The Triune Testimony Luke 3 Vs 21 38

You from Faith Bible Church Aren't you glad for the rain that the Lord's giving us and the nice sunny day that's given us today to worship the

Lord I think that's a blessing from the Lord and it's good to see all of your smiling faces out there

Just might mention a couple of announcements Men's breakfast the first Saturday of every month at nine o 'clock here at the church

Yesterday we had biscuits and gravy and eggs and sausage that our great chef brought us

Harold, but it was it's a great time and we had a good time of fellowship and Dave Hahn Dealt with a subject of the

Holy Spirit and what the scripture has to say on the Holy Spirit And it was a very good discussion that we had so I just encourage you men to put that on your calendar the first Saturday of each month then also for The third

Saturday of each month. We have a women's Bible study at 10 in the morning each month and The third

Saturday of each month also in the afternoon at 330. We have a men's Bible study So those two things for the men and the one

Bible study for the ladies. We just want to keep before you and I just also wanted to mention pastor had started or and Savon had set up an

Instagram now me being at the age I am it means nothing to me but if you're into Instagram the faith

Bible has a Instagram site and I had my grandson and my daughter explain it to me

Didn't help But but also I just let you know we as a church have a website if you're interested and to direct people to it

We also try to put pastors message on YouTube as well as on Facebook each week.

So let's open in a word of prayer Thank You Heavenly Father for your Blessings that you give us each day

We do thank you Lord for the rain that you especially bless us with and we do thank you

Lord for the sunshine that we have today We would pray for this Time of worship that we have come together to worship you

May you be the center of our thoughts and our minds in the songs and as we listen to your word

We pray Lord if anyone has a need here that it might be met through your word today

And we uphold each before you Lord, and we know that within our group We have some that are infirmed and some that can't come out

We have pulled them before you today and we just pray that you would give them a special blessing

Encourage their hearts and we would thank you be with pastor as he brings your word and we would ask

Liberty Lord as he Brings the things that you've laid on his heart from your word

We look forward to a blessing from you and we thank you Lord that we have freedom to worship you and we pray in Jesus name

Amen Good morning Praise God for letting us gather in together

Scripture reading this morning is from the book of Isaiah chapter 42 verses 1 through 4

Isaiah 42 1 through 4

Behold My servant whom I uphold My elect one and whom my soul delights.

I Have put my spirit upon him He will bring forth justice to the

Gentiles He will not cry out Nor raise his voice

Nor cause his voice to be heard in the street A bruised reed he will not break in smoking flax.

He will not quench He will bring forth justice for truth He will not fail nor be discouraged

Till he has established justice in the earth and the coastlands shall wait for his law

May the Lord as blessing to reading hearing of his holy word Please turn with me to Luke 3 verses 21 through 38

Luke chapter 3 verses 21 through 38 When all the people were baptized

It came to pass that Jesus also was baptized and while he prayed the heaven was opened and the

Holy Spirit Descended in a bodily form like a dove upon him and a voice came from heaven

Which said you are my beloved son in you. I am well pleased now

Jesus himself Began his ministry at about 30 years of age Being as was supposed the son of Joseph the son of Heli the son of method the son of Levi the son of Melchizedek the son of Jonah the son of Joseph the son of Matthias the son of Amos the son of Nahum the son of Esli the son of Nagai the son of Ma the son of Mathias I up the son of Sam a the son of Joseph the son of Judah the son of Joannes The son of Risa the son of Zerubbabel the son of Sheol Teal the son of Neri the son of Melchi There's a son of Adi the son of Kosar the son of el modem the son of air the son of Jose the son of Eliezer The son of Jorim the son of math at the son of Levi the son of Simeon the son of Judah, the son of Joseph, the son of Jonan, the son of Eliakim, the son of Meleah, the son of Manon, the son of Mathathah, 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 Aminadoth, 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 Sarukh, the son of Reu, the son of Peleg, the son of Eber, the son of Shelah, the son of Canaan, the son of Arpaxad, 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 Mahalalel, the son of Canaan, the son of Enosh, the son of Seth, the son of Adam, the son of God.

