Luke 3:23-38

Jesus is The Son of David (the Messiah), the Son of Abraham (the Servant), the Son of Adam (truly Man), the Son of God (revealing the image and likeness of God) (3:23-38).

There now follows a genealogy of Jesus, making important connections. Our first concentration here must be on its significance for Luke. We can consider its ‘problems' later. Some have expressed surprise that the genealogy appears here, but in fact it fits perfectly into its setting. Jesus has just been anointed as the Prophet of God. He has been declared to be both Messiah and Servant. So the natural question for the reader is, ‘Who was He?' By this genealogy Luke links Jesus to the house of David, to being the seed of Abraham, to being descended from Adam, and to being in the image and likeness of God.

There is little doubt about the genealogy of Jesus being readily available. The Jews were very concerned to trace their ancestry, and prove the purity of their descent, of which they were very proud. Those who would be active in the priesthood had to prove their ancestral right to do so, while any seeker after civil office would be required to prove true descent. The house of David would certainly come not a whit behind in maintaining evidence of their own privileged position. They may not have been actually ruling, but the family would maintain its pride in their right to do so, and ensure and prize the maintenance of the records that proved it. We have in fact evidence of others who also sought to prove Davidic descent by this means. Thus we should not be surprised to find that such information was available from different viewpoints.