Generations of Faithfulness

All right, well we are continuing this morning through the Gospel of Luke.

Last Sunday we heard about Jesus' baptism and the powerful sign that God gave that Jesus was indeed his son.

The people saw the Spirit of God come down upon Jesus from what appeared to be a rift in the sky

and they heard God speak audibly from heaven stating that Jesus was his son.

And we talked about last Sunday how the Spirit coming down upon Jesus like this should give us great expectations for what Jesus will do and say.

And Luke's about to get to all that, but before he does, Luke wants us to be clear about who Jesus is with regard to his humanity.

And so right in the middle of this account, Luke writes out the genealogy of Jesus.

We're in Luke chapter 3, verse 23.

Luke 3:23

Now Jesus himself was about 30 years old when he began his ministry.

He was the son, so it was thought, of Joseph, the son of Heli, the son of Methat, the son of Levi, the son of Melchi, the son of Jani, the son of Joseph.

And the list goes on like this for quite a while.

The son of, the son of, the son of the son of the son of 76 names in total from Jesus all the way back to Adam, the first man ever created.

Let's talk about genealogies for a minute.

Most of us might find genealogies boring and dry.

If we think about our everyday conversations, when's the last time somebody asked you about your distant ancestry?

Probably not very often.

In our modern North American culture, genealogies and family trees are just not valued as much as they used to be by previous generations.

And then we could add to all of that some of the statements made in the Bible about genealogies.

Paul, in his letter to Timothy, said this in 1 Timothy 1, verse 3.

1 Timothy 1:3

He commanded Timothy to stay in Ephesus so that he might command certain people not to teach false doctrines any longer

or to devote themselves to myths and endless genealogies.

He said such things promote controversial speculations rather than advancing God's work.

He wrote this to Titus in Titus 3, verse 9.

Titus 3:9

He said,

Avoid foolish controversies and genealogies and arguments and quarrels about the law because these are unprofitable and useless.

So there's a sense in which spending a lot of time tracing out our ancestry is simply a waste of time.

It's unprofitable. It's useless.

Paul, in his letter to the Philippians, even refers to his own ancestry in chapter 3.

He says that he's of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews.

But then he dismisses all of that as putting confidence in the flesh.

He says,

I consider that rubbish and loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus and being found in him.

So there's a sense in which our culture actually does well not to obsess or worry about genealogies and ancestry.

But it hasn't always been this way.

In the distant past, genealogies were a big deal.

Back in the days of kingdoms and empires and family dynasties and nobility of all different varieties,

ancestry was a huge deal.

Many civilizations in the past upheld the royalty of a particular family.

And so ancestry mattered greatly.

And of course, they would pay extra careful attention to keep those genealogical records well.

And in much of human history, that approach to ancestry really has been about putting confidence in the flesh.

But at some point, we have to come to grips with the reality that there are quite a few genealogies in the Bible.

By one count, there are about 25 to 30 genealogies in the Bible.

And now some of those would be really short and just a few names.

But some are longer, multiple chapters.

And if God has seen fit to preserve these words for us in his scriptures,

then there must be great value and importance and purpose to these genealogies in particular.

For example, one of the great purposes of genealogies in the Bible is simply to answer the question of who we are,

where we came from.

And so it's really great to have Genesis chapter 5,

Genesis 5 · chapter mention

which traces things from Noah and the great flood all the way back to Adam,

the first man whom God created.

Genealogies in the Bible reveal the truth of where we came from.

Another great benefit to genealogies is that they help us see the movement

and grouping of families and peoples as they spread out over the earth.

The table of nations in Genesis chapter 10 is very helpful.

Genesis 10 · chapter mention

We learn there that some of the grandsons of Noah were named Egypt and Canaan and Cush.

And then the descendants of these men became nations,

which are part of our world story as time went on.

And so genealogies give us helpful historical context about who's who in the ancient world.

But there are three things that really stand out to me when it comes to genealogies in the Bible.

The first is that genealogies reveal the faithfulness of God.

If we look back on the history in the Bible,

we see that time and time again, God makes promises.

And he makes very specific promises to many different people.

Great promises about how things will go for their descendants, for their offspring,

which if we think about is quite something.

God frequently makes promises which cannot even be seen to be kept until generations have passed.

Promises so big that we die before they come true.

But then future generations are able to look back and see the amazing faithfulness of God.

