Let me say first of all that I am not the gardener in our family - that’s my wife. I am the assistant gardener. But I have learned a thing or two over the years. One is that without adequate soil preparation your garden will not grow plants, it will simply grow seedlings that will be eaten by snails. That’s because the soil is hard and not really able to grow much of anything - at least not anything good.
One way we prepare our garden soil is by tilling. We’ve done it different ways but one of the most effective is done for us by a man named James. James tills the garden in the spring - but that’s not all he does. In the fall James comes and dumps leaves on the garden so that the decaying matter will provide good nutrients when mixed in during the spring.
James is like John the Baptist for our garden. John the Baptist was the tiller - laying words of repentance on the people of Israel like leaves on a garden in the fall. He was telling them that the soil of their hearts needed to be ready to receive one who could bring it to life. His words were also like the tilling of the soil - they rubbed people the wrong way, but did the job of getting them ready to hear Jesus.
In addition to the story of John the Baptist, Luke chapter 3 - also brings us the lineage of Jesus Christ. We also get one of the most accurate pictures of when Jesus lived.
Verses 1 - 2a
This gives Luke’s Roman audience an historical context for Jesus’ life. Tiberius was emperor from A.D. 14 to 37. The fifteenth year of his reign would have been A.D. 28. We can pinpoint that - we just don’t know exactly how old Jesus was at the time.
Pontius Pilate most of us know. His real title was not governor but as the leader of auxiliary troops. The word "governor" is a general one - but Pilate did rule over Judea. The other men: Herod was Herod Antipas, one of Herod the Great’s sons ruled along with his half brother Philip. Lysanias is someone we know nothing about.
There was supposed to be only one high priest - but the Romans installed one of Herod’s sons Caiaphas as high priest in place of Annas. But Annas retained the power and respect of the office he was supposed to hold for life. That’s why there are two names listed.
So we have corrupt rulers over the geographic area known as Palestine - and corrupt religious officials over Judaism - all under Roman authority. Into this powder keg of intrigue, sin, corruption, and political unrest comes a match head - John the Baptist.
Verses 2b - 6
John was in the wilderness - not a desert like we think of but an uninhabited place. The picture is of the Children of Israel in the desert after leaving Egypt. To enter the Promised Land they must repent of the rebellion that saw their forefathers wander for 40 years.
John locates himself along the Jordan River - 70 miles long from the Sea of Galilee to the Dead Sea.
His message to the Jews is radical. Normally, only Gentiles converting to Judaism would need to be baptized. The Jews themselves believed they were clean because they were descended from Abraham. But John says they must prepare their hearts - radically return to God and get ready for something new.
The quotes from Isaiah call on Israel to move out all the moral filth and religious junk that stands in the way of them hearing from Jesus. John himself is the "voice crying in the wilderness."
Verse 7
Okay - so if I’m starting up a new ministry, and I would like to teach people about the Lord and encourage them in their walk - I probably wouldn’t begin my message with "you brood of vipers!"
So what’s going on here? John is a curiosity. There hasn’t been a prophet in Israel in hundreds of years. He’s a curiosity to the Jewish religious elite, and to the just regular folks.
But being curious does not mean they are ready for a radical commitment to God.
They should have expected it. All the prophets from Samuel to Isaiah to Ezekiel - all of them - preached to a stubborn people that they should repent. That’s John’s message as well. Matthew tells us that John spoke these words specifically to the Pharisees and Sadducees - two rival political/religious groups who ran Judaism. They didn’t come for baptism or repentance - but to check this guy out. So he says "did someone warn you that your days are numbered?"
Verses 8 - 9
So John is putting Judaism on notice - it’s time is coming to a close - the time when men could feel that they belonged to God simply by birthright or by performing ritualistic ceremonies. The Jews thought that by being born a Jew they were guaranteed a place in heaven. What a terrible mistake.
God has always judged people by what they do.
"Isaiah 64:6 All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags." NIV
The pattern was pretty constant. Israel became self righteous and God had to send a prophet to tell them they were losers. This time, though, the hope that Israel looked for - a Messiah - was actually coming. Their hearts needed to be prepared for that.
Verses 10 - 14
So how are they to prepare their hearts? Show compassion, do a fair honest job, and don’t mistreat anyone. This won’t buy them a ticket to salvation but it sets the stage for the message:
Acts 2:38 "Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. ESV
John begins laying the groundwork for Jesus by giving them an idea that there is a difference between good and evil - and to begin examining their own lives to see what evil is there so that they will be ready to repent and give their hearts to the only One who can cleanse them from evil.
