Luke 3

Luke 3:1

III. PREPARATION OF THE SON OF MAN TO MINISTER (3:1-4:30) A. Preparation by His Forerunner (3:1-20) 3:1, 2 As a historian, Luke identifies the year that John began to preach by naming the political and religious leaders who were then in powerone emperor (Caesar), one governor, three with the title of tetrarch and two high priests. The political rulers mentioned imply the iron grip with which the nation of Israel was held in subjugation. The fact that there were two high priests in Israel indicate that the nation was in disorder religiously as well as politically. Though these were great men in the world’s estimation, they were wicked, unscrupulous men in God’s eyes. Therefore when He wanted to speak to men, He by-passed the palace and the synagogue and sent His message to John the son of Zacharias, out in the wilderness. 3:3 John immediately traveled to all the region around the Jordan River, probably near Jericho. There he called upon the nation of Israel to repent of its sins in order to receive forgiveness, and thus be prepared for the coming of the Messiah. He also called upon the people to be baptized as an outward sign that they had truly repented. John was a true prophet, an embodied conscience, crying out against sin, and calling for spiritual renewal. 3:4 His ministry was thus in fulfillment of the prophecy in Isaiah 40:3-5. He was a voice of one crying in the wilderness. Spiritually speaking, Israel was a wilderness at this time. As a nation, it was arid and cheerless, bringing forth no fruit for God. In order to be ready for the coming of the Lord, the people had to undergo a moral change. When a king was going to make a royal visit in those days, elaborate preparations were made to smooth the highways and to make his approach as direct as possible. This is what John called upon the people to do, only it was not a matter of repairing literal roads but of preparing their own hearts to receive Him. 3:5 The effects of Christ’s coming are described as follows: Every valley shall be filledthose who are truly repentant and humble would be saved and satisfied. Every mountain and hill shall be brought lowpeople like the scribes and Pharisees, who were haughty and arrogant, would be humbled. The crooked places shall be made straightthose who were dishonest, like the tax collectors, would have their characters straightened out. The rough ways shall be made smoothsoldiers and others with rough, crude temperaments would be tamed and refined. 3:6 A final result would be that all fleshboth Jews and Gentileswould see the salvation of God. In His First Advent the offer of salvation went out to all men, though not all received Him. When He comes back to reign, this verse will have its complete fulfillment. Then all Israel will be saved, and the Gentiles too will share in the blessings of His glorious kingdom. 3:7 When the multitudes came out to John for baptism, he realized that they were not all sincere. Some were mere pretenders, with no hunger or thirst for righteousness. It was these whom John addressed as offspring of vipers. The question, Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? implies that John had not done so; his message was addressed to those who were willing to confess their sins. 3:8 If they really meant business with God, they should show that they had truly repented by manifesting a transformed life. Genuine repentance produces fruits. They should not start thinking that their descent from Abraham was sufficient; relationship to godly people does not make men godly. God was not limited to the physical descendants of Abraham to carry out His purposes; He could take the stones by the river Jordan and raise up children to Abraham. Stones here are probably a picture of Gentiles whom God could transform by a miracle of divine grace into believers with faith like that of Abraham. This is exactly what happened.

The physical seed of Abraham, as a nation, rejected the Christ of God. But many Gentiles received Him as Lord and Savior and thus became the spiritual seed of Abraham. 3:9 The ax laid to the root of the trees is a figurative expression, meaning that Christ’s coming would test the reality of man’s repentance. Those individuals who did not manifest the fruits of repentance would be condemned. John’s words and phrases went from his mouth like swords: generation of vipers, wrath to come, axe, hewn down, cast into the fire. The Lord’s prophets were never mealy-mouthed: they were great moralists, and often their words came crashing upon the people as the battle-axes of our forefathers upon the helmets of their foes (Daily Notes of the Scripture Union). 3:10 Stung with conviction, the people asked John for some practical suggestions as to how to demonstrate the reality of their repentance. 3:11-14 In verses 11-14, he gave them specific ways in which they could prove their sincerity. In general, they should love their neighbors as themselves by sharing their clothing and food with the poor. As for tax collectors, they should be strictly honest in all their dealings. Since as a class they were notoriously crooked, this would be a very definite evidence of reality. Finally, soldiers on active duty were told to avoid three sins common to men in the militaryextortion, slander, and discontent. It is important to realize that men were not saved by doing these things; rather these were the outward evidences that their hearts were truly right before God. 3:15, 16a John’s self-effacement was remarkable. For a time, at least, he could have posed as the Messiah and attracted a great following. But instead he compared himself most unfavorably with Christ. He explained that his baptism was outward and physical, whereas Christ’s would be inward and spiritual. He stated that he was not worthy to untie the Messiah’s sandal strap. 3:16b, 17 Christ’s baptism would be with the Holy Spirit and fire. His would be a two-fold ministry. First of all, He would baptize believers with the Holy Spirita promise of what would take place on the Day of Pentecost when believers were baptized into the body of Christ. But secondly, He would baptize with fire. From verse 17, it seems clear that the baptism of fire is a baptism of judgment. There the Lord is pictured as a winnower of grain. As He shovels the grain into the air, the chaff is blown to the sides of the threshing floor. Then it is swept up and burned. When John was speaking to a mixed multitudebelievers and unbelievershe mentioned both the baptism of the Spirit and the baptism of fire (Mat_3:11 and here). When, however, he was speaking to believers only (Mar_1:5), he omitted the baptism of fire (Mar_1:8). No true believer will ever experience the baptism of fire. 3:18-20 Luke is now ready to turn the spotlight from John to Jesus. Therefore, in these verses, he summarizes the remainder of John’s ministry and carries us forward to the time of his imprisonment by Herod. The imprisonment of John actually took place about eighteen months later. He had rebuked Herod for living in an adulterous relationship with his sister-in-law. Herod then crowned all his other evil deeds by shutting John up in prison.

