Lord’s Day, Vol. 13 No. 40

Jesus Christ, the Son of God

Luke 3:23-24, 31-34 (KJV) And Jesus himself began to be about thirty years of age, being (as was supposed) the son of Joseph, which was the son of Heli, 24 Which was the son of Matthat, which was the son of Levi, which was the son of Melchi, which was the son of Janna, which was the son of Joseph,… 31 Which was the son of Melea, which was the sonof Menan, which was the son of Mattatha, which was the son of Nathan, which was the son of David, 32 Which was the son of Jesse, which was the son of Obed, which was the son of Booz, which was the son of Salmon, which was the son of Naasson, 33 Which was the son of Aminadab, which was the son of Aram, which was the son of Esrom, which was the son of Phares, which was the son of Juda, 34 Which was the son of Jacob, which was the son of Isaac, which was the son of Abraham, which was the son of Thara, which was the son of Nachor, … 37 Which was the son of Mathusala, which was the son of Enoch, which was the son of Jared, which was the son of Maleleel, which was the son of Cainan, 38Which was the son of Enos, which was the son of Seth, which was the son of Adam, which was the son of God.

The baptism of Jesus Christ by John the Baptizer at the age of thirty marked the beginning of His ministry, fulfilling the Old Testament prophecy of the coming Christ, the Anointed One, the Saviour of the world. 

Luke traces the genealogy of Jesus Christ to Adam attesting to His true humanity. Adam was fearfully and wonderfully created by God from the dust of the ground. He is therefore the first son of God to which our Lord finds His human root. 

With the fall of Adam after he was beguiled by Satan, God showed the way back for fallen man in the fullness of time through Jesus, the Christ (with Luke tracing the fulfilment of that prophecy given immediately after man’s fall). 

Genesis 3:15 (KJV) And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.

Jesus is the seed of the woman that God will send that will deal Satan with a death blow when He comes as a man, the seed of a woman! Herein is the fulfilment! 

It is observed that Heli did not beget Joseph although it is written that Joseph was the son of Heli. In the original Greek text, the definite article (tou) in the genitive form (of the) is used for every of the name in the genealogy except Joseph’s signifying that Joseph was included only because of his marriage to Mary. Moreover, Luke has already affirmed the virgin birth in Luke 1:35 (KJV) And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God. 

Joseph was in the genealogy not because he was Jesus’ biological father but adopted father, since he was the husband of Mary. Luke explained that with the phrase “(as was supposed)” in v23 to show that it was Mary’s genealogy. The list has 76 names including Jesus and Adam and excluding God. And tracing Jesus’ ancestry to David through another son of David, Nathan, to which Mary was traced, and thus Jesus is of the kingly line through Mary. This bypasses the curse upon Jeconiah (Jeremiah 22:30) through Joseph’s line. Marvellous providence to an impasse!

Yours lovingly,

Pastor Lek Aik Wee