This is the word of God. Let us pray. Father, we're thankful that we can gather here to see the beginning part of Jesus' ministry.

And Father, we pray that you would help us understand through your word and through your spirit to understand the importance, the significance of what's going on at Jesus' baptism.

Father, we pray that you would help us to believe what we cannot completely see.

In Jesus' name, amen. Jesus' baptism, although it takes only two verses in this account, is very significant theologically.

And the reason is, when this account, Jesus' baptism, when this scene is misunderstood, we get into, we step on a mind of heresy, really, a mind of heresy.

And the reason is, all three persons of the Trinity shows up in one location at the same time.

This does not happen too often publicly. And the doctrine of the

Trinity is, in fact, a minefield. If we take it too far, you step on a heresy.

If you take it one, if you take it too far with the unity part, then you just have monotheism without the triune part.

If you take the distinctions too far, you have three different gods. And this text helps us to avoid some of the most horrendous heresies that the church has seen and the church sees today.

I'm glad that Dave yesterday went over the role of the Holy Spirit, because it is important to know that the

Holy Spirit is divine. One thing

I like to use to understand the Trinity, I do not use metaphors, because metaphors, you can take it too far and then run into heresy.

I just like to make a boundary of understanding the triune

God, knowing that in our fallible and finite mind, we cannot fully understand the triune

God. So one thing, or two things I like to think about when

I think about the triune God is this. Three persons, one

God. That means Jesus is not the Father. The Father is not the

Spirit, and Jesus is not the Spirit. But Jesus is

God, the Father is God, and the Holy Spirit is God. That's as far as I would go.

I would not describe any metaphors or illustrations with water or three -leafed clovers, all sorts of things, mainly because if you take it to its logical conclusion, you either get only one

God, or you get three distinct gods, or you get one God in three different forms.

And those are all heresies. So what's important to know is that Jesus is not the

Father, because the Father didn't die for you on the cross, right? And Jesus is not the

Spirit, because what's the point of ascension and sending the Spirit down, right?

That's really important. So today, we actually get a glimpse of the interaction of the

Trinity, the three persons, one God. And this tells us a lot about who

Jesus is, and what his ministry entails. Think of it as an inauguration.

It's the inauguration of Jesus' ministry. And we have to make sure that we understand it as it's the public opening of Jesus' ministry.

Not that Jesus gained his divinity at this time, right? That's a heretical view itself, that Jesus wasn't born divine.

He was born divine. That's called adoptionism, as if Jesus became divine at this moment, right?

We don't believe that. But what it's showing is that Jesus' ministry is publicly revealed to the world to see.

And this is important because an inauguration helps us understand what kind of administration is coming in, right?

And we're all too familiar with inaugurations that happen with different presidents. Who's invited?

What type of musicians are performing? What text is read?

Who gets to speak? They all illustrate what kind of ruler is coming in.

And it is similar in that sense for Jesus' baptism, which is his inauguration.

We get to find out what kind of ministry Jesus' ministry will be. So the main question today is, how is

Jesus' ministry inaugurated? How is Jesus' ministry inaugurated?

First, the triune God testifies the inauguration of the son of God's ministry as the servant king.

The triune God testifies the inauguration of the son of God's ministry as a servant king.

Now, ever since the birth narrative of Jesus, the first two chapters of Luke, Luke's depiction of testimonies has intensified, right?

It started with Elizabeth, and then the Virgin Mary, and Zacharias the priest, the heavenly angels and the earthly shepherds, and the eagerly awaiting prophets and prophetess by the temple.

And last week we had the eschatological John the Baptist, eschatological prophet

John the Baptist, announcing the full restoration of Israel through Jesus Christ.

