Pastor Ross shows us from Jesus's geneology that he is the better son of God who came to destroy the works of the evil one and to redeem our broken families.
The Two Sons of God
The Two Sons of God
Ross Tenneson / General
Summary
Exegetical Main Point:
Jesus, whose lineage connects him all the way to Adam, begins his ministry.
Sermon Main Point:
Jesus is the pleasing son of God who rescues us from our own broken past and family trees.
Sermon
Me (Connection)
I have never preached on this text before (or a text like it). I know genealogies can feel a little boring, but there is actually glory here. It’s not lost on me that what we see here is Jesus’s family tree. I love my parents, but I see some of their weaknesses and shortcomings in me. I bet a lot of you could feel stuck because of the challenges you have had in your family.
We (Tension)
The direction I want to go in is to answer what it means that Jesus is “the son of God.” At first blush, I think a lot of us would answer that it means that he is God. However, I don’t think it can mean that because of verse 38 where Luke also calls Adam the “son of God.” We are going to dig into this phrase and try to uncover what it means together (referring actually to a handful of Old Testament texts).
I also want to apply this text and Jesus’s identity as the “son of God” to the broken families we all come from and the brokenness we all inherit from them. Do you feel the influence or even control of your family’s past on you? This text presents fresh hope for each of us today.
If you are not yet a follower of Jesus, we are glad that you are here. I’m sure you have had similar experiences and will find this bible text relevant to you.
God (Revelation)
I. Jesus was not the son of fallen Joseph (but of the Holy Spirit) (v. 23)
What we have here are a list of Jesus’s ancestors, 75 of them to be exact.[1] We call these lists of ancestors a “genealogy” and they are actually pretty common in the Bible. They are also quite common in the ancient world.[2] While we tend to lose track of our family history after a generation or two,[3] ancient families would have taken pride in their family tree.[4] If we read this genealogy as strictly record keeping, we are making a mistake. Genealogies make powerful statements about membership in a society and one’s status in a society— they communicate something about the person.[5] They could express something really good about you (like if you were the son of someone like George Washington). Or they could express something really bad about you (like if you were the son of someone like Hitler).
In the case of Jesus’s genealogy, it is meant to teach us important truth about him and what he came to do.
Let’s jump into verse 23 and see what we can learn,
English Standard Version Chapter 3
23 Jesus, when he began his ministry, was about thirty years of age
The first word that leaps out to me in this verse is the word “began.” Throughout Luke’s writings (which include this book and the book of Acts), a new “beginning” is a theme that Luke develops in relation to the new work God does through Jesus. In the first chapter of Acts, when they are trying to select a New Apostle, they mention that this Apostle had to be present with the Lord Jesus since the “beginning” of his ministry. Here is Acts 1:21,
English Standard Version Chapter 1
21 So one of the men who have accompanied us during all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, 22 beginning from the baptism of John until the day when he was taken up from us—one of these men must become with us a witness to his resurrection.”
Later, the Apostle Peter refers to this same moment, following Jesus’s baptism and the start of his ministry as a “beginning.”
In the ministry of Jesus, we are entering into a fresh stage of “salvation history.”[6] In other words, God is beginning a fresh work he had not done before and we are witnessing the start of it. In fact, the presence of a genealogy in this text, indicates the exact same point.
In the Old Testament, a genealogy would often come at the beginning of an account of what God did in history.[7] So, when we see that there is a genealogy at this point in the story, between Jesus’s baptism and his temptation in the desert, it indicates that we are about to see God work to accomplish something.[8] The combination of the “beginning” of Jesus’s ministry and the recounting of his genealogy signals a fresh work of God in the world.
The genealogy makes it clear the Jesus will be the focal point of this work of God. Luke traces his lineage, not John’s or anyone else’s, to highlight that Jesus will be the star.[9] As we continue to walk through this genealogy together, we are going to see how God works through Jesus to do his fresh work in the world.
Now what other information does Luke give about Jesus?
He says he “was about thirty years of age.” Thirty was the age at which a man reached full maturity in the Jewish culture.[10] Here is one question that came up as I researched this passage:
Why did Jesus have to live in obscurity in a village for thirty years?[11]Why didn’t God just create him as a mature man (as he did with Adam) in sending him to be the savior of the world?