God's consistent ability to keep his word.

Without the genealogical records of the Bible,

how would we be able to see if God's promises came true?

How would we see that God did indeed make Abraham's offspring into a great nation?

How would we be able to see that God did in fact keep every man over 20

except Joshua and Caleb from entering the promised land, as he said?

How would we be able to see if God's word about cutting off the line of Eli from the priesthood ever came true?

So this is one truly breathtaking thing about God that genealogies of the Bible reveal.

They reveal his consistent faithfulness to keep his multi-generational promises.

The second thing, genealogies reveal the sovereign power of God

and the wisdom of God.

And it's kind of related to the faithfulness of God

because at some point we just have to ask the question,

how is it that God can be right about what's going to happen in the future 100% of the time?

And we start to see that it's not just predictions that God is making,

but God's actually claiming to be actively at work

to bring to pass the things that he promises and foretells.

And there are many stories in the Bible

where human beings in their pride or their arrogance

or sometimes even in their ignorance

do something that would seemingly thwart the plan of God

and keep his promise from coming true.

And yet, amazingly, God demonstrates his ability

and his power

to rule over all that happens on earth

in such a way that everything that he said

comes to pass.

So genealogies give us the needed contours of that story

so that we can see the power of God at work

from generation to generation.

Not only his power, but also his wisdom.

I mean, how could God know

who would do what

in generations down the line

before any of them had even been born

unless he were truly all-knowing?

Third, and probably the most significant,

genealogies reveal God's plan of salvation.

And it ends up being like this

simply because God makes his promises to save

in a way that's tied to future offspring,

as I said earlier.

Think of the promise God made in the garden

to the serpent after Adam and Eve sinned.

He, the offspring of the woman,

will crush your head

and you will strike his heel.

Think of the promise God made to Abraham.

All people on earth will be blessed through you.

Think of the blessing of Jacob,

the grandson of Abraham,

which he gave to Judah before he died.

He said,

the scepter will not depart from Judah,

nor the ruler's staff from between his feet

until he to whom it belongs shall come

and the obedience of the nations shall be his.

Think of the covenant promise

made to the great King David,

a descendant of Judah,

about how his son would reign

on his throne forever.

This is from 1 Chronicles 17.

When your days,

this is God speaking to David,

are over and you go to be with your ancestors,

I will raise up your offspring to succeed you,

one of your own sons,

and I will establish his kingdom.

He is the one who will build a house for me

and I will establish his throne forever.

I will be his father

and he will be my son.

I will never take my love away from him

as I took it away from your predecessor.

I will set him over my house

and my kingdom forever.

His throne will be established forever.

Notice all these promises of salvation

and deliverance and blessing

are made about the future descendants

of each person.

And not only that,

but they seem to be narrowing things down

in God's great plan of salvation.

First, we're looking to a descendant of Eve,

just a human being.

Then, a descendant of Abraham,

a man who lived many generations after.

Then a descendant of Isaac and Jacob,

Judah, and then David.

Suddenly, had we lived in any of these times,

genealogies and ancestry

are now extremely important

because God is promising such great things

through the unfolding of generations.

But not just any genealogy is extremely important.

One genealogy in particular

is of immeasurable value

because through this line,

the Savior, the Deliverer,

the King,

promised,

is revealed.

I mentioned earlier

that there's about 25 to 30 genealogies

in the Bible,

but in the New Testament,

there are only two.

And both of them

are for one person,

Jesus.

If there's any genealogy ever

that we should care about,

it's this one.

If there's any

that displays

the time-enduring,

multi-generational faithfulness of God,

it's this one.

Because in this genealogy,

the Savior,

the Messiah,

the Son of God Himself

is revealed.

And so let's dig into it

a little bit together this morning.

The first thing we notice here

is how Luke refers to Joseph,

the father of Jesus.

Jesus was the Son,

so it was thought of Joseph.

Already, we need to pause and reflect.

Why does Luke say it that way?

Well, Luke's already shown us

in the story that he's been telling

that Jesus was conceived

and born of the Holy Spirit and Mary.

without a human father.

God's Spirit will overshadow you

and cause you to conceive

such that the child to be born

will be called the Son of God,

said Gabriel.

So Luke's reminding us

right here at the beginning

that Jesus was thought

or considered to be

the son of Joseph

by all the people around him

as he grew up.

