Luke | Chapter 3

Luke 3:1-2a

“The Word came to John part 1”


*Introduction

*Vs. 1-2a When the Word came to John


Introduction

In the 3rd chapter of his gospel, Luke reintroduces to his readers John the Baptist whose birth was a part of the focus of the first chapter. The fact that John appears in 2 of the first 3 chapters indicates to us that to Luke he was one of the hinges on which all of human history turned. John is introduced in the gospels by three different titles: 

  • In Matthew’s account he is known as John the Baptist.
  • Mark refers to him as John the Baptizer.
  • In John’s account he is known simply by the name by his first name John.
  • Luke is the most formal in his identification calling him John the son of Zacharias.

Many individuals found in the Bible have their only known references of them within the pages of scripture. But that is not the case of John. 

In the year 37 AD a Jew named Joseph was born, he grew up to become a general in the Jewish resistance and during the Jewish-Roman war of 66-70 AD General Joseph and the Jews were defeated by the Romans at Galilee. He defected to the Romans and remained on their side until his death at around 60 years of age in 100 AD. He took on the Roman name Flavious Josephus and became a historian recording the events of the war as well as the whole history of the Jews that collaborates all the Old Testament. 

Of further interest to Bible students as a man living in the 1st century is that he has some things to say about Christianity that supports the gospels in a number of things as well as people mentioned in the New Testament. 

He writes of King Herod, Pontious Pilate, Agrippa, Felix and Festus. He detailed the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD which shows the accuracy of Jesus prophecies found in Matthew 24 as well as Luke chapter 21. Josephus does make mention in his writings of Jesus as well as James, His half-brother and as it directly relates to the passage, John the Baptist, all of which gives the believer yet another evidence for historical truth of the gospel account. 

In Josephus book called the “Antiquities of the Jews” in book 18 chapter 5 he gives his account of who John the Baptist was and how he died. Writing on Herod’s death he says, “Some of the Jews thought that the destruction of Herod’s army came from God, and that very justly, as a punishment of what he did against John, that was called the Baptist: for Herod slew him, who was a good man”. He goes on to write that, “Herod, who feared lest the great influence John had over the people might put it into his power and inclination to raise a rebellion thought it best, by putting him to death.” Which we will examine when we get to verses 19-20. 

The focus of these 20 verses will naturally be upon John and I  believe that we will best be able to examine this by dividing it into four parts. The theme of these 20 verses I have taken from verse 2 as “The Word of God came to John”:

  • Vs. 1-2a When the Word came to John
  • Vs. 2b-6 How the Word’s call came to John
  • Vs. 7-18 The exercise of the Word in John
  • Vs. 19-20 Herod and John

Vs. 1-2a When the Word came to John

Vs. 1-2a As students of the Bible there are sections of the text under our investigation that we feel inclined to pass over quickly as we see no personal application of importance and I suppose that some would look at this long sentence making up two verses as just such an example. However, Luke as the historian he was takes the time to mention when John the Baptist appeared on the scene with regards to his ministry. Remember that it had been 400 years since there had been a prophetic voice in Israel. 

Luke mentions seven different men with regards to the timing of when the Word of God came to John. What ought to be obvious to the student is that all seven of these men as far as society was concerned were important men! One is a Roman emperor, the most powerful person in the world. One is a governor, three of them are tetrarchs which means they were rulers over a 1/4th of an area. Those five all dealt with the political power of the day in the Roman world whereas the last two dealt with the religious Jewish society as we are told they were co-high priests. 

The time that the Word of God came to John is specifically given and placed exactly in place in human history, but I believe that this is not the only purpose the Holy Spirit had in giving us these seven names of “important people” and it is understanding that purpose that we can gain application for our own lives. 

Without spending too much time on historically going back and looking at each of them, what we can say generally is that these seven men were as wicked as they were powerful. They were all corrupted to the core of their being and to speak of their acts would cause us all to blush in embarrassment. We get a taste of this just by looking at Tiberius Caesar who was the 2nd of the Roman emperors and we are told that as it relates to The Word of God coming to John” that it was in the 15 year of his reign would have been around 28-29 AD as he didn’t become emperor until 14 AD. This man was so perverted that he retired to the Island of Caprice while still emperor living such a sick and debased life that those in Roman actually thought that he had killed himself by abusing his excesses. They were so convinced of this that they announced Caligula his successor while Tiberius was still alive. His response was retaliation with such brutality that when he regained power those in Rome smothered him in his sleep. 

