Luke 3:1-22

 

Of all the Gospel writers, Luke was described as a historian of first rank because he recorded detail that has since been verified so we know we can rely on what he wrote.

Luke 3:1-2

Now in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate being governor of Judea, Herod being tetrarch of Galilee, his brother Philip tetrarch of Iturea and the region of Trachonitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene, while Annas and Caiaphas were high priests, the word of God came to John the son of Zacharias in the wilderness. 

As we learned on Palm Sunday, Caesar was ultimately ruling over Israel and he made 3 appointments. The Judaean Governor. The so-called King of Israel, who was not the true King from the Royal line and surprisingly the High Priest.

A look at Wikipedia yields the following generally accepted date ranges for key individuals:

1. Tiberius Caesar, Roman emperor—AD 14–37

2. Pontius Pilate, governor of Judea—AD 26–36

3. Herod, tetrarch of Galilee—4 BC–AD 39

4. Annas ben Seth, high priest—AD 6–15

5. Joseph Caiaphas, high priest—AD 18–36

Tiberius became Emperor shortly after the death of Augustus officially on September 18, AD 14.

However, Co-princeps power with Augustus Caesar was already granted him in the first half of AD 13 as Augustus reached the end of his life. This would assign the 15th year of Tiberius, when the ministry of John the Baptist began, to AD 27. This would be the year when, in Autumn, John baptised Jesus. Then the early events laying the groundwork for His public ministry take place, leading into His first Passover in the spring of AD 28. The second Passover of His ministry cited in John 6:4 took place in the spring of AD 29. Finally, the third Passover, when Jesus was crucified, by this calculation would have been on April 7, AD 30.

Luke 3:3-6

And he went into all the region around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the remission of sins, as it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet, saying: “The voice of one crying in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord; Make His paths straight. Every valley shall be filled And every mountain and hill brought low; The crooked places shall be made straight And the rough ways smooth; And all flesh shall see the salvation of God.’ 

John was preaching baptism for the remission of sins. This was different to the sacrifices and circumcision required under Mosaic law.

John's baptism was a sign of personal, individual repentance, not a sign of birth into a covenant family. It is hard to overstate how radical this was in John's day. The Jews already had a sign of the covenant, circumcision. John came calling for repentance and offering a new sign, baptism.

Baptism remains relevant today. It's a symbolic act that represents a believer's union with Christ in his death and resurrection, a public declaration of faith, and a commitment to Christian discipleship.

Jesus death on the Cross is remission for our sins, not baptism as it was in John’s day. Faith unites us to Christ; baptism portrays the union with Christ. Baptism is considered very important in the life of a Christian because it symbolises us being tied to Christ, the one who was innocent and didn’t need to repent.

An analogy would be saying something like this: When you’re standing before the pastor getting married and you say, “With this ring, I thee wed,” what do you mean when you say that? When we say that, we don’t mean that the ring, putting on the ring, creates the marriage, makes us married. No, no, no. It shows the covenant; it symbolizes the covenant. But the covenant, the actual marriage moment and event and union, was the covenant vows that we made to each other in marriage. That would be a comparison of the vows being faith in Christ, and the putting on the ring being baptism.

Luke 3:7-9

” Then he said to the multitudes that came out to be baptized by him, “Brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Therefore bear fruits worthy of repentance, and do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I say to you that God is able to raise up children to Abraham from these stones. And even now the ax is laid to the root of the trees. Therefore every tree which does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.” 

Fruit grows naturally but good fruit comes as a result of tending to the tree. Where we are planted, who our friends are, the places we frequent, are they congussive to good growth. Watering is important. Is what we drink healthy, is it the living water from Jesus, the Holy Spirit or are we drinking something from the World to quench our spiritual thirst, music, or some other spiritual source. Fertiliser is important. What is the extra nutrition we take on. Is it fellowship with other Christians, or Christian books or are we getting our extra boost from TV, movies and so on. This is a relaxed question to ask ourselves. Fruit trees produce good fruit without fertiliser, we’ll just want to make sure we’re not poisoning the tree !

