Luke 3:25, commentary and pictures

Luke 3:25 is one brief link in the genealogy that traces backward from Jesus upward to Adam and to God, placed after His baptism when heaven was opened and He was about thirty years of age at the beginning of His teaching. Mattathias, Amos, Naum, Esli and Nagge are real, literal, historical male ancestors in an unbroken father to son line, though son in Scripture can also mean a distant descendant many generations later. It belongs to Luke's natural, physical blood line through Mary, while Matthew gives the royal, legal line through Joseph, with Joseph named as the supposed father standing in place of Mary and called the son of Heli because Heli was Mary's father and Joseph his son-in-law. It presents Jesus preeminently as the Son of Man of the human family, as the Son of Adam and through Adam the son of God, as the seed of the woman and as David's Seed according to the flesh of the tribe of Judah. This maternal line confirms His descent from Abraham and His identity as the promised Seed and Messiah, traced back to Adam from the standpoint of His being the Saviour of all nations and His connection to the whole human race.

Text and Historical Setting

Luke 3:25 is one brief link in the genealogy in Luke 3 that traces backward from Jesus upward instead of downward from Abraham, reversing the order from Adam down to the mother of Jesus. It carries the same line through Heli back through the royal family of David and the seed of Abraham to Adam the progenitor of the race and to God the Creator of man, presenting Jesus preeminently as the Son of Man and tracing His human descent from Adam the very first man. The genealogy is given after the account of Jesus' birth and after His baptism, distinct from Matthew's royal genealogy from Abraham down through the royal family of David to Jesus. It comes when He was praying, heaven was opened, the Holy Spirit descended in bodily form as a dove upon Him, and the voice from heaven declared Him the beloved Son, when Jesus was about thirty years of age at the beginning of His teaching, being the son as was supposed of Joseph.

Mattathias, Amos, Naum, Esli, and Nagge are real, literal, historical male ancestors in Jesus' line, named as historical persons connecting the early history of humanity with the later history of Israel. Each name represents a direct step from father to son in an unbroken, direct line of descent, step by step from father to son, unlike a list tracing only royal inheritance. They stand in Mary's line through males, because genealogies were reckoned through males, with Heli back through David and Abraham to Adam, presenting Him as a Saviour for all people. Luke's line in this reckoning has forty names from David to Joseph and passes through Nathan, later joining Matthew's line at Salathiel and Zerubbabel. The word son in the verse can mean a distant descendant who lived many generations later, by the common usage of Scripture for calling a man the son of another who lived many generations before him.

Together with the surrounding verses the entry traces the family line through the centuries between the Old and New Testaments, serving to establish His royal descent. It gives no separate account of the events of that period.

Mary's Line Harmonized

Luke's list is the natural, physical, literal blood line of Jesus through Mary, while Matthew's list is His royal, legal line through Joseph, and the two accounts stand alongside each other as parallel lines to be harmonized. Unlike Matthew's list, which traces royal inheritance, Luke's list gives a direct genealogy step by step from father to son back to Adam. Joseph is named next to Christ as His supposed, reputed, and legal father for the legal reckoning, with Mary's husband standing in place of Mary herself and counted as son where Mary is meant. This human line through Mary shows Jesus was of man and of the human family, distinct from Matthew's kingly genealogy showing Him as rightful King and rightful Heir of Abraham through Joseph as His legal father.

Heli was the actual father of Mary and the grandfather of Jesus, and Joseph is called Heli's son legally because Joseph was Mary's husband and therefore Heli's son-in-law. Through Joseph as Mary's husband the line goes back to Mary, whose immediate ancestor was Heli, so the line is Mary's lineage though Joseph is named as the male member of the house. Mary herself is not named because it was not customary to trace Jewish genealogies through women, the record running through males through whom inheritance passed, in keeping with Jewish usage and law. The husband is listed in place of a daughter, with Joseph named in place of Mary because genealogies customarily named males.

Luke's line comes through David's son Nathan on Mary's side back through the royal family of David and the seed of Abraham to Adam the first man and to God the Creator, while Matthew's kingly line comes down from Abraham through David and Solomon to Joseph, by whom comes the right of rulership and inheritance of the kingdom according to law. Joseph is named as Mary's husband in Luke, while Matthew gives Joseph's line through Solomon, showing Jesus as David's Seed according to the flesh through Mary and His kingship through Joseph. Luke traces His human descent through Adam and Enoch and Noah, while Matthew traces His royal pedigree from Abraham down through David and Solomon to His birth. The two genealogies meet in David's family and join at Abraham, with Luke's line through Nathan and Joseph's through Solomon meeting in the course of the family line and confirming descent from Abraham and claim to the covenant promise. Luke's line has forty names from David to Joseph and later joins Matthew's line at Salathiel and Zerubbabel, and by that second line fortifies the complete forty-two-generation record in Matthew 1 from Abraham through David and Solomon to Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus who is called Christ.

The line through Mary contains more names than the line through Joseph, which accounts for the difference in the number of generations as given by Matthew and Luke. Together with Matthew tracing the lineage on the other parental side, the preserved genealogy in Luke traces the lineage of Jesus through the tribe of Judah, showing that while the other tribes were scattered and their genealogies lost, Judah was held together until Jesus came so His descent from Judah the ruler could be proved and He could become the center of the gathering of God's people as Shiloh.