We see Luke laying the foundation for a concept we will see throughout Luke, especially in chapter 4: everything that Jesus accomplishes for us, he did as a full human being. Those thirty years of growing up in Nazareth brought him into the human experience of growing up. The reality that Jesus was a human being is going to reappear in our text as we continue on. He can relate and connect to any experience you have ever had including suffering, puberty, rejection, loneliness, or even how mundane and ordinary life can feel. Sometimes we fall into the trap of thinking that we cannot relate to Jesus because he was so perfect and was God. However, he was every bit as much as a human being as you or I and we can relate to him and he to us.
What sticks out about these names? Do you recognize any of them?
One thing that sticks out to me is the obscurity of so many of these names. Quite frankly, we do not know anything about whom so many of these people are. And yet, being in the line of Jesus connects these “unknowns” to Jesus.[12] The new work that God will do through Jesus will include the unknowns and the insignificant in the world. So many of these people did nothing noteworthy in their lives: history would forget them forever, except for one thing: their connection to Jesus (now there names are in the Bible: the most famous book ever written).
I was talking to my friend just the other day. He was going through some significant problems in part because he desired for the world to recognize him and know him. That desire will eat you and me up unless we find a way to satisfy it. Luke shows us that connection with Jesus is the only link we need to have lasting significance (just as Daniel preached last week). For those of us who are asking in our hearts,
“How can I be great in the world’s eyes?,”
I propose a better question to ask:
“How can I become connected to Jesus? How can I find my significance in relation and connection to him?”
That’s where we are going to go later this evening. As we continue to walk through the genealogy and encounter unknown name after unknown name, suddenly we come across some very familiar names! We see in verse 31 and 32,
English Standard Version Chapter 3
the son of David, 32 the son of Jesse, the son of Obed, the son of Boaz
These are all names many of us can recognize from stories in the Old Testament. His ancestor is David is the most significant in this group.
Why does it matter that he was David’s descendent?
Because while many of Jesus’s ancestors were humble and not noteworthy, even still Jesus comes as a descendent of kings. He is in the kingly line of David and has the right to the throne of God’s people. Earlier in Luke, when the angel Gabriel was telling Mary about the child she would have, he said,
English Standard Version Chapter 1
32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, 33 and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.”
For Jesus to come and do the new work God sent him to do, he had not only to connect with lowly and ordinary people, he had to be a king and inherit the throne of his ancestor David.[13] In other words, he needed to act with authority and power to vanquish God’s enemies.[14] If Jesus came with all power and had no love, he would be utterly terrifying. Yet, if he came with love and had no power, he wouldn’t be able to help us in the least. I rejoice that Jesus came and completed his ministry with the power and authority of a king. His way was not one of comfort and privilege like many royalty enjoy, yet when he spoke and acted, everything he did came to pass as he intended it to.
I once had a conversation with one of the kids here at APC. One time he came up to me and said, “Ross, do you know who my greatest enemy is?” I said, “who?” He answered, “Satan.” I replied that he was right that Satan was right and that he had another enemy as well: the sin in his own heart.
If Jesus was not a mighty king, I would have no good news for this young man and there would be no good news for anyone. If Jesus was just the lamb and not also the lion, he would not be able to save us even from our own hearts, much less the devil himself.
The next most significant name comes up in verse 34,
English Standard Version Chapter 3
34 the son of Jacob, the son of Isaac, the son of Abraham, the son of Terah, the son of Nahor,
Abraham is another gigantic Old Testament figure that Jesus’s genealogy connects him to. He is showing us something else about the fresh work that God game to do in Jesus. Among the many promises God makes to Abraham, here is one I want to highlight, In Gen 22:18, God says to Abraham,
English Standard Version Chapter 22
18 and in your offspring shall all the nations of the earth be blessed, because you have obeyed my voice.”
Abraham received a promise that God would bless and rescue people from every family line on earth through “his offspring.” This genealogy indicates to us that Jesus is this offspring God is going to use to bless all the nations of the earth. This is a really important idea that will come up later: Jesus did not just come to be king of one people group, but of every people group and to bring them blessing! Do you feel the tension that there is between different kinds of people today? Are you despairing that so often there doesn’t seem to be a solution? Here is one, the king who came to rescue any kind of person and bring them together at the foot of his cross. (the fact that this genealogy traces all the way back to Adam shows that Jesus’s work will be fore any kind of person).
