January 22 | Luke 3:23-38
- Beth Voltmann
- Jan 22, 2025
- 3 min read
Updated: Jul 1, 2025
DAILY READING
REFLECTION
Children of God
By Beth Voltmann
Did your mind wander today as you read through Luke’s recorded lineage of Jesus? I must admit that I quietly dread coming to 1 Chronicles each year when I read through my Bible. The first nine chapters of the book are filled with seemingly endless genealogies that I find tedious and difficult to read!
Yet, we are living in an era where people are fascinated to learn about their ancestors. Knowing how we like to trace our own family trees, just imagine that here, in Luke 3, we have a glimpse into Jesus’ own DNA results from a genealogy site like Ancestry or MyHeritage.
Take the time to look back at the passage and circle familiar names. Perhaps, working back from Jesus, you will note: Zerubbabel, David (king of Israel), Boaz, Judah, Jacob, Isaac, Abraham, Shem, Noah, Enoch, Seth, and Adam. Consider that these Bible characters of old are real people with varied stories of successes and failures, but God chose them to represent branches on the family tree from Adam to Jesus.
Luke wrote this gospel to give an orderly account of Jesus’s life, investigating everything from the beginning, so that we might know the certainty of things (Luke 1:1-4). Thus, he gave a very detailed lineage starting with:
Now Jesus himself was about thirty years old when he began his ministry.
He was the son, so it was thought, of Joseph...(v. 23)
Note that Luke ended the genealogy by stating that Adam was the “son of God”, perhaps with the intent of emphasizing Jesus’ divinity as well as humanity (v. 38).
Jesus – Son of God – Son of Man
How beautiful that it all began with God the Father. Mankind, made by the Creator, bearing his image and likeness, and given his breath of life.
Children of God
Now, reflect on your own family tree beginning with the righteous branch of Jesus (Jeremiah 23:5). Who in your family line carried the faith forth to you? You may have recently been grafted in, adopted into the body of Christ, but you are still very much a child of the promise!
So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith.
(Galatians 3:26)
If we believe in Jesus, we have become part of his holy lineage. Perhaps someday our names will be circled in the family tree – easily recognizable as bold and faithful children of God.
PRAYER
Father God, you know each of us by name and have plans for our lives. Thank you for the love you have shown to us. Thank you for the gift of faith, the gift of eternal life in Christ Jesus, and the gift of family. May it be evident to the world that we are children of God – sharing the lineage of Jesus! Amen.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
BETH VOLTMANN
After moving to Ohio in 1997 with my husband and four children, I developed a hunger for God’s Word through adult teaching and women’s Bible study at UALC. My passion is to help others understand Scripture so that they may grow in their desire for more of God and experience the new life offered to us through Christ Jesus.
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