Jesus as Son and Messiah

Luke's list is the mother's side, given to show that Jesus was of man, of the human family, and it presents Him preeminently as the Son of Man. It traces His human descent and connection to the whole human race through Mary back to Adam the very first man, reversing the order from Adam down to the mother of Jesus. That human line runs through the male members instead of the female ancestors, with Joseph named only as the male member of the house and counted as son of Heli because Heli was the father of Mary and Joseph was Mary's husband, in keeping with Jewish usage and law. It is distinct from Matthew's kingly genealogy, which traces Him not as heir to the throne through Abraham but as son of man, while Matthew traces His royal lineage through Joseph as His reputed and legal father. Luke thus gives His human descent beginning when He began to be about thirty years of age, emphasizing His humanity alongside Matthew tracing Him only to Abraham to show Him as the perfect Jew, Mark showing Him as a servant, and John beginning at creation to show Him as the Son of God and co-Creator made flesh.

Traced in unbroken line back to Adam, the genealogy shows that from His human nature Jesus is the Son of Adam and, through Adam the son of God, the son of God, with the line carried beyond Adam to God the Creator of man. The names Mattathias, Amos, Naum, Esli, and Nagge carry that same line through Heli back through the royal family of David and the seed of Abraham to Adam the progenitor of the race. The genealogy is given after Jesus was baptized and praying, heaven was opened, the Holy Spirit descended in bodily form as a dove upon Him, and the voice from heaven declared Him the beloved Son. Luke traces His human descent through Adam and Enoch and Noah, while Matthew traces His royal pedigree from Abraham down through David and Solomon to His birth.

The list shows the Deliverer came through the female portion of the race, making Jesus the Son of man and the seed of the woman, with the line traced back to the promise of the seed of the woman in the beginning. Heli is the father of Mary and the father-in-law of Joseph and thus the grandfather of Jesus, and Mattathias, Amos, Naum, Esli and Nagge are male ancestors in Mary's line, listed through males because genealogies were reckoned through males. Through Joseph as Mary's husband the reckoning goes back to Mary, whose immediate ancestor was Heli, and through David's seed to Adam.

The verse places Jesus as David's Seed according to the flesh through Mary, literally the Son of David according to the flesh, descended from David and of the tribe of Judah. It forms part of the lineage showing that His parents were Jews, and its brief entries with the surrounding verses trace His family line through the centuries between the Old and New Testaments to establish His royal descent. Together with Matthew tracing His lineage on the other parental side through Joseph His legal father by which He inherits the kingdom according to law, the preserved genealogy proves His descent from Judah the ruler, while the other tribes were scattered and their genealogies lost, Judah was held together until Jesus came.

This maternal line helps establish His identity as the promised Seed and Messiah, joining with Matthew's genealogy at Abraham, confirming His descent from Abraham and His claim to the covenant promise. By that second parallel line on the side of Mary the mother of Jesus, Luke's genealogy fortifies the complete forty-two-generation record in Matthew 1 from Abraham through David and Solomon to Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus who is called Christ, a record upholding His Messiahship. So proved from Judah He could become the center of the gathering of God's people as Shiloh, identified as the promised Messiah and as the promised Seed of Abraham, with the men named in this verse as ancestors in that line. Together the long genealogies, Luke's human descent and Matthew's royal pedigree, bear mighty witness to the truth of God's word and to Jesus as Messiah.

Luke traces the genealogy back to Adam from the standpoint of Jesus as the Saviour of all nations, showing His connection to the whole human race and presenting Him as a Saviour for all people. Luke thus gives one distinct side of His character as the true and perfect Son of man traced to Adam, alongside Matthew presenting Him as rightful King and rightful Heir of Abraham, Mark showing Him as a servant, and John showing Him as the Son of God and co-Creator made flesh to dwell among men. The Son of God was truly the Son of Man.

Generations History and Salvation

Luke's genealogy counts seventy-five generations, each running from father to son, from Christ to Adam. It is counted as about seventy-six generations from Adam to Christ, and about one hundred generations from Christ's time to the present, leaving at least about eight hundred generations still to come under the promise of a thousand generations. The genealogy preserved by Luke is counted as having seventy-four names between Adam and Christ, showing that the generations from humanity's beginning to Christ were far fewer than might casually be imagined. Luke 3:23-38 gives generations from father to son, and together with Genesis 11 and Matthew 1 supplies the Bible rule for counting generations; counted that way six thousand years from creation does not give two hundred generations, so the thousand generations of those who love God and keep His commandments must extend far beyond the present, requiring twenty-four thousand years yet from 1868 to make up a thousand and proving more than a thousand, generation to generation without end, and therefore the perpetuity of keeping God's commandments.

The count supports the claim that humanity and the peopling of the earth began from a small stock and spread gradually. The genealogy connects the early history of humanity with the later history of Israel, presenting its named people as real, literal, historical persons. Its generations and relationships can be verified only through Genesis. The verse belongs to the line through which the promised Deliverer came, preserved through generations despite attempts to destroy it.

The verse shows Christ entered the human family by birth and human ancestry back to Adam, unlike Melchizedek, who had no human birth or pedigree. His human ancestors belonged to the same fallen human family subject to common iniquities, including ancestors known for evil as well as good, so Jesus entered humanity's inherited condition through descent and birth. His human lineage and flesh mattered to the temptations He faced and to His work of bearing the world's sins to conquer sin and lift people back to God and righteousness.