But Joseph was only his father

in a legal,

head of the household,

perhaps even adoptive

sort of way

rather than in the ordinary

biological way.

From there he goes on.

And Joseph

was the son of Heli.

Already we run into a major

and challenging discussion.

Don't worry,

we're not going to go through

every name at this level in detail.

Otherwise,

this will be the best sermon

on genealogy

that you never heard.

Joseph was the son of Heli.

But the other genealogy

of Jesus

given in Matthew's Gospel

says Joseph's dad

was a man named Jacob.

Let's see if I can put them

on the screen both together

side by side.

So what's going on here?

And as we continue

down the list of names

comparing Matthew

and Luke's genealogies of Jesus,

we notice that there are

two different sets of names

until we get down

to verse 27.

Zerubbabel,

the son of Shealtiel

in Luke's Gospel.

Both Matthew and Luke

have him

in their genealogies of Jesus.

And then we also notice

that from Shealtiel

all the way down

to King David,

there are two different

sets of names

given by Matthew

and Luke.

So what's going on here?

How can there be

two significantly

different genealogies

for Jesus?

And this turns out

has been a sort of puzzle

which has had scholars

and commentators

and Christians

speculating and discussing

back and forth

for almost 2,000 years.

Even the early church fathers

acknowledged these differences

in their writings

all the way back

in the second century.

In the year 220 AD,

there was a guy named

Julius Africanus.

He's the first man

we know of

to propose some sort

of explanation

to the reason

for the differences.

And there are primarily

two explanations

for the differences

between Luke's genealogy

of Jesus

and Matthew's.

One common idea

is that Luke

is actually giving us

the genealogy of Mary

rather than Joseph.

With this understanding,

there's a lot of emphasis

here on

on that phrase,

so it was thought

of Joseph.

In other words,

Joseph was not

biologically

Jesus' father.

But,

let's continue

to give his

relatives,

Heli was

biologically

his grandfather.

And so,

the idea here

is that

this whole

lineage

traces out

through Mary

all the way back

to King David

and then Matthew's

would be

through Joseph.

Personally,

I find this view

unconvincing.

Grammatically,

the natural way

to understand this

is that Joseph

was the son

of Heli,

regardless of what

so it was thought

is taken to mean.

And it does make sense

to us

to trace it back

through Mary

because that's

the biological connection.

But,

if we look at

how genealogies

were done back then,

it was always,

always,

always traced

through the father.

Sometimes,

there'd be the mention

of the mother

alongside the name

of a man,

but predominantly

through the father.

Though,

if this is the case,

if this is Mary's

genealogy,

then it certainly

would show

how Jesus

was biologically

descended from David.

The second view

is that both

of these genealogies,

Matthew

and Luke's,

trace Jesus'

ancestry

through Joseph.

So,

then the big

questions with

this view are,

how is it

that Joseph

had two dads?

Similarly,

if we look down

to verse 27

in Luke,

how is it

that Shealtiel

had two dads?

If we look

at what's happening

here,

from King David,

the lines

basically diverge,

then they converge

again at

Zerubbabel,

son of Shealtiel,

then they diverge

again and converge

again at Joseph

and then Jesus.

And all of that

happens over a span

of about a thousand

years.

Julius Africanus,

the man that I

mentioned earlier,

reminds us that

there was the

Jewish custom

from the law

of Moses

whereby

if a man

died

and left

his wife

behind

childless,

then his

brother

was permitted

to marry

his widow

and could

raise up

offspring

for his

deceased

brother.

This custom

was called

leverite marriage

and it was

still well-known

enough in Jesus'

day that the

religious leaders

asked him a

trick question

about it.

So that's one

possible explanation

for how a man

could have

two fathers.

He could be

considered the

son of his

deceased father

by his family

name,

but be

biologically the

son of his

dad's brother.

A second

possibility

whereby a man

could have

two dads

is in the

case of

adoption.

This is one

more familiar

to us.

Perhaps

Joseph's birth

dad was

Jacob,

as stated in

Matthew,

but then for

some unknown

reason,

Jacob died,

leaving Joseph

an orphan,

and then

Joseph was

later adopted

by Heli.

Both of these

possibilities imply

that one of

these fathers

was Jacob's

biological dad

and the other

his legal or

adoptive or

head of the

household father.

