth of her son, the Messiah.

These women only wanted to ensure safety for themselves and for their children; in the process they ensured the continuation of the lineage of Christ. Without their brilliance, passion, ingenuity, resourcefulness, creativity, and sacrifice, the lineage would have ended.

—Lauren Wright Pittman

1 Attridge, Harold W. From the footnote for Genesis 38:15-19. The HarperCollins Study Bible: New Revised Standard Version. (San Francisco, CA: Zondervan, 2006). 62-3.

2 Gafney, Wilda C. Womanist Midrash: A Reintroduction to the Women of the Torah and the Throne. (Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2017). 220.

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