Old Testament Reading: Deuteronomy 6:1-25

“Now this is the commandment—the statutes and the rules—that the LORD your God commanded me to teach you, that you may do them in the land to which you are going over, to possess it, that you may fear the LORD your God, you and your son and your son’s son, by keeping all his statutes and his commandments, which I command you, all the days of your life, and that your days may be long. Hear therefore, O Israel, and be careful to do them, that it may go well with you, and that you may multiply greatly, as the LORD, the God of your fathers, has promised you, in a land flowing with milk and honey. Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates. And when the LORD your God brings you into the land that he swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give you—with great and good cities that you did not build, and houses full of all good things that you did not fill, and cisterns that you did not dig, and vineyards and olive trees that you did not plant—and when you eat and are full, then take care lest you forget the LORD, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. It is the LORD your God you shall fear. Him you shall serve and by his name you shall swear. You shall not go after other gods, the gods of the peoples who are around you— for the LORD your God in your midst is a jealous God—lest the anger of the LORD your God be kindled against you, and he destroy you from off the face of the earth. You shall not put the LORD your God to the test, as you tested him at Massah. You shall diligently keep the commandments of the LORD your God, and his testimonies and his statutes, which he has commanded you. And you shall do what is right and good in the sight of the LORD, that it may go well with you, and that you may go in and take possession of the good land that the LORD swore to give to your fathers by thrusting out all your enemies from before you, as the LORD has promised. When your son asks you in time to come, ‘What is the meaning of the testimonies and the statutes and the rules that the LORD our God has commanded you?’ then you shall say to your son, ‘We were Pharaoh’s slaves in Egypt. And the LORD brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand. And the LORD showed signs and wonders, great and grievous, against Egypt and against Pharaoh and all his household, before our eyes. And he brought us out from there, that he might bring us in and give us the land that he swore to give to our fathers. And the LORD commanded us to do all these statutes, to fear the LORD our God, for our good always, that he might preserve us alive, as we are this day. And it will be righteousness for us, if we are careful to do all this commandment before the LORD our God, as he has commanded us.’” (Deuteronomy 6, ESV)

New Testament Reading: Luke 4:1-13

“And Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness for forty days, being tempted by the devil. And he ate nothing during those days. And when they were ended, he was hungry. The devil said to him, ‘If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread.’ And Jesus answered him, ‘It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone.’’ And the devil took him up and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time, and said to him, ‘To you I will give all this authority and their glory, for it has been delivered to me, and I give it to whom I will. If you, then, will worship me, it will all be yours.’ And Jesus answered him, ‘It is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and him only shall you serve.’’ And he took him to Jerusalem and set him on the pinnacle of the temple and said to him, ‘If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here, for it is written, ‘He will command his angels concerning you, to guard you,’ and ‘On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.’ And Jesus answered him, ‘It is said, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’’ And when the devil had ended every temptation, he departed from him until an opportune time.” (Luke 4:1–13, ESV)

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Please excuse any typos and misspellings within this manuscript. It has been published online for the benefit of the saints of Emmaus Reformed Baptist Church but without the benefit of proofreading.

Introduction

What is the meaning of the story of the temptation of Jesus as found in Luke 4:1-13? What is the point of this passage? If I were to guess I would say that many Christians today view this story about Jesus’ victory over temptation as an example to us. I’m afraid that many interpret this passage as a kind of moralistic story wherein Jesus is set forth as an example to show us how we are to resist temptation when it comes. 

Now, I do not deny that there are wonderful principles found here in this story to be used by the people of God to resist temptation – Like Jesus, we must know God’s word and use it as the sword of the Spirit in our fight against temptation, we must be alert, especially in moments of physical and mental weakness, and we must not take shortcuts in life, but honor God in all situations, even if the path is hard, etc, etc. 

But I am sure, brothers and sisters, that this passage is not meant to function as a mere example to us to help us in our personal fight against sin. No, this story is about Jesus Christ and the victory that he has won for us. Stated differently, Jesus is not to be viewed (primarily) as a moral example, but as our victorious Savior. Luke presents Jesus to us here as the second and greater Adam and the true Isarel of God, who, through his perfect and perpetual obedience, has defeated Satan, dethroned him from his illegitimate throne, bound him, plundered his house, and, having finished his work – having obeyed to the point of death and having been raised from the dead – has ascended to his rightful throne and has sat down, thus securing for himself an eternal kingdom for himself and for all who are united to him by faith. 

Brothers and sisters, this passage is about Jesus and the victory he has won over Satan and his kingdom. The victory was secured at the cross, but note this: it began here when Jesus was tempted in the wilderness by the Devil. He was tempted not once, not twice, but three times, and yet he endured. He did not stumble but remained faithful to God. And so here we see the beginning of the accomplishment of our Salvation from bondage to sin, Satan, and his kingdom of darkness. 

Is Jesus an example to us? Are we to imitate him? In many respects, yes. But please hear me, friends. He is so much more than an example to us. Jesus did not come to merely be our example. He came to accomplish salvation for all given to him by the Father in eternity (see John 17). It is so crucial for you to understand this. If you do not understand this, then I wonder if you understand the gospel through which men and women are saved. There is no good news at all in this statement: Jesus came to live as an example for you. Why? Because we are not capable of imitating Christ perfectly. And more than this, striving to imitate Christ perfectly from this day forward would do nothing at all to remedy the problem of original corruption, past sins, and the fact that will continue to fall short of Christ’s example no matter how sincere our efforts may be. But here is good news: Christ came to live a life of perfect obedience, to die in the place of sinners, so that through faith in him, we might have his righteousness given to us as a gift, and all of our sins washed away. That is what Jesus came to accomplish. And only after we look to him as Savior should we look to him also as an example to us. As John says in 1 John 2:6, “whoever says he abides in [Christ] ought to walk in the same way in which he walked” (1 John 2:6, ESV). You see, first, we must abide in Christ by faith, and then, we must strive to walk as he walked, by God’s grace. 

So the point is this: the passage that is before us today is about the victory that Jesus has won for us by defeating Satan and overturning his works and kingdom of darkness. I have five questions to ask of our text, and once we answer them, I think you will agree with me that this is what the passage is about – the victory that Christ has won for us. 