And the

effect then

would be having

two different

genealogies like

this, it would

confirm that both

of Joseph's

fathers were

descended from

David.

In a sense

removing any

doubt as to

the ancestry

of Jesus,

in case anyone

might call it

into question.

We simply

don't know

which of

these possibilities

it was that

explain these

two convergences

in Jesus'

line from

David.

Both of

these things,

adoption and

levirate marriage,

are relatively

uncommon,

but over the

span of a

thousand years,

is it

conceivable

that there be

two adoptions?

Or one

adoption and

one levirate

marriage,

causing Jesus

in a sense to

be doubly

related to

David?

I think that

seems a

reasonable

explanation.

Not only that,

we have to

remember that

the people

descended from

David,

especially

closer to

him,

would have

considered

themselves to

be of

royal birth,

related to

the great

king David,

and so of

course they

would have

kept track

of their

genealogical

records

meticulously,

knowing the

promises God

had made.

It's even

more likely

that an

adoption or

a levirate

marriage or

two took

place over

the centuries

in order to

ensure that

the family

name carried

on down the

line to the

next generation.

So that's a

lot to say

that we don't

know all the

details of why

these two

genealogies are

different,

but there

are at least

a few good

possibilities to

explain how

they ended up

different from

each other,

and it shouldn't

be a reason to

doubt the

accuracy of the

Bible.

With that out of

the way,

let's look at

some of these

names and

think about what

Luke wants us

to see by

including all of

this in his

account.

Let's start with

one of the more

significant names.

Zerubbabel,

son of Shealtiel,

in verse 27.

Very significant

figure.

He was the

grandson of

Jehoiachin,

king of Judah,

and Jehoiachin

was the second

last king of

Judah leading up

to the exile.

In fact,

Jehoiachin himself

was actually

captured by the

Babylonian army

in Jerusalem,

and then he was

taken prisoner to

Babylon along with

many of the other

people of Judah.

But by the power

and working of

God, God brought

many of his

people back into

Israel out of

exile 70 years

later, and

Zerubbabel, the

grandson of

King Jehoiachin,

was one of the

men who came

back.

He's mentioned

several times in

the book of

Ezra.

He helped with

the rebuilding of

the temple, the

city of Jerusalem,

and the wall.

He's mentioned in

the books of

Nehemiah and

Haggai and

Zechariah.

He's referred to

not as a king,

but as the

governor of

Judah, probably

because in his

days, the land

was under the

rule of the

Persian Empire.

And yet,

Zerubbabel was

the royal heir to

the throne.

And probably,

he was regarded

as the leader and

installed as

governor because of

his descent from

the kingly line of

David.

Zerubbabel is

probably the first

name that most

of the Jews would

have recognized in

Jesus' genealogy.

The next most

familiar name in

the list was

likely King

David, the son

of Jesse, in

verse 31.

And this is part

of the point of

this whole genealogy.

It's to show that

Jesus is the

promised son of

David, the

Messiah.

And we've talked

a lot about that,

so we won't say

too much more

about him.

Before David,

you might recognize

Boaz's name if

you've read the

Old Testament book

of Ruth.

He was the guy

that married Ruth,

the Moabite widow

of his relative.

And if we keep

going back, we see

that all these men

were descendants of

Judah, one of the

twelve sons of

Jacob, and the

other patriarchs as

well, Isaac and

Abraham.

Really significant

figures in the book

of Genesis.

At Abraham is where

Matthew starts his

genealogy of the

genealogy of

Jesus.

But Luke just

decides to keep

on going right

past Abraham

through Shem and

Noah, all the way

back to Adam, the

first man God

created.

And it's worth

mentioning that

everything from Adam

down to King David

was common

knowledge.

It's all found in the

Old Testament

scriptures.

A huge chunk of

that is found in

Genesis, and then

there's the rest of

it's found in Ruth

and in 1 Chronicles

1 Chronicles 1 · chapter mention

chapter 1.

But why does Luke

decide to go back

so far?

Why go all the way

back to Adam?

I mean, is he just

like to have a

complete record?

Is he obsessed with

details?

Or are there other

reasons?

These are the three

reasons that I

thought of.

First, going back

through all of these

men should bring to

mind, if we know the

scriptures, all of the

different promises and

covenants made to each

one of them.

