Then the king of Jericho sent to Rahab, saying, “Bring out the men who have come to you, who entered your house, for they have come to search out all the land.” But the woman had taken the two men and hidden them. And she said, “True, the men came to me, but I did not know where they were from. And when the gate was about to be closed at dark, the men went out. I do not know where the men went. Pursue them quickly, for you will overtake them.” But she had brought them up to the roof and hid them...—Joshua 2:3-6

Rahab was a prostitute in the red-light district of the wicked city of Jericho. When the Lord’s spies came to her home for lodging, she hid them away and kept them from being arrested. She had heard about the parting of the Red Sea and the Jordan River, and her heart had been “melted” because of all she had learned about the men and their God. So, even when pressed by her king, she did not betray them.

When all of Jericho was destroyed, God spared Rahab and her entire family for her act of faith. By faith, Rahab gave a friendly welcome to the spies and did not perish. Though her whole life up to that point was marked by sin and shame, she unknowingly signed her name onto Jesus’ family tree that day. Jesus would be born to a sinless virgin, but He would identify so closely with Rahab’s sinfulness, that He would include her in His lineage. He would count her sin as His own and be crushed in payment for it.

Rahab, a prostitute, is the second Grandmother of Christmas.

Meditation: Think about the areas of your life that cause you to doubt God could love someone like you. As difficult and painful as it might be, spend some time thinking about the hard places of your heart, the sin, the temptations. The birth of Jesus is God’s proclamation to you that He loves you. Meditate on the love of God for sinful people.

Prayer: Jesus, open my eyes to all the ways You love people, regardless of how they’ve lived. Help me to recognize the extent of Your efforts to preserve my life, even before I knew I needed it. Melt the hardness of my heart the way You did Rahab’s when she heard of the ways You provide for Your people. Make me one of Your people, by grace, through faith, today.