Yet Luke says that it was during his “reign” that the Word of God came to John. The word “reign” in the Greek is the word that means “world mastery or world dominion”. And so it was at THIS TIME when this sick despot had world mastery and dominion in absolute authority that the Word of God came to John. And if not for the gospel accounts we would never have known of this. Do you suppose that if Tiberius Caesar had known about the “Word of God coming to John” that he would have thought it important? 

Luke goes on to mention on a smaller scale four other men that were also in power and who were as wicked as they were powerful, and also believed that they had power and “world mastery or world dominion”. Men like Pontius Pilate, Herod or his brothers who had the power of life or death over the sphere of their influence. Then there were also those who not unlike these Roman officials had power over the religious affairs of Israel and we are given the name of the two High Priests of the day in Annas and his son in-law Caiaphas. Rome had appointed Annas 6 AD and as such he became the first Roman appointed high priest where he served for the next 10 years. 

He was then removed by Rome but he remained one of Israels most powerful and influential people aided by the fact that he had five sons and one son in-law Caiaphas who served 18 years as high priest but the real power was still in the hands of Annas and it is why Luke records two high priests and not one. Clearly this was not according to biblical law as Annas was allowed to still be the head of the Sanhedrim which was the supreme judicial and legislative body of the Jewish people, having authority over all religious, civil, and criminal matters. 

They were an assembly of 23 to 71 members, including priests, scribes, and elders, and was essentially the Jewish Supreme Court. The Sanhedrin was responsible for interpreting and enforcing Jewish law, making it the ultimate legal and spiritual authority in the Land of Israel. 

So what we see is that these co-religious leaders were corrupted by political power and of no use to the people. And it is under these world and religious conditions that The Word came to John in the wilderness. 

Do you see that? When God wanted to His Word to come and prepare the way for His Son, He didn’t send this message to Rome sitting upon 7 hills full of pride and perversion. Neither did God send His Word to Jerusalem that looked far more like Rome then God’s Holy City. The Word of God passed over the emperor, the governor in Pilate, all the tetrarchs who ruled over 1/4th of an area, and also the corrupted priests. And instead God chose a man He had prepared, and He found him in the wilderness. The wilderness because that was what the world and the Holy Land had become. 

This was the start one of the most important events in human history the coming of the “Word of God” to man. And when the Word came to John there wasn’t even a gnat’s ripple on the ocean of humanity, they all were totally unaware it was happening. Yet God had placed John in the wilderness for around ten years as he is around 30 and would have to enter the priesthood at 20 after he completed his studies. 

John may have gotten a degree by the time he was 20 but he had gotten his master’s during those 10 years in the wilderness. There have been many a servant that God has chosen that got their postgraduate degrees at the University of the Wilderness. Moses, Elijah, David and even Jesus spent 40 days at that same university in preparation for His ministry.      

Here is where we can draw our application: We often look at our world, we see the corruption, the despair. We see the powerful and important people who are part of the problem and not the solution. We tend to think that we are too small, we don’t have enough education or knowledge to speak of Jesus. We are so prone to focus on our lack of resources and fail to see that In God we have all we need. 

John the forerunner and servant of the Lord was called to exercise a mighty ministry making way for Someone greater. I can’t but think that the Lord might be wanting to call a few more people. 


 Luke 3:2b-6

“The Word came to John part 2”


  • Introduction
  • Vs. 2b-6 How the Word’s call came to John

Introduction

The focus of these 20 verses is upon John and is best examined by dividing it into four parts the theme of which is found in verse 2 as “The Word of God came to John”:

  • Vs. 1-2a When the Word came to John
  • Vs. 2b-6 How the Word’s call came to John
  • Vs. 7-18 The exercise of the Word in John
  • Vs. 19-20 Herod and John

We looked at the fact that it had been 400 years since there had been a prophetic voice in Israel. And Luke mentions seven different men with regards to the timing of when the Word of God came to John. All seven of these men as far as society was concerned were important men! Yet with that said we can say without exception that these seven men were as wicked as they were powerful. It was at THAT time, when the above was true of the world and Israel, that God in His sovereignty chose that the Word would come to John in the wilderness. As I mentioned last week, this speaks to our hearts that we are not too small, or that we don’t have enough education or knowledge to speak of Jesus. We are so prone to focus on our lack of resources and fail to see that in God we have all we need. Now we take up the  next part of Luke’s study on the ministry of John.  