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When Did This Take Place? Immediately After Jesus’ Baptism And At The Very Start Of His Public Ministry

Firstly, I ask, when did this event take place? Answer: it happened immediately after Jesus’ baptism and at the very beginning of his public ministry. Luke 4:1 says, “And Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness for forty days, being tempted by the devil.” (Luke 4:1–2, ESV)

The words, “And Jesus…  returned from the Jordan” take us back to Luke 3:1-22 where we are told of the baptism of Jesus by John in the Jordan River. Jesus’ baptism did not signify the washing away of his sins, for he had none. But it did signify that he was the Messiah and the great High Priest of the New Covenant. Jesus’ baptism (at about the age of 30) marked the beginning of his public ministry as the LORD’s Messiah. And what was his first order of business? Immediately, he went out into the wilderness to fast and pray, and slap Satan around a bit, metaphorically speaking. He did this to set the tone for his entire ministry. He did this to make it clear that he came to bind Satan so that he might plunder his house, and eventually crush him under his feet. While it is true that his victory over the Evil One would be accomplished in full at the cross, we must see that it began here in the wilderness immediately after Jesus’ baptism and at the beginning of his earthy ministry. The entirety of Jesus’ ministry is to be viewed, therefore, as an overthrowing of Satan and his kingdom. 

The words ” full of the Holy Spirit” in Luke 4:1 also signal that this story is about Jesus’ first order of business as the Messiah. Messiah means anointed one. And Jesus was indeed anointed with the Holy Spirit at his baptism. Obviously, he was not anointed with the Spirit unto salvation, for Christ did not need to be saved. No, he was anointed as the Messiah, the Savior, and our great Prophet, Priest, and King. Again I say to you, his first order of business as God’s anointed one was to face off with Satan in the wilderness, to demonstrate his superiority, and to establish the fact that Satan’s defeat was near.  

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Where Is This Story Presented In Luke’s Gospel? Immediately After The Tracing Of Jesus’ Genealogy Back To Adam

Secondly, I ask, where is this story presented in Luke’s Gospel? Yes, it is after the story of Jesus’ baptism as recorded in Luke 3:1-22. But do not forget about the genealogy of Jesus which Luke placed after the story of Jesus’ baptism and right before his temptation in the wilderness. 

I made much of this in the sermon I preached on Luke 3:23-38. Luke placed the genealogy of Jesus here in this strange place (instead of at the beginning of his Gospel where you might expect it), and worked backward in history, starting with Jesus and ending with Adam. And he did this so that we would have Adam fresh in our minds as we consider the story of Jesus’ temptation. Why is this important? Well, Jesus is to be compared and contrasted with Adam.   

What do the two share in common? Many things. They are both human. They were both brought into the world by the direct creative activity of God. They were both appointed to function as federal heads or covenantal representatives of others (Adam represented humanity under the Covenant of Works, and Jesus represented all of God’s elect under the New Covenant which is the Covenant of Grace). Both men were called to obey God perfectly and perpetually if they were to obtain the reward promised to them by the Father. And lastly, both men were tested or tempted by Satan!  

Now, how do they differ? In many ways. Adam is a man and Jesus is a man. But Jesus is no mere man but is the eternal Son of God incarnate. He is the God-man. Adam was called to obey God’s moral law and the positive law to not eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. But Jesus was called to do more. He was called to obey the moral law, all of the positive laws that were added and imposed upon the children of Abraham in the days of Moses, and he was called to faithfully suffer and die in the place of sinners and to endure God’s wrath for them so as to redeem them. My point is this: Jesus’ burden was much, much heavier than Adam’s. And this is illustrated by the fact that Adam was tempted in that garden paradise that God made in the beginning which was full of fruits and vegetables, water, and every pleasant thing. Everything was good, indeed, very good, in the world that Adam occupied. But Christ was tempted in the desert after having nothing to eat for 40 days. Christ was tempted in a fallen world. And his mission was not only to actively obey God’s law but to passively submit himself to suffering – suffering in the whole of life, and especially the suffering of the cross. All of this he would do for those given to him by the Father in eternity. Christ’s burden was much heavier than Adam’s. And yet Christ, “for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is [therefore now] seated at the right hand of the throne of God” (Hebrews 12:2, ESV). And here we see the greatest difference of all between Adam and Jesus. Adam rebelled against God whereas Christ was perfectly obedient. The first Adam failed but the second Christ succeed. Adam, having been tempted lightly by Satan through his wife while surrounded by the paradise that God had made, quickly sinned. In contrast to this, Jesus was all alone in the desert wilderness, he was faint with hunger, he was assaulted by the Evil One himself, and yet he never wavered. Not here at the beginning of his public ministry. Not ever. 

The point is this: Luke positioned the genealogy of Jesus right before the account of his temptation in the wilderness and concluded the genealogy with Adam so that we might see Jesus as the second and greater Adam, who was “in every respect… tempted as we are, yet without sin…” (Hebrews 4:15, ESV).

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How Did Jesus End Up In The Wilderness? Jesus Was Led There By The Spirit 

Thirdly, I ask, how did Jesus end up in the wilderness? Was he lost? Did Satan lure him there? No! Luke 4:1 says that “Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit… was led by the Spirit in the wilderness” (Luke 4:1, ESV). The Spirit of God led him there. Why? To confront Satan on his home turf, to be tested. And to pass the test.

At this point, I think it would be good for us to make another connection. We have already made the obvious comparison between Jesus and Adam. But I think we must also see Jesus as the true and faithful Israel of God. 

In Hosea 11:1 God says, “When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called my son” (Hosea 11:1, ESV). This is obviously a reference to the exodus event when God led Israel out of Egyptian bondage. But Matthew quotes this Hosea passage in his gospel and says that it is ultimately about Jesus. Do you remember how Jesus was taken to Egypt after he was born to be sheltered there from  Harod? And then when his parents brought him out of Egypt and back to his hometown of Nazareth, Matthew said,  “This was to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet, ‘Out of Egypt I called my son’” (Matthew 2:15, ESV). So then, Jesus is Israel. Israel was redeemed from Egypt and was made into a nation so that the Messiah would be brought into the world through them. Israel foreshadowed Jesus. And when Jesus came into this world to do the work that God gave him to do, he fulfilled all of the promises, prophesies, types, and shadows that were entrusted to Israel. 

I trust that you will remember this from our study of the book of Exodus. After Isarel was led out of Egypt by Moses, where did they go? They were led by the Spirit of  God in the glory cloud to the Red Sea. And after they were baptized into Moses by passing through the Red Sea (see 1 Corinthians 10:2), they were led by the Spirit of God, where? Out into the wilderness. And why were they led into the wilderness? To be tested there. And how many times were they tested? Well, they were tested continuously, but the book of Exodus highlights three instances. If you remember, they were tested at Marah (Exodus 15:22ff), in the wilderness of Sin (Exodus 16), and again at Rephidim (Exodus 17). Israel was tested, tested, tested. The tests had to do with the lack of water, food, and then water again. And what did Israel do in each instance? They grumbled, grumbled, grumbled against the Lord and put him to the test. And Lord was very displeased with them. 

