URC Daily Devotion 28 November 2024
St Luke 3: 23 – 38
Jesus was about thirty years old when he began his work. He was the son (as was thought) of Joseph son of Heli, son of Matthat, son of Levi, son of Melchi, son of Jannai, son of Joseph, son of Mattathias, son of Amos, son of Nahum, son of Esli, son of Naggai, son of Maath, son of Mattathias, son of Semein, son of Josech, son of Joda, son of Joanan, son of Rhesa, son of Zerubbabel, son of Shealtiel, son of Neri, son of Melchi, son of Addi, son of Cosam, son of Elmadam, son of Er, son of Joshua, son of Eliezer, son of Jorim, son of Matthat, son of Levi, son of Simeon, son of Judah, son of Joseph, son of Jonam, son of Eliakim, son of Melea, son of Menna, son of Mattatha, son of Nathan, son of David, son of Jesse, son of Obed, son of Boaz, son of Sala, son of Nahshon, son of Amminadab, son of Admin, son of Arni, son of Hezron, son of Perez, son of Judah, son of Jacob, son of Isaac, son of Abraham, son of Terah, son of Nahor, son of Serug, son of Reu, son of Peleg, son of Eber, son of Shelah, son of Cainan, son of Arphaxad, son of Shem, son of Noah, son of Lamech, son of Methuselah, son of Enoch, son of Jared, son of Mahalaleel, son of Cainan, son of Enos, son of Seth, son of Adam, son of God.
Reflection
What possible relevance could these verses have to our lives today? Is this listing of Jesus’s ancestors, many of whom we have never heard of, anything more than a buffer between the dramatic accounts of Jesus’s baptism and his temptations? It seems at first sight tediously dull. There’s no room for discussion in such a list; it seems to be nothing more than a stereotypical succession of names according to the formula “X son of Y.” Yet this is more than a bare list, it is a genealogy, a family tree. And genealogies are not just a historical record; they have meaning. They also speak to relationships in the present. For the early Christian community this really mattered. They needed to know how they related to Jesus and one way of answering the question was to point to his line of descent. Significantly then, Luke raises questions at the very beginning about Jesus’ paternity: Jesus was, he writes, “thought” to be the son of Joseph. The implications of that statement are obvious. If not Joseph, then who? who really was Jesus’ father?
Luke goes into reverse gear – he starts with Jesus, at the age of thirty, beginning his work, and charges back through the generations past David, far beyond Abraham, to Adam – encompassing the entire human race in Jesus’s ancestors. And beyond Adam, the last ancestor to be named is God. In this breath-taking scheme, Luke substantiates and affirms Jesus’ identity as son of God. Jesus is the son of God through God’s creative work in Adam, through his promise to David and through Joseph’s legal fatherhood.
Luke’s genealogy enables us to situate ourselves in God’s great plan, through Jesus, to save all those he has created. That includes us and our posterity. It fills us with hope.
Prayer
Gracious God,
our father,
we rejoice in the love you have shown us,
the freedom you give us,
the hope of which we are assured,
through your son our saviour Jesus Christ.
Amen