David Bahn – Reflections

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Then Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan River. He was led by the Spirit in the wilderness, ² where he was tempted by the devil for forty days. Jesus ate nothing all that time and became very hungry.

³ Then the devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, tell this stone to become a loaf of bread.”

⁴ But Jesus told him, “No! The Scriptures say, ‘People do not live by bread alone.’”

⁵ Then the devil took him up and revealed to him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. ⁶ “I will give you the glory of these kingdoms and authority over them,” the devil said, “because they are mine to give to anyone I please. ⁷ I will give it all to you if you will worship me.”

⁸ Jesus replied, “The Scriptures say,

‘You must worship the Lord your God
    and serve only him.’”

⁹ Then the devil took him to Jerusalem, to the highest point of the Temple, and said, “If you are the Son of God, jump off! ¹⁰ For the Scriptures say,

‘He will order his angels to protect and guard you.
¹¹ And they will hold you up with their hands
    so you won’t even hurt your foot on a stone.’”

¹² Jesus responded, “The Scriptures also say, ‘You must not test the Lord your God.’”

¹³ When the devil had finished tempting Jesus, he left him until the next opportunity came.

– Luke 4:1-13 [NLT]

The waves come crashing to the shore with relentless persistence. We watched some surfers try to capture their power. Some succeeded for a while, only to give up when the wave gave up its power, flattening and taking the surfer no further. Then would come another one. Another opportunity.

The mountain runoff each year, combined with early spring vegetation growth tinges the drinking water a light green in color. We would occasionally take a day trip from Vernal, Utah into the nearby Uinta Mountains and watch the water cascade over rocks and down slopes. I wondered where it all came from. There seemed to be an inexhaustible supply. It. Just. Kept. On. Coming. Until late summer, that is. The streams of water would turn into mere trickles. By that time the snowpack in the mountains, the source of the runoff had completely melted. But next spring it would return. Again and again. 

Satan is like that. There are times we think we’re done with him. His energy dries up. His lures are ineffectual and ill-timed. The opportunity for the intrusion of his innuendo or overt temptation wanes. Just as he left Jesus until a more opportune time, he will occasionally turn his attention away from us. Or wait for a better opportunity to steal, kill, or destroy. But he is always watching. 

[NOTE: All Bible references may be accessed through the links provided, as well as being included in full below.]

We cannot prevent the three enemies of our souls from intruding upon us. There is the devil. He will come and go. But we can use God’s word to thwart his ploys. Then comes our own sinful nature, the flesh, in which “nothing good dwells” (cf. Romans 7:18). This we must daily drown by contrition and repentance, remembering that we are baptized into Jesus’ death and resurrection, remembering that we are no longer slaves to sin (Romans 6:1-6). But the world is all around us. And everywhere we turn it will seek to force us into its mold. Against that we must renew our minds (Romans 12:1-5).

Satan will come again for Jesus. Peter will be his messenger (cf. Matthew 16:13-23). But we must remember that Satan’s days are numbered. And the daily troubles and tribulations we experience are nothing compared with the glory that will be ours through our Lord Jesus Christ (Romans 8:18). He has overcome Satan – despite his relentless attacks, innuendos, and schemes.

Romans 7:18

For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out.

Romans 6:1-6

What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? ² By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it? ³ Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? ⁴ We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.

⁵ For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. ⁶ We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin.

Romans 12:1-2

And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him. ² Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.

Matthew 16:13-23

Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” ¹⁴ And they said, “Some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” ¹⁵ He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” ¹⁶ Simon Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” ¹⁷ And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. ¹⁸ And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. ¹⁹ I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.” ²⁰ Then he strictly charged the disciples to tell no one that he was the Christ.

²¹ From that time Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised. ²² And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him, saying, “Far be it from you, Lord! This shall never happen to you.” ²³ But he turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a hindrance to me. For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.”

Romans 8:18

For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.

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Then Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan River. He was led by the Spirit in the wilderness, ² where he was tempted by the devil for forty days. Jesus ate nothing all that time and became very hungry.

³ Then the devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, tell this stone to become a loaf of bread.”

⁴ But Jesus told him, “No! The Scriptures say, ‘People do not live by bread alone.’”

⁵ Then the devil took him up and revealed to him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. ⁶ “I will give you the glory of these kingdoms and authority over them,” the devil said, “because they are mine to give to anyone I please. ⁷ I will give it all to you if you will worship me.”

⁸ Jesus replied, “The Scriptures say,

‘You must worship the Lord your God
    and serve only him.’”

