This week: episode 2 in Not in the Nativity Scene will focus on Five Women of Questionable Reputation, from Matthew 1:1-17. In the ancient near east, when introducing an important figure it was essential that you give their lineage. Matthew does this when he introduces the Messiah, but in so doing breaks two important rules: he includes ancestors with less-than-stellar reputations, and he includes women. All this is very intentional, and foreshadows what Matthew’s Gospel is going to tell us about what God and his Messiah are like, and why that matters to you and I.