Vs. 2b-6 How the Word’s call came to John

Vs. 2b As we take up the Word’s call upon John it is important to note that Luke in writing this uses a specific Greek word in describing John’s calling as we read that the specific call of the word that came to John was not the word “Logos”, which in the Greek would mean the entirety of the word, thought or speech. Instead Luke uses the Greek word “rhema” which speaks of a specific message of truth instead of ALL the truth. John was given truth but a specific message from God of that truth. Luke doesn’t seek to minimize the value nor importance of the Word that came from God John but rather to say that it was intended to be specific.  

When the word came upon John, as he left the wilderness to preach, it was a word from God but not all that there was, butonly part of the truth that would prepare the people that heard it for all the “Logos” or Word in Jesus! This call, we are told came upon John, that is to say it pressed into John from above. While John was in the wilderness he was being prepared for this moment when God’s word would be pressed into him, and it was this “pressing in” that set in motion John’s ministry. I say this as we are prone to think of a person’s equipping for God’s call upon their life as getting education, their experiences in life, natural gifting and so on but the truth of the matter is that God only uses those things as the preparation when God’s Word will come upon them. Those things of the preparation, even if they are at the University of the Wilderness, can never be a substitute for the word of God pressing into a person. There must be God’s word falling upon that person where it leaves its imprint upon their soul, as there must be an anointing from God to the person He has called.          

Vs. 3 Notice here that we get a clear sense of calling as we see that:

  • First, there is a life spent in preparation, some of which is seen in education as John spent years training for the priesthood. Some of which is in the hardship of time spent in the wilderness of life. All of this is useful for the time when God’s Word will come upon that person.
  • Second, there must be a time when God sees fit to impress the Word upon that person He has prepared. There is no substitute for this, and no institution can manufacture this as it alone is from God. I might add that this anointing can’t be seen in popularity or in the manner of how a person speaks as it is clearly a distinct work of God who has left His mark upon that person. 
  • Lastly, as we see here John went exercising the gift that God had given him. I say this as I have heard many a person who has said that they have been prepared and anointed but have never went on to exercise the gift that they say they have. I don’t believe it is possible for a person to have the first two without the third. Paul would write about this in 1 Corinthians 9:16-17 when he explained to his readers, “For if I preach the gospel, I have nothing to boast of, for necessity is laid upon me; yes, woe is me if I do not preach the gospel!” The word “boast” here deals with the idea of rejoicing or causing great joy, not bragging. 

Paul gloried “in” the gospel, not “for” the gospel; he had nothing to do with the giving of it or the content of it. He simply proclaimed that which he received, and though he did so willingly, there was also “necessity” or no choice, as he would suffer personally if he didn’t. In Jeremiah 20:9, the prophet speaks of this personally as he was being mistreated on behalf of the words God had him to speak, so he said, “I will not make mention of Him, Nor speak anymore in His name. But His word was in my heart like a burning fire shut up in my bones; I was weary of holding it back, and I could not.”  That is how I see John’s GOING all around the region around the Jordan.  

We also get a general sense of this specific message as John went. As you will recall in Luke 1:17 his father Zacharias was told by the angel Gabriel that John would go out in the spirit and power of Elijah and clearly in appearance as far as dress was concerned John looked like this as we are told in Matt. 3:4 that John was clothed in camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist; and his food was locusts and wild honey and we are told that this was similar to that of Elijah in 2 Kings 1:8. 

John’s specific message was “a baptism of repentance” for the remission of sins! I find it interesting that John’s message happened around the same area in the Jordan that centuries prior Israel crossed that same river at flood stage to claim the Promised Land. They crossed over the Jordan in a “baptism” that enabled them to inherit a kingdom that God promised and now God sends John to summon them to turn from their sin and enter His spiritual kingdom. It is also interesting to note that John according to Luke 3:18 also preached to the people and the word “preached” is the word evangelized. 

In John 1:29 we know that John introduced Jesus as the Lamb of God and told people to trust in Him. John’s message was like that of the best man at a wedding who only introduces the Bridegroom and then gets out of the way. A unique feature of John’s ministry was “baptism” which was not new to the people of Israel as the Jews regularly baptized Gentile converts. What was new and the religious leaders took note of it was that John baptized Jews and he did so as his ministry looked forward to the coming of the Messiah while today when we baptize those who have come to Christ we do so looking back at the finished work of Christ.

Vs. 4-6 John’s message from God is further clarified in Luke’s quote of Isaiah 40:3-5. First we note that John’s message is described as a “VOICE” of one crying in the wilderness. His message was like a person who was sent out before a royal procession to make certain the roads were ready for the King. 

The picture is what was common in the east when a King would prepare to tour a part of their kingdom, they would send out a herald before them in advance to tell the people to prepare the roads. Notice that John wasn’t the one that would fix the roads, no that was the responsibility of the people of the nation. That was John’s message “prepare the way of the Lord”. 

