Luke 3:23-38
"And Jesus himself began to be about thirty years of age, being (as was supposed) the son of Joseph, which was the son of Heli," Luke 3:23. Luke wears many hats, one of which is the historian hat. Through the first three chapters of Luke's gospel, he has given us the names of historical figures, and events surrounding these men, which allows us to get a time-line of when all these events pertaining to the life of Christ were taking place (Luke 1:5; 2:1-3, 41-42; 3:1-2). Lord willing, today we will look at the genealogy of Christ. One of the most challenging parts of the genealogy is trying to pronounce all the names correctly.
In Luke 3:23, Jesus is about thirty years old. At twelve years of age Jesus told His mother that He must be about His Father's business. Now at the age of thirty, He is baptized by John the Baptist and is about to start His public ministry. Christ is Prophet, Priest, and King. The office of a prophet or king could start at any age as we see with the prophet Samuel and king Josiah, but the office of a priest could not start until the age of thirty according to the law (Numbers 4). God does everything decently and in order. "But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law," Galatians 4:4. We have also learned that Christ was born at Bethlehem. This is significant, not just for the Christmas story, but for the fulfillment of Christ being the rightful King of Israel (Micah 5:2).
Christ was born in Bethlehem at the time when a census was being taken. His name would have been recorded in the town's registry, but this census by Caesar Augustus makes sure that His name was recorded. Why is this important? The Jews kept up with family records. Genealogy's are something you find throughout the Old Testament. We don't like to read them, and most people have no idea what "begat" means, but they are very important. By the records that were kept, we know where Christ was born, and we know that He is in the line of David. The religious leaders mocked Jesus as a prophet (Luke 22:63-65), and as the Christ (Luke 23:35), but they never denied that He was in the line of David. They could not deny this fact because of the genealogy, and the records that would have been kept in Bethlehem. Again, we may sigh when we see a genealogy, but this genealogy is more evidence that Jesus is who He claimed to be.
It was supposed that Jesus was the son of Joseph (Luke 4:22). Joseph was espoused to Mary when she was found with child of the Holy Ghost (Matthew 2:18-25). Joseph raised Jesus. Jesus was known as the son of a carpenter. In Luke 2:48, Mary calls Joseph Jesus' father. Here is a quote by John Gill regarding Joseph being called Jesus's father, "By a rule which obtains with the Jews, "that he that brings up, and not he that begets, is called the "father" or parent." We know according to the bible that Jesus is the eternal Son of God, but the local people of that day viewed Jesus as the son of Joseph because Joseph raised Jesus. According to the bible, Joseph also knew that Jesus is the eternal Son of God.
Here in Luke 3:23 we read that Joseph is the son of Heli, but in Matthew 1:16 we read, "And Jacob begat Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ." Did Matthew or Luke make a mistake; or have we found a contradiction in the bible? We must be careful not to try to interpret the bible from our American view. Neither Matthew nor Luke made a mistake, and this is not a contradiction. In Matthew's genealogy we read that Jacob begat Joseph. Joseph is the seed of Jacob, and Matthew takes us all the way back to David, and then to Abraham. Joseph is in the kingly line of David. Luke gives us the genealogy from Mary's line. Mary's father's name was Heli. Again, because of the custom of the Jews, Mary's name is not mentioned. Mary and Joseph were both in the line of David. Luke takes us all the way back to Adam. "Thus, as Matthew gives us the regal line of Christ, shewing him to be heir to the throne of his father David, Luke gives the natural line of Christ; and as Matthew traces his genealogy down from Abraham, in a descending line, to Joseph, the husband of Mary, the mother of Jesus, Luke traces it upwards, in an ascending line, from Mary by Joseph, even up to Adam; to whom the Messiah was first promised, and who was a type of the second Adam, from whom he descended, though not by ordinary generation; nay, even to God himself: Christ, according to his divine nature, was the only-begotten of the father; and as to his human nature, had a body prepared by him, and in the fulness of time was God manifested in the flesh." John Gill.
This may seem like a lot of information that you are not really interested in, but I hope you see how important it is that we understand these truths. The critics will come at us from any angle they can. I won't go through every name in these verses, though some of them are interesting to know about, but if you look in verse 38, we see the line goes all the way back to Adam. Adam was not begotten by God, but was created by God. "And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul," Genesis 2:7. After Adam named all the animals, God made a helpmeet for Adam, and her name was Eve. Adam is the head of our race. God only made one race of man. It doesn't matter what the color of your skin is, or what your nationality is, if you are a human being, you descend from Adam. Adam is our federal head. This means Adam represented us. He acted on our behalf. Well, what did Adam do? He willfully sinned. "And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest eat: But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die," Genesis 2:16-17.
Turn to Genesis 3:1-21. In Adam all die (Romans 5:12). All are born spiritually dead, and all die physically. You may think that you are not that bad of a sinner, but the sin that Adam committed God judged to the utmost. All Adam did was eat what he was told not to eat. The point I am making is that in the genealogy of Christ we see a line of people from Joseph and Mary's lines who died. Death is a fact of life. In Adam, all have sinned. We are naturally born in Adam. We are born a sinner in need of the Saviour. We are born needing to be born again. All who are in Adam die; but all who are in Christ live. We are born in the sin of Adam; we are born again in the righteousness of Christ. Have you been born again?
One day some of your descendants will look back through their lineage and see your name. They won't see you because you will be dead. You will be in eternity. Where will you spend eternity? I beg you to trust Jesus Christ alone to forgive you of your sins. Christ is our Substitute. He took our place. "All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out," John 6:37. Please send questions and comments to richardsonbaptistchurch@gmail.com. Soli Deo Gloria.