And today, the triune God testifies to the inauguration of the son of God's messianic ministry.

The doctrine of Trinity gets fully revealed, more fully revealed in the

New Testament. However, this tension of oneness of God and the plurality of God has been present ever since the beginning of the

Bible, the Old Testament. In Genesis 1, 26 through 27, when

God decides to create humans, Adam, he actually says, let us make humans in our image, plural.

And then the narration says, and then he made humans in his image.

There's that plurality, yet singularity, right? At one point,

Deuteronomy 6 says the Lord God is one, right? But the word for God in Hebrew, Elohim, is plural, right?

Even though God is referred to as one and his verbs are singular, right?

The title God for the Lord is plural. There is a tension there in the

Old Testament, and that tension gets smoothed out in the New Testament. And today is one of the first glimpses of that smoothing.

Now, the first part of verse 21 sets the background for the inauguration. When all the people were baptized, it came to pass that Jesus also was baptized.

Remember from last week, John the Baptist's baptism was the physical symbol of repentance and forgiveness of sin that is to come through Jesus Christ.

When the Messiah comes, Israel will be restored because God will forgive them when they repent.

And in fact, John's baptism led, would lead to the greater baptism of Jesus through fire and spirit, where it will actually be internally cleansing, not just externally.

And now, the burning question is, why then is Jesus getting baptized by John?

Isn't Jesus the greater, the greater one who's to come? Isn't Jesus God himself?

Isn't Jesus sinless? Why does he need to be baptized, the baptism of repentance and forgiveness of sin?

There are two reasons for Jesus' baptism here. First, when

Jesus gets baptized by John, he is declaring the legitimacy of John's message of the restoration of Israel.

Jesus is confirming and affirming what John's doing as the prophet who's announcing the coming of the

Messiah is legitimate. Just as the main speaker would thank the person who introduces him right before, right, thank you for the kind words.

Now, that's what Jesus is doing with the baptism. He's confirming the legitimacy of John's ministry.

Second, Jesus serves as a substitute for Israel. Jesus serves as a substitute for Israel.

And we will see this concept more even in the next section, so next week.

How Jesus' ministry starts and how it ends is that Jesus identifies himself with the people of Israel, with the people he's saving.

And what he does is he takes on the role of his people. For example, we will see how just as Israel was tempted in the wilderness for 40 days,

Jesus will be tempted in the wilderness for, I mean, 40 years, rather, for the Israelites, Jesus will be tempted in the wilderness for 40 days by Satan.

And in Matthew's account, we see it more often. Jesus is called down to Egypt in exile just as Israelites were called down, exiled from the land themselves.

Jesus takes on the role of Israel. Now, while Israel was notoriously unfaithful in the wilderness, we will see that Jesus is the better Israel who trusts

God wholeheartedly and remains steadfast. And eventually,

Jesus will take the place of his people to die the death that they deserved for their sin.

And one of my New Testament professors said, before Jesus can die a substitutionary death, he must live a substitutionary life.

Before Jesus can die a substitutionary death for his people, Jesus must live a substitutionary life.

And Jesus' baptism on behalf of Israel anticipates Jesus' crucifixion on behalf of his people.

And in fact, we see the doctrine of the substitutionary atonement picked up by Paul.

Jesus died on your behalf, right? He became sin who knew no sin so that you, we may be the righteousness of God.

There's a substitution. And one can say what

Paul describes and explains, the gospel accounts narrates.

Paul describes and explains the substitutionary atonement in his epistles, the gospel authors narrate that.

Jesus takes on the role of his people. Jesus takes the place of his people from life to death so that his people may take his place in righteousness.

Now, unlike Matthew's account, Luke's account shows that Jesus was praying right before this revelation.

And while he prayed, the heaven was opened. What's astounding is that Jesus, God himself speaks to God, the father.

There is a relationship there. And when the heaven opens,

God answers his son. This shows that God is not some distant deity, but he is active and interactive.