Luke 3:10-11

So the people asked him, saying, “What shall we do then?” He answered and said to them, “He who has two tunics, let him give to him who has none; and he who has food, let him do likewise.” 

Repenting means giving what we have in excess to those who lack.

Luke 3:12-13

Then tax collectors also came to be baptized, and said to him, “Teacher, what shall we do?” And he said to them, “Collect no more than what is appointed for you.” 

Repenting means treating people fairly and with kindness.

Luke 3:14

Likewise the soldiers asked him, saying, “And what shall we do?” So he said to them, “Do not intimidate anyone or accuse falsely, and be content with your wages.” 

Repenting means not using our position as a weapon to get what we want, to enjoy having power over or take advantage of someone else. What John was preaching to the crowds was effectively the same message the Lord gave through the prophet Micah.

Micah 6:8

He has shown you, O man, what is good; And what does the Lord require of you But to do justly, To love mercy, And to walk humbly with your God?

These are not very hard are they really ? The Lord speaks fairly to each one of us with simple requirements to do justly, to love mercy and to walk humbly with him. 

Repentance can mean different things for different people, it is about our heart, what’s in there. But it is a simple, humble act, nothing complicated. Is there anything we need to change our heart and minds about today ?

John’s message of repentance was highly effective because he preached the truth that everyone could relate to and most of all, he lived it. No luxury mansion or car for him. The people knew that John was the real deal. Remember, John was special from birth because of the word given to his father Zacharias at his birth and the special circumstances under which John had been born, and the people all knew it.

Luke 3:15-17

Now as the people were in expectation, and all reasoned in their hearts about John, whether he was the Christ or not, John answered, saying to all, “I indeed baptize you with water; but One mightier than I is coming, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to loose. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fan is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clean out His threshing floor, and gather the wheat into His barn; but the chaff He will burn with unquenchable fire.” 

There is something more than food and drink, more than water baptism and church life that we need. John could baptise with water but only Jesus can baptise with the Holy Spirit, only he can make us be born again. Nothing we can do, it is a gift of God. But if we resist the Holy Spirit we will bear no fruit, we are chaff, of no use to God and will be judged with unquenchable fire. 

Luke 3:18-20

And with many other exhortations he preached to the people. But Herod the tetrarch, being rebuked by him concerning Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife, and for all the evils which Herod had done, also added this, above all, that he shut John up in prison. 

John the Baptist’s ministry was very short, maybe only 6 months before he was arrested. Repentance is a hated message. Preach it well to the wicked and your head ends up on a platter. Once John preached against the ruling authority he was ultimately coming against Satan.

Ephesians 6:12

For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.

But we know that to those God is saving, it points them the right way.

Luke 3:21-22

When all the people were baptized, it came to pass that Jesus also was baptized; and while He prayed, the heaven was opened. And the Holy Spirit descended in bodily form like a dove upon Him, and a voice came from heaven which said, “You are My beloved Son; in You I am well pleased.”

I came to realise that the Bible passages that previously I may have related to myself, are actually about Jesus and not me. The writer of Hebrews had this to say about Psalm 8 which Keith Green sings in « How Majestic is Your Name » which previously I saw only from my perspective but now see that is true only for me if I’m attached to Jesus, who the Psalm is really about.

Hebrews 2:5-9

For He has not put the world to come, of which we speak, in subjection to angels. But one testified in a certain place, saying: “What is man that You are mindful of him, Or the son of man that You take care of him? You have made him a little lower than the angels; You have crowned him with glory and honor, And set him over the works of Your hands. You have put all things in subjection under his feet.” For in that He put all in subjection under him, He left nothing that is not put under him. But now we do not yet see all things put under him. But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, for the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor, that He, by the grace of God, might taste death for everyone.