The Genealogy Of Jesus Series

Scripture

We are studying the life of Jesus in the Gospel of Luke in a sermon series I am calling, “To Seek and To Save the Lost.”

The first two chapters of Luke’s Gospel dealt with the prophecies and births of John the Baptist and Jesus the Christ, and then what happened to Jesus following his birth.

The third chapter of Luke’s Gospel focused on John the Baptist. Luke told us about the ministry (3:1-6), preaching (3:7-14), testimony (3:15-17), and boldness of John the Baptist (3:18-20).

Toward the end of the third chapter Luke transitioned back to Jesus. He first told us briefly about the baptism of Jesus (3:21-22). Then, before he told us about the temptation of Jesus in chapter four, Luke gave us the genealogy of Jesus.

Today, I would like to examine the genealogy of Jesus.

Let’s read about the genealogy of Jesus in Luke 3:23-38:

23 Jesus, when he began his ministry, was about thirty years of age, being the son (as was supposed) of Joseph, the son of Heli, 24 the son of Matthat, the son of Levi, the son of Melchi, the son of Jannai, the son of Joseph, 25 the son of Mattathias, the son of Amos, the son of Nahum, the son of Esli, the son of Naggai, 26 the son of Maath, the son of Mattathias, the son of Semein, the son of Josech, the son of Joda, 27 the son of Joanan, the son of Rhesa, the son of Zerubbabel, the son of Shealtiel, the son of Neri, 28 the son of Melchi, the son of Addi, the son of Cosam, the son of Elmadam, the son of Er, 29 the son of Joshua, the son of Eliezer, the son of Jorim, the son of Matthat, the son of Levi, 30 the son of Simeon, the son of Judah, the son of Joseph, the son of Jonam, the son of Eliakim, 31 the son of Melea, the son of Menna, the son of Mattatha, the son of Nathan, the son of David, 32 the son of Jesse, the son of Obed, the son of Boaz, the son of Sala, the son of Nahshon, 33 the son of Amminadab, the son of Admin, the son of Arni, the son of Hezron, the son of Perez, the son of Judah, 34 the son of Jacob, the son of Isaac, the son of Abraham, the son of Terah, the son of Nahor, 35 the son of Serug, the son of Reu, the son of Peleg, the son of Eber, the son of Shelah, 36 the son of Cainan, the son of Arphaxad, the son of Shem, the son of Noah, the son of Lamech, 37 the son of Methuselah, the son of Enoch, the son of Jared, the son of Mahalaleel, the son of Cainan, 38 the son of Enos, the son of Seth, the son of Adam, the son of God. (Luke 3:23–38)

Introduction

When I completed high school my Dad took my Mom on a vacation to the land of his birth—Austria. I have often thought that they should have sent me on a trip, but I suppose they were celebrating because they had successfully got me through high school!

In any event, I had taken a woodworking class throughout high school. In my junior year I specialized in woodcarving and rather enjoyed it. At the time I thought it would be neat to carve our family crest. So when Dad and Mom went to Austria I asked Dad to find our family’s crest so that I could carve it on to a wooden shield.

Several weeks later my parents returned from a wonderful trip to Austria. After a while I asked my Dad, with great anticipation, if he brought bring back a photo of our family crest.

“Son,” my Dad said, “I am sorry to tell you that there is no family crest because we come from a line of peasants!”

I think there is an interest in many of us to learn about our ancestors. Some of you may recall the best selling and hugely popular book by Alex Haley called Roots: The Saga of an American Family, which is the story of a black man’s search to learn about his ancestors. The book was turned into a television mini-series in 1977 that won nine Emmys and over 135 other awards. The mini-series received unprecedented Nielsen ratings for the finale, which still holds a record as the third-highest-rated US television program ever.

While many in our culture are very interested in our ancestors, God’s people in ancient times were far more interested in their genealogies.

Today I would like to look at the genealogy of Jesus in Luke 3:23-38.

Lesson

An analysis of the genealogy of Jesus in Luke 3:23-38 will enable us to understand the significance of his genealogy.