He is personal and relational. We cannot even imagine what kind of death and breath of love that Jesus experienced in his relationship to his father.

Now, verse 22 shows two divine testimonies that confirm

Jesus' messianic ministry. First, and the Holy Spirit descended in bodily form like a dove upon him.

Second, and a voice came from heaven, which said, you are my beloved son in you,

I am well pleased. First, the spirit of God, the third person of the

Trinity, gives us a visible testimony. He descends on Jesus in a bodily form.

It is important to note that the Holy Spirit is not a dove.

The crucial word here is the word like in front of it.

The Holy Spirit descended in bodily form like a dove.

And this is important because we need to distinguish the creator from the creature.

A dove is not divine. A dove is not

God. A dove does not have divine attributes. But in order to publicly proclaim and announce the coming of Jesus Christ, the

Holy Spirit took on a form like a dove.

It's a simile. So how is this comparative language working?

The Holy Spirit, who is divine and is not a dove, he's

God the creator, he created all the doves. He revealed himself in a visible form like a dove probably means that the

Holy Spirit gracefully, like a dove, landed on Jesus and it was public.

It was not a private spiritual experience that's popular today.

It could be seen. In fact, the Gospel of John tells us

John the Baptist saw it. That's the depiction. And now what is the significance of this?

Well, in the Old Testament, Israel's kings and rulers, so judges even, were anointed by the

Holy Spirit, by the Spirit of God, in order to serve. The Spirit gave the kings and the judges the power and ability to rule over Israel.

Even Samson, a questionable, a judge of questionable ethics was filled with the

Holy Spirit. To deliver Israel from their enemies. So what this is telling us is that the public display of the

Spirit landing on Jesus signifies that Jesus is the chosen king of God's redemptive plan.

Jesus is not like other Israelites. He is, in fact, not like other prophets.

He is royal. He is empowered by God. Now, while the first testimony came visibly from the third person of the

Trinity, the second testimony comes from the first person of the Trinity audibly, and a voice came from heaven which said, you are my beloved son, in you

I am well pleased. These heavenly words are jam -packed with the

Old Testament promises. The first promise that this title, the my beloved son establishes is that Jesus is the

Davidic king, the Messiah himself. And this we get from Psalm two, verse seven.

I will declare the decree. The Lord has said to me, you are my son. Today, I have begotten you.

In the Old Testament, the Messiah was prophesied to be God's son, not just a son, but his son, personal, that personal possessive pronoun.

My son. And in Psalm two, the

Messiah will rule as king over Israel on behalf of the Lord from Zion.

He is so powerful that even all the nations and the rulers, even if they try to plot together to overthrow the

Lord and his anointed, the Messiah, they will not stand a chance.

In fact, he will break them like a pottery with an iron staff.

However, the rest of the heavenly message points to what kind of king

Jesus is. In you I am well pleased. Where do we get that?

We get it back from Isaiah 42, one, which Dave read today. Behold my servant whom

I uphold, my elect one in whom my soul delights. I have put my spirit upon him.

He will bring forth justice to the Gentiles. King Jesus is not like any of the earthly kings we've seen who brutally oppress and viciously conquer.

Isaiah 42 shows us that the messianic king is actually a servant king.

The theme of God's servant is prominent in the last part of Isaiah from 40 to 66.

And in some parts, the servant is Israel, but in some parts, the servant is singular, not a corporate figure.

And how we know that is because when we get to Isaiah 53, the servant figure dies for his people.

And the lingering question is, when has Israel ever died for the sin of their people?

Never. This servant is

God's chosen servant, and God personally delights in him. And God's spirit dwells in him, kind of like an echo of what we just visibly saw of the spirit landing on Christ.

What the spirit visibly showed us, the Father audibly proclaims. And just as Psalm 7 prophesied, the servant king will bring forth justice to the nations, to the rest of the world.

And how will he bring justice to the Gentiles? Will it be through power and might, force and coercion?

