I think Billy Graham is attributed as saying that we will be surprised at “who is in Heaven and who is not in Heaven.” We find comfort at the thought that God can work in unexpected ways in accomplishing His will, and extending grace and mercy. Of course, that does not change what we know and read from our Bibles. Namely, that there is only one way to the Father (John 14:6).
However, God is not limited to our theological systems. After all, with humility, we must admit that these are “our” systems for thinking about God.
This is clearly seen when we study one of the great women of the Bible. She is so prominent that she receives a note of praise amidst a dusty patriarchal genealogy (Matthew 1).
Really incredible to think about it. In the line of Jesus was a woman that we in our western minds would not expect. She had more than one objectionable quality about her. She was a foreigner. She was a Canaanite. And, yes, how does one say this in a church bulletin: she was a prostitute.
Yet, God would use her in glorious ways. And, through her “redemption would come.” She was a woman who put her unexpected faith into action ( Joshua 2:1-8), because she had her doctrine square (Joshua 2:9-14). She also was a woman who would finish what she started, and thus brought salvation to her family (2:15-24).
Rahab is a woman who re-writes a cultural script of what it means to be a woman, and how we view women. Good things to ponder on Mothers Day.
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