Luke 3:23-38

Luke 3:23-38

And Jesus was Himself about thirty years while beginning, while being a son – as it was being thought – of Joseph, of Heli, of Matthat, of Levi, of Melchi, of Jannai, of Joseph, of Mattathias, of Amos, of Nahum, of Esli, of Naggai, of Maath, of Semein, of Josech, of Joda, of Joanan, of Resa, of Zorobabel, of Salathiel, of Neri, of Melchi, of Addi, of Cossam, of Elmadam, of Er, of Jesus, of Eliezer, of Jorim, of Matthat, of Levi, of Simeon, of Judah, of Joseph, of Jonam, of Eliakim, of Melea, of Menna, of Mattatha, of Nathan, of David, of Jesse, of Obed, of Boaz, of Salah, of Na’asson, of Aminadab, of Admin, of Arni, of Hezron, of Perez, of Judah, of Jacob, of Isaac, of Abraham, of Tarah, of Nachor, of Serouch, of Ragau, of Palek, of Eber, of Salah, of Cainam, of Arphaxad, of Sem, of Noah, of Lamech, of Methusala, of Enoch, of Jaret, of Maleleel, of Cainam, of Enos, of Seth, of Adam, of God.

Thoughts for Today

First Thought:

As we open this passage, we get two very interesting phrases.  First of all, we hear that Jesus was about thirty.  I’ve often wondered why Jesus waited until He was thirty before satisfying His calling.  I think the answer is really simple.  For Jesus to be taken seriously as a genuine teacher of the faith, He needed to look the part.  He’s God, so of course He could have done the task at any age.  But for the human beings around Him to accept Him, Jesus would need to look like a person who had lived long enough to have wisdom.

How does this show us that God is willing to meet human ideals as misguided as they might be?  What ideals have you met in the past even though they truly weren’t necessary to accomplish God’s will?

Second Thought:

The second interesting phrase is that we hear of Jesus being a son of Joseph “as it was being thought.”  In other words, Luke is truly to subtly remind us that the world saw Jesus as Joseph’s boy.  But in reality, Jesus was God’s Son.  Luke is trying to subtly remind us of this fact while also trying desperately to not offend Joseph or minimize his role.  Joseph was a good man, chosen by God for this role.  But ultimately, Jesus was God’s Son.

Was does Luke’s skill in writing tell us about his purpose of writing this book?  How do you think that Luke felt about Joseph?  How do you feel about Joseph?

Third Thought:

There are two genealogies in the Bible.  We studied one of them a while ago in Matthew 1:1-17.  Here we get Luke’s version.  What I really love about Luke’s version is that he takes the genealogy all the way back to Adam.  This really shows Luke’s eye for his audience.  Matthew only went back to Abraham because Matthew is writing predominantly to the Jews.  Matthew was proving Jesus’ Jewish heritage.  However, Luke goes the whole way back Adam.  Luke isn’t interested in showing why Jesus belongs to the Jews.  Luke is interested in showing why Jesus belonged to all creation.  Jesus is the Son of God, descended from the very being that God Himself made.  Jesus came to save all of creation.

Have you ever seen this passage as proof that Jesus came to save the whole world?  Why is this an important fact to remember?

Passage for Tomorrow: Luke 4:1-2