No. If we follow the book of Isaiah, God's servant's role of redemption escalates in Isaiah 53.

The servant will be smitten, struck for the transgressions of God's people.

The servant will be punished for the sin and rebellion of God's people.

He is wounded for the sin of Israel. Again, we see the substitution.

This is a substitutionary atonement in the Old Testament. This servant figure, whom we now know is the king of Israel, will die on behalf of his people, because he will be struck.

He is wounded for the sin of Israel. And what the

Father is announcing here is that Jesus is the promised messianic servant king who came to conquer, not by force, but to redeem his own through his death as the servant of Isaiah 53.

He is the servant king who takes the place of his people in their well -deserved death in order that his people may be justified in his place, that his people be made righteous in his place.

And this picture is important. This proclamation is important.

First, as mentioned above, the Father and the Spirit's testimonies show us what kind of king the messianic king is.

He is the humble servant who takes the place of his people

He lives the faithfully perfect life that Israel failed to live and faces the excruciating execution that Israel deserved.

Right, that's why Paul can say in Galatians, cursed is he who hangs on a tree. That's fulfilled in Christ because he's hanging on the tree, the cross.

He became the curse for us so that we may receive his blessing.

Second, the triune testimonies show us what kind of God we worship.

We worship a triune God. Three persons, one

God. The doctrine of Trinity has been attacked since the early days of the church.

And one early heresy that we still have today is called modalism.

Modalism is the general idea there is one God and he just takes on different modes.

That's why it's called modalism. So God, one God takes on different modes.

So for example, a modalist may say in the Old Testament, God showed himself as the Father.

And then in the New Testament during Jesus' ministry, God changed his form, his mode as the

Son. And then now during the church era, God changed his form as the

Spirit. So there's only one God just taking on different forms, different modes of ministry.

Now, one form of modalism today that we see is oneness

Pentecostalism. Oneness Pentecostalism. For them, there are no distinctions among the persons of the

Trinity. Jesus is God the Father and Jesus is also the God the Spirit. And this is extremely problematic because it goes against the text that we read today.

First, how can Jesus be God the Father and God the Spirit when

God the Father and God the Spirit individually testify of Jesus' ministry? And also to whom is

Jesus praying if Jesus is also God the Father? If we hold to oneness

Pentecostalism, Jesus would be a lunatic who prays to himself. And if we hold to oneness

Pentecostalism, Jesus' ministry does not receive an external divine endorsement.

But it is a twisted self -exaltation of a character with multiple personalities.

It is bizarre even to think about it. And nowhere in the

Bible do we see that the Father died on the cross for us.

Nowhere in the Bible do we see that it is the Father who filled the apostles at the

Pentecost. Although they share some of the roles, that's the unity part of the

Trinity, right? The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit all participated in creating the world and humanity.

We see that. But there are distinctions, right?

Only the Son died for the sin of the people, right? It's the sin of the church. Only the

Spirit came down when the Father and the Son sent him down, right?

The Father was never sent by either the Jesus or the Holy Spirit.

This is crucial to hold because that's how the Bible holds it, right?

Yet, the Bible holds each person of the Trinity as divine.

The Son is worshipped, the Father is worshipped, and the Holy Spirit is called

God, right? When in Acts, Sapphira lies to Peter about donating all the money,

Peter doesn't say, why did you lie to me, an apostle? No, why did you lie to the Holy Spirit?

Why did you lie to God, right? Each person of the

Trinity is divine, and we need to hold that.

And in fact, all the cults that exist have the doctrine of Trinity wrong.

From Mormonism to Jehovah's Witnesses, they either overemphasize the distinction or underemphasize the distinction.

Jehovah's Witnesses, they say there's only one God. Jesus is a small g God, whatever that could mean.

That sounds like polytheism to me. And Mormonism believes that the

Father and the Son were once created beings. They de -god God. But as Christians, we hold that the triune

God is uncreated, he is the creator, and God, there's one

God and three persons. Now, what is the scope of Jesus' messianic ministry?

