Luke 3:21-38 — Jesus's Genes

READ THIS: Luke 3:21-38

21 When all the people were being baptized, Jesus was baptized too. And as he was praying, heaven was opened 22 and the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.” 23 Now Jesus himself was about thirty years old when he began his ministry. He was the son, so it was thought, of Joseph, the son of Heli, 24 the son of Matthat, the son of Levi, the son of Melki, 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 Josek, 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 Melki, 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 Salmon, the son of Nahshon, 33 the son of Amminadab, the son of Ram, 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 Mahalalel, the son of Kenan, 38 the son of Enosh, the son of Seth, the son of Adam, the son of God.

WHAT’S THIS MEAN, ANYWAY?

These verses may have been tough to read, especially once you finished verse 22! Here, we have a crazy cool story about Jesus... and then a looooooong list of names! How on earth do these go together? Let me try to explain!

First, Jesus sees John the Baptist doing his thing, baptizing people by water. If you don't remember much about it, people were being baptized by water to symbolize their repentance, walking away from their life of sin and walking toward a new life with God. Then, Jesus, the only human to ever live a perfect life, decides to be baptized too! But why? Was Jesus secretly sinful or something? No!

Jesus chose to be baptized to continue to emphasize what we have already been learning about Him: despite being perfect and without sin, Jesus humbled himself again and again because He loves us. That is why when Jesus rises out from the water, something incredible happens. It says the Holy Spirit descends on Jesus and we even see God speak from heaven, declaring Jesus as His Son!

But what on earth does all that have to do with a list of names??? Well, think of this section as Luke taking the time to defend the claim that Jesus really is God's Son. We learned through the story of Jesus's birth that God was indeed Christ's Father, but now Luke proves it through the genealogy of Joseph! Luke is basically saying "so even if you think that Joseph was Jesus's dad and not God... guess what... God is STILL Jesus's dad!" This whole section is a reminder for us that Jesus truly is God's Son, and that this idea had been planned out since the beginning of time!

THINK ABOUT IT:

1. Do you recognize any names in the genealogy of Jesus? What do you remember about them?

2. Why do you think Jesus chose to let John baptize him?

TRY THIS:

Pick one person that you didn't name from question number 1 and try and learn something about them! See if they pop up anywhere else in the Bible!

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