Luke 3: 1 – 22
Slam Dunk
1 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, 2 while Annas and Caiaphas were high priests, the word of God came to John the son of Zacharias in the wilderness. 3 And he went into all the region around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the remission of sins, 4 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. 5 Every valley shall be filled and every mountain and hill brought low; The crooked places shall be made straight and the rough ways smooth; 6 And all flesh shall see the salvation of God.’” 7 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? 8 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. 9 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.” 10 So the people asked him, saying, “What shall we do then?” 11 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.” 12 Then tax collectors also came to be baptized, and said to him, “Teacher, what shall we do?” 13 And he said to them, “Collect no more than what is appointed for you.” 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.” 15 Now as the people were in expectation, and all reasoned in their hearts about John, whether he was the Christ or not, 16 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. 17 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.” 18 And with many other exhortations he preached to the people. 19 But Herod the tetrarch, being rebuked by him concerning Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife,[c] and for all the evils which Herod had done, 20 also added this, above all, that he shut John up in prison. 21 When all the people were baptized, it came to pass that Jesus also was baptized; and while He prayed, the heaven was opened. 22 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.”
Have you ever experienced a miracle? I have. If this wonderful heavenly blessing ever touched your life then like me you are not aware until it is over. Then you have to look back and say, ‘what just happened?’ Even prophetic miracles take place and the human reaction is to somehow not recognize it, even when it was foretold in Scripture. When we continue to look through the Gospel of Luke take this point into consideration as you view the peoples reactions.
Thirty years have passed by since chapter 1 which highlighted the birth of John The Baptist. His birth took the town of his arrival into life by storm. From his parents being past the age of conception; to the situation with his father at the Temple; to the naming of his name, should have sent a shock wave throughout the land. It didn’t. Life went back to the old humdrum ways. John then stepped into the picture many, many years later and caught the people by surprise.
1 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, 2 while Annas and Caiaphas were high priests, the word of God came to John the son of Zacharias in the wilderness.
Luke gives the whole layout of all the leadership. Rome was the Empire overseeing the affairs of Israel. They appointed Pontius Pilate as Governor of Judea. Then as gifts Rome made the sons of Herod Tetrarchs around the nation which assigned them as kings over small areas.
Annas was the High Priest but Rome replaced him with his son in law. So, both were given the title.
Now we come to a significant verse in the Bible that has caused some Christians to formulate their own theology and thereby branch off into their own Christian Denomination.
3 And he went into all the region around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the remission of sins
So, the interest of this verse is this, is this saying that those people sins who were baptized by John eliminated? Remember, our Lord Jesus had not yet given His life for the sins of the world. So, are these people forgiven only temporarily or are they permanently forgiven?
By the way, what does the word ‘remission’ mean?
Remission less commonly, remittal
n
1. (Law) (Business / Commerce) the act of remitting or state of being remitted
2. (Law) a reduction of the term of a sentence of imprisonment, as for good conduct he got three years' remission
3. (Christianity / Ecclesiastical Terms) forgiveness for sin
4. discharge or release from penalty, obligation, etc.
5. lessening of intensity; abatement, as in the severity of symptoms of a disease
remissive adj
remissively adv
Well what I read here means ‘forgiveness of sins’ Hymm.? Now what?
I think this verse is the answer to this question and it comes also from the Gospel of Luke chapter 16, “16 “The law and the prophets were until John. Since that time the kingdom of God has been preached, and everyone is pressing into it.”
John The Baptist was the last of the Old Testament prophets as verse 16 declares. Up until the end of his life people who had ‘repented’ were forgiven. Baptism means ‘to be identified with’. As John The Baptist preached, the people identified with his message. They were baptized as an outward sign of their inward repentance or ‘change of mind’. It reflects the contrite heart that comes to God for forgiveness and renewal as these verses highlight;
Psalm 34, “18 The LORD is near to those who have a broken heart, and saves such as have a contrite spirit.”
Psalm 51, “ 17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, a broken and a contrite heart— These, O God, You will not despise.”
Isaiah 57, “15 For thus says the High and Lofty One Who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: “ I dwell in the high and holy place, with him who has a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones.”
Isaiah 66, ‘2 For all those things My hand has made, and all those things exist,” says the LORD. “ But on this one will I look: On him who is poor and of a contrite spirit, and who trembles at My word.”
Now we will come upon another problem that needs to be addressed, that I am sure some of you are already thinking and it is this, ‘How come our Master, King, Lord, Savior and God was baptized?’ We will talk about this shortly when we come upon the verse, okay?
4 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. 5 Every valley shall be filled and every mountain and hill brought low; The crooked places shall be made straight and the rough ways smooth; 6 And all flesh shall see the salvation of God.’”
Have you ever seen on TV the preparations that a town or city undergoes when the President of The United States is going to make a visit. As this passage is taken from the prophet Isaiah, how much more should be done to honor the very personal visit of our Creator God.
7 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? 8 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.
