Adoption
“The genealogy [Luke 3:23-38] follows Joseph's ancestry, even though Jesus was only supposed to be the son of Joseph but was in fact humanly descended from Mary only. This is explained in two complementary ways: (1) Joseph was a righteous man and would have married within his tribe—thus Mary and Joseph would have largely shared a common lineage; (2) Jesus was born to bring all mankind into adoption by the Father, and thus He affirms that a lineage of adoption is as binding and receives the same inheritance as a lineage of blood (Gal 4:4–7).” (Orthodox Study Bible, Luke 3:23-38)
“Whereas the Son is God by nature, we become sons of God by adoption. We cannot become members of the Godhead by nature because we are human by nature. But we do become members of His family by grace. In adoption we become everything God is, except that we do not share His nature. Because we are given new life, adoption is also called a new birth, being born again.” (Orthodox Study Bible, Galatians 4:4-5)
“Being in communion with God means becoming the sons of God by adoption and grace. He has given us the gift of repentance to make that possible, and so like the Prodigal we have to use it. A place has been prepared for us, and God is ready to share His table with us.” (Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick)
“To receive forgiveness from God and freedom from sin, we must acknowledge our sins and repent (see Acts 3:19). When we do, we are no longer under God’s judgment. Instead, we are by adoption his children and heirs of the Kingdom (Gala- tians 4:4–7). This is the good news of the Gospel– forgiveness and eternal life through our Lord and God and Savior Jesus Christ!.. Our deliverance, however, is not experienced once and for all time, with all our idols being swept away in one great spiritual experience. Instead, we are called to identify and confess our idols one by one.” (Fr. John Mefrige)
“This is to say that when Jesus states, “Whoever receives these little children in My name receives Me,” He means more than that He desires that the disciples receive the little child as himself. He also reveals two fundamental realities about God and the kingdom of heaven First, the relation of children to their parents is an image of Jesus’s own relationship to God the Father. Second, every baptized human being enters into a new relationship as adoptive son or daughter of God the Father and brother or sister of Jesus…God destines us to be his adoptive sons and daughters—though paradoxically what God destines is also what we freely choose.” (Vigen Guroian)
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