I hope you can see that Jesus took a very similar path. Having passed through the waters of baptism at the Jordan, he was led by the Spirit out into the wilderness to be tested there. He was tested three times, just as Israel was, but he did not grumble and complain, lose faith, or deviate in the slightest from God’s will for him. No, Jesus was faithful. Adam and Isarel rebelled. But Jesus is the second and better Adam, the true and faithful Israel of God. He is the faithful Son of Abraham, through whom God has brought the blessings of salvation to the nations. 

Both of these stories – the story of Israel’s threefold failure in the wilderness and of Jesus’ threefold victory – are very important. They set the tone for and anticipate how things would go in the future. Old Covenant Israel’s entire existence would be marked by sin and unfaithfulness. But Jesus’ life would be marked by perfect and perpetual obedience. The message is quite clear. Neither Moses nor the covenant would mediate would provide salvation given the sins of the people. But Jesus and the Covenant of Grace that he mediates does provide salvation and the forgiveness of sins, for Christ was victorious.    

How did Jesus end up in the wilderness? He was led there by the Spirit to be tempted and tested by the Evil One, and to win the victory.

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What Happened? Jesus Was Tempted By Satan Three Times And Was Victorious

Fourthly, let us consider what happened.

Luke 4:2 tells us that Jesus was in the wilderness “for forty days”. This corresponds to the 40 years that Israel would wander the wilderness, by the way. And then Luke says, “being tempted by the devil.” I think we are to take this to mean that Jesus was tempted continuously during that. And then we read, “And he ate nothing during those days. And when they were ended, he was hungry” (Luke 4:2, ESV). So Jesus was fasting and he was praying, presumably in preparation for all that awaited him, including his crucifixion about three years later.   

In verse 3 we read, “The devil said to him, ‘If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread’” (Luke 4:3, ESV). Here we have the first of three particular temptations. 

Who is the devil? He is the chief of the fallen angels. He has many names. Devil means “slanderer”, Satan means “accuser”, and Lucifer means “shining one”. He is the leader of the heavenly hosts that rebelled against God in the heavenly realm in the beginning, and he is also the one who tempted Eve, who then brought the temptation to Adam. Here he is tempting Jesus. 

Notice carefully that the devil knew who Jesus was. “If you are the Son of God”, he said, then “command this stone to become bread.” Satan knew that Jesus was the person of the eternal Son of God who took on flesh. But he tempted him nonetheless. He had no other choice. God brought the fight to him, remember? God the Son intruded into Satan’s domain through the incarnation. He entered his house, if you will, by taking to himself a true human nature – body, and soul. And when the time was right – when it was time for his public ministry to begin – Jesus took the fight to Satan. He went out into the wilderness to face him. And so the devil pushed by in the only way he could. He tempted Jesus to deviate from his course. As he did with Adam long before, so he did with Jesus here. 

“If you are the Son of God…” (he knew that he was) “command this stone to become bread.” So then, just as Israel was tested regarding the lack of food in the wilderness, so too Jesus was tested regarding the lack of food. I suppose we should also notice that Adam’s test had to do with eating too. 

So what was this temptation about? Satan was essentially tempting Jesus to use his divine power to serve the desires of the flesh he had assumed rather than to set his desires to the side and to serve God and those that he came to save. Jesus was hungry. And by the way, that is a human thing, not a divine thing. And so Satan tempted Jesus through his human nature to use his divine power to alleviate his suffering and to serve himself. 

Here is Jesus’ reply: “It is written…” So here we have something incredible going on. The eternal Word of God is about to quote the written Word of God, which he himself inspired. “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone’” (Luke 4:4, ESV). 

This is a citation from Deuteronomy 8:3. I’d like to read that text to you now starting in verse 1 of Deuteronomy 8 and going all the way through verse 10. As I read it, I think you will grow more convinced about the connections we have made between Israel in the wilderness and Jesus in the wilderness. In fact, I would ask you to hear this text, not only as it was given originally to Israel, but as if it were ultimately about Jesus and his work. In Deuteronomy 8:1 Moses speaks to Israel after 40 years of testing in the wilderness, saying, 

“The whole commandment that I command you today you shall be careful to do, that you may live and multiply, and go in and possess the land that the LORD swore to give to your fathers. And you shall remember the whole way that the LORD your God has led you these forty years in the wilderness, that he might humble you, testing you to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep his commandments or not. And he humbled you and let you hunger and fed you with manna, which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that he might make you know that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD. Your clothing did not wear out on you and your foot did not swell these forty years. Know then in your heart that, as a man disciplines his son, the LORD your God disciplines you. So you shall keep the commandments of the LORD your God by walking in his ways and by fearing him. For the LORD your God is bringing you into a good land, a land of brooks of water, of fountains and springs, flowing out in the valleys and hills, a land of wheat and barley, of vines and fig trees and pomegranates, a land of olive trees and honey, a land in which you will eat bread without scarcity, in which you will lack nothing, a land whose stones are iron, and out of whose hills you can dig copper. And you shall eat and be full, and you shall bless the LORD your God for the good land he has given you” (Deuteronomy 8:1–10, ESV).

I cannot take the time to unpack all of the typology that is found here. If you have been at Emmaus for some time, and if you have been paying attention to the way in which we interpret the Scriptures, then I think you will see it. In brief, what God said to Israel here regarding the land of Cannan was in a greater sense about Jesus and the New Heavens and earth which he would earn through his obedience. The thing to notice is this: Israel learned through many failures in the wilderness that “man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD.” Christ learned this (according to his human nature) but without any failures. And so when the devil tempted him to use his divine power to serve the flesh he had assumed by turning a stone into bread to satiate his hunger, he simply replied, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone’” (Luke 4:4, ESV). 

In Luke 4:5 we are told of the second pronounced temptation: ​​“And the devil took [Jesus] up and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time, and said to him, ‘To you I will give all this authority and their glory, for it has been delivered to me, and I give it to whom I will. If you, then, will worship me, it will all be yours” (Luke 4:5–7, ESV). 

Here the devil tempted Jesus to take a shortcut. The devil knew who Jesus was – he was the Son of God incarnate – and he knew what Jesus came to do. He came to accomplish the salvation of those given to him by the Father, to kick Satan off of his illegitimate throne, and to sit down on that throne himself, as the King of kings and Lord of lords, with all authority in heaven and earth being given to him. Satan knew that Jesus was the Messiah, the Son of God incarnate, and that this was his mission. 

How did Satan know this? Because it was revealed clearly by God in the Holy Scriptures. For example, Satan was (and is very) much aware of the vision shown to the prophet Daniel concerning the coming Messiah, as recorded in Daniel 7:13ff. There Daniel says, “I saw in the night visions, and behold, with the clouds of heaven there came one like a son of man, and he came to the Ancient of Days and was presented before him. And to him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him; his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom one that shall not be destroyed” (Daniel 7:13–14, ESV). Who is this son of man? He is Jesus, the Son of God incarnate. Satan knew it. He knew that Jesus came to defeat him, to kick him off of his throne, to expel him, to bind him, and to sit down upon that throne that is rightfully his. 

