The Ministry Of John The Baptist - Parts 1 & 2 Series

The Ministry of John the Baptist (Parts 1 & 2)

January 11, 2026

Dr. Bradford Reaves

Crossway Christian Fellowship

Luke 3:1-20

INTRODUCTION — WHEN GOD SPEAKS AFTER SILENCE

There are moments in history when heaven seems quiet. We’ve talked a couple of times about how in Israel’s story, the silence stretched for four long centuries. Four hundred years without a prophet. Four hundred years without fresh revelation. Four hundred years of waiting for God to speak again.

Imagine living in a world where all you knew of God came from old stories and fading memories. Imagine wondering: Has God forgotten us? Has He changed His mind? Will He ever speak again? Perhaps the notion of God was a cultural idea instead of a spiritual truth.

Then imagine what it means when silence finally breaks. Imagine the buzz, the debates, and the questions.

Luke opens the third chapter with what feels like a political roster rather than a spiritual introduction—a deliberate roll call of corrupt and compromised leaders, as if to say, “This is what the world looks like when God finally moves.” He names Tiberius Caesar, the iron-fisted emperor of Rome; Pontius Pilate, the notoriously brutal governor of Judea; Herod Antipas, the immoral tetrarch who would later mock Jesus; Philip, his brother, ruling in cold political calculation; and Lysanias, a minor ruler known more for ambition than virtue.

Then Luke adds the religious elite—Annas and Caiaphas—men who wore priestly robes but possessed hardened hearts, puppets of Rome rather than servants of God. In a single sweeping sentence, Luke paints a world drowning in political oppression, moral corruption, and religious hypocrisy. And it is into that world—a world much like our own—that God chooses to speak again.

What kind of world does God step into? A world of oppression, immorality, violence, and compromise. A world not unlike our own. And then comes the miracle: “The word of God came to John the son of Zechariah in the wilderness.”

Isn’t it just like God to bypass the halls of power and choose a man who has no power at all? Isn’t it just like the Lord to choose a desert over a palace, a prophet over a politician, and a voice crying out in scarcity rather than comfort? There are some important lessons for us to pay attention to in all of this.

God breaks into history at the exact moment people believe He has forgotten them. And when He speaks, He sends a preacher.

This passage is not merely biography. It is a blueprint. It teaches us what God does when He’s preparing His people for an extraordinary movement—whether the first coming of Christ, the second coming, or personal revival.

What does God do first when He is about to shake history, awaken a nation, or usher in a new movement of redemption? He raises a John. Before the miracles, before the multitudes, before the Messiah steps publicly onto the stage, God always begins by raising a voice—a solitary, uncompromising messenger shaped in obscurity and forged in the wilderness. He does not start with kings or committees, but with a man whose heart burns hotter than the culture’s apathy and whose convictions stand firmer than the world’s corruption. God’s first act is not political reform or institutional restructuring but the awakening of a prophet—someone who will speak truth into darkness, call people to repentance, and prepare the way for the Lord. Whenever God is on the brink of a great work, He begins by raising up a voice that refuses to be silent.

I. GOD PREPARES THE WORLD FOR REVIVAL BY RAISING A PROPHET (vv. 1–2)

In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate being governor of Judea, and Herod being tetrarch of Galilee, and his brother Philip tetrarch of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene, 2 during the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John the son of Zechariah in the wilderness. (Luke 3:1–2)

Luke’s introduction feels like a news report. It reads like the political section of a newspaper. But it serves a deeper purpose: to anchor John’s ministry in real history and to show the contrast between earthly power and heavenly authority.

A. The Political Background — A Dark World in Desperate Need of Light

Luke lists seven leaders—five political, two religious—each representing corruption, compromise, or cruelty.

Why does Scripture show us this? Because God wants us to see that His greatest moves rarely come during peaceful times. He often shakes history during seasons of spiritual apathy and moral collapse. If God stepped into such a world then, why would we doubt that He could step into ours now?

The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them has light shone. (Isaiah 9:2)