Psalm 58 has this to say which speaks about this passage, “1 Do you indeed speak righteousness, you silent ones? Do you judge uprightly, you sons of men? 2 No, in heart you work wickedness; You weigh out the violence of your hands in the earth. 3 The wicked are estranged from the womb; They go astray as soon as they are born, speaking lies. 4 Their poison is like the poison of a serpent; They are like the deaf cobra that stops its ear, 5 Which will not heed the voice of charmers, charming ever so skillfully.”
Men are likened to vipers because of the venom of their mouths and because of their deafness in the face of the truth. The message is that the people do not flee just because it is the natural thing to do, but what is more necessary is to undergo a change of heart and mind. Serpents are always looked on as worldly wise. John looked upon some of these people who only wanted the blessing without true repentance.
In addition, we see here that faith is not inherited. They are not to assume that because they can claim Abraham as their father that they are okay. Being a son of Abraham is of no value unless they are like Abraham. In the book of Isaiah chapter 51 we read, “ 1 “Listen to Me, you who follow after righteousness, you who seek the LORD: Look to the rock from which you were hewn, and to the hole of the pit from which you were dug.” Kind of makes you feel all warm and cozy about your status as a human. I am sure you have heard someone say, ‘that guy needs to crawl back to the hole he came from.’
And to make clear that Baptism is totally ineffective unless their lives and hearts are changed, those who come to be Baptized must understand that they must prove that their lives will be new and fruitful or their baptism is meaningless.
9 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.”
Here is a truth you need to write down and meditate upon – Repentance must be tied to actions or it is not real. If you are an alcoholic or a drug addict, then your desire is to be free of the substances. If you are in to porno, then you need to get rid of your computer or cable TV. Whatever sin has entrapped you can only be set free by some type of proactive action.
10 So the people asked him, saying, “What shall we do then?”
Here is a verse that we need to also memorize. When God gives you an opportunity, you must not water it down. Here we see that the people are convicted of their sins. How do you suppose it will be if John just gives some nicely tickly feel good response. These people will die in their sins. You need the courage to answer their questions directly like John did.
11 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.” 12 Then tax collectors also came to be baptized, and said to him, “Teacher, what shall we do?” 13 And he said to them, “Collect no more than what is appointed for you.” 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.”
Do you see who are asking the questions? These are people who are hated by society but are necessary to our existence – rich people, IRS government workers, and police. Our God welcomes all into His family and so should we.
15 Now as the people were in expectation, and all reasoned in their hearts about John, whether he was the Christ or not, 16 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. 17 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.”
The people believed that when the Messiah would come then prophecy would again be spoken like the prophets of old used to do. Don’t forget that it has been over 400 years since the Lord spoke.
Please notice that John was quick to point out to everyone that He was not the Messiah. We should learn from this passage that in all situations we must not take any credit or glory for achievements. We are to give all the credit and glory to the One Who deserves it – our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
Now do not miss what is also said in these verses -15 Now as the people were in expectation, and all reasoned in their hearts about John, whether he was the Christ or not, 16 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. 17 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.”
What we see here is a listing of our Lord’s first and second coming to the earth. He came the first time identifying Himself with us sinners when He was baptized in water. He shall return a second time in judgment with fire.
18 And with many other exhortations he preached to the people. 19 But Herod the tetrarch, being rebuked by him concerning Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife, and for all the evils which Herod had done, 20 also added this, above all, that he shut John up in prison.
You talk about a messed up family, look at the Herod family. For Halloween, somebody should do a TV program on this family. It is a really scary family. This Herod’s sin was pretty bad. He had taken his brother’s wife. Her name was Herodias. Now look at how messed up this becomes. She was the granddaughter of Herod’s father and daughter of another half-brother of Herod. In effect she was Herod’s wife, sister-in-law, and niece all at the same time. Now, we have that matter all figured out, right?
Now, we come back to the point that was brought up earlier and that is, ‘why did our Lord Jesus get baptized?’
21 When all the people were baptized, it came to pass that Jesus also was baptized; and while He prayed, the heaven was opened. 22 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.”
The baptism of our Lord Jesus was necessary. It indicated His full approval of what John was doing. He said this in Matthew chapter 3, “13 Then Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan to be baptized by him. 14 And John tried to prevent Him, saying, “I need to be baptized by You, and are You coming to me?” 15 But Jesus answered and said to him, “Permit it to be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he allowed Him. 16 When He had been baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened to Him, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting upon Him. 17 And suddenly a voice came from heaven, saying, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”
He was baptized, not for His Own sake, because He summed up in Himself the whole of all Jewish believers. He was baptized along with them as their representative. He was identifying Himself with them and with us. Remember, baptism means ‘an identifying with’. He would walk where we humans walk and go through what we go through. What a Great and Mighty King we have.
Before ending this study, please do not miss out how the entire Blessed Holy Trinity – our Father, our Lord Jesus Christ, and our Precious Holy Spirit - 21 When all the people were baptized, it came to pass that Jesus also was baptized; and while He prayed, the heaven was opened. 22 And the Holy Spirit descended in bodily form like a dove upon Him, and a voice came from heaven [Father] which said, “You are My beloved Son; in You I am well pleased.”
