Genealogy of Jesus

Luke 3:23-38 from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

Genealogy of Jesus 

When He began His ministry, Jesus Himself was about thirty years old, being, as was commonly held, the son of Joseph, the son of Eli, ²⁴ the son of Matthat, the son of Levi, the son of Melchi, the son of Jannai, the son of Joseph, ²⁵ the son of Mattathias, the son of Amos, the son of Nahum, the son of Hesli, the son of Naggai, ²⁶ the son of Maath, the son of Mattathias, the son of Semein, the son of Josech, the son of Joda, ²⁷ the son of Joanan, the son of Rhesa, the son of Zerubbabel, the son of Shealtiel, the son of Neri, ²⁸ the son of Melchi, the son of Addi, the son of Cosam, the son of Elmadam, the son of Er, ²⁹ the son of Joshua, the son of Eliezer, the son of Jorim, the son of Matthat, the son of Levi, ³⁰ the son of Simeon, the son of Judah, the son of Joseph, the son of Jonam, the son of Eliakim, ³¹ the son of Melea, the son of Menna, the son of Mattatha, the son of Nathan, the son of David, ³² the son of Jesse, the son of Obed, the son of Boaz, the son of Salmon, the son of Nahshon, ³³ the son of Amminadab, the son of Admin, the son of Ram, the son of Hezron, the son of Perez, the son of Judah, ³⁴ the son of Jacob, the son of Isaac, the son of Abraham, the son of Terah, the son of Nahor, ³⁵ the son of Serug, the son of Reu, the son of Peleg, the son of Heber, the son of Shelah, ³⁶ the son of Cainan, the son of Arphaxad, the son of Shem, the son of Noah, the son of Lamech, ³⁷ the son of Methuselah, the son of Enoch, the son of Jared, the son of Mahalaleel, the son of Cainan, ³⁸ the son of Enosh, the son of Seth, the son of Adam, the son of God.

Genealogies are important in the Jewish faith, since the tribes were given different inheritances and responsibilities in ministry, usually marriages were between men and women of the same tribe. Jesus line to David can be traced through both Joseph and also through Mary. Jesus genealogy is important to us also for several reasons. That Jesus can be traced to David fulfills the prophecy that the line of David would be on the throne forever, Even if there is no king in Israel, Jesus is the King of Kings. Jesus, through His birth, His life, His death and resurrection fulfilled over 300 Messianic prophecies. That alone is more than enough to prove both the accuracy of God’s word and the fact that Jesus is the Christ, the Messiah.

Consider this from The SeedofAbraham.net

With just 8 of the more than 100 Old Testament prophecies that Jesus fulfilled concerning the Messiah, it’s mathematically irrefutable that He is the true Savior and God the Son. Here are 8 of those prophecies: 1. The Messiah of Israel would be born in Bethlehem, Israel (Micah 5:2; Matthew 2:1; Luke 2:4-6). 2. The Messiah of Israel would be a descendant of Jacob (Numbers 24:17; Matthew 1:2). 3. The Messiah of Israel would enter Jerusalem riding on a donkey (Zechariah 9:9; Mark 11:4-11). 4. The Messiah of Israel would be betrayed by a friend (Psalm 41:9; Luke 22:47-48). 5. The Messiah would be spat upon, struck and his beard pulled out (Isaiah 50:6; Matthew 26:67). 6. The Messiah’s hands and feet would be pierced (Psalm 22:16; Zechariah 12:10; John 20:25-27). 7. Soldiers would gamble for the Messiah’s garments (Psalm 22:18; Luke 23:34). 8. The Messiah would die before the Second Temple was destroyed (Daniel 9:24-27; Luke 23:33f. Jesus was crucified in 30 AD. The Second Temple was destroyed by the Roman Army in 70 AD). The chances that one man could fulfill those 8 prophecies are one in one hundred quadrillion or one in 100,000,000,000,000,000.

Perhaps though, even more than the irrefutable evidence that Jesus is the Messiah, the genealogy of Christ gives us a wonderful illustration of the redemption that He would bring through the cross. That Jesus lineage is traced through imperfect people assures us of the full redemptive power of the cross.  Starting at the beginning it says: Seth, the son of Adam, the son of God.  It was through Adam and Eve that sin was introduced into the world. Every sin that follows was established on the sin of disobedience to God. We see: Jacob, son of Isaac, the son of Abraham, all fathers of the faith, but also son’s of sin and disobedience. Their failures are revealed to us along with their faith in the accounts of their lives. There is Perez, the son of Judah. Perez was born to Judah’s daughter-in-law, conceived out of wedlock.

We see listed: David, the son of Jesse, the son of Obed, the son of Boaz. Boaz married Ruth the Moabitess.  In Genesis 19:30-37 it says: Now Lot went up from Zoar with his two daughters and stayed in the mountains, because he was afraid to stay in Zoar; and he stayed in a cave, he and his two daughters. Then the firstborn said to the younger, “Our father is old, and there is not a man on earth to have relations with us according to the custom of all the earth. Come, let’s make our father drink wine, and let’s sleep with him so that we may keep our family alive through our father.” So they made their father drink wine that night, and the firstborn went in and slept with her father; and he did not know when she lay down or got up. On the following day, the firstborn said to the younger, “Look, I slept last night with my father; let’s make him drink wine tonight too, then you go in and sleep with him, so that we may keep our family alive through our father.” So they had their father drink wine that night too, and the younger got up and slept with him; and he did not know when she lay down or got up. And so both of the daughters of Lot conceived by their father. The firstborn gave birth to a son, and named him Moab; he is the father of the Moabites to this day.

David himself, the one from whom the eternal reign was promised, was one of the greatest worshipers and warriors in all of scripture. God Himself said of David that he was a man after His own heart.(1 Samuel 13:14) David was also though a deeply flawed man. He was an adulterer and a murderer. His action in ordering a census to be taken caused the deaths of thousands of his people.(2 Samuel 24:1-17) Surely in the accounts of the lives of the others listed in  the genealogy of Jesus, we would find sins of every kind. Here’s the thing: Adam, the son of God, was created by God in perfection. In Genesis 1:26 it says: Then God said, “Let Us make mankind in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the livestock and over all the earth, and over every crawling thing that crawls on the earth.”   Through sin, all of creation was made imperfect.  Through Jesus, God’s Son, who was Himself perfect, imperfection is redeemed and we are restored to perfection. The genealogy of Christ is a beautiful picture of the redemption He brought to us. 2 Corinthians 5:17 says: If anyone is in Christ, this person is a new creation; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come. 

We each have that opportunity to be redeemed and made new in Christ. A time will come when Jesus will again make all things new. Revelation 21:5-8 says: He who sits on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new... It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give water to the one who thirsts from the spring of the water of life, without cost.  The one who overcomes will inherit these things, and I will be his God and he will be My son. But for the cowardly, and unbelieving, and abominable, and murderers, and sexually immoral persons, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, their part will be in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.”  

Heavenly Father, from son of God to Son of God, our Lord, Savior and Redeemer. Thank You that there is no sin so great that the cross cannot redeem us from it. Thank You Holy Spirit for the conviction of sin in our lives that we might confess and be redeemed. Thank You that through the cross, my imperfection is made perfect in Your sight. Amen.