Jesus’ genealogy
Daily Scripture
Matthew 1:1-17;Luke 3:23-38
Matthew 1:1-17
1 A record of the ancestors of Jesus Christ, son of David, son of Abraham:
2 Abraham was the father of Isaac.
Isaac was the father of Jacob.
Jacob was the father of Judah and his brothers.
3 Judah was the father of Perez and Zerah,
whose mother was Tamar.
Perez was the father of Hezron.
Hezron was the father of Aram.
4 Aram was the father of Amminadab.
Amminadab was the father of Nahshon.
Nahshon was the father of Salmon.
5 Salmon was the father of Boaz, whose mother was Rahab.
Boaz was the father of Obed, whose mother was Ruth.
Obed was the father of Jesse.
6 Jesse was the father of David the king.
David was the father of Solomon,
whose mother had been the wife of Uriah.
7 Solomon was the father of Rehoboam.
Rehoboam was the father of Abijah.
Abijah was the father of Asaph.
8 Asaph was the father of Jehoshaphat.
Jehoshaphat was the father of Joram.
Joram was the father of Uzziah.
9 Uzziah was the father of Jotham.
Jotham was the father of Ahaz.
Ahaz was the father of Hezekiah.
10 Hezekiah was the father of Manasseh.
Manasseh was the father of Amos.
Amos was the father of Josiah.
11 Josiah was the father of Jechoniah and his brothers.
This was at the time of the exile to Babylon.
12 After the exile to Babylon: Jechoniah was the father of Shealtiel.
Shealtiel was the father of Zerubbabel.
13 Zerubbabel was the father of Abiud.
Abiud was the father of Eliakim.
Eliakim was the father of Azor.
14 Azor was the father of Zadok.
Zadok was the father of Achim.
Achim was the father of Eliud.
15 Eliud was the father of Eleazar.
Eleazar was the father of Matthan.
Matthan was the father of Jacob.
16 Jacob was the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary—of whom Jesus was born, who is called the Christ.
17 So there were fourteen generations from Abraham to David, fourteen generations from David to the exile to Babylon, and fourteen generations from the exile to Babylon to the Christ.
Luke 3:23-38
23 Jesus was about 30 years old when he began his ministry. People supposed that he was the son of Joseph son of Heli 24 son of Matthat son of Levi son of Melchi son of Jannai son of Joseph 25 son of Mattathias son of Amos son of Nahum son of Esli son of Naggai 26 son of Maath son of Mattathias son of Semein son of Josech son of Joda 27 son of Joanan son of Rhesa son of Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel son of Neri 28 son of Melchi son of Addi son of Cosam son of Elmadam son of Er 29 son of Joshua son of Eliezer son of Jorim son of Matthat son of Levi 30 son of Simeon son of Judah son of Joseph son of Jonam son of Eliakim 31 son of Melea son of Menna son of Mattatha son of Nathan son of David 32 son of Jesse son of Obed son of Boaz son of Sala son of Nahshon 33 son of Amminadab son of Admin son of Arni son of Hezron son of Perez son of Judah 34 son of Jacob son of Isaac son of Abraham son of Terah son of Nahor 35 son of Serug son of Reu son of Peleg son of Eber son of Shelah 36 son of Cainan son of Arphaxad son of Shem son of Noah son of Lamech 37 son of Methuselah son of Enoch son of Jared son of Mahalalel son of Cainan 38 son of Enos son of Seth son of Adam son of God.
Daily Reflection & Prayer
“Oh, no—not genealogies! I don’t know who those people were. I can’t even pronounce some of those foreign names!” Both Matthew and Luke listed Jesus’ ancestors, not as a way of putting their readers to sleep, but “as a story of God’s unfolding history leading up to the promised Messiah.”* Hebrew genealogies (like Matthew’s) generally began with an ancestor and read forward; Greek genealogies (like Luke’s) did the reverse, reading backward from the present to the past.
- Casual readers sometimes get confused. If you go name-by-name, these two genealogies differ at some points. “The differences… are perhaps best explained… by the assumption that the legal line [i.e. Joseph’s—a patriarchal culture saw men as the legal “father,” regardless of genetics] of Jesus is traced in Matthew, the actual line of descent [i.e. Mary’s] in Luke.”** How did both genealogies make the crucial point that Jesus fulfilled and completed God’s promises to Abraham and David?
- We encourage you to read Pastor Hamilton’s key points about Matthew’s genealogy in today’s Insights blog. Luke’s, by going all the way to “Adam son of God (3:38) …emphasizes how Jesus is for all people, and it connects the first human with God’s Son, who is the Christ.”*** This was one way Luke emphasized the Christian conviction that Jesus was fully human as well as fully divine. In what ways can it matter to you that Jesus entered fully into our human experience?
The Journey: A Season of Reflections
Today’s Insights was chapter 1, “The Genealogy of Jesus,” from The Journey: A Season of Reflections, by Adam Hamilton. Copyright © 2011 by Abingdon Press, and available on our website for 24 hours by permission of Abingdon Press. If you’d like to buy the entire book of reflections, you can click here for a direct link to the Cokesbury sale page, as well as other Journey resources.
Prayer
O God, you have always been willing to work with anyone who is willing to work with you. Thank you for giving me the privilege of joining the long list of people who have served your great redeeming purpose in the world. Amen.
GPS Insights
© 2024 Resurrection: A United Methodist Church. All Rights Reserved.
Scripture quotations are taken from The Common English Bible ©2011. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
References
* Danielle Shroyer, study note on Matthew 1 in The CEB Women’s Bible. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2016, p. 1213.
** Walter L. Liefeld, comment on Luke 3:23-38 in The Expositor’s Bible Commentary, Abridged: New Testament. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1994, p. 223.
*** Richard B. Vinson, study note on Luke 3:23-38 in The CEB Study Bible. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2013, p. 113 NT.
