Luke 3:23
About thirty years old
Jesus begins his work at about thirty. People suppose he is Joseph’s son, and Luke begins the list there.
Easy to miss
“As was supposed” is Luke’s quiet reminder that Jesus’ true Father is God.
In one minute: If you only read this much
What happens
Luke lists the ancestors of Jesus, from Joseph back through David, Abraham and Noah to Adam, and ends by calling Adam the son of God.
Why this Sunday
Before the birth itself, the Church reads who Jesus is born from. Christmas happens inside a long family history.
Take with you
Most names in this list did nothing anyone remembers. God still counted every one.
Readings for the Sunday before Christmas: Nine passages across four services
ഈ ഞായറാഴ്ചയുടെ വായനകൾ
Evening prayer സന്ധ്യാപ്രാർത്ഥന1 readings
- GospelസുവിശേഷംMatthew 1:1–18മത്തായി 1:1–18
The family tree of Jesus from Abraham, through David, to Joseph.
Morning prayer പ്രഭാതപ്രാർത്ഥന1 readings
- GospelസുവിശേഷംJohn 1:1–18യോഹന്നാൻ 1:1–18
In the beginning was the Word… and the Word became flesh.
Before Qurbana കുർബാനയ്ക്കു മുമ്പ്3 readings
- Old TestamentപഴയനിയമംGenesis 46:8–27ഉല്പത്തി 46:8–27
The names of Jacob’s family who went down to Egypt.
- Old Testamentപഴയനിയമം1 Kings 9:3–71 രാജാക്കന്മാർ 9:3–7
God promises Solomon that David’s line will last if it stays faithful.
- Old TestamentപഴയനിയമംIsaiah 7:14–15; 11:1–9യെശയ്യാവ് 7:14–15; 11:1–9
A virgin will bear a son, Immanuel; a shoot will come from the stump of Jesse.
Holy Qurbana വിശുദ്ധ കുർബാന4 readings
- Acts of the Apostlesഅപ്പൊസ്തലപ്രവൃത്തികൾActs 3:16–26അപ്പൊസ്തലപ്രവൃത്തികൾ 3:16–26
Peter says the prophets foretold Christ, and all nations will be blessed through Abraham’s seed.
- Pauline Epistleപൗലോസിന്റെ ലേഖനംRomans 4:13–25റോമർ 4:13–25
Abraham believed God’s promise against all hope.
- Pauline Epistleപൗലോസിന്റെ ലേഖനംGalatians 4:18–20ഗലാത്യർ 4:18–20
Paul in labour pains until Christ is formed in his children.
- Gospel of the dayസുവിശേഷംLuke 3:23–38ലൂക്കൊസ് 3:23–38
The genealogy of Jesus, back through David and Abraham to Adam, son of God. This is the Gospel of the day.
Open in five scenes
The thread through all nine
Genesis lists Jacob’s family going down to Egypt, and Kings and Isaiah promise a king from David’s line. Paul says the promise to Abraham was for all his children by faith, and Matthew gives his own family tree the evening before.
Source
References follow the official lectionary of the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church. Your parish may read them in a different order.
Luke 3:23–38 explained: Luke 3:23–38 in five scenes
Pick a scene to see what happens in it and what is easy to miss.
About thirty years oldLuke 3:23Names nobody remembersLuke 3:24–27Through Nathan to DavidLuke 3:28–31From David to AbrahamLuke 3:31–34Son of Adam, son of GodLuke 3:34–38
Luke 3:24–27
Names nobody remembers
The list climbs back through generations most readers have never heard of, to Zerubbabel and Shealtiel, who lived around the exile in Babylon.
Easy to miss
Zerubbabel led the return from exile and rebuilt the Temple. The family of Jesus passed through the darkest time in Israel’s history.
Luke 3:28–31
Through Nathan to David
Luke traces the line back to David, through David’s son Nathan.
Easy to miss
Matthew’s list goes through Solomon. Luke’s goes through Nathan, a son of David otherwise almost unknown.
Luke 3:31–34
From David to Abraham
Jesse, Obed, Boaz, and on to Judah, Jacob, Isaac and Abraham.
Easy to miss
Boaz is the husband of Ruth, a foreigner from Moab, whose story was read on Parents’ Day.
Luke 3:34–38
Son of Adam, son of God
The list goes past Abraham, past Noah and Enoch, to Seth and Adam, and ends: “the son of God.”
Easy to miss
Matthew starts with Abraham, father of Israel. Luke goes back to Adam, father of everyone. Jesus belongs to the whole human race.
The verse to keep
“കയിനാൻ എനോശിന്റെ മകൻ, എനോശ് ശേത്തിന്റെ മകൻ, ശേത്ത് ആദാമിന്റെ മകൻ, ആദാം ദൈവത്തിന്റെ മകൻ.”“the son of Enos, the son of Seth, the son of Adam, the son of God.”
Who is in the story, and what their names mean
Three phrases worth knowing
- Genealogy
- A family tree. Jewish families kept them carefully, and they mattered for inheritance and for priests.
- As was supposed
- Luke’s way of saying that people thought Jesus was Joseph’s son, while the reader knows otherwise.
- Son of God
- Luke places this list right after the baptism, where the Father says “You are my beloved Son” (Luke 3:22).
Reflection: Every name counted
ഓരോ പേരും എണ്ണപ്പെട്ടിരിക്കുന്നു
It is tempting to skip a genealogy. It is a long list of names, many hard to pronounce, most of them people we know nothing about. Yet the Church reads one on the Sunday before Christmas, and Luke places it at the very start of Jesus’ work. The list is telling us something.
It says that the Son of God did not drop into the world from nowhere. He was born into a family with a long and complicated history: kings and nobodies, exiles and foreigners, faithful people and failures. Luke takes the line all the way back to Adam, so that no one can say Jesus belongs only to one people.
Every family has a list like this, even if nobody has written it down. There are grandparents we remember and great-grandparents we never knew. Christmas tells us that God came into a family like ours. He knows every name on the list, including the ones we have forgotten.