Bible Passage: Matthew 1; Luke 3; John 1
Main Point: Jesus’ family line proved He was the Messiah.
The prophecies concerning Jesus’ birth are numerous, and many of them refer to Jesus’ lineage. Old Testament prophecies tell of the promised Messiah being born from the seed of a woman (Genesis 3:15); from the seed of Abraham (Genesis 22:18), Isaac (Genesis 21:12), and Jacob (Numbers 24:17); from the tribe of Judah (Micah 5:2); from the line of Jesse (Isaiah 11:1); and from the house of David (Jeremiah 23:5). The prophecies said He would be born of a virgin (Isaiah 7:14) and would be the Son of God (1 Chronicles 17:13-14; Psalm 2:7). Jesus fulfilled all of these prophecies.
In Bible times, Jews took great care to record family genealogies accurately. The family a person belonged to was directly linked to property rights. Matthew 1:1-17 and Luke 3:23-38 both chronicle the genealogy of Jesus. The account in Matthew presents Jesus as the king of the Jews—the legal heir to the throne of David. The account in Luke was written to Greek Christians and focuses on Jesus’ descent from Adam.
Jesus was born as a baby in Bethlehem. He had earthly parents—Mary and Joseph—but His true Father is God. Jesus is fully God and fully man.
As fully God, “the entire fullness of God’s nature dwells bodily in Christ” (Colossians 2:9). As fully man, Jesus has a human body, human mind, and human emotions. (See Luke 2:7,52; Matt. 26:38.) He is our sinless representative (2 Corinthians 5:21), sympathetic high priest (Hebrews 4:15), and substitute sacrifice (1 John 4:10).
Use this Bible story to review Jesus’ ancestors and their stories in the Old Testament. Help your kids recognize that God had been working out His plan to send Jesus over hundreds of years—through Adam, Abraham, Isaac, Rahab, Ruth, David, and others. God sent His Son to earth to save people from their sins.
Jesus came to earth as a human. Jesus had earthly parents, Mary and Joseph, but His true Father is God. Through Jesus, God kept His promises to Abraham and David. Jesus saves people from their sins and adopts them into God’s family.
Check this session’s Activity Page and Big Picture Card as well as the Gospel Project for Kids Family App for ways to interact with the Bible content this week. (This lesson is from Volume 7, Unit 19, Session 1)