⁹ Then the devil took him to Jerusalem, to the highest point of the Temple, and said, “If you are the Son of God, jump off! ¹⁰ For the Scriptures say,

‘He will order his angels to protect and guard you.
¹¹ And they will hold you up with their hands
    so you won’t even hurt your foot on a stone.’”

¹² Jesus responded, “The Scriptures also say, ‘You must not test the Lord your God.’”

¹³ When the devil had finished tempting Jesus, he left him until the next opportunity came.

– Luke 4:1-13 [NLT]

I’ve never played the game. I suppose it could be fun…for 10-year-olds, or dangerous for 19-year-olds. It’s a game in which you ask questions and people have to agree to tell the truth or accept a dare of some sort. Some questions can be quite intrusive if not quite provocative. One resource offered a tamer list, suggesting that, if you don’t know your fellow players well enough to ask something super-specific about them or their lives, they’ve compiled a  list of the 250 best truth or dare questions and dares that they claim will get everyone talking.

Satan plays quite a different game. His is Dare to Lie. He has no compunction of lying about the consequences of following his ways. He told Eve outright that God had lied: “You will not surely die,” he claimed when she first resisted his temptation. Now he lies about the authority he has and the proper way to lay hold of God’s promises. He also dares Jesus to utilize his powers to sate his hunger. 

All to no avail when it comes to Jesus. He knows better. He knows that there is no truth in any of Satan’s words. He sees through the dare that Satan holds out, recognizing that it is a ploy to distract him from his mission, and subvert God’s plans for our redemption. But Jesus will not be distracted. God’s plan will prevail. Satan not withstanding. 

Jesus is truth incarnate. And his word embodies truth in every letter. He is the way, the truth, and the life. He promises that if we continue in his word we will know the truth, and by that truth find true freedom. And here’s the mystery and paradox of Jesus’ truth: “If we say we are without sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us” (1 John 1:8). 

To abide in Jesus’ word and know the truth is to recognize our need for a Savior, to believe in Jesus of Nazareth as the one and only Son of God. It means that we recognize the reign and rule of God in Jesus, repent and believe the gospel. Then we hear him say, “Father forgive them, for they know not what they do” (Luke 23:34). And believing that we dare not hold to anything that is not truly true. That means holding to Jesus.

On this Valentine’s Day, rejoice in the true love of God – shown in Jesus, and pure and good in every way.

For your personal meditation and reflection on this Lord’s Day.

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And Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness ² for forty days, being tempted by the devil. And he ate nothing during those days. And when they were ended, he was hungry. ³ The devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread.”⁴ And Jesus answered him, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone.’” ⁵ And the devil took him up and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time, ⁶ 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. ⁷ If you, then, will worship me, it will all be yours.”⁸ And Jesus answered him, “It is written,

“‘You shall worship the Lord your God,
    and him only shall you serve.’”

⁹ 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, ¹⁰ for it is written,

“‘He will command his angels concerning you,
    to guard you,’

¹¹ and

“‘On their hands they will bear you up,
    lest you strike your foot against a stone.’”

¹² And Jesus answered him, “It is said, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’” ¹³ And when the devil had ended every temptation, he departed from him until an opportune time. – Luke 4:1-13 [ESV]

I was completely surprised. Diane had suggested we stay up and watch a movie that lasted much later than our normal bedtime. At 12:01 AM we heard a knock at the door. It was some friends with party hats, noise makers and well-wishes, replete with a chorus of Happy Birthday. What a surprise birthday party – albeit a short one. Then the next evening they pulled off a second one…a larger party in honor of my 50th birthday.

Maybe you’ve caught someone trying to pull a fast one. The invitation is too good to be true. The set-up too suspicious. You’re good at spotting the hook and the barb hidden under the bait. The sale is too good to be true. The promises are too far beyond belief. But most of us have fallen at least one time. We’ve sent in the box tops and received a piece of plastic junk – nothing like the way-cool decoder ring we had anticipated. 

Whether it’s appetite, applause, or ambition, the devil’s plays those to us in myriads of ways. A shortcut to success. A one-time fling to satisfy a deep yearning. Willingness to go along against our better judgment just so we can fit in. And Jesus withstood each one of these after 40 days of fasting. 

Nothing is wrong with bread. God had promised to guard him with angels. And the temple was truly his abode. The problem with each was that Satan was setting the agenda. Satan was seeking to lead Jesus in this hour of temptation. And his intent is only to steal, kill, and destroy. 

I’m not certain every temptation can be traced back to appetite, ambition, or applause. But I am certain I have fallen prey to all three one way or another. Satan will throw out some tasty-looking bait. But the bait always hides a sharp barb. Now, truly, we are not unaware of his schemes (2 Corinthians 2:11). And Jesus gives us a means by which we can overcome his temptations…faith in God and a deep knowledge of his word. 

