Luk 3:23-38 | TNotes | STEP | Summary for Luke 3:23-38: 3:23-38 This genealogy reverses Matthew’s order (Matt 1:1-17 ). Luke lists Jesus’ lineage back to Adam, possibly to show Jesus’ connection with all humanity as the Son of God (Luke 3:38 ). Matthew’s genealogy descends from Abraham to Joseph, highlighting Jesus’ status as the rightful heir of David’s throne and the recipient of God’s promises to Abraham. The great differences between the two genealogies have led some to propose that Luke’s genealogy is that of Mary (see study note on 3:23), who was probably among Luke’s primary sources. 3:23 Jesus was about thirty years old: This is the only reference in the New Testament to Jesus’ age during his public ministry, and it is an approximation. Jesus was born 6~4 BC (see study note on 2:2) and began his ministry AD 27~29 (see study note on 3:1), so Jesus was evidently 31~35 years old when he began his public ministry . • known as the son of Joseph: Jesus was the legal but not the biological son of Joseph. • Joseph was the son of Heli: If this is actually Mary’s genealogy (see study note on 3:23-38), then Joseph was Heli’s son-in-law, a possible understanding of the Greek sentence.

Summary for Luke 3:23-38: 3:23-38 ^a This genealogy reverses Matthew’s order (Matt 1:1-17 ^b). Luke lists Jesus’ lineage back to Adam, possibly to show Jesus’ connection with all humanity as the Son of God (Luke 3:38 ^c). Matthew’s genealogy descends from Abraham to Joseph, highlighting Jesus’ status as the rightful heir of David’s throne and the recipient of God’s promises to Abraham. The great differences between the two genealogies have led some to propose that Luke’s genealogy is that of Mary (see study note on 3:23), who was probably among Luke’s primary sources. 3:23 ^d Jesus was about thirty years old: This is the only reference in the New Testament to Jesus’ age during his public ministry, and it is an approximation. Jesus was born 6~4 BC (see study note on 2:2) and began his ministry AD 27~29 (see study note on 3:1), so Jesus was evidently 31~35 years old when he began his public ministry.

• known as the son of Joseph: Jesus was the legal but not the biological son of Joseph.

• Joseph was the son of Heli: If this is actually Mary’s genealogy (see study note on 3:23-38), then Joseph was Heli’s son-in-law, a possible understanding of the Greek sentence.
3:27 ^e Zerubbabel was the governor of Judea appointed by the Persians when the Jews returned from Babylonian exile. He supervised the rebuilding of the Temple (Ezra 3:2 ^f, 8 ^g).
3:31 ^h Nathan was David’s third son, born to him in Jerusalem (2 Sam 5:14 ⁱ); he is not to be confused with Nathan the prophet (2 Sam 7:2 ^j).
3:32 ^k Boaz was the husband of Ruth the Moabite (see Ruth 2–4 ^l).
3:38 ^m Seth was the third son of Adam and Eve, born after Cain murdered Abel and God banished him (Gen 4:25-26 ⁿ).

• Adam was the son of God: Adam had no earthly father since God created him. In the temptation that follows, Satan repeatedly says to Jesus, “If you are the Son of God... .” Adam, the first son of God, failed when tested, but Jesus, the Son of God in the fullest sense, successfully resisted temptation.

Profile: Pontius Pilate
Pontius Pilate was the Roman governor of Judea from AD 26 to 36, including the time of Jesus’ death in AD 30 or 33. Pilate gave the official order for Jesus to be crucified.
As the governor of Judea, Pilate was in control of all the Roman occupation forces as well as the Temple and its funds. He was the only one who had the authority to execute criminals (see John 18:31 ^o), so the Jewish authorities were compelled to bring charges before Pilate in order to have Jesus executed (Mark 15:1-4 ^p).
Pilate was sometimes abusive as governor. He appropriated Temple funds to construct a thirty-five-mile aqueduct for Jerusalem, provoking a major protest. In response, Pilate had soldiers infiltrate the crowds in disguise and beat the offenders to death with clubs (Josephus, War 2.9.4; Antiquities 18.3.2). Another time, Pilate murdered some Galileans “as they were offering sacrifices at the Temple” (Luke 13:1 ^q); this incident might have estranged him from the Galilean ruler Herod Antipas. Pilate also tried to bring images of Caesar into Jerusalem for worship. Later (AD 36), Pilate slaughtered pilgrims who followed a Samaritan false prophet, an event that led to his dismissal by the emperor Tiberius in the same year.
Each Gospel records Pilate’s role in the death of Jesus (Matt 27:11-26 ^r; Mark 15:1:1-15 ^s; Luke 23:1-25 ^t; John 18:28–19:16 ^u; see also Acts 3:13 ^v; 4:27 ^w; 13:28 ^x; 1 Tim 6:13 ^y). After interrogating Jesus, he was convinced that Jesus had done nothing deserving of death, so he tried to return the case to the Jewish authorities. When they resisted, he tried to pass Jesus to Herod Antipas for judgment—but he, too, refused the case. Pilate finally tried appealing to a traditional Roman custom of freeing a prisoner on Passover. Meanwhile, his wife had been deeply troubled by a dream about “that innocent man” (Matt 27:19 ^z). But the clamor of the crowd became threatening, and the Jewish leaders began insinuating that Pilate was not taking Jesus’ threat to Rome seriously. Pilate yielded to Jewish pressure. He ordered that Jesus be whipped and then crucified, with the title “King of the Jews” posted on a sign over his head—but only after strenuously objecting and declaring himself to be innocent of the guilt of such an unjust death (Matt 27:18-25 ^aa; Mark 15:14 ^ab; Luke 23:4 ^ac, 13-23 ^ad; John 18:38 ^ae); 19:4-16 ^af. Pilate’s attitude toward Jesus stands as a testimony that Jesus posed no threat to the Roman government but only to the Jewish leadership. This may have been a helpful point for later Christians who were portrayed as a threat to Rome.
Shortly after Jesus’ death, Pilate gave special permission to Joseph of Arimathea to take the body of Jesus from the cross and bury it (Matt 27:57-61 ^ag; Mark 15:42-46 ^ah; Luke 23:50-53 ^ai; John 19:38-42 ^aj). He also gave permission to the Jewish authorities to seal the tomb to make sure no one would steal the body or make false claims about Jesus coming back to life (Matt 27:62-66 ^ak).
Little is known of Pilate after his dismissal in AD 36; Eusebius reports that Pilate committed suicide during the reign of Caligula, AD 37–41 (Eusebius, Church History 2.7).

