21 Now when all the people were baptized, and when Jesus also had been baptized and was praying, the heavens were opened, 22 and the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form, like a dove; and a voice came from heaven, “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.”

23 Jesus, when he began his ministry, was about thirty years of age, being the son (as was supposed) of Joseph, the son of Heli, 24 the son of Matthat, the son of Levi, the son of Melchi, the son of Jannai, the son of Joseph, 25 the son of Mattathias, the son of Amos, the son of Nahum, the son of Esli, the son of Naggai, 26 the son of Maath, the son of Mattathias, the son of Semein, the son of Josech, the son of Joda, 27 the son of Joanan, the son of Rhesa, the son of Zerubbabel, the son of Shealtiel, the son of Neri, 28 the son of Melchi, the son of Addi, the son of Cosam, the son of Elmadam, the son of Er, 29 the son of Joshua, the son of Eliezer, the son of Jorim, the son of Matthat, the son of Levi, 30 the son of Simeon, the son of Judah, the son of Joseph, the son of Jonam, the son of Eliakim, 31 the son of Melea, the son of Menna, the son of Mattatha, the son of Nathan, the son of David, 32 the son of Jesse, the son of Obed, the son of Boaz, the son of Sala, the son of Nahshon, 33 the son of Amminadab, the son of Admin, the son of Arni, the son of Hezron, the son of Perez, the son of Judah, 34 the son of Jacob, the son of Isaac, the son of Abraham, the son of Terah, the son of Nahor, 35 the son of Serug, the son of Reu, the son of Peleg, the son of Eber, the son of Shelah, 36 the son of Cainan, the son of Arphaxad, the son of Shem, the son of Noah, the son of Lamech, 37 the son of Methuselah, the son of Enoch, the son of Jared, the son of Mahalaleel, the son of Cainan, 38 the son of Enos, the son of Seth, the son of Adam, the son of God.

As mentioned in the last blog post, Luke is locating the reader to this very time and space and situation in history. The word of God has been silent for 400+ years, no prophets have been summoned and raised up, the Jewish nation in many ways has made a mess of themselves, and into that spaghetti mess John the Baptist comes into the scene (a very unlikely man and prophet) and ushers in the true and final and supreme and authoritative and sufficient Word of God (Jesus).

In verses 21-22, Luke points us to a very important scene in the baptism of Jesus. We may have a lot of questions about this. Why did Jesus need to be baptized? Why is that even necessary? The answers to those questions are not clear, but what God does make very clear is that Jesus is His Son, well loved, in full pleasure and communion with the Father (which is in a sense a reference to Isaiah 42:1), and that His baptism catapulted Jesus’ ministry to bring forth the finality of the kingdom and reign of God. 

“I will take you to be my people, and I will be your God, and you shall know that I am the Lord your God” Exodus 6:7

The genealogy of Jesus is worth a deeper look. It connects Jesus’ lineage through David, through Judah, through Abraham, to Adam. There are some slight differences between this genealogy and the one Matthew presents in Matthew 1, mainly in how Matthew moves from David to Solomon— possibly to show the royal lineage of Jesus, versus how Luke moves from David to Nathan (a lesser known son of David, 2 Samuel 5:14). But we know well the stories of Abraham and Issac (Issac presented on the alter), Jacob and his twelve sons including Judah, and Rahab marrying a Jew and giving birth to Boaz who married Ruth a Moabite who was King David’s great grandmother. These are all God’s sovereign, intricate, and holy movements of history to bring forth Jesus according to His promise, His prophecy, burning with passion to redeem and reconcile His people back to their First Love.