What do I mean when I say that Satan once occupied a throne illegitimately? What throne am I referring to? Well, I’m referring to the throne of this earth. You see, God offered that throne to Adam in the garden. Adam was to rule on earth as a king under God’s authority. He was to expand God’s kingdom. He was to build God’s temple. He was to fill the earth with worshippers of God. And he was to keep, or protect, God’s temple-kingdom from all intruders. When Adam listened to the voice of the Serpent (through the voice of his wife, who was deceived), instead of the voice of God, the devil was permitted to sit down on the throne that was offered to Adam, and he ruled the nations instead.

There are many texts that speak of this and hint at this. Perhaps none is more clear than John 12:31.  There Jesus speaks not long before his death, burial, and resurrection, saying, “Now is the judgment of this world; now will the ruler of this world be cast out. And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself” (John 12:31–32, ESV). Who is the “ruler of this world” of whom Christ spoke? The devil. Christ came to cast that usurper out and throw him down from his throne. Jesus also speaks of this aspect of his mission when, in Matthew 12:19, he says, “Or how can someone enter a strong man’s house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man? Then indeed he may plunder his house” (Matthew 12:29, ESV). In other words, Jesus came to bind Satan and to plunder his house. By the way, those who are pre-millennialists would do well to notice that this binding has already taken place. It is not future to us and before some strange and literal 1,000-year reign. No, Christ bound Satan at his first coming and now sits on his eternal throne. He sits on his throne with all authority in heaven and on earth having been given to him. He rules and reigns throughout the church age, or if you prefer, throughout these last days, of which the 1,000 years of Revelation 20 is a symbol (you are not surprised to find numbers in the book of Revelation used in a symbolic way are you?). Christ sat down on the throne of his kingdom when he ascended. He will sit on this throne for all eternity. This is not a future hope only, it is a present reality. And our pre-millennialist brothers and sisters would also do well to notice the way in which Satan is said to be bound in Revelation 20 – not completely –  but “so that he might not deceive the nations any longer, until the thousand years were ended. After that he must be released for a little while” (Revelation 20:3, ESV).

What does all of this have to do with the second temptation that Satan brought to Jesus? Well, Satan understood that this was Jesus’ mission, he knew that his time was short, and so, in a last-ditch effort, he tempted Jesus to take a shortcut to this throne, and to avoid all the suffering. Hear it again: “The devil took [Jesus] up and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time, and said to him, ‘To you I will give all this authority and their glory, for it has been delivered to me, and I give it to whom I will. If you, then, will worship me, it will all be yours” (Luke 4:5–7, ESV).  

As is often the case with the lies of Satan, there is a mixture of truth and falsehood. Is it true that the authority and glory of the nations had been delivered to Satan for a time? Yes. But is it true that he had the authority to give it to whomever he willed, and that he would give it to Christ if only Christ would worship him? Certainly not. 

And so “Jesus answered him, ‘It is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and him only shall you serve’” (Luke 4:8, ESV). This is a citation of Deuteronomy 6:13. Hear it now, along with the surrounding context. Moses spoke to Israel, saying, “And when the LORD your God brings you into the land that he swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give you—with great and good cities that you did not build, and houses full of all good things that you did not fill, and cisterns that you did not dig, and vineyards and olive trees that you did not plant—and when you eat and are full, then take care lest you forget the LORD, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. It is the LORD your God you shall fear. Him you shall serve and by his name you shall swear. You shall not go after other gods, the gods of the peoples who are around you— for the LORD your God in your midst is a jealous God—lest the anger of the LORD your God be kindled against you, and he destroy you from off the face of the earth” (Deuteronomy 6:10–15, ESV).

In Luke 4:9-11 we are told of the third pronounced temptation of Jesus. There we read, “And he took him to Jerusalem and set him on the pinnacle of the temple and said to him, ‘If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here, [and now Satan quotes Scripture, saying] for it is written, ‘He will command his angels concerning you, to guard you,’ and “ ‘On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone’” (Luke 4:9–11, ESV).

You may be wondering, what Scripture text did the devil quote? Well, he quoted Psalm 91:11-12. Now this is fascinating. Psalm 91 is all about Jesus the Messiah. In brief, verses 1-12 talk about how God will preserve and protect the Messiah as the Messiah looks to God for refuge. Verses 11 and 12 are at the heart of the Psalm, and they say, “For he [God] will command his angels concerning you [Messiah] to guard you in all your ways. On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone” (Psalm 91:11–12, ESV). It is interesting that the devil quoted these verses at the midpoint of this Psalm. You see, the devil was tempting Jesus to claim this promise of protection, but to go no further. Listen to the very next verse, verse 13, of Psalm 91. “You will tread on the lion and the adder; the young lion and the serpent you will trample underfoot” (Psalm 91:13, ESV). That should remind you of Genesis 3:15, brothers and sisters. And as the Psalm goes on there is more talk of the Messiah, not only being protected from harm, but being rescued out of it. Hear the rest of the Psalm: “Because he holds fast to me in love, I will deliver him; I will protect him, because he knows my name. When he calls to me, I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will rescue him and honor him. With long life I will satisfy him and show him my salvation” (Psalm 91:14–16, ESV). You see, in Psalm 91 God did not only promise to keep the Messiah from trouble, but to rescue him out of it. And it would be through trouble, or perhaps we could say, through suffering, that the Messiah would crush the head of the serpent and see the salvation of God. I think this is what is going on here. Satan was again tempting Jesus to take a shortcut. To skip the suffering. To run to God for refuge from suffering. But a proper interpretation of Psalm 91 reveals that the Messiah would see the salvation of God and defeat the serpent only through suffering – the suffering of the cross leading to death – and being delivered out of it. 

And so “Jesus answered him, ‘It is said, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test’” (Luke 4:12, ESV). This is a citation of Deuteronomy 6:16 which says, “You shall not put the LORD your God to the test, as you tested him at Massah. You shall diligently keep the commandments of the LORD your God, and his testimonies and his statutes, which he has commanded you. And you shall do what is right and good in the sight of the LORD, that it may go well with you, and that you may go in and take possession of the good land that the LORD swore to give to your fathers by thrusting out all your enemies from before you, as the LORD has promised” (Deuteronomy 6:16–19, ESV).

Brothers and sisters, the land promised to Isarel was Cannan, and the enemies were the Canaanites. Do you see, though, that the land promised to the Messiah was not Cannan but the whole earth to be renewed at the consummation? And the enemy to be driven out was the devil himself and all who belong to him. Jesus could not simply run to the Lord for refuge. No, he had to trust the Lord to rescue him from suffering. And it would be through suffering that he would trample the serpent underfoot. 

