Luke 03.23-38
The beginning of the ministry of Jesus was when He was baptized (Luke 03.21-22; Acts 01.21-22) and He was thirty years old. His baptism was His first
public act of His ministry. Luke 03.23 “thirty years of age” is the age at
which the priests began serving (Numbers 04.03; Numbers 04.35; Numbers 04.39;
Numbers
04.43; Numbers 04.47). The age of thirty is that age that
a man from a Jewish point of view was not too young to be in a position of
spiritual authority, yet not too old for a vigorous ministry. Dr. Luke seems to
be the only Gospel writer that tells us how old Jesus was when He began His
public ministry.
What we will study today in The
Genealogy of Jesus…01. The Two
Genealogies of Jesus; 02. Descendant
of David and Abraham; and 03. The
Jeconiah Problem.
01. The Two Genealogies of Jesus
Of all the genealogies found throughout Scripture, the
most important is the genealogy of Jesus. A genealogy may not seem like much,
but it establishes Jesus’ credentials as a member of the human race. There
are two genealogies of Jesus in the Bible. The first one is found in Matthew
01.01-17 and the second one is found here in our text of Luke 03.23-38.
It was well known at this time that if you were a Jew you could trace your
lineage all the way to Abraham. For example, Josephus traced his own genealogy
from “the public records” (Autobiography, paragraph 1). So if there were
any errors in the genealogy of Matthew
(Matthew
01.01-16) or Luke (Luke 03.23-38),
the critics could have easily pointed out the errors and refuted what they
wrote.
Matthew (Matthew 01.01-17) traces the genealogy of Jesus starting with Abraham all
the way through to Joseph, the supposed father of Jesus.
Matthew 01.01 “1
The record of the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah, the son of David, the son of
Abraham:”
Contrary to Jewish custom,
Matthew’s genealogy includes four women from the Old Testament. Each one of
these women were questionable in one way or another. Tamar (Genesis
38.01-30; Matthew 01.03) and
Rahab (Joshua
02.01; Matthew 01.05) were
both prostitutes, Ruth was a foreigner from Moab (Ruth 01.04; Matthew 01.05) and Bathsheba was an adulterer (2Samuel
11.02-05; Matthew 01.06).
Many of the men in this list were questionable as well. For
example: Abraham (Matthew 01.02; Luke 03.34)
was an idolater (Joshua 24.02), and he lied about his wife twice (Genesis
12.10-20; Genesis 20.01-17). He also married his wife’s
handmaid out of the will of God (Genesis 16.01-16) and had a son named Ishmael
through that union. Isaac (Matthew 01.02; Luke 03.34)
favored Esau (Genesis
25.27-28) and tried to bless Esau (Genesis 27.01-04) instead of the
child (Jacob) chosen by the LORD (Genesis 25.19-26). Jacob (Matthew 01.02; Luke 03.34) lived up to his name as “heel
catcher” and was a deceiver (Genesis 27.05-30). Jacob also favored his wife
Rachel over Leah (Genesis 29.30) and her son Joseph (Genesis
37.01-17) over his other sons. Judah (Matthew 01.02-03; Luke 03.33)
was one of the brothers who tried to get rid of Joseph (Genesis 37.18-36). Judah also
lied to his daughter-in-law Tamar because he thought she was a black widow (Genesis
38.01-11) and kept his youngest son from marrying her. He then was
tricked by Tamar (Genesis 38.12-26) and slept with her, and from
that she bore twins (Genesis 38.27-30). David (Matthew 01.06; Luke 03.31)
was an adulterer (2Samuel 11.02-05). Solomon (Matthew
01.06-07) had seven hundred wives and three hundred concubines (1Kings 11.03-08)
who turned his heart away from the LORD. We just
looked at the most well-known people in the line of Jesus, and it is filled
with people who were great sinners.
The theme of the Book of
Matthew is that Jesus is the true King of the Jews. So this is why we see
the genealogy of Jesus through Joseph, to make that claim. The genealogy in the
Book of Luke, by contrast, makes a
theological claim, that Jesus is the true Son of God by tracing his genealogy
all the way back to God (Luke 03.38).
