Jesus Said Week 2: "Why does it matter that Jesus was fully man?"

Introduction

Whats up friends! Welcome back to NXT High School. My name is Matt Velasco, if we have not met I want you to know that I am so glad that you are here and would love to meet you before you leave tonight! You’ll hear and see that we say something around these parts, we say that Wednesday night, tonight, is the best night of the week. And we firmly believe it. Not just because you get to hangout with friends and have free dinner and a ton of fun, but also because God has a funny way of showing up in special ways on Wednesday nights here at NXT.

So, if you’re new, thanks for being here! We hope you love it and I want to personally invite you to come back next week.

Image

With the beginning of a new school year often comes those awkward get to know you games in class. My favorite has always bene two truths and a lie. Not because I think its particularly fun, but because growing up I always got the people I was playing with, especially if they had no idea who I was and we had never met before. So, I want to start the night by playing a little game of two truths and a lie. I’ll share with you what have been my 2 truths and a lie for most of my life and then by using a show of hands you guys can vote on them.

I was born with one ear

I grew up on a farm

I’m a quarter Mexican.

Usually I get em’. They fall for my trap. They look at me and think, hmmmm, definitely not Mexican, and with a resounding passion they proclaim “YOU’RE NOT MEXICAN!!! THATS THE LIE!” to which I usually have prepared on my phone this picture...

Thats right. My ancestors were migrants from Mexico who crossed the border and joined a traveling circus.

Jaws drop, people laugh, I am victorious.

But seriously, for most of my life people have had such a hard time believing that my family is actually my family. Yeah, we’re all white. In fact, the only brown latino in my family is my cousin who was adopted from Mexico. We’re all what my Grandma calls “Wato’s” or “White latino.”

Big Idea

But nevertheless people don’t believe that my family is really who they are. Likewise, for most of modern history, many have chosen to look at Jesus’ genealogy and scoff and say “no way thats real” but friend’s, hear me when I say this: Its very real. And the implications are very significant. What might it mean if Jesus really was God…but also really was human?

Text Address

We are going to be continuing and wrapping up our short series that we are calling Jesus Said, which is also our theme for the year. Last week we covered Jesus’ genealogy in the book of Matthew and this week we are going to be covering it in the book of Luke. We’re starting in these genealogies because they set up who Jesus is. If we don’t understand who Jesus is then we won’t understand or even trust in the words He has to say. And what better place to learn who Jesus is than his genealogy?

So, if you have your bible’s, open them up to Luke 3:23-38

Luke 3:23–38 ESV

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

Content

Lets pray

You might have noticed a few things different about this genealogy in comparison to the last.

This genealogy is given in reverse order. This starts with his Dad and goes all the way to the beginning, whereas Matthew’s started with Abraham and David and then goes all the way to his dad.

The beginning for Luke isn’t Abraham. Its Adam, and then God.

On the surface it seems like this is Jesus’ genealogy through his dad- Joseph. But this actually follows Mary’s bloodline, not Joseph’s. Matthew lists Jacob as Joseph’s father, but Luke says Joseph’s father in Heli…why could that be?

I want to unpack these 3 points a little bit today as we talk about why it matters that Jesus was fully man. All “fully man” means, for those of you that may not know, is that Jesus was just as human as you and I. Whereas last week we talked about how Jesus is fully God (also known as the Messiah), and how Matthew’s genealogy helps us to understand that. We asked the question, what might it mean if Jesus wasn’t just real, but really was God?

This week, I want to ask you this question. What might it mean if Jesus really was God, and really was human at the same time?

We Christians believe that Jesus wasn’t just God, but He was also human. Not 50% of each, not 75% God and 25% human, but 100% God AND 100% human. What might it mean if Jesus really was God, and really was human at the same time?

Set Up

Why could it be that Luke lists Joseph’s father as a different person than Matthew lists? Many solutions have been put forth by various Biblical scholars but the one that seems the most likely is this: Luke is actually giving us the genealogy of Mary, not Joseph. Now, like we did last week we’ll have to dig a little deep into Jewish tradition in order to understand why this is likely the case. If you remember last week I said very rarely were women included in genealogies, and likewise genealogies were never traced through the mother’s bloodline…

...unless she had no brothers. And so, if Mary had no brothers then her father, Heli, would have formally and legally adopted Joseph as his own son and heir when Joseph married Mary. So, what this means is that while Matthew gives us Joseph’s ancestry through birth, Luke gives it to us through adoption. And you thought the genealogies in the Bible were boring!