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Why Did This Happen? So That Jesus Would Perfectly Obey God And Defeat The Devil

The last question that I have is this (and with this, we will close): Why did this happen? Answer: So that Jesus would perfectly obey God and defeat the devil. True, the victory would be won decisively at the cross, but it began here. Christ was not only victorious at the cross and through his suffering, but in the whole of life through his perfect and perpetual obedience to the Father. 

Brothers and sisters, how can I convince you that before you look to Jesus as your example, you must look to him as your victorious Savior and conquering King? 

We are saved from our sins and given eternal life, brothers and sisters, not by imitating Jesus, but by trusting in him. And only after we trust in him, by God’s grace, can we then imitate him, by God’s grace. 

Do you see it? Do you see the difference?

Sometimes I wonder how people can sit in church their whole life, listen to sermon after sermon, and yet not be saved. We know that it happens. The scriptures tell us that there is a mixture in the visible church. There are goats intermixed with sheep, and weeds intermixed with the wheat. But how can this be? I think one reason is this, they have looked to Jesus as a moral example, but not as a victorious Savior. “What would Jesus do?”, they ask. And as good as that question is, it is not the gospel. The gospel is not found in the question, “What would Jesus do?”, but in the question, “What has Jesus done?” The answer is that he live a life of perfect obedience for sinners, he died in the place of sinners, and he rose on the third day for sinners, so that all who believe are clothed in his righteousness, have their sins washed away, and live forevermore with the hope of life everlasting. 

Should you imitate Jesus in his victory over temptation? Yes, you should. But it is far more important that you trust in the work that he accomplished, for he has won the victory over sin, Satan, his dark kingdom, and death itself. To be saved from these things, you must be found in Christ, united to him by faith. 

Old Testament Reading: Genesis 5

“This is the book of the generations of Adam. When God created man, he made him in the likeness of God. Male and female he created them, and he blessed them and named them Man when they were created. When Adam had lived 130 years, he fathered a son in his own likeness, after his image, and named him Seth. The days of Adam after he fathered Seth were 800 years; and he had other sons and daughters. Thus all the days that Adam lived were 930 years, and he died. When Seth had lived 105 years, he fathered Enosh. Seth lived after he fathered Enosh 807 years and had other sons and daughters. Thus all the days of Seth were 912 years, and he died. When Enosh had lived 90 years, he fathered Kenan. Enosh lived after he fathered Kenan 815 years and had other sons and daughters. Thus all the days of Enosh were 905 years, and he died. When Kenan had lived 70 years, he fathered Mahalalel. Kenan lived after he fathered Mahalalel 840 years and had other sons and daughters. Thus all the days of Kenan were 910 years, and he died. When Mahalalel had lived 65 years, he fathered Jared. Mahalalel lived after he fathered Jared 830 years and had other sons and daughters. Thus all the days of Mahalalel were 895 years, and he died. When Jared had lived 162 years, he fathered Enoch. Jared lived after he fathered Enoch 800 years and had other sons and daughters. Thus all the days of Jared were 962 years, and he died. When Enoch had lived 65 years, he fathered Methuselah. Enoch walked with God after he fathered Methuselah 300 years and had other sons and daughters. Thus all the days of Enoch were 365 years. Enoch walked with God, and he was not, for God took him. When Methuselah had lived 187 years, he fathered Lamech. Methuselah lived after he fathered Lamech 782 years and had other sons and daughters. Thus all the days of Methuselah were 969 years, and he died. When Lamech had lived 182 years, he fathered a son and called his name Noah, saying, ‘Out of the ground that the LORD has cursed, this one shall bring us relief from our work and from the painful toil of our hands.’ Lamech lived after he fathered Noah 595 years and had other sons and daughters. Thus all the days of Lamech were 777 years, and he died. After Noah was 500 years old, Noah fathered Shem, Ham, and Japheth.” (Genesis 5, ESV)

New Testament Reading: Luke 3:23-38

“Jesus, when he began his ministry, was about thirty years of age, 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 Josech, the son of Joda, 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 Elmadam, the son of Er, the son of Joshua, the son of Eliezer, the son of Jorim, the son of Matthat, the son of Levi, the son of Simeon, the son of Judah, the son of Joseph, the son of Jonam, the son of Eliakim, the son of Melea, the son of Menna, 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 Sala, the son of Nahshon, the son of Amminadab, the son of Admin, the son of Arni, 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, the son of Serug, the son of Reu, the son of Peleg, the son of Eber, the son of Shelah, the son of Cainan, the son of Arphaxad, the son of Shem, the son of Noah, the son of Lamech, the son of Methuselah, the son of Enoch, the son of Jared, the son of Mahalaleel, the son of Cainan, the son of Enos, the son of Seth, the son of Adam, the son of God.” (Luke 3:23–38, ESV)

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Please excuse any typos and misspellings within this manuscript. It has been published online for the benefit of the saints of Emmaus Reformed Baptist Church but without the benefit of proofreading.

Introduction

The genealogy of Jesus found here in Luke 3:23-38 is immensely important. It is far more than a collection of hard-to-pronounce names. And it does not only tell us the facts concerning who Jesus’ ancestors were. No, this genealogy of Jesus is filled with meaning. It communicates truth to us concerning who Jesus is, and what he came to do. 

Now, to fully appreciate the meaning of this genealogy, we must pay careful attention to the names that are listed here, the order in which they are listed, and the placement of this genealogy in Luke’s gospel. 

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Consider The Placement Of This Genealogy 

First of all, let us consider the placement of this genealogy. You probably noticed that Luke positions the genealogy of Jesus in an odd place. Where would you expect a genealogy of Jesus to be placed? Probably at the very beginning of the gospel and somewhere near the account of the birth of Jesus. In fact, Matthew presents us with a genealogy of Jesus in his gospel, and that is exactly where he places it – in the very beginning, and right before the account of the birth of Christ. Matthew’s gospel begins with these words: “The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.” And immediately after the genealogy, we read, “Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way… (Matthew 1:18, ESV). But Luke positions the genealogy of Jesus later in his gospel – after the account of Jesus’ conception and birth, after the story about him in the temple at age 12, after the account of his baptism at about the age of 30, and immediately before the account of his temptation in the wilderness, which marked the beginning of his public ministry. The question we must ask is, why? Why did Luke save the genealogy of Jesus so that he might position it here in his gospel?