Adam was the first man, he did not come about by himself,
and of course he had no mother or father. God created him, out of the dust of the
ground (Genesis
01.26-27; Genesis 02.07). Every other human came from a
mother and a father, but Adam. Dr. Luke takes his genealogy from the Second
Adam (Luke
03.23; 1Corinthians 15.45 ; 1Corinthians 15.47) to the first
Adam (Luke 03.38;
1Corinthians
15.45; 1Corinthians 15.47). If God could create man
out of the dust of the ground (Genesis 01.26-27; Genesis 02.07), than its natural
to assume that He could have a virgin Jewish girl give birth the Second Adam (Luke 03.23;
1Corinthians
15.45; 1Corinthians 15.47).
02. Descendant of David and Abraham
In both genealogies (Matthew 01.01-17; Luke 03.23-38) we see that Jesus is
not only a descendant of Abraham, but of David as well.
Paul reminds Timothy, the young pastor of the church at
Ephesus to “Remember
Jesus Christ, risen from the dead, descendant of David, according to my
gospel,” (2Timothy 02.08). In telling Timothy to be
reminded of Jesus, Paul mentions that Jesus is a “descendant” of David. The Greek
word for “descendant” in this passage is (G4690. sperma) sperma and it means offspring,
seed, or children. In 1Timothy 01.04, Paul brought up the futility
of genealogies and said that genealogies were a source of pride for the Jews
and the false teachers. To the Jews, being able to trace their genealogy all
the way back to Abraham was a source of pride for them. The faith that Paul was
warning Timothy about (1Timothy 01.04) was a
legalistic type of faith, not the saving faith that you and I know about (Ephesians
02.08-10).
Throughout
the New Testament we see that Jesus is the seed of David (Acts 02.30;
Acts 13.22;
Romans
01.01-07; Revelation 05.05).
One difference between the two
genealogies in Matthew (Matthew
01.01-17) and Luke (Luke 03.23-38)
is that Dr. Luke traces the genealogy through David’s son Nathan (Luke 03.31;
2Samuel
05.14; 1Chronicles 03.05; 1Chronicles 14.04; Zechariah 12.12)
and Matthew through Solomon (Matthew 01.06-07; 2Samuel 05.14; 1Chronicles
03.05; 1Chronicles 14.04). The
Jews were meticulous in copying their genealogies, which were very important to
them. They kept the genealogies in the Temple, and having the genealogies
proved that they were descendants of Abraham, a large source of pride for them.
03. The Jeconiah Problem
In Matthew 01.11-12, Matthew
records for us about a man named Jeconiah (also known as Coniah and Jehoiachin). Jeconiah’s son never occupied the throne of David because
he was deported to Babylon along with the rest of the nation (2Kings 24.10-25.30; 2Chronicles 36.11-23; Jeremiah 52.01-34). Why was it important for Matthew (Matthew 01.11-12) to point out
that Jeconiah had his son Shealtiel in the Babylonian captivity?
The answer starts with the prophet
Jeremiah, who in Jeremiah 13.15-27
warned Jeconiah’s (Coniah) parents about the coming judgment but they and
Jeconiah (Coniah) didn’t listen and repent of their evil, wicked ways. Later on
Jeremiah prophesies in Jeremiah 22.24-30
that Jeconiah will be recorded as childless because of his sin (2Kings 24.09; 2Chronicles
36.09). Even though Jeconiah had seven
sons (1Chronicles
02.17-18), not one of them ruled on the
throne of David, because God said that Coniah (Jeconiah) was like a signet ring
on God’s right hand, and that God would causally take it off and hand it to the
Babylonians (Jeremiah 22.24-30). The
signet ring was valuable because it was used to prove authority, to identify
possessions and to sign official documents. Not one of Jeconiah’s sons sat on
the throne of David because of the prophecy of Jeremiah (Jeremiah 22.24-30). After Nebuchadnezzar deposed Jeconiah, he installed the
uncle of Jeconiah, Zedekiah (2Kings 24.17; 2Chronicles
36.10) who became Judah’s last sitting
king (2Kings
24.18-25.30; 2Chronicles 36.11-23). The line of ruler ship did not pass through Jeconiah, it
ended with Jeconiah because of the curse and captivity (Jeremiah 22.24-30).
