I invite you to take your Bible and open to the Gospel of Luke, chapter 3. Gospel of Luke, chapter 3. We're reading verses 23 through 38, 23 through 38, and we are, we'll finish out the chapter here. of chapter 3 and then next week of course is Palm Sunday and then the next week Resurrection Sunday morning. So we'll take a little bit of a break from our study in Luke and we'll present other portions of scripture for the next couple Sundays, but we'll round out chapter 3 today with a very interesting text concerning the genealogy of Jesus. So we'll read the text. There are going to be some names here. I'll do the best I can as far as pronunciation. It will certainly not be perfect for sure but what I'd encourage you to do is sometimes we get to a we get to a section in the Bible we're reading and it's a lot of names and we we tend to sleepwalk through that so what I'd encourage you to do as we read through these names is to look for names that are familiar to you because there should be at least a handful of these names that you know you've read before and even people that you know something about from the Bible. So that'll keep our interest going as we navigate these few verses. And then we'll talk about the practical use of genealogy, why it was important, okay? And then we'll talk about the particular distinctions of Luke's genealogy. What's different about Luke's genealogy than, say, Matthew's genealogy? Why does Luke put the genealogy here at a considerable distance from the birth of Jesus? What's the mindset? What's the approach? And then lastly, we'll look at prominent names. in the genealogy. We'll pick out three or four and we'll talk about those names and why they're important to us. So, verse 23 through verse 38 we'll read. When he began his ministry, Jesus himself was about 30 years of age, being as was supposed, the son of Joseph, the son of Eli, the son of Method, the son of Levi, the son of Milki, the son of Janiah, the son of Joseph, the son of Mattathias, the son of Amos, the son of Nahum, the son of Hesli, the son of Nagai. the son of Maath, the son of Mattathias, the son of Simeon, the son of Joseph, the son of Jodah, the son of Joannon, the son of Resa, the son of Zerubbabel, the son of Shealtiel, the son of Neri, the son of Melchi, the son of Addi, the son of Kosam, the son of El-Madam, the son of Ur, the son of Joshua, the son of Eleazar, the son of Jorim, the son of Methot, 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 Meleah, the son of Menna, the son of Matathah, the son of Nathan, the son of David, the son of Jesse, the son of Obed, the son of Boaz, the son of Salmon, the son of Nashon, the son of Amenadab, the son of Admin, the son of Ram, 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 Saru, the son of Reu, the son of Peleg, the son of Heber, the son of Shelah, the son of Canaan, the son of Arphaxad, the son of Shem, the son of Noah, son of Lamech, the son of Methuselah, the son of Enoch, the son of Jared, the son of Mahalalel, the son of Canaan, the son of Enosh, the son of Seth, the son of Adam, son of God, the word of the Lord. Father in heaven, we thank you for the time together today. Already, God, our souls are filled with joy, unspeakable and full of glory. And the peace, the peace that you give, the only peace that passes understanding And we just thank you, Lord. Thank you for blessing our hearts, our lives. Thank you for the abundance that is there. Thank you for the salvation full and free through Jesus, our Lord. We thank you again for communion, the taking of the bread, the drinking of the cup, and all to your glory, and all to the remembrance of Jesus, who died for us, who sacrificed his own life, bearing our sin on a cross. We will never get over that. We will exalt you for that, and we will walk in that truth. So Lord, help us in the next few minutes to gain some understanding and clarity over this genealogy of Jesus. We pray in his name, God's people said, amen and amen. So the first obvious question is why? Why a genealogy? Why was it important? Well, specifically and especially important for the Jews. They wanted records and they were great record keepers and these genealogies would be public record. So there are basically six reasons for a genealogy. I've got them listed here in my notes and I'm just going to rattle them off real quick and you'll see how important the genealogy was. So first to determine one's claim on land. It took a genealogy to determine claims as to the right of inheritance. It took a genealogy for that. Reference for the transfer of property. A genealogy was especially important for that. To establish the basis of taxation. Important for that. Remember, we have a ready reference in the Bible When it came time for the birth of Jesus, this was why Joseph and Mary traveled back to Bethlehem. It was because it had been announced that there should be a tax and it meant that they had to leave where they were and go back to Bethlehem and then As we know, it