The Genealogy of Christ

INTRO

In Luke 3, we’ll talk about the lineage of Christ. The beautiful part is that we’ll see Jesus’ connections to humanity. Jesus’ lineage goes all the way back to Adam.

TEACHING

Luke 3:1-20: These verses tell the story of the Messiah’s herald. John the Baptist paved the way for Jesus. The transition statement in verse 20 revealed that John was locked up in prison.

Luke 3:21: “When all the people were baptized, Jesus also was baptized.” In Matthew 28:19, Jesus said, “Go . . . make disciples . . . baptizing them . . .” If Jesus was baptized, and He instructed us to baptize people, then that’s what we should do. For some reason, we don’t talk about baptizing people. As a follower of Jesus, (1) make sure you’re baptized. Baptism doesn’t save you, but it is an outward expression of inner faith. (2) Baptize other people, even if you’ve never done it, because Jesus commanded it.

Luke 3:22: The Holy Spirit descended on Jesus, the Son of Man. God clearly described Jesus as “My Son.” As Jesus began His ministry, He was baptized and visibly anointed from heaven. He was about 30 years old, which seemed to be the age that many people began their ministry. In Genesis 41:46, Joseph was 30 years old when he entered the service of Pharaoh king of Egypt. Had Joseph and Jesus done other work? Certainly, but this was the turning point when God clearly anointed Jesus for ministry. In 2 Samuel 5:4, David was 30 years old when he began his reign as king, and he reigned 40 years. Ezekiel 1:1 said that in his thirtieth year, Ezekiel the prophet saw the visions of God and began to walk out those visions. According to Numbers 4:3, at the age of 30, priests began to work at the tabernacle. So at about the age of 30, Jesus began His priesthood ministry.

Luke 3:23: Jesus was “thought to be” the son of Joseph, son of Heli. Perhaps this phrase meant that Joseph had “adopted” Jesus, which would have been important. Joseph would have legally been Jesus’ father, taking on Jesus as his son. Matthew 1:16 said that Jacob fathered Joseph, the husband of Mary. You can trace Joseph’s line back to David. Commentators offer different ways to explain the difference in Luke and Matthew’s account of Joseph’s father. Boch pointed out that this could be Mary’s lineage or could be the result of the custom of Levirate marriage in the ancient Mideast, which permitted the widow of a childless man to marry his unmarried brother. The child of the second marriage was considered the legal son of the deceased man.1

Luke 3:24-27: These verses listed 17 names of men that we know nothing about. We recognize some, like Zerubbabel, who was head of tribe of Judah when the Israelites returned from Babylonian captivity under Cyrus the Great, in Ezra 2:2.

Luke 3:28-30: “Son of Judah.” While not Judah, the son of Jacob, he was probably a descendant of the tribe. Why is this important? In Genesis 49:10, Jacob’s blessing included “the scepter shall not depart from Judah.” The tribe of Judah was the tribe of the king’s lineage. Revelation 5:5 described Jesus as, “the Lion from the tribe of Judah, the Root of David.” As Jesus began His ministry, He fulfilled these prophecies.

Luke 3:31-33: We see names in this portion of Jesus’ genealogy that we recognize. Jesus was from the lineage of David as described in 2 Samuel 7:12-13: “I will raise up after you your descendant . . . I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever.” Every one of these guys had an important role in Scripture. Boaz was the main male figure in the book of Ruth. Jesus’ ancestry was essential to His identity. Now the son of Judah is the direct descendant of Jacob. Leah, whom Jacob didn’t even like (Jacob preferred Rachel), was Judah’s mom. An interesting comparison was that Gabriel showed up to Mary of Nazareth, the town no one respected. With God anything is possible. He could use anyone to point people to the Messiah.

Luke 3:34: Through this verse, Luke confirmed that Jesus was the son of Abraham, who was the son of Terah, the son of Nahor.

Luke 3:35-36: Luke continued tracing the generations to show that Jesus was the son of Shem, son of Noah. Jesus was connected to Noah.

Luke 3:37-38: Luke also showed that Jesus was the son of Seth, the son of Adam, the son of God. Jesus was tied to the son of Adam. Fitzmeyer said this ending was truly one of a kind.2 Why did Luke tie this together? In Acts 17:28, Paul said, “For in Him we live and move and exist . . . for we are also His offspring.”

Why is it important that Jesus was connected to Adam? This is essential to understanding the Son of Man. In all other religions, their gods are distant, somewhere else. You can’t touch them or feel them. In Luke’s Gospel, you see a God who can actually connect with us. The Son of Man came to connect with you and me. Romans 5:12-17 said, “Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin.” Through Adam, sin and death became reality for all people. Sin was in the world before the Law; the Law was essential to understanding sin. In verse 15, Paul wrote, “But the gift is not like the trespass. For if by the one man’s trespass the many died, how much more by the grace of God and the gift overflowed to the many by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ.” Because of one trespass, many died. From Adam’s sin came judgment, condemnation, and death. From the gift—God’s grace in Jesus Christ—came justification, overflow of grace, righteousness, and life.

1 Corinthians 15:21 begins with the phrase, “For since death came through a man,” meaning that death came through the one bite Adam took of the forbidden fruit. Paul then continued, “The resurrection of the dead also comes through a man.” Paul said, “a man,” and the lineage of Jesus gives proof of His humanity. Paul continued to emphasize this point in verse 22: “For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive again,” and in verse 45: “The first man Adam became a living being; the last Adam became a life-giving Spirit.” When you begin to understand these passages, they tie into Luke 3:23-38. The first and the last; that’s exactly what you see in the genealogy of Jesus in the Gospel of Luke. Through this we see the bigger picture.

CLOSING

Jesus came to give life, not death. He came to give righteousness and grace, He did not come to bring judgment, condemnation or death. He’s coming to make you alive in who He is. Jesus is giving a life-giving message that can radically change your life. Don’t stay in the posture of a bitten apple. Christ wants to restore who you are, just come to the table. He wants to help you fix what you’ve done. He wants to restore, to bring you back to life in Christ.