In Luke 03.27, Dr. Luke gives us the name of
Zerubbabel, the grandson of Jeconiah (also in Matthew 01.12-13). Zerubbabel (also known by his Persian name of Sheshbazzar
in Ezra
01.08; Ezra 01.11; Ezra 05.14; Ezra 05.16) led the first group
of Jews back to Israel after being in Babylonian captivity for seventy years (2Chronicles
36.15-21; Daniel 01.01-07; Daniel 09.01-19; Jeremiah
25.09-12; Jeremiah 29.10) in the first year of Cyrus, the
king of Persia (2Chronicles
36.22-23). A year after returning to Israel, Zerubbabel built an altar and laid the foundation of the Second Temple
(Ezra 03.08-13; Ezra 04.01-06.22) on top of the
ruins from the First Temple that was destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar (2Chronicles 36.11-21), and was the governor
for about fifty-eight years (the gap of time between Ezra 06.22 and Ezra 07.01,
which was also when the events of the Book
of Esther took place). Zerubbabel is mentioned
in the Books of Ezra (Ezra 02.02; Ezra 03.02; Ezra 03.08; Ezra 04.02-03; Ezra 05.02),
Nehemiah (Nehemiah 07.07; Nehemiah 12.01;
Nehemiah
12.47), Haggai (Haggai 01.01;
Haggai 01.12;
Haggai 01.14;
Haggai 02.02;
Haggai 02.04;
Haggai 02.21;
Haggai 02.23;),
and Zechariah (Zechariah 04.06-07; Zechariah
04.09-10;). Zerubbabel was not only an important person because of
his accomplishments, but also because he was a descendant of David, and more
importantly, an ancestor of our Saviour!
With the line of ruler ship ending
with Jeconiah (Jeremiah 22.24-30) it
would seem to contradict what the LORD promised to David in the Davidic
Covenant (2Samuel 07.04-16; Psalm 89.30-37).
So we have a problem! Jesus couldn’t physically be
related to Joseph and occupy the throne of David (2Samuel 07.16; Psalm 89.03-04; Psalm 89.30-37; Isaiah 09.06-07),
because the succession to the throne ended with the curse on Jeconiah (Jeremiah 22.24-30) and the nation going into Babylonian captivity (2Kings 24.10-25.30; 2Chronicles 36.11-23; Jeremiah 52.01-34)! If Jesus were a
physical descendant of Jeconiah, He would not have been able to occupy David’s
throne!
But notice how Matthew ends his genealogy, by not
specifically saying that Joseph was the father of Jesus (Matthew 01.16) but instead that
he was “the
husband of Mary”. Dr. Luke though says
that Jesus was the supposed son of Joseph (Luke 03.23). Matthew also says “Jacob was the
father of Joseph…” (Matthew 01.16) but Dr. Luke tells us that “…Joseph, the son
of Eli,” (Luke 03.23). So there appears to be a
contradiction in Scripture.
The phrase “the son of”
in Luke 03.23 is not found in the
original manuscripts, though it is found all throughout the rest of this
section except for in Luke 03.38. There
are only two times when “of” “tou” (G3588) is not used
in the original Greek in Luke 03.23-38. Here in Luke 03.23 describing the
relationship between Joseph and Heli, and also between that of Adam and God in Luke 03.38. In the original Greek Luke 03.23 reads something like
this: “And himself was Jesus about years
old thirty beginning to be, being as was supposed, son of (G3588
tou) Joseph, Heli”. By Dr. Luke using the Greek word “tou” (G3588), or “of” is most likely because Heli was the
father of Mary, thus making him the father-in-law of Joseph. We know that the real father of Joseph was Jacob (Matthew 01.16),
but having married the daughter of Heli (Eli), and being probably adopted by Heli,
he was called his son, and because of that he was than written in the public
genealogies. Mary was not mentioned because
the Jews usually never allowed the name of a woman to enter the genealogical
tables, but instead they would insert her husband as the son of him who was his
father-in-law.
Though the succession to the throne
failed with Jeconiah (2Kings 24.09; 2Chronicles 36.09; Jeremiah 13.15-27; Jeremiah 22.24-30; Matthew 01.11-12),
the promise to David (2Samuel 07.16; Psalm 89.03-04; Psalm 89.30-37; Isaiah 09.06-07) was revived and consummated in Jesus through the virgin
birth.
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