What was the relationship between Adam and Jesus?
Luke traces the ancestors of Jesus backward, and the list ends with Adam. Luke 3:23, 38
They are connected in 2 ways:
1. Ancestor of Jesus
What the Bible says
Luke 3:23
And Jesus himself was beginning about the age of thirty years; being (as it was supposed) the son of Joseph, who was of Heli, who was of Mathat,
Luke 3:38
Who was of Henos, who was of Seth, who was of Adam, who was of God.
Douay-Rheims Bible (Challoner revision), public domain.
Did you know?
Matthew begins the list with Abraham. Luke takes it all the way back to Adam, to join Jesus to all of humanity. NABRE note on Lc 3, 23-38
2. The new Adam
Saint Paul says that Adam was a type of the one who was to come, and he calls Jesus “the last Adam.” Romans 5:14; 1 Corinthians 15:45
What the Bible says
Romans 5:14
But death reigned from Adam unto Moses, even over them also who have not sinned after the similitude of the transgression of Adam, who is a figure of him who was to come.
1 Corinthians 15:45
The first man Adam was made into a living soul; the last Adam into a quickening spirit.
Douay-Rheims Bible (Challoner revision), public domain.
What the Church teaches
Jesus is the “new Adam”: by his obedience even to the cross, he makes up for Adam’s disobedience.
Catechism 411; Catechism 504 · Catechism of the Catholic Church