If this isn’t make any sense let me put it this way: Matthew gives us the bloodline of Joseph, whereas Luke gives us the bloodline of Mary THROUGH the adoption of Joseph into her family. Kinda weird, right? But this is how the ancient Jewish folk did it!

The main point in this genealogy is that it ends with God. Verse 38,

Luke 3:38 ESV

the son of Enos, the son of Seth, the son of Adam, the son of God.

This ending is jaw-dropping. There is no parallel anywhere else in the Bible or in any rabbinic Jewish texts for a genealogy to begin or end with God. One Biblical scholar describes it as if Luke is shouting for attention.

What Luke wants us to understand is that Adam was “The son of God” in the sense that all humans are the offspring of God. Paul echoed this in Acts 17:28

Acts 17:28 ESV

for “ ‘In him we live and move and have our being’; as even some of your own poets have said, “ ‘For we are indeed his offspring.’

As the first man, Adam can be referred to as “the son of God.” But Jesus, the eternal Son of God, has become part of the human family and its brokenness.

But why does any of this matter?

Conclusion

Genealogies are cool and everything (to some of us). But why does it actually matter? Ok cool. Jesus had a family. But don’t we all? Sure he was related to King David and sure you can trace it back to Adam but can’t we all be traced back to Adam technically? I’m sure many of you have thought something along those lines these past two weeks as we’ve been talking about this. You’re doubting why this matters and confused as to why you should care. If thats you, hear this.

The reason why this matters, particularly why it matters that Jesus is the “son of Adam,” is because it means that Jesus can exercise his perfection as God and take on the sin of Adam, and the brokenness of all of us— and can redeem it and make us new. Paul said it this way, in 1 Corinthians 15:22 and Romans 5:17

1 Corinthians 15:22 ESV

For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive.

Romans 5:17 ESV

For if, because of one man’s trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ.

God intended for His Son Jesus, to take on the bloodline of Adam and the guilt of Adam in order to die a death that brought us freedom from the chains of Adam.

We call those chains “original sin” in the Church. The truth that we are all born apart from God and are in need of rescuing from someone much better than us whose name is Jesus.

God is pleased to offer us His Son as a replacement for our sin. We hear this pleasure when he says to Jesus, “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.” Its because of Jesus’ sinless thirty years that He is pleased, its because of Jesus’ atoning or sacrificial death that He is pleased. And he is likewise pleased that the flawed children of the first Adam, us, would be redeemed by the blood of the flawless, triumphant, second Adam, Jesus.

Like I said last week, nothing that Jesus said matters if He isn’t God…and nothing that Jesus did matters if He isn’t human. His words have no meaning if He isn’t God, and His life has no meaning if He wasn’t human. It’s his humanity that makes his death effective for us, who are sinful humans ourselves. We’ll actually talk more next week about what Jesus did when He faced temptation, which is yet more proof of His humanity. But I want you guys to hear this- the point of this whole message and what I want you all to walk away with tonight: Christ, the son of God, became a real human and died a death that we deserve so that we might become sons of God

Why does this matter to you?

Because apart from the cross we will never hear God say, “You are my son, or you are my daughter, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.” God cannot say that to flawed humanity, however, 2 Corinthians 5:17

2 Corinthians 5:17 ESV

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.

He can say that to these new creations. He is not pleased with what you have done, but with what Jesus has done on your behalf.

So, I want to give you three points of application from the importance of Jesus’ genealogies for three types of students. First, the person who is new to their faith. Second, the person who has been following Jesus for a little bit. And third, the person who has grown up in the Church and/or has been following Jesus for a long time.

If you are new to your faith, I want you to understand that Jesus actually walked this earth and there is tons of proof. You’re not following some fairy in the sky, you’re following a real man who actually lived and walked on this earth. And that matters! You can have confidence that your Jesus is real.

2. If you have been following Jesus for a little bit. Allow this to remind you that there is still so much in the Bible that you can still discover. Dig deeper. Your Jesus is real, and He is still speaking to you!

3. If you have been following Jesus for a long time, maybe even most of your life, then this should be a reminder that you too need to remember that Jesus was indeed a real man who died a real death for you. We should never lose our awe for the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross. Its easy to get caught up in wanting to know more Bible trivia and lose our love for the Gospel in the pursuit of knowledge.

Let’s pray.