MORNING SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 5/4/2026
9:18 AM
My
Worship Time Focus:
PT-3 Intro
to “The Messiah’s Royal Lineage”
Bible
Reading & Meditation Reference:
“Luke
3:23-38”
Message of the verses: “23 When He began His ministry, Jesus
Himself was about thirty years of age, being, as was commonly held, the son of
Joseph, the son of Eli, 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 Hesli, 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
Salmon, the son of Nahshon, 33 the son of Amminadab, the son of Admin, the son
of Ram, 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 Heber,
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 Enosh,
the son of Seth, the son of Adam, the son of God.”
I pick up writing about differences from John
MacArthur’s commentary in this morning's SD.
“Other differences are more
significant. Luke identifies Jesus’
grandfather as Eli, while Matthew calls him Jacob. Luke traces Jesus’ ancestry through David’s
son Nathan, while Matthew traces it through his son Solomon. Finally, while the names from Abraham to
David are identical in both genealogies (except that Matthew skips Admin), all
but two of the names from David to Joseph are different. Two possible explanations for those
differences have been proposed.
“Some hold that both genealogies are
Joseph’s noting that Mary’s name does not appear in Luke’s genealogy and that
the Jews traced ancestry through the father’s genealogy, not the mother’s (but
as Leon Morris points out, ‘We have no information as to how a genealogy would
be reckoned when there was no human father.
The case is unique’ [The Gospel According to ST. Luke, The
Tyndale New Testament Commentaries (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1975), 100]). They explain Jesus’ different grandfathers
(Eli in Luke and Jacob in Matthew), as well as the different names from David
to Joseph, by invoking the principle of levirate marriage (Gen. 38:8; Deut.
25:5-7; Ruth 4:10). According to this
view Eli and Jacob were half brothers, having the same mother, but
different fathers. One of the two died childless,
and the surviving brother married his
widow. That would make Joseph the
biological son of the surviving brother, and the legal son of the deceased.
“Though plausible, that view is
based largely on utterly unprovable conjecture (that Eli and Jacob were
half-brothers, and that a levirate marriage took place). A far better explanation is that Mathew
records Joseph’s genealogy and Luke Mary’s (Luke omitted her name in deference
to Jewish custom). The two different
names given for Jesus’ grandfather actually refer to two different men, Joseph’s
father, and Mary’s father. The
difference in the names from David to Joseph are also to be expected, since the
genealogies are those of two different people.
Mary traced her ancestry through Nathan, while Joseph traced his through
Solomon. This view is also consistent
with the purposes of the two writers, as noted above. Matthew’s desire to prove Jesus’ legal claim
to the throne of David led him to include Joseph’s genealogy. Luke addressed a broader, largely Gentile
audience and thus gave Jesus’ actual, physical descent through Mary. Finally, this view explains how Jesus could
legitimately be Israel’s king despite
being a descendant of Jeconiah through Joseph.
That avoided the curse that the Lord pronounced on Jeconiah, that none
of his descendants would ever be king (Jer. 22:24-30). (For further evidence that Luke presents Mary’s
genealogy, see Robert L. Thomas and Stanley N. Gundry, A Harmony of the Gospels
[Chicago: Moody, 1978], appendix 9.)”
Now I want to go back and look at
Jeremiah 22:23-30 as this section speaks about the Lord’s pronouncement on
Jeconiah, that none of his descendants would ever be king.
Jeremiah 22:23-30
“23 O inhabitant of Lebanon, nested among the
cedars, how you will be pitied when pangs come upon you, pain as of a woman in
labor!" 24 "As I live,
declares the LORD, though Coniah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, were the
signet ring on my right hand, yet I would tear you off 25 and give you into the hand of those who seek
your life, into the hand of those of whom you are afraid, even into the hand of
Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and into the hand of the Chaldeans. 26 I will hurl you and the mother who bore you
into another country, where you were not born, and there you shall die. 27 But to the land to which they will long to return,
there they shall not return." 28 Is
this man Coniah a despised, broken pot, a vessel no one cares for? Why are he
and his children hurled and cast into a land that they do not know? 29 O land, land, land, hear the word of the
LORD! 30 Thus says the LORD: "Write
this man down as childless, a man who shall not succeed in his days, for none
of his offspring shall succeed in sitting on the throne of David and ruling
again in Judah.’”
MacArthur goes on to write “The
genealogies in Matthew and Luke established beyond doubt that Jesus was a
descendant of David. Not even His bitter
enemies among the Jewish leaders denied that.
They surely would have rejected His messianic claims out of hand had He
not been, and silenced the crowds who enthusiastically cried out at the
triumphal entry, ‘Hosanna to the Son of David’ (Matt. 21:9). But the genealogical records, which they
undoubtedly carefully checked, provided irrefutable proof of Jesus’ Davidic
descent.
“The remainder of this chapter will
focus on four highlights from this passage:
the start of Jesus’ ministry, the supposition of His ancestry, the
similarity of two of His ancestors, and the significance of four names from His
genealogy.”
Spiritual
Meaning for my Life today: Now ever since I became a believer
in Jesus Christ, being saved from my sins on Jan. 26, 1974, and as I began to
grow in the Lord I have never doubted the accuracy of the Word of God, and
blessed to be able to study it each and every day.
My
Steps of Faith for Today: Trust the Lord to work out which treatment
that my wife should go on next in order to fight the cancer that is in her
body. May her life bring glory to the
Lord. 5/4/2026 9:51 AM
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