John was sent as a courier of the King to tell the people prepare the roads of their hearts for the King is coming! His message was that as the people God had called to be a light unto the Gentiles they didn’t need to fix the roads of their land they needed to get their hearts ready. That is each and every person’s responsibility to make the pathways of their hearts open so that the King can pass into them and make His home there. 

The paths had to be made straight and that was done by telling people of their sin, for without conviction of sin there can be no conversion. John’s message did this by pointing out to all who would hear that there was crookedness on the roads of their hearts, there were low spots where they dwelt in the pit and there were high mountains where they worshipped wrong things. There were rough spots on the roads to their hearts that needed to be smoothed out. John’s baptism was reserved for those who had so examined the roads to their own hearts and saw that they were in disrepair. 

John’s rite of baptism was the outward confession of this condition, thus repentance, which is just agreement of the truth of our condition. It’s important that we note that this was the extent of John’s ministry as it didn’t go beyond that and wasn’t intended too. John wasn’t telling them that IF they would be baptized their sins would be forgiven. When John called upon the people to be baptized, confessing their sins, he was telling them that because of the conditions of the road to their hearts they were lost, the roads to their hearts were unpassable and they were as good as dead. They couldn’t atone for their hearts condition but that there was One who was the Lamb of God Who alone could take away the sin of each and every soul. 

That’s the message of John a message full of grace and it is the gospel as well as John told them that only through the Lord’s work could they have their sins forgiven. John stood there in the Jordan valley and drove home to the people that heard him that they were responsible for their own sins and those that heard him and responded went into that Jordan river and confessed that what John had said about their own hearts was true and their baptism was an outward acknowledgement of their own sinful condition. And all of this was in accordance with God’s prophetic word. 

Go back to that passage in Isaiah 40 and in verse 1 we read from Isaiah the word of the Lord, “Comfort, yes, comfort My people! Says your God. Speak comfort to Jerusalem and cry out to her.. ” Then in verse 6 Isaiah asks, “What shall I cry?” he is asking “How can I comfort them?” And God says in 6-8 “Tell them all flesh is grass; all its loveliness is like the flower of the field. The grass withers, the flower fades, because the breath of the Lord blows upon it; surely the people are grass. The grass withers, the flower fades, because the word of our God stands forever.” 

That was John’s ministry as the word of God blew through him telling the people they were like withering grass and fading flowers. If God is going to comfort a heart then they first must first recognize their own condition, or they will never see their own need for a Savior! John’s word that came from God was a bulldozer leveling out every heart so that they would recognize as Paul wrote in Romans 3:23 “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God..”     

Yes it fulfilled God’s call on John’s life, and it delivered God’s message, but the complete message was Jesus. John’s message was preparing the way for the WORD, the final message to humanity. That is what we are told in Hebrews 1:1-2 as we read, “God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets,has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds.”             


Luke 3:7-20

“The Word came to John part 3”


Introduction

Vs. 7-18 The exercise of the Word in John

Vs. 19-20 Herod and John


Introduction

We pick the third instalment of the first 20 verses of the third chapter of Luke where we are reintroduced to John the Baptist. Specifically we are examining his ministry having previously looking at his birth in the first chapter. Luke’s historical account centered first upon the timing of when the word of God came to John then moved to the specifics of that calling and how that was foretold by the prophet Isaiah over 650 years earlier. We looked at the facts that John’s ministry was preparatory in nature as Luke used the word “rhema” to indicate the specific qualities of how the word of God came to John. 

We also see that in the nature of the activity that was associated with John’s preaching which was baptism which was not as our baptism which looks back to the finished work of Christ, whereas John’s baptism looked forward to that finished work. 

Those that were baptized by John were admitting that they were sinners in need of a Savior, but that Savior had not yet finished His work. And it is here in verses 7-18 that we are given the examples of how the community that heard John’s preaching responded to it.


Vs. 7-18 The exercise of the Word in John

Vs. 7-11 The first response is simply identified as “the multitude” who we are told came to be baptized by John. In Matthew 3:7 we are told that at least some of that multitudes were made up of the Pharisees and Sadducees and at least in part this explains John’s sarcastic words to many of those that came to his baptism. 