The answer is this: Luke saved the genealogy of Jesus for this place so that he might use it to emphasize who Jesus is and what he came to do immediately before telling us about his public ministry.  Luke wants us to know for certain that although Jesus is the eternal Son of God, he is also the Son of Adam. He is truly God and truly man. And as the God-man, he came to do what the first man failed to do, namely, to live in perpetual obedience to God and enter into eternal life. In fact, he came to do more than this. Not only would he live in perpetual obedience to God he would also suffer to the point of death on the cross in order to redeem those that the Father gave to him in eternity. This was the work that only the God-man could do, and I am saying that the genealogy found in Luke’s gospel stresses this truth: Jesus is the God-man, the second and greater Adam, and it is placed here, immediately before the account of Jesus public ministry, so that we might have this truth fresh in our minds as we begin to consider the things that Jesus said and did.  

How does the genealogy of Jesus in Luke’s gospel communicate that Jesus is the God-man, the second and greater Adam? 

Notice three things: 

First of all, look at what immediately precedes the genealogy. It is the account of Jesus’ baptism, found in Luke 3:21-22. There we learn that when Jesus was baptized, the “heavens were opened, 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’” (Luke 3:21–22, ESV). Who is Jesus? He is the eternal Son of God, the second person of the Triune God – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. He is the Son who eternally proceeds from the Father and breaths forth the Holy Spirit. Jesus is the person of the eternal Son who is begotten not made. This was clearly communicated at his baptism. 

Secondly, notice how the genealogy of Jesus concludes. In Luke 3:38 we are told that Jesus is “the son of Enos, the son of Seth, the son of Adam, the son of God.” So then, while Matthew traces Jesus’ line of descent as far back as Abraham, Luke traces it all the way back to Adam. And by the way, I am not claiming that Matthew’s genealogy is better than Luke’s, or that Luke’s is better than Matthew’s – I’m simply noting the differences. And they are different for a reason. Matthew wanted to emphasize that Jesus is the promised son of Abraham (and David), whereas Luke wants to emphasize that Jesus is the true son of Adam. In other words, Luke wants us to know that, although Jesus is the Son of God, Jesus is also truly human. 

By the way, it is worth noting that Adam is also called “the son of God” in verse 38. Adam was the son of God, but in a different sense than Jesus is the Son of God. Adam was the son of God in that he had God as his direct Creator and source. According to Genesis 2, God formed Adam from the dust of the earth and breathed into him the breath of life. Adam was God’s son in the sense that God was his Creator. But Jesus is the Son of God in a much greater way. As it pertains to his personhood, he is the eternally begotten Son of the Father (as has already been said). And it pertains to his human nature, he, like Adam, has God as his direct Creator and source. Remember, the man Jesus was not brought into this world through the natural process of procreation but was born of a virgin. The Holy Spirit came upon Mary and the power of the Most High overshadowed her; therefore the child born to her was called holy—the Son of God (see Luke 1:35). So then, Jesus is the son of God in two senses. Concerning his personhood, he is the eternally begotten Son of the Father. And concerning the human nature that he assumed, he is the son of Adam, the son of God. You see, Jesus and Adam share this in common – they are the only two men brought into this world, not through the natural process of procreation, but by the direct, creative activity of God the Father working through the Word and by the Holy Spirit. Why did Luke save the genealogy of Jesus for after the story of Jesus’ baptism?  Well, by presenting Jesus’ genealogy here, and by tracing his genealogy back to Adam, Luke clarifies that Jesus is not only the heavenly and eternally begotten Son of the Father (as revealed so clearly at his baptism) but that he is also a true son of Adam – a true human son of the Father in the same way that Adam was. Stated differently, as it pertains to the person of Jesus, he is the eternal begotten, uncreated, Son of God. But as it pertains to his humanity, Jesus is the true son of Adam brought into this world, not through procreation, but by the direct creative activity of God. Truly, the Father “formed [his] inward parts; [and] knitted [him] together in [his] mother’s womb” (Psalm 139:13, ESV).

How does the genealogy of Jesus in Luke’s gospel communicate that Jesus is the God-man, the second and greater Adam? By what immediately precedes it, by how it concludes, and thirdly, by what follows, namely, the story of the temptation of Jesus by Satan in the wilderness. Lord willing, we will consider this passage with care in a future sermon. For now, I want you to notice two things. One, the story concerning the temptation of Christ in the wilderness is meant to be compared and contrasted with the story of the temptation of Adam in the garden. What do the stories share in common? In both stories, human sons of God who were created to function as covenantal representatives are tempted by Satan to disobey God and serve themselves instead. How do the stories differ? One, Adam was tempted in paradise, whereas Christ was tempted in the wilderness. Two, Adam was a mere man, whereas the person of Jesus is the eternally begotten Son of God. Even Satan knew this, as Luke 4:3 makes clear. “The devil said to him, ‘If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread.’” And in 4:12 Jesus rebuked Satan, saying, “It is said, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’” You see, to tempt Jesus was to tempt the Lord God, for Jesus is the eternally begotten Son of God come in the flesh. And, most importantly, the temptation stories differ in that Adam failed whereas Christ succeeded. 

The point is this: Luke positioned the genealogy of Jesus in between the account of his baptism and immediately before the account of his temptation in the wilderness for a reason. He wants us to know for certain (Luke 1:4) that Jesus is the Son of God and the son of Adam. Jesus is the God-man, and Luke uses Jesus’ genealogy to firmly establish this before telling us about his earthly ministry. 

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Consider The Order Of This Genealogy 

So, we have considered the placement of the genealogy of Jesus Christ in Luke’s gospel. Let us now consider the order in which the names are listed. I will not devote much time to this second point, for it overlaps with the first somewhat. The thing that I want you to notice is that while Matthew begins his genealogy with Abraham and works his way forward historically to Jesus, Luke movies in the opposite direction. He begins with Jesus and moves back in history concluding with Adam.  

Again I say to you, Luke wants to emphasize that Jesus is the son of Adam. And by concluding his genealogy with Adam, Luke prepares us for the story of Jesus’ temptation in the wilderness, which is meant to be compared and contrasted with the temptation of Adam in the garden at the beginning of time. 

By concluding his genealogy with Adam, Luke presents Jesus to us as the second and greater Adam. Just as Adam functioned as the head or representative of the Covenant of Works that God entered into with humanity in the beginning, so too Jesus Christ is the head or representative of a new humanity and of a New Covenant, which is the Covenant of Grace. So then, Adam and Jesus share this in common. Both are federal or covenantal heads. By that, I mean they represent all who are members of the covenants over which God has placed them. Adam represented all of humanity in the covenant of works that God established in the beginning. Adam’s success would have meant success for the whole human race. Adam’s failure meant failure for the whole human race, for he was appointed by God as our head or representative. And something similar is true of Jesus Christ. God appointed him as head of a New Covenant and a new humanity.   