Luke 3:21

B. Preparation by Baptism (3:21, 22) As John recedes from our attention, the Lord Jesus moves out into the position of prominence. He opens His public ministry, at about the age of thirty, by being baptized in the Jordan River. There are several points of interest in this account of His baptism:

1. All three Persons of the Trinity are found here: Jesus (v. 21); the Holy Spirit (v. 22a); the Father (v. 22b).
2. Luke alone records the fact that Jesus prayed at His baptism (v. 21). This is in keeping with Luke’s aim to present Christ as the Son of Man, ever dependent on God the Father. The prayer life of our Lord is a dominant theme in this Gospel. He prayed here, at the outset of His public ministry. He prayed when He was becoming well known and crowds were following Him (Luk_5:16).

He spent a whole night in prayer before choosing the twelve disciples (Luk_6:12). He prayed prior to the incident at Caesarea Philippi, the high-water mark of His teaching ministry (Luk_9:18). He prayed on the Mount of Transfiguration (Luk_9:28). He prayed in the presence of His disciples, and this called forth a discourse on prayer (Luk_11:1). He prayed for backsliding Peter (Luk_22:32). He prayed in the garden of Gethsemane (Luk_22:41, Luk_22:44). 3. The baptism of Jesus is one of three times when God spoke from heaven in connection with the ministry of His own dear Son. For thirty years the eye of God had examined that flawless Life in Nazareth; here His verdict was, I am well pleased. The other two times when the Father publicly spoke from heaven were: When Peter suggested building three tabernacles on the Mount of Transfiguration (Luk_9:35), and when the Greeks came to Philip, desiring to see Jesus (Joh_12:20-28).

Luke 3:23

C. Preparation by Partaking of Humanity (3:23-38) Before taking up the public ministry of our Lord, Luke pauses to give His genealogy. If Jesus is truly human, then He must be descended from Adam. This genealogy demonstrates that He was. It is widely believed that this gives the genealogy of Jesus through the line of Mary. Note that verse 23 does not say that Jesus was the son of Joseph, but (as was supposed) the son of Joseph. If this view is correct, then Heli (v. 23) was the father-in-law of Joseph and the father of Mary. Scholars widely believe that this is the Lord’s genealogy through Mary for the following reasons:

1. The most obvious is that Joseph’s family line is traced in Matthew’s Gospel (1:2-16).
2. In the early chapters of Luke’s Gospel, Mary is more prominent than Joseph, whereas it is the reverse in Matthew.
3. Women’s names were not commonly used among the Jews as genealogical links. This would account for the omission of Mary’s name.
4. In Mat_1:16, it distinctly states that Jacob begot Joseph. Here in Luke, it does not say that Heli begot Joseph; it says Joseph was the son of Heli. Son may mean son-in-law.
5. In the original language, the definite article (tou) in the genitive form (of the) appears before every name in the genealogy except one. That one name is Joseph. This singular exception strongly suggests that Joseph was included only because of his marriage to Mary. Although it is not necessary to examine the genealogy in detail, it is helpful to note several important points:
6. This list shows that Mary was descended from David through his son Nathan (v. 31). In Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus inherited the legal right to the throne of David through Solomon. As legal Son of Joseph, the Lord fulfilled that part of God’s covenant with David which promised him that his throne would continue forever. But Jesus could not have been the real son of Joseph without coming under God’s curse on Jechoniah, which decreed that no descendant of that wicked king would prosper (Jer_22:30). As the real Son of Mary, Jesus fulfilled that part of the covenant of God with David which promised him that his seed would sit upon his throne forever. And by being descended from David through Nathan, He did not come under the curse which was pronounced on Jechoniah.
7. Adam is described as the son of God (v. 38). This means simply that he was created by God.
8. It seems obvious that the Messianic line ended with the Lord Jesus. No one else can ever present valid legal claim to the throne of David.