As we close into the end of the genealogy, we see the climax which it is all leading up to. After listing a few more familiar names in Genesis like “Noah,” “Enoch,” and “Seth,” Luke writes what it the most profound and fascinating entry. Verse 38 lists’s Jesus’s most distant ancestor:
English Standard Version Chapter 3
the son of Adam, the son of God.
What’s so unexpected about this entry in the genealogy?
He calls him, “the son of God.”
I am so gripped by this because that’s exactly what God says about Jesus at his baptism! Verse 22 says,
English Standard Version Chapter 3
and a voice came from heaven, “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.”
Why would Luke refer both to Jesus and to Adam as sons of God?
Luke is setting up a contrast between these two men.[15] They fulfill similar roles, yet with vastly different results. These are the two “sons of God:” one who fails and one show succeeds. Luke tells us that Adam, the first human being, was God’s son. That meant he had intimacy with his Father (as would any good Son with a good Father). Also, to be God’s son in the Bible means to be a king who shares in God’s rule over his creation. When God created people, he created “royalty.”[16] Let me share a verse that connects sonship of God with kingship. In 2 Sam 7, when God is prophesying to David about his descendent who would sit on his throne he says,
English Standard Version Chapter 7
13 He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. 14 I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son.
In the case of Adam and Eve, if you remember, God gave them something “over all of creation” the word starts with a “d.” Does anyone know what it is? (That’s right, that means “to rule”). So, Adam was supposed to be a king, under God’s ultimate rule, who obeyed and loved God.
This makes the fall all the more tragic. God shared everything with his son Adam, even his throne (what kind of human king does that?!).
I don’t even like to let other people clarify what the rules are when I’m playing a board game: I like to do that.
Yet, even though Adam and Eve had all they could ever want from God, they obeyed the voice of the serpent and disregarded God. God had given Adam and Eve a test (don’t eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil), and yet they did and failed.
Since that moment, we have lived in a fallen world where we don’t feel much like royalty, but more like slaves. Slaves to deadlines, slaves to relational turmoil, slaves to mental illness, slaves to pain, and even death (it can be a haunting thought that I will die one day).
And that is why, when we read verse 23, that Jesus was the son “as was supposed” of Joseph, that is really good news. If Jesus was the son of Joseph, he would have inherited all of the same slavery and brokenness we have. Yet, Luke 1:35 reveals that Jesus did not have a human father. Instead, the Holy Spirit caused him to be conceived in Mary’s womb. As a new “son of God,” whom Luke is comparing to Adam, Jesus is coming to do what Adam failed to do— live as an obedient king to God who fights against God’s enemies instead of bows to them like Adam did![17]
Here is a text that shows that “God’s son” is supposed to fight against the enemies of God’s people. And just so you know, in the Old Testament, the “nations” represented God’s enemies. In the NT, we learn that those enemies are more specifically Satan, sin, and death. Here is Psalm 2:7-9 ,
English Standard Version Psalm 2
7 I will tell of the decree:
The Lord said to me, “You are my Son;
today I have begotten you.
8 Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage,
and the ends of the earth your possession.
9 You shall break them with a rod of iron
and dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.”
As a new and better Adam, Jesus succeeds where the first Adam failed. Jesus passes the test whereas our first ancestor failed miserably. Indeed, in the very next text that Sam will preach next week, Jesus fights and wins against the very same serpent Adam fell to in the garden. And that’s why we have hope.
The “Son of God” is a warrior of God on behalf of God’s people. We can see from Genesis and from Luke that he is supposed to fight against Satan and all of his works. Adam failed to overthrow this serpent, Jesus did not.[18] Jesus is a better Adam who is restoring the original blueprint for God’s good creation that Satan forfeited.