By concluding his genealogy with Adam, Luke presents Jesus to us as the second Adam. He wants us to view everything that Jesus said and did in his earthly ministry in light of this. Jesus is no ordinary man. He is the God-man. He is the second Adam, the head of a new humanity and of the New Covenant. Though the first and second Adams share some things in common, they differ in one very important way. Jesus Christ is the victorious Adam. He is the man who was victorious over sin (never did he succumb to temptation), he was victorious over Satan (instead of listening to his voice as the first Adam did, he stomped his head), and therefore Christ was victorious over death (death could not hold him – he died and rose again on the third day).  

The reason that Luke ordered his genealogy in this way, moving from Jesus and back to Adam (and concluding with him), is so that we would have the theme of Jesus as the second and greater Adam fresh in our minds as we begin to consider the things that he said and did in his earthly ministry. 

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Consider The Names Listed In This Genealogy 

So, we have considered the placement and order of the genealogy of Jesus Christ in Luke’s gospel. Let us now consider the names that are listed. 

First of all, it is well known that the names listed in the genealogies of Jesus found in Matthew and Luke differ significantly from one another. If you were to set the genealogies side by side to compare them you would notice that the names listed from King David to King Jesus do not match at all. 

I thought this graphic might be helpful. Luke’s genealogy is on the right side and Matthew’s is on the left. I will not read all of the names. Simply look at the bottom and notice that Luke lists Heli as Joseph’s father whereas Matthew lists Jacob. And if you look up to the center of the graphic you will notice that Luke traces Jesus’ genealogy from Nathan, the lesser-known son of David, whereas Matthew traces Jesus’ genealogy from David’s son, Solomon. The genealogies match from David to Abraham. And, as you know, Luke takes us all the way back to Adam. The question is, how do we explain the differences between the two genealogies from King David to Joseph, the adoptive father of Jesus?

Quoting now the notes in the ESV Study Bible (which I know many of you use), “The most commonly accepted suggestion is that Matthew traces the line of royal succession (moving from David to Solomon; Matt. 1:6) while Luke traces Joseph’s actual physical descent (moving from David to Nathan, a little-known son mentioned in 2 Sam. 5:14; Luke 3:31), and both lines converge at Joseph. Then there are various explanations for the two different people named as Joseph’s father (Jacob in Matthew; Heli in Luke). In most proposed solutions, they are thought to be different people and a second marriage is assumed (sometimes a levirate marriage; see note on Matt. 22:24), so that Joseph was the legal son of one but the physical son of the other, and thus there are two lines of ancestry for the two men.” 

But there is an older solution to the problem. And although the ESV Study Bible notes dismiss it, I think it is the better solution. Quoting again the ESV Study Bible, “An old suggestion is that Matthew traces Joseph’s ancestry while Luke traces Mary’s ancestry. But very few commentators defend this solution today, because 1:27 refers to Joseph, not Mary, and taking 3:23 as a reference to Mary’s ancestry requires the unlikely step of inserting Mary into the text where she is not mentioned but Joseph is mentioned.” But then a little later in this  section, the ESV Study Bible mentions a third option, saying, “Some commentators have suggested that Heli was Mary’s father, but that there were no male heirs in the family, so Heli adopted Joseph as his ‘son’ when Mary and Joseph were married (cf. 1 Chron. 2:34–35; Ezra 2:61; Neh. 7:63; also Num. 27:1–11 for inheritance through daughters when there is no son).” In fact, I think this is precisely what is going on here. I think what we find in Luke is Mary’s genealogy, traced through her husband, Joseph, the adopted son of Mary’s father, Heli, and the adoptive father of Jesus. 

In my opinion, the view that this is the genealogy of Mary (traced through Joseph) makes the most sense and offers the simplest explanation of the discrepancies between Matthew and Luke. 

Also, I wonder if the little comment that Jesus was the son of Joseph “as was supposed” is meant to nudge us in this direction. Just as Joseph was not the biological, but legal, son of Heli, so too Jesus was not the biological, but legal, son of Joseph, given the virgin birth. 

And that Luke would choose to trace Jesus’ genealogy through Mary’s line also makes sense theologically. Think again of where Luke takes us in this genealogy. He takes us (as you know), not to Abraham, but through Abraham all the way to Adam. And what promise did God deliver to Adam after he fell into sin? God promised to provide a Redeemer who would one day be brought into the world. How? Not through Adam’s seed, but through the seed of the woman (see Genesis 3:15). This Redeemer would be wounded by Satan in the process but he would ultimately win the victory over Satan, sin, and death. The Redeemer is Christ Jesus. And he was born, not of the man, but of the woman, for he was conceived, not an ordinary way, but miraculously by the power of God Most High. He was born of the virgin Mary.  It is not surprising that Luke would want to highlight Mary’s line, therefore. 

But the question remains, why mention Joseph at all?  I think the answer is this: by calling Jesus the son of Joseph and then by adding the phrase “as was supposed”, Luke does not only emphasize the fact of the virgin birth, he also draws our attention to the way in which Jesus descended from Adam, without being born in Adam, if you know what mean. Jesus descended from Adam in that Mary descended from Adam. Jesus was born through her. He obtained his human nature from her. But Jesus was not born in Adam, covenantally speaking. Adam was the head of the Covenant of Works, not Eve. The Covenant of Works was broken when Adam sinned, not Eve. And all who are born to Adam in this world are born guilty, in sin, under the Covenant of Works, which Adam broke. The blessings of that Covenant are no longer available. The curses of the Covenant fall on all who are born to Adam. Again I say to you, though Jesus descended from Adam (through Eve), he was not born in Adam, because Joseph was not his father. He was his father “as was supposed”, that is to say, by adoption, not by birth. Jesus has one Father – God Almighty. And one mother– the virgin Mary. He was born of her, yet without sin. For the transmission of original sin was removed when Joseph was bypassed. Again I will say, Jesus descended from Adam and yet he was not born in Adam, and this is because of the virgin birth. Joseph was the father of Jesus, “as was supposed”, in appearance only, by way of adoption. 

We have been considering the names that are listed in Luke’s genealogy. And so far, we have focused on the differences between Matthew’s list and Luke’s. Now, consider what they share in common. Both Matthew and Luke trace the genealogy of Jesus through King David and Father Abraham. This is very important because God promised to give Father Abraham a son who would bless the nations (Genesis 12). And God promised to give King David a son who would sit on an eternal throne and establish an eternal kingdom. Jesus is that Son. Both Matthew and Luke stress that point, each in their own way. 

The third thing that I want you to notice about the names listed in Luke’s genealogy is that Luke takes us all the way back to Adam, and in particular, I want to draw your attention to the line that Luke traces from Adam to Abraham. It is the righteous line that he traces and not the wicked line. 