It seems reasonable to assume, based upon John’s words, that this was a mixed crowd of curiosity seekers and pretenders who were also among the sincerely repentant. What isn’t apparent in the English translation is that the word “said” in the Greek speaks of a continuous action instead a one-time event. As the crowds kept coming out to John for baptism due to his popularity, the summation of John’s preaching at their coming out to him was aimed at making certain that their request for baptism wasn’t some religious and emotionally driven movement made up of those that wanted only to be identified as being sincerely repentant without actually having to be so. In order to make certain of this John kept of calling them a “brood of vipers”! Clearly John’s use of this phrase was born of his extended stay in the wilderness and one can only imagine that during his 10 years he had witnessed vipers fleeing the flames of wildfires all the while remaining vipers. And it indicates that John was very aware of the propensity of the fallen heart to only outwardly respond due to peer pressure and wanting to outwardly claim something while at the same time knowing that inwardly it isn’t true. Calling them a brood of vipers was saying that were still snakes and they weren’t coming for transformation instead they there coming was just to escape the fire in the grass while still staying vipers. 

The irony regarding the religious leaders is that they were convinced that they never had any need to repent, so why were they coming out to this baptism which was an outward sign of inward acknowledgement of personal sin? This is why John spoke to them this way with biting sarcastic words.  

When Jesus used this phrase, He equated to the Pharisees because of their self-righteousness. In chapter 20:1-8 Luke records the story of the time in the temple when Jesus was teaching that the religious leaders came to Him questioning His authority in the temple area. Jesus said, “I will also ask you one thing, and answer Me: The baptism of John—was it from heaven or from man?” So they all stood aside a reasoned among themselves saying, “If we say, From heaven, He will say, Why then did you not believe him?” But if we say, From men, all the people will stone us, for they are persuaded that John was a prophet.” So, they answered they didn’t know. 

What impresses me concerning John’s preaching is that John didn’t seek the popularity and notoriety that was coming at him. We see this in the fact that John didn’t alter the message to appease them. instead he said that they needed real repentance and not just to mouth the words. He told them that true repentance was visible in signs of transformation that John calls fruits. 

How rare it is to see a servant of Christ be able to withstand the great trial of popularity, few are able and none of those apart from Christ. Though a good many servants may have started in the wilderness like John, it seems that once they have left they at any price seek never to live there again. I can think of no better place for God’s servant to make their home then in the wilderness of obscurity! Oh to God, that no matter how many may praise the servant they will never dwell in people’s praise and instead make their home with our Lord in the beautiful desert of God’s presence. It is because of this that we notice that John’s preaching on the need of repentance had three expectations to those that heard it:

  • Vs. 7 “Who warned you..”: As John questioned these folks it is clear that they had learned of the baptism from those who had a real encounter of repentance. It is here that we note an important principle in true repentance and that is; those who have experienced true repentance openly share what they confessed publicly, namely that they are sinners. Those that have true repentance no longer believe that they are “good people” neither do they say that their behavior is because of someone else. Instead they take full responsibility and are not just victims of other’s sins and for this reason they don’t see themselves as better than other people. Instead they are as Paul said of himself in 1st Timothy 1:15 that he was and always will be while in this present body the worst sinner he ever met! 
  • Vs. 8a “Bear fruits..”: 2nd true repentance is far more than just words or intellectual consent or something that we do to get to heaven. Instead, it must be accompanied by visible outward signs of personal change. 

Repentance is not just a change in what we think about ourselves it is also a change in how we act towards others as John will to the people in verses 11-15. In those verses John elaborates further on what true repentance looks towards others as we treat our fellow human better than we treat ourselves. 

  • Vs. 8b “Do not begin to say to yourselves, we have Abraham as our father”: Lastly, John anticipated that those who have not had a true repentance will always see themselves as better than others and will be full of self-righteousness. John warned of trusting in their relationship with religion, ancestry or religious adherence. Such advantages of being descendants of Abraham didn’t aide them righteous character, but it did grant greater responsibility to live like Abraham a man of faith did. In John’s gospel 1:12-13 John wrote on how we become “children of God”, and he says that it is alone by “believing in His name.” He goes on to say three ways in which we can never be born of God: “Not of blood”: It’s not a birthright! That means, not by inheritance, not by human ancestry. You cannot get into the kingdom of God, or be born into the family of God, by being raised in a Christian home. You can be a member of a family where everyone except you is a follower of Christ, but that doesn’t make you a Christian. You are not saved by Christian parents or Christian grandparents or by being born in a Christian country. “Nor of the will of the flesh”: Not by religious practice! Here the idea is that we are not saved by simply going to church or reading our bible, all of which is good. You cannot determine yourself to be a Christian. It’s not possible to talk yourself into being a Christian or study Christians and just act like them, join a church and sing their songs. What makes someone a Christian is not the externals, it’s “not of the will of the flesh”. “Nor of the will of man”: Not by self-effort! Our good works or effort cannot cause regeneration of a life. 