And I think Luke wants

us to remember exactly

what was prophesied

to men like Judah by

his father Jacob, or

the covenant that God

made with Abraham.

I think he even wants

us to think back to

what happened.

In the garden, with

Adam.

And what this does is

it helps us see that

this man, Jesus, at the

end of this long line,

is the one through whom

all these promises made

will be kept.

The second reason that

perhaps that he goes

back to Adam, it

reminds us of what

happened with Adam.

and how he rebelled

against God.

How he plunged all of

humanity into sin and

guilt.

It reminds us of how we

all became liable to

judgment before God.

But not only this, it

reminds us that God has

been unfolding his plan

to save us since the

very first day that we

defied him.

Through all these

generations, God has

been working to bring

our salvation.

And this man at the

end of this line is

the one.

He is the Savior who

can fix what Adam

broke.

And a third reason.

Going from Jesus all

the way back to Adam,

the first man reminds

us that Jesus is truly

one of us.

We already heard at the

beginning the statement

that reminds us of

Jesus' divinity.

That he was the son,

so it was thought,

of Joseph.

But the rest of this

genealogy highlights his

humanity.

He is descended from

all of these men,

even the first man,

because he is truly

human, truly one of us.

Luke wants us to feel

this.

Son of God, yes, but

also son of Adam,

son of man.

Another thing that I

noticed as I was

studying through this

is that between Jesus

and David, there are a

lot of unfamiliar names.

Maybe you feel that

when you read through

this and you just kind

of feel that urge to

skim, because how do I

pronounce that anyway?

Zerubbabel and Shealtiel

would be the exception

here, but other than

them, many unfamiliar

names.

Mena, Malaya,

Jonam, El-Madam,

Resa, Jossik, Nagai,

Janai, Helai.

I looked these up in a

concordance, and the

only time they appear

in the Bible is right

here in this genealogy

of Jesus.

Some of these were

common Jewish names

written about or

mentioned in other

Jewish literature, but

these men in particular

from Jesus' ancestry are

all men that we know

nothing about today.

Their names didn't

make it into the

historical writings of

Josephus or into

other Jewish writings,

which means that these

were likely just

ordinary men.

People unknown to the

world, not famous,

not well-known, men

who went about their

business, worked,

raised families, and the

first time we hear about

them in history is here

in this genealogy of

Jesus.

I got thinking about

that.

God used ordinary men

to bring about his

great purposes.

All through these

generations, the world's

attention was somewhere.

It was on other things

going on.

It was on other

notable figures and

celebrities.

And yet here, in this

line of people that

nobody's ever heard

about, God was working

to bring his great

salvation through these

seeming nobodies,

these ordinary dads in

their days.

God loves to bring great

things through the

seemingly common and

ordinary.

It's one of his

signature moves.

The words of Paul come

to mind here.

God chose the lowly

things of this world

and the despised

things and the

things that are not

to nullify the

things that are so

that no one may boast

before him.

We sometimes lament

over the fact that the

names in some of these

genealogies are

unfamiliar to us.

You know, like, who

are these guys?

But what if that's the

point?

Here's a genealogy

that traces out the

ancestry of the most

important person in

history.

And yet we don't even

know who half of these

men are.

Nobody did until Jesus

came and somebody got

these records from

Mary.

God has done this in a

way to keep us from

putting confidence in

the flesh, as we talked

about earlier.

together.

Well, we've talked

about genealogy a lot

and I hope that some of

this has been helpful to

you this morning.

At the end of all this,

we still may not care

too much for

genealogies, just like our

world around us.

But there's one.

There's one that we

should care about.

And it's this one.

Here we see in brief

record form how God's

loving plan to save us

unfolded.

We see how through 75

plus generations, God

was faithful and he kept

his word.

We see God's wisdom in

choosing ordinary men so

that no one can boast or

put confidence in the

flesh.

And we see that

nothing, nothing can

stop God from doing as

he has promised.

So glory be to him.

Let's pray.

Father in heaven, thank

you for these words.

Maybe not the first

words that we would

choose for our favorite

verses in your word, but

we know that in them is a

wonderful truth and it

all points to you and

your grace, your

faithfulness, your love,

your power, your

salvation.

We thank you that you

did send Jesus into our

world to save us and to

be our king when he

returns now and when he

returns.

And I pray that our

hearts would be filled

with joy because of

that.

Pray this in your name.

Amen.