This is really good news to me as I have seen firsthand the devastating works of the enemy this week (I have seen him ruin the life of my long time friend and bring deep pain to his family). I am so thankful that Jesus came as a warrior to undo and destroy these works. Here is Jesus going to battle against this very same spiritual evil in the next chapter. Luke 4:40-41 says,
English Standard Version Chapter 4
40 Now when the sun was setting, all those who had any who were sick with various diseases brought them to him, and he laid his hands on every one of them and healed them. 41 And demons also came out of many, crying, “You are the Son of God!”
As Jesus cast out the demons that were oppressing and enslaving these people, even those dark spiritual powers could not help but confess Jesus’s identity: “You are the Son of God!” that is, the obedient servant of God who goes to war for God’s people and delivers them.
Friends, this is good news, but there is still a problem for us.
What could that problem be?
My lineage traces back to Adam (and I’m pretty sure yours does too). In addition, we all bear a family resemblance to Adam. You can take one look at baby Levi’s hair style, and you can figure out he is Scott’s son. We all share a resemblance to Adam that shows we belong to his family tree.
What feature do we all share with him?
It’s no a physical feature in our appearance. It is a moral resemblance to him. All of us without exception follow Adam in having God-defiant hearts. We insist on following our own way rather than his way, and we have this deep seated belief: I don’t need God. That’s one reason we get angry at God, that’s why we hurt other people. Rather than obeying our father, we have adopted the way of the serpent and submit to his influence.
So, it is not good news at face value that Jesus is the Son of God who has come to vanquish the enemies of God, because we are, by default, as descendents of Adam and enemies of God. And yet we know from the promise I read earlier to Abraham in Genesis 22, that this offspring would be a blessing and not a curse to the families of the earth!
How can that be?
Because the way this Son of God ultimately defeats the devil and his works is as unexpected as it gets. Instead of simply destroying his enemies (who includes me and you), he dies on the cross in the place of his enemies to make them his friends. He suffers the fair price for their disobedience against the creator God in their place so that they don’t have to. His suffering in our place gives us the greatest gift when we place our trust in him. He adopts us out of the line of Adam and makes us his own descendent. Jesus is starting his own genealogy, his own family tree. When you are in his family tree, he goes to war for you and undoes and is undoing all the works of Satan and death in your life. I want to share a verse from Paul’s letter to the Galatians. Paul was a close associate with Luke. He says in Gal 3:26
English Standard Version Chapter 3
26 for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith.
It is believing in Jesus by which we receive the gift of adoption. When Jesus adopts us, he becomes a warrior for us against sin, death, and Satan on our behalf. We need that fighter for us every day. And for those of you who are still children of Adam and want to become children of Jesus. You can become a son of God right now by placing your trust in Jesus (instead of in yourself). For you ladies for whom it feels strange for the Bible to call you a “son of God,” don’t worry about that. The Bible in other places calls me the “bride of Christ.” These are pictures God is using to communicate the truth of what Jesus has done for us.
Elsewhere in the Scriptures, Satan does the work of accusing God’s people. One of the greatest ways he destroys is us by reminding us of our many sins and making us feel like God could never love or accepts us. Yet, it is the very adoption by Jesus into his family tree that overthrows Satan’s greatest weapon.
Remember earlier when I said, “God the Father shares everything with his children?”
That means, that when we become children of God by believing and trusting in Jesus, we receive the most precious gift from God we could imagine. When God says about Jesus, “this is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased,” that is actually the same pleasure he shares with us and has in us when we become Sons of God (and ladies for whom that is strange, it is just an analogy. Elsewhere, the Bible calls us guys “the bride of Christ” also). I want you to close your eyes and try to imagine for a moment how strongly God loves Jesus.
How much affection does he feel for him?
That’s the exact same amount of love he feels for you, child of God! If you are here today and desire for God to feel that way about you, and to have a relationship with a good father who will care for you and even fight for you, then please, like the thief on the cross, turn your trust and love away from yourself and place it upon Christ. It is by believing in Jesus that we receive the all of the good that he accomplished for us on the cross.