Passages for Further Study
Matt 27:2 ^al, 11-26 ^am, 57-58 ^an, 62-65 ^ao; Mark 15:1-15 ^ap, 43-45 ^aq; Luke 3:1 ^ar; 13:1 ^as; 23:1-25 ^at, 52 ^au; 18:28–19:16 ^av; 19:31 ^aw, 38 ^ax; Acts 3:13 ^ay; 4:27 ^az; 13:28 ^ba; 1 Tim 6:13 ^bb

Profile: Herod Antipas
Herod Antipas, sixth son of Herod the Great, was ruler of Galilee and Perea from 4 BC to AD 39, during the life of Jesus. His jurisdiction included the regions where Jesus and John the Baptist concentrated their ministries.
Following the example of his father, Herod Antipas founded cities. Sepphoris, his first project, was the largest city in Galilee. It was Antipas’s capital city until he built Tiberias, named in honor of the reigning emperor, Tiberius (AD 14–37). The city Tiberias was on the western shore of the Sea of Galilee. Antipas completed the city in AD 23 and made it his capital.
Herod Antipas offended many Jews by divorcing his wife and marrying Herodias, the wife of his half brother, Herod Philip. Antipas’s marriage to Herodias was in violation of the law of Moses (Lev 18:16 ^bc; 20:21 ^bd) because Herod’s brother Philip was still alive. When John the Baptist spoke out strongly against this illegal marriage, Antipas imprisoned him (Mark 6:17-18 ^be); Herod was afraid John’s denunciation would lead to a political revolt (Josephus, Antiquities 18.5.2). Later, at a banquet, Herodias’s daughter pleased Herod with her dancing, evoking a rash promise from him to give her anything she wanted. Herodias took the opportunity to have John beheaded (Matt 14:1-12 ^bf).
It was obvious to Antipas that Jesus’ ministry was even more remarkable than John’s (see Mark 6:14-16 ^bg; Matt 14:1-2 ^bh; Luke 9:7-9 ^bi), but he was reluctant to use force to bring about a meeting, for fear of arousing the people against him. Jesus, for his part, was openly critical of Herod Antipas (Mark 8:15 ^bj; Luke 13:31-33 ^bk).
When Jesus was finally arrested, Pilate could find no fault in Jesus, so he sent him to Herod Antipas, who was in Jerusalem for Passover. Pilate may also have been attempting to reconcile himself to Antipas. Their relationship had been rather strained since the Galilean massacre (Luke 13:1 ^bl), and because Pilate had brought votive shields to Jerusalem that bore the image of Tiberius and were considered blasphemous by the Jews (Philo, On the Embassy to Gaius 299–304). When Jesus was brought before Antipas, Herod only mocked him and sent him back to Pilate (Luke 23:6-11 ^bm). The main political accomplishment of the incident was that Herod and Pilate were indeed reconciled (Luke 23:12 ^bn).
Herod Antipas was later defeated in war by King Aretas, whose daughter he had divorced. (Jews interpreted this defeat as an act of divine judgment.) He was then deposed by Emperor Gaius in AD 39 and sent into exile, in response to accusations from Herod Agrippa I of Antipas’s conspiracy against Rome.

Passages for Further Study
Matt 14:1-12 ^bo; Mark 1:14 ^bp; 6:14-29 ^bq; Luke 3:1 ^br, 19-20 ^bs; 9:7-9 ^bt; 13:31-33 ^bu; 23:7-12 ^bv, 15 ^bw; Acts 4:27 ^bx