Whose Son is He?
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Introduction
As we prepare our hearts for Christmas, the season to celebrate the coming of Christ, let us take a moment today to learn reflect on these two genealogies of Jesus in the Gospels.
Before we dive in, we need to be aware that Matthew and Luke wrote with different audience in mind. Matthew wrote his gospel to Jews, while Luke wrote his gospel to Gentiles. And so, they wanted to show their readers things about Jesus that will be relevant to them.
Matthew wanted to show his Jewish readers that Jesus was the Messiah that they had been waiting for. So, in his record of the genealogy, it is the genealogy of the king. It presents Jesus as the legal son of David. He was the rightful heir to the throne.
Luke wanted his Gentile readers to know that Jesus was the Son of God who came to save everyone. So, his genealogy is the genealogy of the Son of God. It presents Jesus as the Son of Man and the Son of God. Jesus is connected to all humanity.
In Matthew, the genealogy descends from Abraham to Jesus. It traces the connection of Jesus to Abraham and David. It shows the royal line through the male descendants which proves the legal right of Jesus to the throne. Verse 17 highlights that there were 14 generations from Abraham to David, 14 generations from David to the exile to Babylon, and 14 generations from the exile till Jesus. Isn’t it a little too neat? If we trace the number of kings from David’s royal line from David to the exile in Kings, we will find that there were 19 kings, not 14. Matthew left out a couple of names. We can guess that it is likely that the other two sets of 14 generations were not exactly 14 too. Matthew had intentionally chose 14 names in each set to create the neat package of 14 times 3. Do note that it is not a problem for Matthew to skip generations in his genealogy. It is common for Jews to use the word “father” to mean a forefather.
I think Matthew intentionally created the package of 3 sets of 14 generations to communicate to his readers that everything happened in God’s plan and timing. From Abraham to David, it marked the beginning of their relationship with God till the high point in their national history. From David to the exile, it marks the downfall of the nation due to sin and idolatry. From the exile to Jesus, it marks the movement from the lowest point in their nation to this moment of new hope. Matthew wanted his readers to know that Jesus came in the fullness of time according to God’s plan to bring hope to His people.
In Luke, the genealogy ascends from Jesus to Adam, the son of God. By going past Abraham and going all the way to Adam, Luke clearly indicated to his readers that Jesus was not only a Jewish Messiah. This genealogy shows that physical line which links Jesus to the whole human race. We all have common an ancestor. This genealogy is not as neatly arranged as the one in Matthew. We just see verses after verses of who being the son of who. While it is a little boring to read, it is surprisingly short. I think Luke wrote in this way to demonstrate that while Jesus through the history of mankind, this common history is really not that long. It wasn’t that many generations ago the various peoples had some common ancestry.
And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”
When your days are fulfilled and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring after you, who shall come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever.
Matthew 1:1 highlighted that Jesus is the son of David, the son of Abraham. These are important. God made a promise to Abraham in Genesis 12 saying that he will bless them and all the nations of the earth will be blessed through him. Jesus being the son of Abraham means he is heir to this promise. Through Jesus, all the nations of the earth will be blessed.
God promised to David in 2 Samuel that he will raise up an offspring for David who will reign forever.
So when Matthew wrote that Jesus is the son of Abraham and the son of David, it means that Jesus was the rightful king of Israel. He will reign forever and all the nations of the earth will be blessed through Him!
Jesus, when he began his ministry, was about thirty years of age, being the son (as was supposed) of Joseph, the son of Heli,
Luke mentioned that Jesus was supposedly the son of Joseph. This denies that Jesus was physically Joseph’s son. The highlight then, was to point to the fact that Jesus was the son of God. But in Luke, Jesus was not presented as the son of God as the mysterious eternal son of God as seen in the gospel of John. When John talked about Jesus as the son of God, it was cosmic. It was from beyond creation. It highlighted the divinity of Jesus. But Luke was very down to earth. Through the genealogy, Luke pointed out that Adam was also son of God. In a sense, we can say that all humanity has God as Father, because he created all of us. So, through the genealogy, Luke impressed on his readers that all human beings came from God. Jesus is not a foreign God. the God of the Bible is not a foreign God. We are all related to Him.
For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”
Now when all the people were baptized, and when Jesus also had been baptized and was praying, the heavens were opened, and the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form, like a dove; and a voice came from heaven, “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.”
In the other parts of Luke’s gospel, we get a better idea of Jesus as the Son of Man and the Son of God. As Son of Man, Jesus came to seek and save the lost. As Son of God, Jesus was publicly acknowledge by the Father that He is pleased with Him.
So, through Luke, we can see that Jesus is the beloved Son of God who came for all humanity. All who are lost will be saved through Him!
As we close, let’s take a moment to ponder these questions. Jesus is the King. Are we submitted to His kingship in all areas of our lives?
Jesus came to seek and save the lost. Do we know Jesus? Are we willing to be saved? Are we willing to join Him actively to seek and save the lost?
Let’s pray.
