The Genealogy of Jesus

This post accompanies my video reading of Luke Chapter 3 published on the Circular Grace YouTube channel. You can access it here.

Luke 3 Video Reading

How is Jesus both Son of Man and Son of God? Why was Jesus born?To be our Saviour but why do we need a Saviour? My thoughts after reading this chapter focused on God the Creator and the nature of His Son. I mentioned in the video, I think it's awe inspiring to be reminded of the truth that we are created beings. God created Adam and Eve and that was the beginning of humanity.

I guess I've always been the type of person who likes to ask, why? I must have driven my parents nuts! So my mind runs to ask why was Jesus born? Why do we need a Saviour? Why couldn't God just save us? I'm not going to attempt to provide a walk through of those answers but I'll share with you that those were amongst many of the questions that were front and centre when I set out to read the Bible from cover to cover. The answers I found in the Old Testament have really propelled my understanding of the Gospel message. If you haven't searched the Bible for the answers to your questions, I highly recommend a study of the Old Testament.

In the meantime, let's dive into the commentaries on Luke Chapter 3 and see what we can learn.

Enduring Word Commentary

You'll find a lot of historical context at the beginning of this commentary but my first snippet provides some clarity on the nature of repentance.

i. John’s message was a call to repentance. Some people think that repentance is mostly about feelings, especially feeling sorry for your sin. It is wonderful to feel sorry about your sin, but repent isn’t a “feelings” word. It is an action word. John told his listeners to make a change of the mind, not merely to feel sorry for what they had done. Repentance speaks of a change of direction, not a sorrow in the heart.

That's something to ponder! I recall my mother often saying, 'actions speak louder than words' when as a child I blurted out a half hearted apology. The next snippet joins together this notion of repentance and baptism. I found it useful to understand the difference between John's version of Baptism and our baptism. It underlines the truth that where there is guilt there is a need for cleansing. John is telling the Jews they are guilty of sin against God and they need to acknowledge and repent in an act of cleansing.

i. “Baptism by water, whether understood by the Qumran community as applicable to itself or as preached by Jewish missionaries to Gentile converts symbolized spiritual cleansing from sin, the result of forgiveness.” (Pate)

The Jews had become complacent and thought themselves on solid ground before God. They had faith in their own righteousness and relied on their relationship to Abraham for their salvation. John pulled the rug from under them, telling them that they were far from Gods grace and that their relationship to Abraham was not a ticket to salvation. They were sinners and needed to repent. The Messiah isn't coming to free them from Roman occupation.

Addressing your audience as a family of snakes is not a customary way to begin a sermon. Asking them “why are you here anyway?” isn’t a smooth introduction. But John wasn’t interested in preaching a soft message or in tickling ears.

I'll leave you to ponder further... Dive into this commentary for a thorough verse by verse understanding of Luke 3.

https://enduringword.com/bible-commentary/luke-3/

Bible Ref Commentary

This commentary provides a great summary. Sometimes the fuller commentaries can be a little hard to digest and a simpler overview is helpful. I liked this simple clarity on John's ministry.

"John the Baptist's ministry corresponds to Old Testament prophecy. Centuries before John, Malachi spoke of a herald who would prepare people for Messiah (Malachi 3:1; 4:5–6). Centuries even before Malachi, Isaiah described someone who would point others towards the Promised One (Isaiah 40:3–5). Luke cites Isaiah to indicate John's preaching is a fulfillment of God's promises (Luke 3:4–6)."

There is also a clear and simple explanation of the message John is preaching. Repent or be judged!

"Even as he baptizes, John condemns those who pursue shallow faith. He ominously implies that judgment is near—just as if an axe was resting by the roots of a tree about to be cut down (Luke 3:7–9)."

For a very brief summary, without verse by verse context.

https://www.bibleref.com/Luke/3/Luke-chapter-3.html

Why did Luke's Genealogy of Jesus go back to Adam

I have to confess that when I initially record my personal thoughts at the end of my video, they are not scripted. I simply share my thoughts in real time. I then consider what I say during editing and if I think I've said anything incorrect or misleading, I'll cut them out. On this occasion, I was genuinely in awe of Luke's genealogy. As I said, we are all descendants of Adam and Jesus being fully man and fully God does share that truth in common with us. I'm not attempting to be a theologian, I'm just stating a simplified truth without getting involved in theological debate. Mary is human, Jesus shares her ancestry on his fully human side. It was a miraculous conception and Jesus as we learned in this chapter is the Son of God. Jesus is fully man and fully God, God in the flesh. This isn't contested by faithful Christian theologians. Apparently however, the reason for Luke providing a genealogy back to Adam is.

Sometimes, I scratch my head. Maybe I'm missing something but why wouldn't someone who set out to create an ordered and complete account provide a complete genealogy that went right back to Adam? We know that there are very many different ways of gathering a family tree. Just try doing your own from memory and see how many variations you can come up with following first your Dad and then either following his Mother or alternatively his Father back. Faced with the same choice, many multiple times. I simply can't fathom the tangle theologians and critics get into over the gospel accounts of Jesus's genealogy. I trust the Bible and I take Luke's genealogy as fact. I think the reality he was testifying to is that Jesus is the Son of God on both sides of His family tree. Even on the human side of His family tree. That seems to me, a reasonable and sound reason to include a geaneolgy for Jesus that goes right back to Adam. I do wonder if some scholars, overthink the obvious. I'm not a scholar though, just merely a reader. My mind runs to the question, what happened to Adam, the first created son of God? The answer is that, Adam represents the fall of man into sin. That at the simplest of levels, seems to me to be reason enough that humanity needs a Saviour.

Why was it important that Jesus was fully man and also fully God? It's an important question that I wanted to flag and it leads nicely into the notion that Jesus is the New Adam.

I'll share an article by RC Sproul from the Ligonier Organisation that I personally enjoyed on the subject of the genealogy. I didn't choose it for doctrinal reasons, merely that it was uncomplicated and to me reasonably logical in relation to the context of Luke's writing. It introduces the notion of Jesus being the New Adam. That's certainly something worth pondering 🤔

"Here is another a little pedantic point, but I don’t think it’s so insignificant: Why does Luke take the genealogy all the way to Adam? Of course, one reason is to show that the gospel is not just for the Jews, but for Gentiles as well. However, I’m going to suggest another reason, and this would get me a lot of debate in the theological world because nowhere in Luke’s gospel does Luke ever mention the role of Jesus as the new and second Adam, which is so important to the teaching of the Apostle Paul. However, Luke mentions Jesus’ descent from the first Adam, and it’s inconceivable to me that Paul wouldn’t have discussed with Luke on their missionary journeys the significance of Jesus as the new Adam to redeem us from the failure of the first Adam."

For the full article:

https://learn.ligonier.org/sermons/genealogy-jesus

Maybe after considering Luke Chapter 3, you will find you have more questions than answers. If so, pick up your Bible and keep reading. Pray to the Father in Heaven for guidance and help wil be granted because God is merciful to those who look to Him.