11 The family tree of Jesus Christ, David's son, Abraham's son: 2 Abraham had Isaac, Isaac had Jacob, Jacob had Judah and his brothers, 3 Judah had Perez and Zerah (the mother was Tamar), Perez had Hezron, Hezron had Aram, 4 Aram had Amminadab, Amminadab had Nahshon, Nahshon had Salmon, 5 Salmon had Boaz (his mother was Rahab), Boaz had Obed (Ruth was the mother), Obed had Jesse, 6 Jesse had David, and David became king. David had Solomon (Uriah's wife was the mother), 7 Solomon had Rehoboam, Rehoboam had Abijah, Abijah had Asa, 8 Asa had Jehoshaphat, Jehoshaphat had Joram, Joram had Uzziah, 9 Uzziah had Jotham, Jotham had Ahaz, Ahaz had Hezekiah, 10 Hezekiah had Manasseh, Manasseh had Amon, Amon had Josiah, 11 Josiah had Jehoiachin and his brothers, and then the people were taken into the Babylonian exile. 12 When the Babylonian exile ended, Jehoiachin had Shealtiel, Shealtiel had Zerubbabel, 13 Zerubbabel had Abiud, Abiud had Eliakim, Eliakim had Azor, 14 Azor had Zadok, Zadok had Achim, Achim had Eliud, 15 Eliud had Eleazar, Eleazar had Matthan, Matthan had Jacob, 16 Jacob had Joseph, Mary's husband, the Mary who gave birth to Jesus, the Jesus who was called Christ. 17 There were fourteen generations from Abraham to David, another fourteen from David to the Babylonian exile, and yet another fourteen from the Babylonian exile to Christ. The Birth of Jesus
18 The birth of Jesus took place like this. His mother, Mary, was engaged to be married to Joseph. Before they came to the marriage bed, Joseph discovered she was pregnant. (It was by the Holy Spirit, but he didn't know that.) 19 Joseph, chagrined but noble, determined to take care of things quietly so Mary would not be disgraced. 20 While he was trying to figure a way out, he had a dream. God's angel spoke in the dream: "Joseph, son of David, don't hesitate to get married. Mary's pregnancy is Spirit-conceived. God's Holy Spirit has made her pregnant. 21 She will bring a son to birth, and when she does, you, Joseph, will name him Jesus - 'God saves' - because he will save his people from their sins." 22 This would bring the prophet's embryonic sermon to full term: 23 Watch for this - a virgin will get pregnant and bear a son; They will name him Emmanuel (Hebrew for "God is with us"). 24 Then Joseph woke up. He did exactly what God's angel commanded in the dream: He married Mary. 25 But he did not consummate the marriage until she had the baby. He named the baby Jesus.
31 While Jesus was living in the Galilean hills, John, called "the Baptizer," was preaching in the desert country of Judea. 2 His message was simple and austere, like his desert surroundings: "Change your life. God's kingdom is here." 3 John and his message were authorized by Isaiah's prophecy: Thunder in the desert! Prepare for God's arrival! Make the road smooth and straight! 4 John dressed in a camel-hair habit tied at the waist by a leather strap. He lived on a diet of locusts and wild field honey. 5 People poured out of Jerusalem, Judea, and the Jordanian countryside to hear and see him in action. 6 There at the Jordan River those who came to confess their sins were baptized into a changed life.
7 When John realized that a lot of Pharisees and Sadducees were showing up for a baptismal experience because it was becoming the popular thing to do, he exploded: "Brood of snakes! What do you think you're doing slithering down here to the river? Do you think a little water on your snakeskins is going to make any difference? 8 It's your life that must change, not your skin! 9 And don't think you can pull rank by claiming Abraham as father. Being a descendant of Abraham is neither here nor there. Descendants of Abraham are a dime a dozen. 10 What counts is your life. Is it green and blossoming? Because if it's deadwood, it goes on the fire. 11 "I'm baptizing you here in the river, turning your old life in for a kingdom life. The real action comes next: The main character in this drama - compared to him I'm a mere stagehand - will ignite the kingdom life within you, a fire within you, the Holy Spirit within you, changing you from the inside out. 12 He's going to clean house - make a clean sweep of your lives. He'll place everything true in its proper place before God; everything false he'll put out with the trash to be burned."
13 Jesus then appeared, arriving at the Jordan River from Galilee. He wanted John to baptize him. 14 John objected, "I'm the one who needs to be baptized, not you!" 15 But Jesus insisted. "Do it. God's work, putting things right all these centuries, is coming together right now in this baptism." So John did it. 16 The moment Jesus came up out of the baptismal waters, the skies opened up and he saw God's Spirit - it looked like a dove - descending and landing on him. 17 And along with the Spirit, a voice: "This is my Son, chosen and marked by my love, delight of my life."
