In
Luke’s birth narrative (Luke 1:4-2:52), Luke demonstrates that whether there is
unbelief (the priest Zechariah) or belief (Mary, Elizabeth, Shepherds, Anna,
Simeon), the Messiah has arrived who has fulfilled the Abrahamic and Davidic
covenants. The Forerunner John called the people to repentance and holy living
according to the Scriptures (John 3:1-20). Now Messiah Himself arrives on the
scene to both inaugurate his ministry with baptism and divine confirmation of
his identity and also demonstrate his ancestral claim to Messiahship.
Key Truth: Luke
wrote Luke 3:21-38 to teach believers that Jesus’ baptism and genealogy
confirm him as Messiah, King of Israel and Lord of the Nations.
Key Application: Today I
want to show you what God’s Word says about Jesus’ baptism and genealogy.
Pray and Read:
Luke 3:21-38
Sermon Points:
1. Jesus’
baptism confirms Him as Messiah (Luke 3:21-23a)
2. Jesus’
genealogy confirms Him as Messiah (Luke 3:23b-38)
Exposition: Note
well,
a.
Jesus’
baptism marks the beginning of his public ministry. For Luke, the descent of
the Holy Spirit on Jesus signifies his “anointing” as the Messiah and his
empowerment to accomplish the task God had set for him (Luke 4:1, 14, 18). The
voice from heaven is a divine confirmation that Jesus is the Messiah and the
Son of God (Matt. 3:13-17; Mark 1:9-11).
b.
Luke 3:21 – Prayer is an important theme in Luke’s
Gospel to watch. Luke portrays Jesus praying at significant points in his
ministry: at baptism (Luke 3:21); after cleansing a leper (Luke 5:16), before
calling the Twelve (Luke 6:12), before Peter’s confession (Luke 9:18), at the
Transfiguration (Luke 9:28), before teaching the disciples to pray (Luke 11:1),
for Peter to be restored (Luke 22:32); in the Garden (Luke 22:41, 44), for his
murderers from the cross (Luke 23:34), and with his last breath (Luke 23:46).
c.
As
a result, heaven opens, an image common in apocalyptic literature about the end
times. The point here is that He is the Revelation and that the Jesus is the
fulfillment of all of Scripture.
d.
Luke 3:22 – Holy Spirit descended
like a dove. Some
interpret here a connection with Gen 1:2 and the hovering over the waters,
making Jesus part of a New Creation. Others allude to Gen 8:8-12 where Noah’s
dove represents God’s deliverance after judgment. Neither interpretation has
strong verbal parallels. The main point is that Luke wants us to know that the
Lord in Trinitarian fashion has publicly signified that this Jesus is the
Messiah, the second person of the Trinity.
e.
Luke 3:22 – “You are My Son, whom I
love: The voice
alludes to Psalm 2:7 (Messiah’s divine sonship and legitimate rule from Zion);
Isaiah 42:1 (The faithful Servant is identified as God’s chosen one; and
perhaps Gen 22:2, 12, 16 (where Isaac is described as Abraham’s only son, whom
you love with Isaac being prophetic of Jesus and Abraham’s willingness to offer
his son as prophetic of the Father’s willingness to offer His. If all three
allusions are present, Luke is making an extraordinary statement about Jesus’
identity. He is the promised Messiah, who
will fulfill the role of the Lord’s suffering Servant through his sacrificial
death.
f.
APPLICATION: The connections made here between
the Old Testament and the Gospel of Luke give us clear confidence that Jesus is
the promised Messiah to come whose sacrifice of his life on the Cross and
subsequent Resurrection defeated death and brought the fulfillment of the
covenants of Abraham and David to fruit. This is the hope of the Gospel, and it
is available to all the nations, even you. Will you confess your sin to him and
submit your life to this Jesus? He loved you enough to die for you. He is
living now, sitting at the right hand of the Father. Will you make him your
Lord?
2.
JESUS’ GENEALOGY CONFIRMS HIM AS
MESSIAH (LUKE 3:23B-38)
a.
The
genealogy that follows is not just space filler. It fits an important part of
Luke’s Gospel to provide further confirmation that Jesus is the Messiah.
Remember that all Scripture is God-breathed and useful for teaching,
correcting, rebuking, and training in righteousness. Some passages of Scripture
are not “more inspired” than others.
b.
Literally, verse 23b reads: “And Jesus himself was beginning
about thirty years, being son, as was supposed, of Joseph, of the Eli, of the
Mattat, of the Levi, etc. If Joseph is the son of Eli, then it contradicts with
Matt. 1:16 which says Jacob was the father of Joseph, but both genealogies
employ unusual language with respect to Jesus, both asserting that he had no
human father in the ordinary sense. Luke distinguishes Joseph from Jesus’ direct
ancestry by not including the word “the” before Joseph in the original Greek.