fulfilled the prophecy that our Savior would be born in Bethlehem. So it's related, this genealogy and the importance thereof was related even to the birth of Jesus. And then the last two, genealogy was established and was used to say who was eligible for the priesthood. And there's a reference there, if you go back, and we won't do that right now, but if you go back to Ezra chapter 2, when the children of Israel, they were in bondage in Babylon and they had to go back, they were released to go back to Jerusalem in order to rebuild the temple. Well, when they got back, there were some people that presented themselves to be priests in the temple. And the Bible tells us right there in Ezra that they looked at the record, they looked at the genealogy, and their names weren't in the genealogy as representative of that priestly line and they were prevented from serving as priests. So the genealogy said, okay, they're the tribe of, they're a Levite, they're a tribe of Levi, they can serve or not. And then lastly, the genealogy would establish any claim to royalty any claim to royalty and it's interesting you know Jesus had a lot of enemies all they would have had to do to undercut any ideas he had of being king was to present genealogical evidence that he was unfit or unqualified to be the king you know his enemies never did that because they couldn't prove that. In fact, we have his genealogy. We have Matthew's version. We have Luke's genealogy of Jesus. So let's look at particular reasons that Luke presents the genealogy of Jesus in the manner that he presents it. So first, the placement of the genealogy. If you look right before the genealogy, we have the baptism of Jesus. There it is. Two verses. We talked about that, preached on that, however you want to put it. Last time we were together, we talked about the baptism of Jesus. Then obviously we have the genealogy of Jesus. And then if you look right after the genealogy of Jesus, we have the temptation of Jesus. So Luke gives us the genealogy here rather than earlier, more connected, more closely connected with the birth of Jesus. Luke presents it right here. Why? Well, we think that all along the way from chapter 1, going in, moving through chapter 1, chapter 2, getting through chapter 2, chapter 3, all along the way we have testimony of who Christ is. starts out with Gabriel the angel and he talks to Zacharias in the temple he says you're gonna have a you're gonna have a baby you remember all that well we have Gabriel's testimony we have Zacharias' testimony we have Elizabeth Zacharias' wife's testimony. She had John the Baptist. She had the forerunner, the king. She gave birth to John. And then going forward, you have Joseph's testimony. You have Mary's testimony. When Jesus was presented in the temple, we have the testimony of Simeon. We have the testimony of Anna. So all along the way, Luke, who researched and investigated and brought this all together, this history all together for us so that we would know the exact truth, we have considerable testimony concerning who Jesus is. That he's special, that he's the son of God, that he's not like every other baby. He is special, he is significant, he is the God-man. We have that all the way through Jesus' presentation in the temple. And then we have the testimony of John in chapter 3. John the Baptist. He preaches. He is performing a ministry, if you will, of a baptism of repentance for sin. And John gives testimony to who Jesus is. He says, Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. So all along the way you have this testimony of an ironclad case for the divinity of Jesus for the purpose of God in sending Jesus into the world and then how about this for testimony when Jesus was baptized Bible said we read these two verses there 21 22 in chapter 3 now when all the people were baptized Jesus was also baptized and while he was praying heaven was open and the Holy Spirit descended upon him in bodily form like a dove and a voice came out of heaven. You are my beloved son and you I am well pleased. So we have the testimony of the father as to who Jesus is. I think that testimony of the father as to who Jesus is carries a lot of weight So we have a testimony of an angel, we have testimony of people, we have testimony of John, we have the testimony of God the Father, all with regard to who Jesus is. And then the genealogy of Jesus is further testimony to who he is. The genealogy in Matthew and this genealogy in Luke are, I mean, they're nothing short of miraculous. I know there's a lot of names and there's a lot of stumbling in the reading of the names, but it's a beautiful thing to know Matthew's genealogy and Luke's genealogy and to even compare but mostly contrast the two genealogies. Many have looked at both and come away confused. They're both different. They're different. And apparently, people say, well, you know, it looks like Jesus has two different genealogies. Well, we all do. We all have a parent's side. We have a father's