St. Luke 3:23-38: "Now Jesus Himself began His ministry at about thirty years of age, being (as was supposed) the son of Joseph, the son of Heli, 24 the son of Matthat, the son of Levi, the son of Melchi, the son of Janna, the son of Joseph, 25 the son of Mattathiah, the son of Amos, the son of Nahum, the son of Esli, the son of Naggai, 26 the son of Maath, the son of Mattathiah, the son of Semei, the son of Joseph, the son of Judah, 27 the son of Joannas, 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 Elmodam, the son of Er, 29 the son of Jose, 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 Jonan, the son of Eliakim, 31 the son of Melea, the son of Menan, the son of Mattathah, 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 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 Eber, 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 Mahalalel, the son of Cainan, 38 the son of Enos, the son of Seth, the son of Adam, the son of God."
I imagine there are some people who get to these sections in Scripture, the ones with a long list of names, and think, "filler . . . skip." But these genealogies do relay more than just a person's bloodline. Today we get the bloodline of our dear Lord Jesus from the Evangelist St. Luke.
Let us begin by pointing out the differences between St. Luke's genealogy and St. Matthew's genealogy (St. Matthew 1:1-17): Here are two major differences. First, St. Matthew descends from Abraham to Jesus; St. Luke ascends from Jesus to God. Second, St. Matthew includes in his genealogy a reminder of certain people's sins (Tamar, who bore Perez by playing the harlot to get Jacob to sleep with her; Rahab, whose trade was a harlot, gave birth to Boaz, the grandfather of David; Bathsheba, who isn't even called by name, but rather given the title of "her of Uriah," who gave birth to Solomon the son of David; there is also included the listing of all the wicked kings of Judah, who disobeyed God). Therefore, one could say that St. Matthew's geneaology is full of sinners. This is not so with St. Luke, St. Luke leaves out the infidelities in our Lord Jesus' lineage. Both St. Matthew's and St. Luke's geneaology is by design. St. Matthew wishes to portray that the Savior of mankind has come that was promised to Abraham. St. Luke, however, is portraying the righteousness of Christ.
This is why St. Luke's genealogy takes place directly after the baptism of our dear Lord Jesus. In the same way that He purified the waters of the Jordan, and thereby purified all water for baptism, drowning the Old Adam in the River Jordan, He now purifies His whole lineage, all the way back to God. The genealogy starts with the Son of God, our Lord Jesus, and ends with the son of God, Adam. The first son of God, Adam, was made by Father, the second Son of God, was begotten by the Father. Adam was created in the image of God, but on account of his sin, that image was corrupted and distorted. Our Lord Jesus restores that image, it was for this reason that He descended from the Father, in order that He might ascend back to the Father, bringing Adam (and all who are is descendants by adoption into Christ) with Him.
Therefore, this genealogy ties back into the baptism of Our Lord Jesus, because just as the voice from heaven declared that our Lord Jesus was His "beloved Son," so too are we His beloved Sons by adoption, through this baptism. Hence, when people ask you, "Who is your father?" You may rightly reply, "My Father is God the Father in heaven."
This is the gift of our dear Lord Jesus to us. Adam destroyed the Father/son relationship he had with the Father, but our Lord Christ restores that Father/Son relationship. And He transfers to us that relationship. We are all now God the Father's sons, on account of our baptism. And make note that I did not say "sons and daughters," this is both theologically and Scripturally incorrect. The inheritance belonged to the firstborn son. Our dear Lord Jesus is the firstborn Son, and through baptism, He makes us co-heirs with Him. He makes us all "sons." Both male and female.
But this should not cause anyone any great consternation, for by calling all those who are adopted into this sonship, "sons," our Father in heaven is claiming us as His own. He is saying to us, that He loves us as much as He loves His Firstborn Son, our Lord Jesus. And just as our Lord Jesus is perfect and holy, so too are we, on account of Him, perfect and holy through our baptism. So that, even as our Lord Jesus is called the Son of God, we too are called sons of God. And thereby receive all the benefits of sonship, that is, eternal life with our Father in heaven.
Rejoice this day that our Father in heaven as called us His sons through the waters of baptism, and pours out upon us His grace.
God be with you!
Deacon Dulas
The geneology from Luke was in the Treasury of Daily Prayer this week. I read it aloud with my parents while visiting them. I will confess breezing through the geneology to get to the narrative, so it was not real familiar to me. So I was a little taken aback when reading, "...the son of Seth; the son of Adam, the son of God." So much for considering the creation account as a metaphor!
ReplyDeleteAlso, I was thinking about whether "son of God" should be capitalized. Since it refers to Adam as opposed to Jesus, that would make it lower case.
Actually, "Son of God" in the title refers to our Lord Jesus.
ReplyDeleteAlso, thanks for pointing out a part of the genealogy I did not get to because of length. Another difference between St. Matthew's and St. Luke's genealogies is that St. Matthew begins with Abraham, where as St. Luke takes it all the way back to the creation of Adam. This indeed disproves what some so-called theologians believe about creation, which is nothing more than an attempt to teach evolution.