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Then Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan River. He was led by the Spirit in the wilderness, ² where he was tempted by the devil for forty days. Jesus ate nothing all that time and became very hungry.

³ Then the devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, tell this stone to become a loaf of bread.”

⁴ But Jesus told him, “No! The Scriptures say, ‘People do not live by bread alone.’”

⁵ Then the devil took him up and revealed to him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time.⁶ “I will give you the glory of these kingdoms and authority over them,” the devil said, “because they are mine to give to anyone I please. ⁷ I will give it all to you if you will worship me.”

⁸ Jesus replied, “The Scriptures say,

‘You must worship the Lord your God
    and serve only him.’”

⁹ Then the devil took him to Jerusalem, to the highest point of the Temple, and said, “If you are the Son of God, jump off! ¹⁰ For the Scriptures say,

‘He will order his angels to protect and guard you.
¹¹ And they will hold you up with their hands
    so you won’t even hurt your foot on a stone.’”

¹² Jesus responded, “The Scriptures also say, ‘You must not test the Lord your God.’”

¹³ When the devil had finished tempting Jesus, he left him until the next opportunity came.  – Luke 4:1-13 [NLT]

The temple in Jesus’ day was magnificent to say the least. It was a beautiful white building that gleamed in the sunlight so much that people had to shade their eyes from the glare. So if Jesus is taken up to the top, it is a magnificent diving platform. 

“Bread is back!” So says Jack of Jack-in-the-Box fame. He was touting his ciabatta bread sandwiches. The black bread in Moscow was tasty. The breads in Germany are delicious. And don’t get me started on sour dough breads. Jesus had none of these. And as creator of the universe, he could have turned the stones into the finest bread ever baked. 

I’ve had the opportunity to see some beautiful, expensive, opulent digs. Apartments that sell for $1 million. Palaces and grounds that caused a revolt in France. And then there are the mountains. And the sea. And the Grand Canyon. Imagine all the glory of all these places!

When Eve was tempted by the serpent to eat of the forbidden fruit, she was offered something that was pleasing to the eye, desirable for wisdom, and good for food. Glory. Fame. Bread. He has no new tricks. Jesus will not fall for any of these. None of them fill the soul – even though we need all of them to live and move and have our being. 

But Jesus realizes that it is better to lose one’s life than one’s soul. He will not trade his true destiny for the best bread, the greatest fame or the most opulent glitz. For he knows who he is. And to let Satan direct his ways – even toward legitimate needs (bread certainly has to be on that lis!) – will take him down a path of which there is no return. 

Perhaps we can learn something from Jesus’ encounter with Satan. The most important thing is that Jesus withstood the temptation, and began his vanquish of the Old Evil Foe. This is the first round. It will not be the last. But Jesus will prevail. Thanks be to God!

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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 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. – Luke 3:23-38 [ESV]

John makes no bones about it: The Word was God, he writes in  chapter 1 of his gospel. And, “the Word became flesh” (John 1:14). Matthew doesn’t speak directly about Jesus’ birth, but makes it clear that Jesus is conceived by the Holy Spirit. Of a virgin. Mark does not mention Jesus’ birth at all. But one thing they all agree on is that Jesus is the Son of God: God in the flesh.

I remember a very interesting visit with some Jehovah Witness members. They had connected with my friend’s grandfather. They were taking advantage of an older man who had little formal education, and was susceptible to their confusing twists and deception. They used their own version of the Bible which said that Jesus was a lesser “god.” I’m not sure we convinced them otherwise, but they did not convince us, nor confuse his grandfather any more. 

Luke’s manner of witness is somewhat more subtle. He indicates that Jesus was “supposedly” the son of Joseph. I love that, “supposedly.” It means that people did that dangerous thing of assuming they knew who Jesus was…the son of Joseph. Ahh… but he was not. He was, like Adam, the son of God. But he was not like Adam in that he was “begotten of the Father from eternity.” We have John to thank for that clarity as he speaks of the Word (who would become flesh – Jesus) as “with God in the beginning.” And even John the Baptizer testifies about Jesus’ true identity: John bore witness about him, and cried out, “This was he of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me ranks before me, because he was before me.’” (John 1:15).