You (Application)
I want to speak to one immediate application that this text shows us. If we have a new family tree, becoming Sons of God through Jesus, then there is hope that we can heal from any of the wounds we received from our natural family tree. So much of the works of Satan we suffer from are wounds in our own families or family history! I believe so many of the wounds and hurt that we operate out of today are wounds we received from our own fathers and mothers. Some of the ways we sin against God and others may be the same way we watched them sin or experienced them sin against us. Whether you came from a wonderful family, a really hard family, or somewhere in-between, we still need to heal from the sin we have within our hearts and that, whatever good our parents did for us (and my parents did a lot of good), we still received from them. Here are some words from Louie Giglio in his book Not Forsaken for those who came from the worst situations:
If God can bring about our best from Christ’s worst, He can surely overcome the mangled web of destruction left by people in your life. God can restore and bring about something beautiful from the chaos in your life, the legacy of devastation in our past. He can and will bring the change that displays His power and love. Oh, and this is not some fairy-tail promise I’m offering, some wishful mumbo-jumbo. It’s bedrock truth anchored in history at the cross of Jesus.
When Jesus, the son of God goes to war for us, he fights against not only our sin, but also the legacy of brokenness we receive from others. And it is not too strong for him to break! Here is what I want you to do if you can identify a particular brokenness in your past that still effects you today (especially from your parents). Identify one way a family member brought significant hurt to you, and then find a verse in the Bible that describes how God is not like that but is in fact the opposite. Then, pray that God would impress that reality upon your heart and begin to heal and free you from the damage that you have felt. And if you are having trouble finding a verse that addresses your situation, please turn to someone in our community and ask for help. Any member would be more than happy to serve you.
Jesus (Glorification)
Now to tie this sermon back to where we started. This genealogy introduces a fresh work God was about to begin. It includes Jesus coming as the pleasing son of God where Adam failed. As victorious, he can fight for us and set us free from our bondage to sin and death and destruction. He gives us a new lineage of descending from him. He does it all so unexpectedly by hanging on a cross for us today. As we leave, just consider this if you are a Son of God: Jesus fights your enemies for you! How amazing is that? I can’t even fathom how blessed we are to have a God who fights against our enemies like he does.
[1] Martin, J. A. (1985). Luke. In J. F. Walvoord & R. B. Zuck (Eds.), The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of
the Scriptures (Vol. 2, p. 212). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.
[2] Ibid.
[3] Tom Wright, Luke for Everyone (London: Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, 2004), 38–41.
[4] Bovon, F., & Koester, H. (2002). Luke
1: a commentary on the Gospel of Luke 1:1–9:50 (p. 134). Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press.
[5] Joel B. Green, The Gospel of Luke, The New International Commentary on the New Testament (Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1997), 188–190.
[6] Bovon, F., & Koester, H. (2002). Luke
1: a commentary on the Gospel of Luke 1:1–9:50 (p. 136). Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press.
[7] Bovon, F., & Koester, H. (2002). Luke
1: a commentary on the Gospel of Luke 1:1–9:50 (p. 135). Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press.
[8] Dr. Jason DeRouchie, Old Testament Survey Lecture notes, 2014.
[9][9] Joel B. Green, The Gospel of Luke, The New International Commentary on the New Testament (Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1997), 188–190.
[10] Morris, L. (1988). Luke: an
introduction and commentary (Vol. 3, p. 120). Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.
[11] Marshall, I. H. (1978). The Gospel of Luke:
a commentary on the Greek text (p. 162). Exeter: Paternoster Press.
[12] Bock, D. L. (1996). Luke (p. 125). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan
Publishing House.
[13] Cf. Pao, D. W., & Schnabel, E. J. (2007). Luke. In Commentary on the New Testament use of the Old
Testament (p. 282). Grand Rapids, MI; Nottingham, UK: Baker Academic;
Apollos.
[14] Elwell, W. A., & Beitzel, B. J. (1988). Messiah. In Baker encyclopedia of the Bible (Vol. 2, p. 1446). Grand Rapids, MI: Baker
Book House.
[15] Marshall, I. H. (1978). The Gospel of Luke:
a commentary on the Greek text (p. 161). Exeter: Paternoster Press.
[16] Heiser, M. S. (2015). The Unseen Realm:
Recovering the Supernatural Worldview of the Bible (First Edition, p. 244). Bellingham, WA:
Lexham Press.
[17] T. Desmond Alexander, From Eden to the New Jerusalem: An Introduction to Biblical Theology (Grand Rapids: Kregel Academic & Professional, 2009).
[18] Ibid.