side. We have a mother's side. Matthew gives the father's side. Luke gives the mother's side of the genealogy of Jesus. That's why, brilliant. I mean, think about all the genealogies that have been written, but there's one that's really distinct concerning this virgin-born Jesus. So how does he describe it? And it's brilliant. As he was led by the Holy Spirit, notice what he said. He says, and he's giving this genealogy at the beginning of the ministry of Jesus. He tells us that. When he began his ministry. Jesus himself was about 30 years of age, so we have that. He says, being as was supposed, the son of Joseph. Brilliant. As was supposed, the son of Joseph. He wasn't the son of Joseph, he's the son of God. See how he gets her. And then this is really, this is really cool. In genealogies, they would not mention, there's no lady mentioned in this. And just before you're terribly offended at that, Matthew mentions four, four women. And you would look at those, if you took those ladies in Matthew and you looked at their lifestyle, you would question why Matthew would actually include them in the genealogy. But here, no, there's no lady mentioned. And so Luke is keeping with the tradition of just including men. So he places this genealogy, and by the way, so Jesus, I want you to look there in verse 23, Jesus, and that's really close to the baptism, isn't it? Right? You got Jesus is baptized there in verse 22, and then you've got Jesus mentioned in 23, which is the beginning of this genealogy. Now, if you go to the end of the genealogy, you see Adam right there at the verse 38. Adam is included in this genealogy really close to the temptation of Jesus. That's not coincidental for sure. And then the order. So this Luke's genealogy is descending order. So he starts with Jesus and he goes all the way back to Adam. That's not the way Matthew did it. Matthew ends with Jesus. A little contrast there. And then here in Luke, and this fits with Luke's overall theme. What is that theme? It's that this Savior, Jesus, is for the whole world. Matthew writes specifically more toward the Jews. Jesus is the king of the Jews. Luke is saying this is a gift for Jew and Gentile as well. So we have that, this universality of this gift. It's for all. It would be, but only effective for those who believe. Let's get that, make that clear. Only effective, a salvation only effective for those who believe in Jesus. And then he does begin and end with Jesus. So Jesus in 23 and then he's the son of God in 38. You see that? He begins and ends with Jesus in the genealogy. Jesus, he's about 30 years of age when he began his ministry and then there right at the end, verse 38, the son of God. That's the testimony. the testimony of the prophets, the testimony of the parents, the testimony of the angels, the testimony of the genealogy right before us, the testimony of the father in heaven. What a testimony. I want to ask this morning, have you ever considered the weight of the testimony as to who Christ is and responded to Jesus in faith that he is the Son of God, that he went to the cross as one who never sinned. He went to the cross, he took our place. The punishment he received there, you and I received. But he took the nails for us. He shed his blood that we would be forgiven of our sins and that by faith in Christ. Have you ever considered the weight of the evidence? And then if you are a believer, I would trust that this would give you some momentum in your Christian life to live for him, that you would give as it has been said, your utmost for his highest. Well, let's take some prominent names here and we'll conclude with this. Can you believe it? We're already at point number three. We're just sailing along. But there's some names here we want to look at. I've listed. Well, I've listed five here, but we'll just, we'll attach, I think, a name with a reference in the Bible that will give us some insight there on that name and the significance that that name bears. So let's begin with, oh, one more thing before we do that. One more thing. in Matthew's genealogy Matthew says he uses the son of David son of David so in Matthew's genealogy on Joseph's side he uses the son of David in this genealogy on the maternal side he uses the son of David in Matthew it's the son of David would be through Solomon. Remember him? And in this genealogy, the son of David is Nathan. So there's a double royalty here. I mean, with Jesus, we don't just have royalty. We have royalty on royalty. You don't get more royal than that. Mom's side, dad's side, both sides through David. My goodness, what a blessing that is. So this is the ironclad case that Jesus is the son of God. So let's just take David first and let's look at a reference back in 2 Samuel 7.13. 