Let’s be clear: Jesus is God in the flesh. And that means we will have do deal with him. Not only as he speaks to the lost, telling them that they are forgiven and saved, but also in his harder sayings. Calling us to take up our cross and follow him. Commanding that we forgive someone 70 times 7 (most scholars believe this not to be a literal number, but a command that reaches as far as needed – 5000 times if need be). Confronting self-righteousness. Condemning self-serving religion. Pointing us to lose life in order to find it. Commanding us to give, not letting the right hand know what the left has given. 

But let’s also be blessed: Jesus, Son of God, also died for the sins of the world. He laid in the grave and on the third day rose again, ascended to heaven and now sits at the right hand of God. We have no weak Savior. We have no supposed savior. We have a Savior who loved us so much that he took on human flesh, lived among us for a time, suffered and died for us. And now when we pray, he who is God also knows our human frame. He has compassion and mercy on us. He loves us. This is not supposedly true. This is most certainly true. 

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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 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. – Luke 3:23-38 [ESV]

I recently experienced a Crucible weekend men’s retreat. It was nothing like any other retreat I had ever experienced. Filled with physical, emotional, and spiritual challenges, and shrouded in mystery beforehand, it was a profound experience, including an opportunity to deal with some things in my younger years that I had not previously revealed. Part of the idea behind the Crucible experience is to allow men (and women) to embrace their God-given masculinity or femininity. 

For us it was an opportunity to be real men. Not so much eating with our hands, or making grunting (or other) sounds; but recognizing that as men we have certain characteristics that make us real men. Several of the men confessed to struggling with that very issue. It is, after all, a hot-button topic in today’s culture. 

When it comes to Jesus and his identity as a real man, the issue has to do with more than whether or not he is a real man in the sense of having sufficient machismo, testosterone, or beard-growing ability. And that gets us to the genealogy that Luke (and Matthew) offers here. Best conveyed by this story, we learn another facet of the significance of Jesus’ identity as true God and true man. David Guzik writes:

A genealogy may not seem like much, but it exactly established Jesus’ credentials as a member of the human race. A Bible translator to a distant tribe saved the genealogies for last because he thought them the least important part of the gospels. But when he finally finished them last of all, the tribesmen were astounded – they told the translator, “You mean to tell us that this Jesus was a real person, with real ancestors? We had no idea!” –Enduring Word Commentary

Jesus has a lineage. Jesus had a mother. But not an earthly father. But he was a real man in the sense that he had human flesh and blood. He had physical limits. He got tired, hungry, thirsty, and even succumbed to death. Somehow we may relegate Jesus’ human nature to those things alone and fail to realize just how important it is that Jesus was a real/true man. 

Jesus was real. No fake. No illusion. No cardboard cut-out. A real air-breathing, heart-beating, flesh-laden, living being. This guy really happened. He really lived. He really taught. He really suffered and died. He also really rose from the dead!

Jesus was also true. True to God his Father in heaven. True to the Law of God. True to all God intended man to be. True to his friends. True to his enemies. True to all with whom he came into contact. Nothing false about him. No sham. No deceit. The truth, the whole truth, but truth coupled inexorably to grace and love. 

No one else can claim that. Not to mention that he was also true God. And we’ll look at that tomorrow. For how let the humanity of Jesus, his true/real manhood bolster your faith. Learn from him what it means to be a true man or woman. 

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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. – Luke 3:23-38 [ESV]

I am somewhat interested in my family roots mostly because most of the work to trace them back to the 1600’s has been done by someone else. A gift from a student of my Uncle Eugene shows some very interesting names: Schwarzkopf (Remember the General in the Persian Gulf War?) and Hoffman (Oswald Hoffman was a noted speaker of The Lutheran Hour) among others. And I’ve been to our Bahn family ancestral home in Benshausen, Germany. That was quite a memorable trip. 

It’s interesting to me, but probably not to anyone outside our family. I’ve done nothing to earn my ancestry, or even to put together the family tree. 

In the case of Jesus, however, his ancestry is significant. Luke traces Jesus’ lineage back to Adam, “the Son of God.” And along the way we see some very special persons mentioned. Whether it’s Judah (Jesus is said to be the Lion of Judah), or David (the Son of David conveys a sense of kingship) I take  two lessons from this listing.

Jesus has a lineage of sinners and saints. I think of David, the great King of Israel. I suppose he might be like Ronald Reagan in his fame and popularity, or George Washington, or Abraham Lincoln. Great men to be sure. But sinners as was David. In fact, David was a murderer and adulterer. Yet David was also called a man after God’s own heart (1 Samuel 13:14; Acts 13:22). Even the greatest of us falter and fail. Jesus, however, will reign unlike David: eternally, and without fault or failure. He is the eternal King of kings. 