Jesus is indisputably the Son of God who represents all of humanity. Jesus is indisputably the

Son of God who represents all of humanity. Now, the previous testimony really centered around Israel and the prophecies that need to be fulfilled for the restoration of Israel.

The genealogy we read today actually broadens to all humanity.

The restoration of Israel abundantly overflows to the

Gentiles like us. So after the inauguration involving all three persons of the

Trinity, Luke shares Jesus' human family tree.

Now, because we do not have enough data on a lot of these people, we will have to skip discussion.

Because even though they might have similar names, right? We saw

Levi multiple times, but that's not Levi, the patriarch, one of the 12 tribes, right?

We can't talk about too much because we just don't know, we don't have the data. It will just be a lot of speculation based upon data we don't have.

Now, we also need to discuss the differences between Luke and Matthew's genealogies because they differ tremendously.

And we don't hold to the fact that the Bibles aren't, right? We don't say, oh, see,

Matthew and Luke, they have different genealogies. Bible's wrong, right? We don't believe that. There's a good way to read it and then hold together that it's consistently true.

So first and foremost, the obvious difference between the two genealogies is the order and the scope.

While Matthew's genealogy starts from Abraham and ends in Jesus Christ, Luke starts with Jesus and then ends in Adam, right?

Luke goes backwards. And one thought is that Luke did this on purpose to place

Adam at the end of the genealogy for a theological emphasis because in chapter four,

Jesus, like Adam, will be tempted by Satan.

But unlike Adam, Jesus will withstand Satan's temptations.

So Luke might have reversed the genealogy on purpose so that in the reader's mind, we think of the better Adam, the greater

Adam, the second Adam who actually fulfilled what Adam couldn't. Second, until we get to the end of verse 31, most of the names from Joseph to David do not match

Matthew's genealogy. There are a few explanations for this and I will share the popular yet,

I believe is incorrect explanation. And then

I will share what I think. And again, because we don't have much data, this is not as firm as we would hold other doctrines.

So the first view, the first way in which people try to smooth out the differences is that they argue that Matthew's genealogy is that of Joseph's genealogy and then

Luke's genealogy is Mary's genealogy. And I believe that for a while, until there are a couple reasons against this in the text itself.

So textually, verse 23 starts with the phrase, now Jesus himself began his ministry at about 30 years of age, being as was supposed the son of Joseph.

Now, nowhere in the text do we even see Mary. In fact, we don't even see a single female in Luke's genealogy, unlike Matthew's genealogy where you do get

Bathsheba, Rahab, and Ruth. We don't have a single female here.

And second, in ancient times, even if you were not biologically related to your stepfather, in Jesus' case,

Joseph was the stepfather, the genealogy still followed the legal father's line.

It was patrilineal, father lineage. So because Joseph is not

Jesus' biological father, Luke even specifically states, as was supposed, right?

Luke, who has spent two chapters talking about the virgin birth of Jesus, he has to clarify, right?

Remember, Joseph's not the biological father here. And there is no, even though there's no genetic connection between Joseph and Jesus because of Mary's virgin birth, the fulfillment of the

Messiah's coming through the line of David and Abraham still shows in this genealogy, although not biologically, but legally, is grounded in history, that God still made it possible that Jesus would be born legally in the line of David and Abraham.

Now, what accounts for the vastly different line from Joseph to David? I mean, vastly different.

You will see only maybe two names from Joseph to David that are similar, that align at the right time.

So the speculative answer, yet probable, I think it's most probable, is that Luke is giving us the legal genealogy of Jesus with the

Old Testament law in mind. Remember, in the Old Testament, when a man did not have a child and died, he had no heir, the law required that the brother of the man would provide the offspring by sleeping with the widow of the deceased man.

And that's called leveret marriage. And it's found in Deuteronomy 25, verses five through six.

