Context No. 3810 of 4322 · Luke

Luke 3:23-38: in context

23Jesus himself, when he began to teach, was about thirty years old, being the son (as was supposed) of Joseph, the son of Heli, 24the son of Matthat, the son of Levi, the son of Melchi, the son of Jannai, the son of Joseph, 25the son of Mattathias, the son of Amos, the son of Nahum, the son of Esli, the son of Naggai, 26the son of Maath, the son of Mattathias, the son of Semein, the son of Joseph, the son of Judah, 27the son of Joanan, the son of Rhesa, the son of Zerubbabel, the son of Shealtiel, the son of Neri, 28the son of Melchi, the son of Addi, the son of Cosam, the son of Elmodam, the son of Er, 29the son of Jose, the son of Eliezer, the son of Jorim, the son of Matthat, the son of Levi, 30the son of Simeon, the son of Judah, the son of Joseph, the son of Jonan, the son of Eliakim, 31the son of Melea, the son of Menan, the son of Mattatha, the son of Nathan, the son of David, 32the son of Jesse, the son of Obed, the son of Boaz, the son of Salmon, the son of Nahshon, 33the son of Amminadab, the son of Aram, the son of Hezron, the son of Perez, the son of Judah, 34the son of Jacob, the son of Isaac, the son of Abraham, the son of Terah, the son of Nahor, 35the son of Serug, the son of Reu, the son of Peleg, the son of Eber, the son of Shelah, 36the son of Cainan, the son of Arphaxad, the son of Shem, the son of Noah, the son of Lamech, 37the son of Methuselah, the son of Enoch, the son of Jared, the son of Mahalaleel, the son of Cainan, 38the son of Enos, the son of Seth, the son of Adam, the son of God.

Luke traces Jesus' family line backward, generation by generation, not stopping at Abraham as Matthew's genealogy does, but going all the way back through David and Abraham to Noah, to Seth, to Adam, the son of God. The long list of names, many of them obscure, carries a deliberate message in where it ends.

By tracing Jesus' lineage back to Adam, the father of all humanity, Luke shows that Jesus is not the Savior of one nation only but of the whole human race. He is truly one of us, sharing the flesh and blood of the entire family of Adam, come to redeem all who descend from him. Here is the wonder of the incarnation set out as a family tree: the eternal Son entered fully into our human story, taking his place in the long line of ordinary and flawed people, so that he could be the new head of a renewed humanity. The Savior traced back to Adam is the Savior who belongs to us all, and who came to undo what Adam lost.

Do I marvel that the Son of God entered fully into the human family, tracing his line back to Adam, so that he could be the Savior of the whole human race, including me?

Sources

Luke 3:23: "Jesus himself... being the son (as was supposed) of Joseph, the son of Heli."
Luke 3:38: "The son of Enos, the son of Seth, the son of Adam, the son of God."
Romans 5:19: "For as through the one man's disobedience the many were made sinners, even so through the obedience of the one, the many will be made righteous."