Indeed, all humanity descended from Adam and Eve physically speaking. But as you know, God cursed the serpent after man’s fall into sin, saying, “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel” (Genesis 3:15, ESV). The meaning of this quickly becomes clear in the Genesis narrative. Eve gave birth to two sons: Cain and Abel. Both descended from her physically, but only Abel shared her faith and belonged to God. Cain belonged to the Evil one, as his actions showed. Being driven by envy, he rose up and killed his own brother. And so the Lord gave Eve another son in is place. His name was Seth. And so the story continues. From Adam and Eve there descended a wicked line (physically, it was through the seed of Cain, and spiritually, it was the seed of the Serpent), and a righteous line (physically, it was the seed of Seth, and spiritually, it was the seed of the woman). The wicked line is recorded for us in Genesis 4. It is epitomized by the wicked man, Lamech. In Genesis 4:19 we learn that he took two wives. And in Genesis 4:23 we are told of his tyrannical ways, his injustice, and his arrogant boasting. “Lamech said to his wives: ‘Adah and Zillah, hear my voice; you wives of Lamech, listen to what I say: I have killed a man for wounding me, a young man for striking me. If Cain’s revenge is sevenfold, then Lamech’s is seventy-sevenfold” (Genesis 4:23–24, ESV). 

It is in Genesis 5 that the righteous line of Seth is traced. It begins with Adam and Eve, runs through Seth, and concludes with Noah and his sons – Shem, Ham, and Japheth. After the flood, Noah’s son Shem is set apart as blessed, and his line is recorded for us in Genesis 11:10ff. It includes figures such as Eber, Peleg, Nahor, Terah, and finally Abram (who is later given the name Abraham). If you were to read the genealogy of Jesus as recorded by Luke and if you were to compare the names that he lists from the time of Adam to Abraham with the genealogies of Genesis 4, 5, 10, and 11, you would certainly get his point: Luke wants us to know for certain that Jesus Christ is the offspring that was promised to Eve. Stated negatively, he is not the son of Cain or Lamech. He is not the son of Ham or Japheth. Stated positively, he is the son of Seth, Enoch, Noah, Shem, Eber, Terah, Abraham, and David. Jesus Christ is no ordinary descendent of Adam, he is the Promised One. He is the singular offspring that was promised to Adam and Eve shortly after they had fallen into sin. He is the singular offspring who was preserved in the days from Adam to Abram through the line of Seth and of Shem. He is the singular offspring who promised to Abraham. He is the singular offspring who was promised to King David. This is what Paul teaches in Galatians 3:16: “Now the promises were made to Abraham and to his offspring. It does not say, ‘And to offsprings,’ referring to many, but referring to one, ‘And to your offspring,’ who is Christ.” (Galatians 3:16, ESV). And this same truth is presented to us in the genealogy of Luke 3. 

Isn’t it marvelous to consider how God promised to send a Redemer so long ago, and preserved that Redeemer through Seth, Shem, Eber, Abraham, and the Eber-ews until the time had fully come? And, as Paul says in Galatians 4:4, “when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons” (Galatians 4:4–5, ESV). Think of it. For a time, the eternal Son of God submitted himself to Joseph as an adopted son, so that through his victorious life, death, and resurrection, he might reconcile many sons and daughters of Adam to God the Father as beloved and adopted children of the Most High.  It is all marvelous to consider. God’s grace and God’s ways are marvelous to consider indeed.

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Suggestions For Application

I would like to conclude now by offering a few suggestions for application.

One, may I encourage you, brothers and sisters, to resist the temptation to read the Bible in a self-centered way, endlessly searching for an encouraging word for yourself or practical instruction, and to read the Bible in a Christ-centered way instead. The Bible does provide great encouragement, and it is filled with teaching that is practical indeed. But to be truly encouraged, and to really learn the way of wisdom, we must approach this book as being primarily about God and the Christ that he has sent. The Bible is about Jesus. It is about his person and the work that he has done to reconcile fallen sinners to God. Look for Christ when you read the Bible, brothers and sisters. Before you ask the question, how does this text apply to me personally?, ask, “how does this text reveal the glory and grace of God in Christ Jesus? And once you see Jesus in the text, run to him, embrace him, trust in him, and seek to serve him with all that you are. Only then will the scriptures provide true and consistent encouragement to your souls. Yes, when you read the Scriptures in a Christ-centered way, you will even find encouragement in the genealogies of Genesis, and Luke! Why? Because these lists of hard-to-pronounce names find their “yes” and “amen” in Jesus Christ our Redeemer! And only after finding Christ in the text can a proper application be made. Friends, to read the Scriptures in a Christ-less way will lead only to legalism and moralism. But we are not legalists or moralists – we a Christians. All of our moral obedience to God – all of our law-keeping – must be rooted in and flow out of our faith in Jesus Christ with the strength that the Holy Spirit supplies.

Two, if you do not find encouragement in the genealogy of Luke 3, may I encourage you to reflect more carefully about your sin, what your sins deserve, the marvelous grace that God has shown to sinners like you and me, and the wisdom of God to accomplish our Salvation as he has. The Scriptures say that these are “things into which angels long to look” (1 Peter 1:12, ESV). How dull our minds – how heard our hearts – how blind our eyes must be to remain unimpressed and unmoved at the thought of the accomplishment of our redemption through Christ, the second Adam and Son of God. Brothers and sisters, may the Lord soften our hearts and sharpen our minds so that we would see Christ as glorious and be moved to gratitude and worship.

Three, may I encourage you to think carefully about the progress made in the history of redemption and the great change that took place once the Messiah was brought into the world through Eve, Seth, Shem, Eber, Abraham, David, and Mary. In particular, note this: genealogies no longer matter. From Adam to Christ, the righteous line that descended from Eve could be traced genealogically. But now that the Christ has come in fulfillment to the promises previously made, God’s covenant people are not identified by genealogy, but by faith. As Paul says, under the New Covenant, “it is those of faith who are the sons of Abraham” (Galatians 3:7, ESV). This simple observation concerning the progression in the accomplishment of our redemption will impact many things. It will have an effect on who we baptize – not our children, but all who repent and profess faith in Christ. It will have an effect on how we view those of a different ethnicity – “Here there is not Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free; but Christ is all, and in all” (Colossians 3:11, ESV). But the application I really wish to make is to our children. Many of you have been raised in the church and in homes where the gospel is believed and preached. Please hear me: you are not born into Christ. You must be reborn. By God’s grace, you must choose to turn from your sin and to Christ. From the days of Abraham to the resurrection of Christ, children were born into the Old Covenant community. It is not so with the New Covenant and with the New Covenant community, the church. Children, you (like all of us) were born in Adam, in sin, and under the Coevnat of works that he broke. You were born into this world guilty before God, therefore. As your pastor, I must urge you to turn from your sins and to place your faith in Jesus Christ, the second and greater Adam, our Redeemer and friend. And as you grow in maturity and come to the point where you are able to make a credible profession of faith, you are to be baptized in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. May the Lord bless with many such baptisms in the days and years to come.