And we might find that pretty barbaric, but we have to remember the context of Israel is that Israel had a higher emphasis on offspring.

If your family died out, then you're no longer remembered. If your family bore no heir, especially it came from an important family line, especially the king line, it was important that their heir had to be produced.

And considering the fact that the Old Covenant totally depended on the promised offspring, either

Abraham or even David, this leveret marriage was very crucial.

And what could be happening here, for example, is that while the gospel according to Matthew states that Joseph's father is

Jacob, Luke tells us that Joseph's father is Heli.

With the leveret marriage in picture, when we consider that, the childless widow of the dead

Heli had Joseph with Jacob. The widow, after Heli died with no heir, married

Jacob, Heli's brother, and produced Joseph, Jesus' stepfather.

A lot of tangled web here, but that's how leveret marriage worked.

Heli would still get the credit legally for Jacob's biological son.

Now hence, this would account for the major differences from David to Joseph on both lists.

It's a different line, although they're sort of biologically related, right?

Brothers, whether half brothers or full brothers, they share genetic traits. They can actually go back in lineage.

So although it's, I'm hesitant to say biological, I'll say physical. There's physical relation in Matthew, but there's a legal component in Luke.

Now, what's important here is even when we do see the differences in Luke and Matthew's genealogies, what's crucial is whether physical or legal, both genealogies fulfill

God's promises to both David and Abraham. There's no doubt.

You can still go back to David and Abraham following either genealogy.

He's still the son of Abraham through whom all the nations will be blessed, and he is still the son of David, of the coming messianic king who will rule over all the nations.

It's indisputable, and that's because God is sovereign over history. Even in the fallenness of the world where there is barrenness,

God will still make it happen to fulfill his promise. Now, the next curious part of Luke's genealogy is that in verse 27, where there is an overlap between Zerubbabel, a famous post -exilic leader of Judah, Luke tells us that Neri is the father of Shealtiel, even though Matthew has

Jeconiah. Jeconiah is the king. Now, the curious question is why does

Luke skip over Jeconiah? Where's Jeconiah? Why does he omit it? And the reason here is also legal.

Remember, Luke is writing a legal lineage of Jesus, so if we look back to Jeremiah 22, 30, because of Jeconiah's rebellion against God, God told

Jeremiah to take him off the Davidic lineage. Write this man, that's

Jeconiah, as childless, a man who shall not prosper in his days, for none of his descendants shall prosper, sitting on the throne of David and ruling anymore in Judah.

So what Luke's considering is, well, Jeconiah, although a physical person in that lineage, but he doesn't really belong there legally, so I'm gonna omit him and follow another lineage, line.

And that explains why Jesus' lineage, instead of from David to Solomon, we get, in Luke's lineage, we get

David to Nathan, the third son of David. This is not the prophet

Nathan, this is the third son of David, and the reason is, it is to avoid

Jeconiah altogether. Because if you follow Solomon's lineage, you get to Jeconiah.

But if you don't follow Solomon's lineage, but the next oldest available prince,

Nathan, you don't get to Jeconiah. And of course, we remember that the first and the second princes of David, they died, right?

Tragic deaths. Now, when we get to David, this is a major figure in the genealogy.

Jesus' legal connection to David is important because God promised David that one of his offspring will rule over his throne forever, in 2

Samuel 7. And this is a welcoming promise to David who has just seen his predecessor,

Saul, removed from the throne upon his rebellion. And David's thinking, what's the guarantee that I'll stay?

What's the guarantee my son will stay? So, in 2 Samuel 7,

David tells God, I'm gonna build you a house because you're living in a tabernacle, a tent, while I'm in a palace.

But the prophet Nathan comes back the next day and says, no, God says you will not build me a house.

But there is a reversal. I will build you a house. And it's not a physical palace, it's a dynasty.