By omitting the article, Joseph’s name is separated from the genealogical link
and set aside on its own. Luke gives the geneaology of Mary, daughter of Eli,
making Jesus the grandson “of the Eli” while Jesus’ relationship with Joseph is
portrayed as “son, as supposed,” not actually.
c.
What
do the genealogies mean? Simply, Matthew’s genealogy is the genealogy of Joseph
who was Jesus’ legal father (Luke 4:22; John 1:45; 6:42). Just as in Matthew’s
genealogy, Luke traces Jesus’ ancestry back through David and Abraham,
confirming that he is the fulfillment of the Abrahamic and Davidic covenants,
something we have seen in all the songs and angelic announcements of the birth
narrative.
d.
But
how can Jesus claim David’s throne if he is not descended through the Kingly
line of Solomon? Against him is that even if Luke’s genealogy is Mary’s and
goes back to David, royal descent is not counted through the mother. If Jesus
is not Joseph’s physical father, even if legally adopted, cannot satisfy 2 Sam
7:12’s promise to David. No?
e.
First
of all, inheritance could be passed through the mother under the Law as long as
the daughter married within the bloodline (the daughters of Zelophehad, Num 27;
36:6-7). Mary did marry within the bloodline of Judah, of David, and possibly
Jacob and Heli were brothers as well.
f.
Second,
we do know from the field of medicine the natural processes involved in
fertilization cause the father’s mitochondrial DNA never to be passed on to his
children. Mitochondrial DNA are passed only through the female from one
generation to the next. Mitochondria enable the body to
aerobically respirate and without mitochondria, human tissue would be unable to
sustain its metabolic pathway – without the mother’s mitochondria, the new
person’s tissue would produce so much heat that it would boil.[1]
Unless the Lord overruled this process then, Jesus carried
Holy-Spirit-overshadowed, human mitochondrial DNA – what the theologians call human nature – from his mother.
g.
So – did Jesus have Mary’s DNA, her
genetic data? The
short answer is yes, he did. There are two reasons. One is scientific. The more
important one is Scriptural. He not only fulfilled 2 Sam 7:12, but also Gen
3:15: “And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your
offspring (seed) and her Offspring (seed); He will bruise and tread your head
underfoot, and you will lie in wait and bruise His heel.” Paul explains
in Galatians 3:16, “Now the promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed.
He does not say, ‘And to seeds,’ as referring to many, but rather to one, ‘And
to your seed,’ that is, Christ.” Galatians 4:4 “But when the proper time
had fully come, God sent His Son, born of a woman, born subject to the
regulations of the Law.”
h.
Jesus is the seed of Abraham through whom all nations
on earth will be blessed and the seed of David who will reign forever on
Israel’s throne. Yet there are differences with Matthew’s genealogy (Matt. 1).
Matthew’s begins with Abraham. Luke goes
all the way back to Adam, pointing to Luke’s point that Jesus is for all the
nations, not just Israel.
i.
Luke 3:23 – Thirty was viewed in Jewish and
Greco-Roman cultures as an appropriate age to enter public service. Priests
began their work at age 30 (Num 4:3). Joseph enter Pharaoh’s service at age 30
(Gen 41:46). Ezekiel was called as a prophet at age 30 (Ezek. 1:1). More
significantly, David began his reign at age 30 (2 Sam 5:4), following in his
father David’s steps.
j.
Zerubbabel (Luke 3:27) – was appointed governor of Judea
by the Persians after the Exile. He supervised the rebuilding of the Temple
(Ezra 3:2, 8) and was exhorted by the prophets Haggai and Zechariah to finish
the rebuilding (Hag 1:1-15; Zech 4:6-10). He shows up in both the Matthean and
Lukan genealogies.
k.
Luke 3:31 - Nathan, son of David – The third son of David, born at Jerusalem (1
Sam 5:14). Mary is descended through him.
l.
Luke 3:38 - The son of Adam, the son
of God – Adam being the “son of God” means
that he was directly created by God and
not born of another person. There is an implicit comparison to Jesus, too. The
first son of God failed in obedience to God. The true Son of God will succeed
when tested (Luke 4:1-13).
m. APPLICATION:
Jesus is the
Messiah promised to Israel and the Jews, and the genealogy (that at first seems
out of place, but in reality is placed exactly where Luke wants it to prove
Messiah’s identity) is further evidence, corroborated with Matthew to the public
Jewish synagogue records of the day. Any rabbi could have easily disputed Jesus’
identity based on their own public genealogical tables, but none did. Jesus is
the son of David and the son of Abraham. What does this mean to you? It means
He is the Promised One on whom the Hope of the Nations rests. Embrace Him as
the One who saves you from your sins. Submit to Him as the Sovereign God who
rules all. Hail Him as the King of the Nations. Receive Him as Lord.
Invitation:
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