JESUS IS FOR EVERYONE
One of the things that jumps off the page reading through Luke’s account of the Gospel is that Jesus is for everyone. The angels announced to the shepherds that “a savior has been born to you”. They said his birth was “good news of great joy for all the people”. Old Simeon prophesied that he would bring “light to the gentiles” as well as “glory to Israel”. But one of the most powerful indicators that Jesus is for everyone is found right in the middle of the genealogy list in chapter three.
Don’t miss the treasure in the details!
When Jesus joins John’s baptism movement the heavens are opened and the Holy Spirit descends on him visibly looking like a dove. The Father speaks his blessing over Jesus, “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.”
Then comes the list. A bunch of hard to pronounce names we are tempted to skip over, but at least a few we should recognize. The Son of David (v. 31) is a messianic title as well as a genealogical detail. Jesus is in the line of kings in Israel to fulfill the expectations of messiah. But wait, there’s more!
He is also the son of Abraham (v. 33). The promise God made that defined Israel’s calling and purpose as a nation through whom God would bless all nations was to Abraham and his descendants.
All the way back to the beginning (at the end of verse 38) we see that he is the son of Adam and Adam is the son of God. Now set aside your questions about the different genealogies and who gets left out and how many generations it is back to Adam. That’s a discussion for another day. The important thing here is what it is saying about Jesus.
We are all related to Jesus!
Jesus is the Son of Man. Literally, the Son of Adam (humanity). Adam is called the son of God here and in other places. He was the first. Through him we all inherited sin. Through his descendants (listed just now in reverse order) the whole world became a mess to the point of a do-over with Noah (v. 36). The sons of Adam killed each other, failed to bear the image of God and made a mess of everything. They all needed saving.
And that is what only Jesus came to do. He didn’t need to be baptized to repent of his own sins, but ours. It wasn’t just him that was affirmed by God speaking from heaven. He was the Son of God in a unique way only Jesus could be. But everything he did, he did as the Son of God, Son of Man, Son of Abraham, Son of David, for all of us. Jew and gentile. Slave and free. Rich and poor, Sinners and saints.
The apostle Paul put it this way, “As in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive.” 1 Corinthians 15:22
That’s good news of great joy for all people! Jesus is for everyone. That includes you.
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