It's a family of rulers. And that dynasty will rule forever. And of course, the immediate context is that Solomon will take over and he will build

David, the Lord, the house, the temple. But in the ultimate context, in order for a

Davidic king to rule forever is either you keep having children who succeed you over and over again, or you have a king who lives forever on the throne.

And ultimately, Jesus fulfills that role. To this day, we have no idea who needs to take on the

Davidic throne, even if the Israelites, nowadays, the nation of Israel, decides to go back to monarchy.

They don't have the record. But we know the eternal Davidic king who sits on the throne and has been.

And Jesus is the fulfillment of that. Then the next major figure appears in verse 34,

Abraham. The Abrahamic promises that God would bless not just his offspring, but all the families of the world, all the nations of the world through Abraham's offspring.

And the apostle Paul details the fulfillment of such a blessing in Galatians three.

Jesus fulfills this role because all the nations of the world can be justified by believing in Jesus.

At one point, all the nations other than Israel were doomed to condemnation because they were just worshiping pagan gods.

That was their culture. Sure, here and there, there's some who are rescued and delivered and they join

Israel, right? Rahab, Ruth. But for most of history, most all the nations worshiped false gods and they were doomed to be judged.

However, through Jesus, the blessing that comes through Abraham's offspring, who is

Jesus, is that anyone for any nation can be made right, can have a right relationship with God by believing in Jesus.

To Paul, that is the ultimate blessing of Abraham. Not wealth. It's about salvation.

It's justification by faith alone. And lastly, now, unlike Matthew's genealogy,

Luke connects Jesus all the way back to Adam. And verse 38 has a special title for Adam that no one else gets in the genealogy, which is that he is the son of God.

Now, what could this mean? Nowhere in the Bible is Adam called the son of God except here.

And here, what Luke's declaring is that he's trying to declare the importance of Adam to emphasize the importance of Jesus.

Remember, Adam is first of all humanity. He's the first man. And because he was made in God's image directly.

And he was the representative of all humanity. So, Adam's sonship is grounded in God's special creative act to bring him forth as the representative of all humanity.

Hence, when Adam fell, all humanity fell. No other human was created like Adam.

Adam's existence is directly caused by God's creative act. And hence,

Adam is the son of God in that regard. Not as the second person of the

Trinity, but his special place as the specially created person out of clay.

And now, what's the significance that Jesus is connected to Adam? First, Luke continues his genealogy all the way to Adam to show that Jesus Christ is the savior for ultimately all humanity.

Jesus' restoration of Israel ultimately has a universal impact on all humanity.

When Jesus dies on the cross to restore Israel, remember in the first two chapters, it was about the restoration of a nation,

Israel. But when Jesus dies on the cross to restore

Israel's relationship with God, he will actually have a global impact on the rest of the nations.

The Messiah's salvific blessing is not just contained in Israel, but overflows to the rest of the world.

And we will see the hints of that as we read on Luke's gospel.

It doesn't just stay in Israel. As we go to act, it's going all over.

The gospel message is traveling everywhere, even to Rome. And second,

Jesus is connected to Adam, the first king of the created world. Remember, after God created

Adam, he commended him to have dominion over all things. However, when

Satan tempts him about his sonship, about his identity, he relinquished it.

However, Jesus, the ultimate king, will be tempted by Satan, because the question that Satan asks will be, if you're the son of God, do this.

If you're the son of God, obey me instead of God. However, Jesus, although tempted, will withstand every temptation and hold fast to his sonship.

It's to create that contrast. Upon Jesus' inauguration, God is sending the second

Adam, who will actually fulfill completely in ruling the world, saving the world from the rebellion of Adam, in order to restore everyone to God.

And those who have faith in this king will be restored to God.

Let us pray. Father, we're thankful that you have shown us what kind of king

Jesus is. He's a servant king, who came to save the lost, who came to save those who call out to him, who came to restore us to you.

And God, I pray that you would help us to delight in him, to treasure him with all our lives.