Jesus
himself, when he began to teach, was about thirty years old, being the son (as was supposed) of Joseph, the son of Heli, the son of Matthat, the son of Levi, the son of Melchi, the son of Jannai, the son of Joseph, the son of Mattathias, the son of Amos, the son of Nahum, the son of Esli, the son of Naggai, the son of Maath, the son of Mattathias, the son of Semein, the son of Joseph, the son of Judah, the son of Joanan, the son of Rhesa, the son of Zerubbabel, the son of Shealtiel, the son of Neri, the son of Melchi, the son of Addi, the son of Cosam, the son of Elmodam, the son of Er, the son of Jose, the son of Eliezer, the son of Jorim, the son of Matthat, the son of Levi,
Luke 3:23-29
Luke 3 [18.] Then with many other exhortations he preached good news to the people, but Herod the tetrarch, being reproved by him for Herodias, his brother’s wife, and for all the evil things which Herod had done, added this also to them all, that he shut up John in prison. Now when all the people were baptized, Jesus also had been baptized, and was praying. The sky was opened, and the Holy Spirit descended in a bodily form like a dove on him; and a voice came out of the sky, saying “You are my beloved Son. In you I am well pleased.”
Luke 3 [23.] Jesus himself, when he began to teach, was about thirty years old, being the son (as was supposed) of Joseph, the son of Heli, the son of Matthat, the son of Levi, the son of Melchi, the son of Jannai, the son of Joseph, the son of Mattathias, the son of Amos, the son of Nahum, the son of Esli, the son of Naggai, the son of Maath, the son of Mattathias, the son of Semein, the son of Joseph, the son of Judah, the son of Joanan, the son of Rhesa, the son of Zerubbabel, the son of Shealtiel, the son of Neri, the son of Melchi, the son of Addi, the son of Cosam, the son of Elmodam, the son of Er, the son of Jose, the son of Eliezer, the son of Jorim, the son of Matthat, the son of Levi,
Luke 3 [30.] the son of Simeon, the son of Judah, the son of Joseph, the son of Jonan, the son of Eliakim, the son of Melea, the son of Menan, the son of Mattatha, 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 Nahshon, the son of Amminadab, the son of Aram, 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,
Meaning:
Luke has just described the baptism of Jesus, when the Holy Spirit came down on him and the voice from heaven said, “You are my beloved Son. In you I am well pleased” (Luke 3:21-22). Before telling how Jesus began his work, Luke pauses to give his family line. Matthew places his genealogy at the very start of his Gospel and runs it forward from Abraham (Matthew 1:1-4; Matthew 1:7-17). Luke places his here and runs it backward, from Jesus through David and Abraham all the way to Adam and to God (Luke 3:30-38). This first part covers the generations from Jesus back to the time after David.
- “Jesus himself, when he began to teach, was about thirty years old”
Thirty was the age of full maturity in Israel. Priests and Levites began their service in the sanctuary at thirty, Joseph stood before Pharaoh at thirty, and David became king at thirty. Jesus had spent the years since his visit to the temple as a boy growing “in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men” (Luke 2:52). Now, at the age when a man could take up public responsibility, he began the work his Father had given him. Luke’s “about” shows he is giving an approximate age, not a precise one.
- “being the son (as was supposed) of Joseph”
Luke has already told how Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit in the virgin Mary. The angel said, “Therefore also the holy one who is born from you will be called the Son of God” (Luke 1:35). So Luke carefully adds “as was supposed.” In law and in the eyes of the people of Nazareth Jesus was Joseph’s son (Luke 4:22), and as Joseph’s legal heir he received his place in the royal line. Yet his true Father was God. The genealogy honours Joseph while reminding the reader that Jesus is more than a son of Joseph.
- “the son of Heli, the son of Matthat”
Matthew says that “Jacob became the father of Joseph” (Matthew 1:16), while Luke names Heli. From David onward the two lists follow different branches. Christians have long suggested two explanations. One is that Luke traces the line of Mary, whose father was Heli, with Joseph counted as Heli’s son by marriage. Another, mentioned by early church writers, is that Heli and Jacob were brothers or half-brothers, and that one of them raised up offspring for the other under the law of levirate marriage, so that Joseph was the natural son of one and the legal son of the other. Either way, both Gospels agree on the key points: Jesus is a descendant of David and of Abraham and the rightful heir of the promises made to them.
- “the son of Rhesa, the son of Zerubbabel, the son of Shealtiel”
Zerubbabel and Shealtiel are the best known names in this section. Zerubbabel led the first group of exiles home from Babylon and laid the foundation of the second temple. Through him God showed that the line of David had not been wiped out in the exile. Most of the other names, such as Matthat, Melchi, Naggai and Joanan, are otherwise unknown. They were ordinary people, remembered only because the Messiah came from their family. Through centuries of foreign rule, poverty and silence, God kept the line alive until the promised son was born.
The Significance of Luke 3:23-29
- God keeps his promises
God had promised David, “I will set up your offspring after you ... and I will establish his kingdom” (2 Samuel 7:12). The genealogy is a record of faithfulness across a thousand years. For almost six centuries after the exile no descendant of David sat on a throne, and to many it must have seemed that the promise had failed. It had not. The angel told Mary that God would give her son “the throne of his father, David” (Luke 1:32).
- Ordinary lives matter
Most people in this list did nothing the world remembers. Yet each was a link in God’s plan. Faithfulness in quiet, unseen lives is never wasted in God’s purposes.
- Jesus fully human
A genealogy shows that Jesus belonged to a real family with real ancestors. The Son of God took on our human nature and entered our history, so that he could be our brother and Saviour (Hebrews 2:11).
Cross-References:
Matthew 1:16: “Jacob became the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary, from whom was born Jesus,” Matthew’s line of descent.
2 Samuel 7:12: “I will set up your offspring after you, who will proceed out of your body, and I will establish his kingdom.” The promise to David.
Isaiah 11:1: “A shoot will come out of the stock of Jesse,” The Messiah from David’s family tree.
Luke 2:52: “And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men.” The years before Jesus began his work.
Conclusion: Luke 3:23-29 begins the genealogy of Jesus, who was about thirty years old when he began his ministry. He was the son, as was supposed, of Joseph, while his true Father was God. Tracing the line back through Zerubbabel and the generations after David, Luke shows that God faithfully preserved the royal family through exile and obscurity until the promised King came.
PIB Scriptures are derived from the World English Bible