Now
Jesus Himself began His ministry at about thirty years of age, being (as was
supposed) the son of Joseph, the son of Heli...the son of Enosh, the son of
Seth, the son of Adam, the son of God. (Luke
3:23 ,38 )
Luke, the meticulous historian, in the third chapter
of his Gospel, begins with a list of political leaders to set the historical
context of the ministry of John the Baptist as the herald of King Jesus. Then, he concludes that chapter with another
list of names to set the genealogical context for the mission of the
Messiah. Reading such a catalog of
names—several of which are virtually unknown and even unpronounceable with any
certainty—challenges us to skip over those portions of the text. That would be a mistake. There is a lesson to LEARN!
The royal lineage was what qualified someone to be a
king. Jesus’ heritage establishes His
legal right to the throne of David. But
further, it extends back to Adam, so that He was fully man, but then to God—so
He was fully God. God set Adam in the
Garden and gave him dominion, but in disobedience that was forfeited. Now, Jesus comes as the Last Adam that by His
obedience all that the First Adam lost may be restored. In the next event, Jesus will march right out
into the wilderness and do battle with Satan.
When Satan questioned the Word of God, Adam and Eve were deceived and
disobedient. But when Satan questions
Jesus, Christ will rely on the Word of God and overcome the wicked one.
The genealogies found in Matthew and Luke differ at
certain points. There are at least a
couple of good explanations. I think the
best is that Matthew’s is Joseph’s biological line and establishes Christ’s
legal right to reign through His adoptive father, and Luke gives us the
biological connection through Mary. The
fact that she isn’t mentioned and only Joseph would again be a legal matter,
making her marriage to Joseph meeting the requirement for Christ to be King—and
yet the blood of royalty literally ran through Christ’s veins, imparted by His
mother. Matthew’s genealogy starts with
Abraham and goes through David to Jesus.
This suited Matthew’s purpose to present Jesus as the Messiah of the
Jews—the Son of David and Son of Abraham.
Matthew writes as a Jew to the Jews.
Luke, on the other hand, begins with Jesus and winds his way back
through family history to Adam and his creation by God. Luke is a Gentile addressing a Gentile
audience. His intent is to present Jesus
as the Son of Man and Savior of the world.
The missionary heart of Luke’s mentor, Paul, always bleeds through his
writing.
Jesus is the only One qualified to be our
Mediator. He is both one of us and Other
than us—Son of God and son of Adam—that He might bring men to God. Understanding who Jesus is should lead us to
cry out to Him as Savior and bow before Him as Lord. That is essential for getting ready to meet
God.
Are you prepared to meet God? If not, then you need to come to Christ
without delay! You may be connected with
the church, but have you truly repented of your sins? Is there fruit? If not then the ax of judgment will fall!
If you have repented of your sins, have you publicly acknowledged
that in baptism? Following Christ into
the water is a necessary first step in following Him for a lifetime.
As John prepared the way for Christ’s first coming, so
we are to prepare people for His second.
Are you being God’s voice in the world?
Do you fear and back down? Let us
pray for the boldness of that herald of the King, John the Baptist. Let us summon the lowliest of society to know
they can be forgiven and be washed and made children of the King. May we not hesitate to confront the highest
in authority and call them sinners in need of repentance though such courageous
conviction costs us dearly. It would
cost John everything.
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