2 Samuel 7.13. This should encourage your heart this morning as we highlight a significant name in the genealogy and then we attach a reference to that name as it would relate to Jesus, the Son of God, the King of Kings, the Lord of Lords, the Lamb of God. Right there it is, 2 Samuel 7 verse 13, he shall build a house for my name. The immediate reference would be to David. And the Lord says, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. So we see that reference to David and we know that Jesus is the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords and 2 Samuel 7 13 says that his kingdom will be an everlasting kingdom. His kingdom will know no end. No one will ever up and undercut, overthrow, or dominate his kingdom. His kingdom stands. Right now his kingdom is a spiritual kingdom made up of believers, but then and there it will be a very physical kingdom in which all who believe will be a part. So we say hallelujah that his genealogical line goes through David. Because of David, it was said that he would have a son who would rule and reign forever and ever. And then next, let's take Abraham. We'll go over here to verse 34. There are several names in that verse that are recognizable therefore a little easier to pronounce the son of Jacob the son of Isaac there it is the son of Abraham let's go over to Romans 4 Romans chapter 4 so from David we learn that Jesus has an everlasting kingdom and that kingdom will know no end and those who believe will be a part of that kingdom that physical kingdom beyond the grave And then from Abraham we learn how a man or woman can be justified before God. Can a man or a woman be right before God? And if so, how? Right here. Paul says in verse 1, What then shall we say that Abraham our forefather according to the flesh is found? For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. For what does the scripture say? Abraham believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness. Now to the one who works, his wage is not credited as a favor. but as what is due. In other words, go to work, you get a paycheck, that's for work you have done. But, he says in verse five, but to the one who does not work, but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, this or his faith is credited or counted as righteousness. Just as David also speaks of the blessing on the man to whom God credits righteousness apart from works. And we could go on and it's interesting David comes up, pops up right here in this little section on faith and believing. And so what do we learn from Abraham? We learn how one is saved, how one can be right with God. It is by faith in Jesus Christ, the son of the living God, who came from God, who was nailed to the cross, who was raised victorious from the grave, who is coming again. And then the response. Repent and believe. How do we respond to that good gospel? We repent and believe. And when you believe, it is credited to you as what? As what you really need, which is righteousness. Not your own righteousness, but his righteousness. That's what's important. We don't... Listen, our righteousness is as filthy rags. Our righteousness is unrighteousness. before God we need an alien righteousness we need a righteousness that comes from somewhere else and when we trust Christ that righteousness of Jesus is put or counted for us it is put on us I would say and then uh lastly I want to I want us to look where this where this genealogy look at this verse 38 Adam Adam Adam And we'll go to Romans 5. I think Paul must have preached on the genealogy at some point because he just goes right down the list there in the book of Romans, and we're in Romans 5. Adam, the significance of Adam and how this relates to our Lord and how this relates to us. Beginning in verse 12 of chapter 5, notice what Paul says concerning Adam. Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin. And so death spread to all men because all sinned. For until the law, sin was in the world, but sin is not imputed when there is no law. Nevertheless, death reigned from Adam until Moses, even over those who had not sinned in the likeness of the offense of Adam, who is a type of him who was to come. But the free gift is not like the transgression. For if by the transgression of the one the many died, much more did the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, abound to many. Praise the Lord. So he's just saying, in Adam, it was said, in Adam all die. But in Christ, all are made alive. And that by faith in the one who loves you, who died for you, who rose again from the dead for you and will soon return for you. So we give him praise today. We thank the Lord that we have a Savior who is fully God and fully man. Fully divine, Jesus, the son of God, we exalt him in our midst today. Father in heaven, we thank you for this day. We thank you for all the many abundant blessings you bring to our lives. And I pray every heart is encouraged by your word today. And we do thank you, Lord, for the fellowship that we share as brothers and sisters in you. We thank you for your abundant grace, for your mercy on us. And Lord, we want to please you. We want to walk humbly before you. So help us in that endeavor. We pray in Jesus' name, amen and amen.