Underdogs and Outsiders: A Bible Study on the Untold Stories of Advent

by Tom Fuerst

God works in unexpected ways. The Bible is full of surprises. At every turn, from the beginning of the Old Testament right through the end of the New, we find God working in unexpected, even strange ways to bring about God?s purposes. During Advent, remembering this strange history of God working in our world helps us look forward to the birth of God?s Son, Jesus. As if to remind us of this, the Gospel of Matthew presents a genealogy of Jesus before telling the story of his birth, including subtle references to the times God worked through unlikely people.Matthew names five women in the family tree of Jesus: Tamar, a forgotten daughter-in-law and widow; Rahab, a prostitute; Ruth, a foreigner; the wife of Uriah, an adulteress; and of course Mary, a young virgin. This Advent study explores the stories of each of these five women, showing how they all played a pivotal role in God?s purposes. By learning about these underdogs and outsiders, readers will uncover new dimensions of the story of God?s people and how that story comes into focus in the hope for the Messiah. Through the Old Testament stories the Gospel draws upon, Matthew reminds us to look for God in unexpected places during this Advent season.

94 pages, Paperback

Published September 20, 2016

Reviews

[Kate Davis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fuerst does a great job contextualizing the text and showing the scandal and surprise of the way God speaks: demonstrating faithfulness through a prostitute and belonging through an immigrant. I especially appreciate that he doesn't shy away from calling things what they are. Fuerst accurately names David as a rapist and peels away historical euphemism to help current audiences understand what's actually going on in the text.

My church group used this for a Bible study during Advent one year. We'd open with prayer, read the relevant scripture, then read a few selections from the chapter (because there will always be some people who didn't read) and discuss one or two of the questions at the end of the chapter. It had enough depth to engage even the longest-standing members, but enough explanation to help those who are new to reading scripture.

[Gary Lindsay · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was part of the Advent study and sermon series of our church, St. Paul's United Methodist Church in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. The book explores the little-known stories of the five women named in Matthew's gospel, Tamar, Rehab, Ruth, Bathsheba, and Mary, who were foremothers of Jesus Christ. Each of these women's story is a struggle for survival against a hostile culture. The book's message is two-fold. The first is that Jesus's family tree contains many underdogs and outsiders. Modern Christians should keep this in mind and withhold our judgment of those on the fringes of society. The second message is that the deck has long been stacked in favor of some and against others, something we need to remember in our quest for social justice today.

[Brenda Conry · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting perspectives on the inclusion of women into the genealogy of Christ, and why Matthew might have thought they were important. Girl power!

[Henry Prater · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great devotional, we plan on using this during Advent in my church this year. Helps open up the radical nature of the genealogy in Matthew and of God’s plan for the world.

[Shannon Greene · Rating 4 out of 5]

I led my church through a Bible study on this book. We really enjoyed it! Although there isn't a whole lot of explicit connection to Advent.