2 Corinthians 7:10 For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, whereas worldly grief produces death. ESV
Verses 15 - 17
John speaks with such urgency and power that some start to wonder if he was the Messiah himself. It was widely believed that prophecy would return to Israel before the coming of the Messiah. This idea stuck - even after John’s death some of his disciples considered him to be the Messiah (Acts 18:25 - Apollos).
And in describing how Jesus would baptize John brings a chilling reminder of the reality of what’s coming - either accept this person as Savior or suffer "unquenchable fire."
Verses 18 - 20
The Herods were not known for their kindness but rather for great cruelty. Herod the Great had put to death all the babies in Bethlehem. Herod Antipas had married Herodias, his brother’s wife and his own niece - committing both adultery and incest at the same time. When John called him on it, Herod put him in prison and later beheaded him at the request of Herodias.
Verses 21 - 22
(Matthew 3:13-17, Mark 1:9-11) So why was Jesus baptized? He was perfect and didn’t need to repent from sin - but He did it for some very important reasons.
1. To identify with repentant people
2. To show obedience to the Father
3. To show an example of what they must do
4. To begin His public ministry ("Be revealed to Israel" John 1)
5. To support John in his ministry and as a sign for him that this was the Messiah
The Spirit descending on Jesus was the sign that John was given in John 1 ("He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain, this is he who baptizes with the Holy Spirit") to know that Jesus was indeed the Messiah. The descending dove, of course, became the symbol of Calvary Chapel.
Jesus didn’t need any more of the Holy Spirit - because He was "from" the Holy Spirit (1:35) but this was a royal anointing - a setting of a purpose and a mission for Jesus to begin.
The voice from the Father echoes two Old Testament prophecies about the Messiah. "You are my Son" comes from Psalm 2 about the Messiah as eternal King. "Here is my servant" comes from Isaiah 42 and describes the Messiah that would suffer and die for the people.
Notice too that all three members of the Trinity are present here - Father, Son, and Spirit. Wow!
Verses 23 - 38
This is the genealogy of Jesus. The other one we have is in Matthew. There are differences in the two. 1. Some scholars believe that Matthew’s genealogy is that of Joseph, Luke’s is of Mary. 2. Matthew was tracing Jesus’ official line through Joseph. Gaps in that genealogy can be attributed to Matthew wanting to present three sets of 14 generations. "Son" can also be translated "descendant." Luke traces Jesus’ natural human ancestry.
Matthew’s point was to show that Jesus was a Jew related to Abraham. Luke shows that Jesus is related to all humans - Jesus the Son of Man. So he goes back to Adam. Luke gives a genealogy to show that Jesus is not a myth or a demigod like the Roman mythology. He was a real man with a real family line.
I won’t spend time going through all these people - notice one thing though. Joseph’s father in Matthew is Jacob. In Luke it is Heli. One possible answer to this is the leverite marriage - where in Jewish Law a childless wife whose husband dies gets married to the brother and the children are called by the dead brother’s name. So Jacob could have died and married Heli (perhaps a half brother) but the kids in some lists would be known as sons of Jacob.
Conclusions
Does religious junk - history, ceremony, tradition, misconception - stand in the way of you repenting? The people who came to John had many things standing in the way of responding to the message. The real Jesus and the real gospel is far different from that portrayed in the media, the movies, and sometimes even the church. Read about it in the Bible!
You don’t inherit Christianity. God has no grandchildren. God could raise up children of Abraham from the rocks but He’s not saving rocks, He’s saving people - and people can only be saved by repenting and believing in Jesus - not by being born into a Christian family.
How do you respond when God calls you on the carpet for sin? Do you try to silence the messenger by avoiding church or reading the Bible or hanging out with Christians?
How is the soil of the garden of your heart? Are you ready to have your life examined? It’s scary, yes, but cleansing and freeing in the end.
2 Corinthians 7:10-11 For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, whereas worldly grief produces death.
Let God’s Word and the Holy Spirit till up your soil and make you ready to receive His Word and let it grow and set down roots and bear much fruit!
For more Bible studies, including an audio version of this study visit: http://www.CalvaryChapelNewberg.org