There has been nothing more damning placed upon mankind than the thought that our “goodness” saves us. The truth of the matter is Jesus can only save “sinners, thank God I qualify! No religious official can declare you a Christian, no certificate, or membership affiliation can affirm it. You cannot become a Christian by a ceremony or by reciting a creed, neither does it matter if we have water sprinkled on us or if we are dunked head long into water as those do not make you a Christian.

After John had anticipated that some that came out to him hearts weren’t in the right place, he said that God wasn’t impressed with our pedigrees and could raise up children from a pile of rocks. He went on to say, as I already mentioned, that such affiliation only causes a greater responsibility and we cannot claim faith based upon someone else’s. To identify with someone else’s fruit only causes the lack of our own to stand out and God will prune that branch for kindling. 

What is wonderful is that John’s preaching and truth filled words led to personal examination as verse 10 indicates that the “people, asked him, saying what shall we do then?” This is how John spoke to seekers, and they responded by asking NOT what others should do but what shall WE DO! 

John’s response to their question was that their activity must be “love-inspired” action and to illustrate this John spoke of “giving”! If you had two coats give one away to a person who has none. If you have food give some away to someone that is hungry. Here before the teaching of Jesus of the sermon on the mount John spoke of a “love mastered life”! They were “fruit” of what true repentance looks like, a transformation in love from oneself to others all because we have experienced God’s love for us! It didn’t matter if you were by profession a tax collector or a soldier the same law of love governs the heart. It is the possession of the heart that directs the vocation of the person who has encountered God. 

Vs. 15-18 John’s preaching and life it couldn’t help but impacted people and this naturally led to the speculation that he was the messiah instead of the forerunner of the Messiah. Notice the contrast in John’s answer as he said “I” and “He”. John said, “I have a ministry and message both of which I received from God.” 

All John’s preaching from God was gathered up in what he could do and that was prepare the heart for the Messiah. That what John said when in verse 16, I baptized you in water which is a symbol indicating a change of mind but that is limited. But then John said that there was One coming that transformation is permanent as He baptizes a person with the Holy Spirit. John’s baptism was limited to a change of mind whereas Jesus’ baptism is a change in nature! A change of mind is a step to a change of nature but that alone isn’t a change of nature!        


Vs. 19-20 Herod and John

Vs. 19-20 These last two verses in our study and they give us the scope of John’s ministry. His ministry touched all classes of people in society, even Herod we are told heard him gladly. It is interesting to note that in Luke’s account John will fade from view until the 7th chapter where we are told that during the time of his imprisonment by Herod covered here in verses 19-20 that some of his disciples reported to him the events concerning Jesus his cousin and he sent them back asking, “Are You the Coming One, or do we look for another?” To which Jesus replied, “tell John the things you have seen and heard: the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, the poor have the gospel preached to them.” After these two disciples of John went back to report what Jesus had told them Jesus went on to say of John in 7:28 “For I say to you, among those born of women there is not a greater prophet than John the Baptist; but he who is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he.” 


Luke 3:21-23

“Jesus, Tel Aviv”


  • Introduction
  • Vs. 21-23 Five things in Jesus’ baptism 

Introduction

Luke throughout most of the first three chapters spent the greatest amount of time writing of John the Baptist and it is here in verses 21-38 of the third chapter that we pass beyond John, the forerunner, to the very reason John came, as his purpose and calling which was to prepare the hearts of the people for the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords, Jesus. 

I’m very convinced, as we look out upon our world today and the hearts of people, that we are in much need for ministries like John’s and perhaps the place where this ministry might start is in the church itself! I was thinking of this when I remembered the apostle John’s gospel in 20:15-18 and the story of Mary Magdalene at the empty tomb of Jesus. It is clear by that passage that she didn’t have all the right theology as she set out while it was still dark and quite frankly she was still in the dark with regard to the resurrection. You see she came back to the tomb but not because Jesus had risen from the dead, NO, she was not looking for the living among the dead. 

Instead, her motive was to retrieve and prepare the body of Christ. She is so focused on that task that she doesn’t seem at all interested in the angels around the tomb. Mary even had a discussion with Jesus, but she is so preoccupied that she just thinks He is a gardener. We have to admire her determination as she was willing to bring His body back all by herself. But my point is not her activity but rather what drove her there that day! You see it clearly wasn’t right theology, instead it must be categorized as a great sense of indebtedness.