I see also Abraham in this lineage: the Father of Faith. He believed the Lord and it was credited to him as righteousness (Genesis 15:6). Yet even this great man of faith wavered when he feared for his life on account of his wife’s beauty. He failed to entrust himself to God for fear that Pharaoh would kill him in order to take Sarai for his own (Genesis 12:10-20). Jesus, however, will keep perfect faith in all things and under the greatest duress imaginable. Recall his words on the cross as he is dying, “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?” In that terrible moment Jesus calls God his God. He entrusts himself to the One who had forsaken him in his hour of greatest need. 

And what of Adam, the son of God. Adam had it all and traded it for a bite of the forbidden fruit. Jesus will resist every temptation, stand against every evil choice, and live a perfect life without sin. No one else has done this, nor with anyone ever do so. 

Jesus has a checkered lineage. But that lineage will not define him in its failures. He is fully human, yet without sin. But he is also fully God. The mystery of the incarnation is therefore twofold. How could God become a man? I don’t know, but he did. And Why did God become a man? This I know: to save and redeem us, to seek us and bring us with him into present purposefulness (apart from any human lineage), and eternal joy and bliss. 

Thanks be to God!

Below are notes about the genealogy of Jesus. Interesting, but not essential to our application of this section of Scripture.

ESV Study Bible Notes on the Genealogy of Jesus
Whereas Matthew (see notes on Matt. 1:1–17) traces Jesus’ lineage from Abraham to emphasize Jesus’ Jewish heritage, Luke traces it back to Adam to show that Jesus is the fulfillment of the hopes of all people (cf. Acts 17:26). In addition to some minor differences and gaps (see note on Matt. 1:17), the genealogies in Matthew and Luke differ significantly in the period from David to Jesus, even naming different fathers for Joseph (Jacob in Matt. 1:16; Heli in Luke 3:23). Both Matthew and Luke are evidently depending on detailed historical records, and various suggestions have been proposed to explain the differences: (1) 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. (2) 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. (3) 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). Although the genealogies in Matthew and Luke differ in their organizing principles, both of these genealogies emphasize that Jesus was the “son of David” (Luke 3:31; cf. Matt. 1:6). Luke further emphasizes the virgin birth (cf. 1:34–35) with the phrase “being the son (as was supposed) of Joseph” (3:23).

For your personal meditation and reflection on this Lord’s Day.

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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.” – Luke 3:21-22 [ESV]

What do you think when your favorite celebrity endorses something you don’t believe in? What about when your least favorite endorses your go-to brand? When the likes of Osama Ben Laden endorses violent terrorism, it’s an easy call to reject. When Mother Theresa endorses helping the poor, the choice is clear. How much more when the Father in heaven endorses his Son!

But let’s step back a few paces. In Romans 3:23 we learn that “all have sinned and fall shore of the glory of God.” Other translations express the same general thought: we’ve all failed to attain the standards of God’s glory. We fall short. No matter how hard we run, high we reach, and far we jump, we’ll fall short. We don’t measure up to God’s demands. 

Some people want to minimize that fact. They want to pretend we aren’t really that bad, or that we don’t really need to be perfect. We need basically to have our good outweigh our bad. We want to be judged on our overall decency, morality, and effort. In other words, we try hard to be good, isn’t that enough?

Scripture is clear on this matter however. If we keep the whole law and stumble in just one part, we’re guilty of breaking the whole law. It’s not a multiple choice option. It’s pass/fail. There is no sliding rule or curve taken into consideration for the grade. 

I like to use the analogy of hanging by a rope over the edge of the Grand Canyon. If I – in a fit of anger and self-destructive rebellion, take a machete to the rope, and chop it into 100 pieces, I’ll fall to my death. If, on the other hand, I take a razor blade and make one very precise cut in the rope – just one cut – I’ll fall to my death.

Our sin has severed our relationship with God. All of us have done it. We’ve all sinned. We’ve failed to meet God’s standards of perfection. So “the soul that sins will die,” is not just a theological concept, it’s a profound truth with which we must all deal. And because of that we fall short of God’s glory. 

But the word in Romans 3 is actually properly translated, “praise.” All have sinned and fallen short of [earning, receiving] the praise of God. 

But hear what God says to Jesus at his baptism: “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.” Sounds like praise to me. And want to hear the best part of all? Through faith in Jesus we are credited with Jesus’ righteousness! We who are baptized into Christ are clothed with Christ. 

Jesus came to seek and to save the lost. To do so required that he fully participate in the human experience. So he did – including being baptized along with a bunch of sinners. Now that he has begun that mission in public, the Father praises him. Jesus will not fall short. Nor will any who put their faith in him.