You see it was this Mary who had seven demons cast out of her and she never lost her devotion because she remained so grateful. Friends I’m afraid we Christians forget how many demons Jesus cast out of us, and our indebtedness has turned into entitlement.

I personally think that is what is wrong with many Christians and the church today, we have in many cases the right theology, but we have long ago forgotten what Jesus has done for us, what our lives used to be like and how He saved us from the things tormenting us and destroying our lives. 

I think this is the right exhortation to give us as we embark on our examination of our Lord Jesus the Messiah in Luke’s gospel. We must make certain that while we desire right theology that in our pursuit of this that we regain our devotion at Who He is and what He has done for us personally! 

       The remainder of the third chapter Luke will renew his sketch of Jesus having left off in chapter 2 where he wrote of the stages of Jesus’ development form baby to boyhood and we noted that his growth was organic physically and intellectually while at the same time His spiritual development was seen as the grace of God being upon Him. We noted as well that this changed when He became a Son of the law at 12 and went to the temple and from that time until the passage we are looking at now His development was now under His own direction and is said to have increased in all ways. We will finish this chapter by first looking at Jesus baptism by John, then later we will take up Luke’s genealogy of Jesus.


Vs. 21-23 Five things in Jesus’ baptism


There are five things at the baptism of Jesus in Luke’s account that should grab our attention:        

Vs. 21 The first thing I notice is actually a statement that Luke makes in verse 23 as to the age of Jesus at the time of His baptism by John as we are told that He was 30. While it is thought by some commentator’s that the reason for this is that this is the age when the human personality if fully developed. I think this has little to do with the timing in regard to Jesus. It is interesting to note that in Num. 4:3, 35 in the Mosaic law that the Levites could enter the priesthood at 20 but they weren’t to take up full work until they were 30. We can also look at others in the scripture and their ages when they entered into service:

  • Joseph was 30 when he was before Pharaoh
  • David didn’t come to the throne until he was 30

Yet with that said I can’t help but go back to those 18 years that we have vs. 2:52 as a description where we are told that “Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in the favor with God and men.” We don’t gain much further information from the other gospel accounts of those 18 years except that Matthew in 13:54-55 where we are told that after Jesus began His ministry He went back home into the synagogue of His youth and taught. 

We are told that those who heard Him were astonished and said, “Where did this Man get this wisdom and these mighty works? Is this not the carpenter’s son? Is not His mother called Mary? And His brothers James, Joses, Simon, and Judas?” 

What this tells us beyond their reaction is that the family of Jesus was known to the community. They knew Joseph’s occupation as a builder, a person who was skilled in working with wood. I don’t think we can ever underestimate the importance of those 18 years to the timing of Jesus’ ministry at 30 years of age. 

We can read in Jesus’ teaching about yokes which he most likely had made. Or when He spoke ploughs or building homes of solid ground, He knew of those things experientially. Here in the 4th chapter, Luke talks about Jesus at the beginning of His ministry going into the synagogue of the Sabbath day as was His custom! All of this gives us a great picture of those 18 years, and it goes without saying that those 18 years were necessary because if they weren’t then God Father would not have required it of His Son! 

We have the answer as to the timing of Jesus age being 30 as well at the baptism itself in Matthew 3:15 and it is in Jesus’ own words to John the Baptists question of the need for baptizing Him as Jesus told him, “Permit it to be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.”   

The second thing that catches my attention is also in verse 21 and that though Lukes records the baptism he does so only as being accomplished at the time “when all the people were baptized” he then records the events that immediately follow it. 

As Luke records this he says that the hallmark of the baptism of Jesus wasn’t just the event but rather the activity that revealed the attitude of our Lord during it! And is here that we realize that this event is the first mention of Jesus praying and it is at His baptism! The activity that demonstrated His attitude was that He was busy praying.

There are as many as 9 words in Greek for prayer and they all express different aspects of prayer, but the word used here by Luke describes the sum total of all of them. Jesus at His baptism was engaged in every aspect of prayer like  petition, supplication and thanksgiving. Why is this important to see? 

Well because it is here at His baptism that according to 2 Corinthians 5:21 that for all practical purposes we see the truth that, “He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” The whole of Jesus’ attitude is seen in this action of prayer and please note this; that it was at the very time that He was submitting to the rite of baptism. And it is at His baptism that we see that He was being numbered with transgressors as we are told in Isaiah 53:12 and Luke 22:37! 

His whole attitude during this was that of prayer and worship. Seven times in Luke’s gospel we are told of specific occasions of Jesus prayer life, and they indicate to the reader that the hallmark of the activity of Jesus was prayer! What speaks to my heart is that as believers in Jesus when it relates to our prayer life it is the opposite of that of Jesus’ prayer life. 

You see with you and I; it is the activity of prayer that God uses to change our attitude. Ah, but with Jesus we notice that it was His attitude that was used to engage in the activity of prayer! 

We aren’t given all the substance of this prayer, but I believe that according to John 17:20-23 that we were on His heart as well as we are told “I do not pray for these alone, but also for those that will believe in Me through their word.”

So at His baptism His prayer was for you and me, and His thankfulness was that one day we would be numbered with Him as He chose to be numbered with us! 

The third thing I see is also recorded in verse 21, that we see associated with Jesus’ baptism is that Luke says that “heaven was opened”! Did you notice that Luke uses the word heaven in the singular and not the plural? 

Luke was Greek but he was writing a Hebrew story and would have known that the Jew’s regarded heaven in threefold plurality and this is seen in their use of three words for heaven. 

  • First, there was a word for heaven that was used to describe the atmosphere around the world. It is this word that Jesus used in Matthew 6:26 when speaking of the birds of the air. 
  • Second, there was a word that described the stellar spaces of billions of stars planets and galaxies. 
  • Lastly, there is the word used here by Luke in the singular which is used of the heaven as the dwelling place of God, angels and of the just made perfect in Christ. 

So it is the third heaven, the dwelling place of God, that opened at Jesus’ baptism! I think of this opening of the dwelling place of God as a precursor to the event 3 ½ years later in Matthew 27:51 where we are told that after Jesus died on the cross at Calvary that at the very same time the veil in the temple was torn in two from top to bottom.  

The fourth thing I see is in verse 22 where we are told that after heaven the dwelling place of God was open, “The Holy Spirit descended in bodily form like a dove upon Him.” The Greek use of a definite article makes this literally, “The Spirit, The Holy” which places the emphasis on the Holiness of the Spirit. 

There is a reality of the deity of Christ in understanding the Greek as if Jesus was a mere man, a good teacher or prophet as some falsely limit Him, then the Holiness of the Spirit coming upon any man no matter how good he might be would have done great damage. 

Consider the apostle John as an example of this fact when having walked with Jesus those 3 ½ years, been called as an apostle and engaged in God’s service his entire life was called to deliver one last message of revelation of Jesus and was in the spirit in the Lord had an encounter with the risen Lord and when He saw Him John says of that encounter in Rev. 1:17 that “When I saw Him, I fell at His feet as dead.” 

Yet with Jesus the Holiness of the Spirit found perfect fellowship Jesus. We are also told that the Holy Spirit took on the bodily form or appearance of that of a dove. The baptism of Christ (found in Matt. 3:16, Mark 1:10, Luke 3:22 and John 1:32) is the only place in scripture where the Holy Spirit is referred to under the figure of the dove. 

It is interesting to note that in the Talmud commentary of Genesis 1:2 at the creation it says that “the Spirit of God moved on the face of the water like a dove”. I also recall Jesus told His disciples in Matthew in 10:16 to be harmless as doves. A dove is a symbol of harmlessness and yet it was also part of the Jewish sacrificial system! So in the Holy Spirit coming in the appearance as a dove we see that Jesus was being prepared for His first coming as both harmless and sacrificial!  

The fifth thing I see is also in verse 22 and that is at the same time as the Holy Spirit descended like a dove upon Jesus “a voice came from heaven which said, You are My beloved Son; in You I am well pleased.” 

There are those that that deny the Trinity some of which are modelists which claims that God the Father merely “manifests” Himself as both the Son and the Holy Spirit. But this passage is very problematic for them as all three of the Godhead are present and engaged in three separate activities at the same moment. 

For their false theology to work the Father would have to be switching spots. This is the first of three recorded occasions when the Father spoke from heaven.

  • Luke 3:22 at Jesus baptism 
  • Luke 9:28-36 at Jesus transfiguration
  • John 12:28 during Jesus last week before the cross

What glorious sound that came forward from the Father for the benefit of the earth that at that moment the world was told that the cure for the curse had come and furthermore was already accepted! 

If those under the curse chose to take the cure in Jesus, this voice was assuring them that it was the best decision anyone could ever make. The course for Jesus was already accepted before He started down the road of calvary. 

Let all doubt pass away as the Father declares looking back to His only Son’s birth to those last 18 years and says, “I’m well pleased”! There was nothing in thought or deed through Jesus earthly existence that wasn’t pleasing to the Father. And not only that the Father is also declaring that the next 3 ½ years of Jesus earthly ministry both in direction and purpose was His delight!