Luke 03

The Ministry of John the Baptist

3:1 In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, and Herod was tetrarch of Galilee, and his brother Philip was tetrarch of the region of Iturea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias was tetrarch of Abilene,

This was the year of 26 A.D. Luke was a first-rate historian.

3:2 during the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John the son of Zechariah in the wilderness.

John the Baptist had been waiting in the wilderness for God to call him to His office. John was a Levite and was supposed to be trained in Judaism. However, God placed him in the wilderness until he was 30 years old. The wilderness kept him from the mythologies and corruptions of Judaism. 

3:3 He went into all the region around the Jordan River, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.

John the Baptist was a Levite, but he did not teach in the synagogue. He taught in the wilderness around the Jordan River.

Baptism was a ritual for Gentile proselytes to enter into Judaism. It was called the mikvah. The Gentiles were "dirty dogs" who needed to be cleansed before they entered Judaism. Therefore, their water baptism was their bath. 

John taught repentance, meaning a change of attitude. The Jews needed to change their attitudes.

The rabbi taught that all Jews would be saved and able to enter into heaven. John taught otherwise. He taught that a Jew must have his sins forgiven in order to enter heaven.

3:4 As it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet, “The voice of one shouting in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way for the Lord, make his paths straight.

The message of John was that he was not the Messiah. He was simply a voice who was shouting out a new message in the wilderness. His message was that the King is coming, so all of the roads need to be repaired.  Everyone could repair the roads by preparing themselves for the King's arrival. 

3:5 Every valley will be filled, and every mountain and hill will be brought low, and the crooked will be made straight, and the rough ways will be made smooth,

It is difficult to travel uo valleys because of the uphill climb. It is difficult to travel up mountains because of the uphill climb.  The valleys were to be filled to make the roads level and easy for the King. The mountains were to be lowered so that the King could experience light and easy travel. To make the roads level and easy to travel, the Jews had to smooth out their own lives first.

3:6 and all humanity will see the salvation of God.’”

All humanity, both Jews and Gentiles, will see the salvation of God. The Hebrew word for "salvation" is Yeshua. All of humanity will see the Yeshua of God.

3:7 So John said to the crowds that came out to be baptized by him, “You offspring of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath?

John was addressing the Pharisees. When the Pharisees wanted to investigate a threat, they did it in three different and separate stages. Their first stage was observation. Their second stage was questioning. Their third stage was removal of the problem. At this time of John's ministry, the Pharisees were in the first stage of observation. They were observing John the Baptist to see if he was a threat to Judaism.

Notice that John was not a seeker-friendly pastor. He called these religious teachers "offspring of vipers". These religious teachers were biting their followers with poisonous fangs. Their poison was false doctrine.  John the Baptist straight out told these religious leaders that they themselves would not be able to escape the wrath to come. These Jewish leaders would eventually reject Jesus as their Messiah, causing them to die in the Temple Destruction of 70 A.D. After their deaths, they would be thrown into Hell.

3:8 Therefore produce fruit that proves your repentance, and don’t begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I tell you that God can raise up children for Abraham from these stones!

The Jewish leaders were falsely teaching that every Jew who was born from Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob would enter into heaven. According to Jewish mythology (The Talmud), Abraham would stand at the gate of heaven and allow all circumcised Jews into heaven.

3:9 Even now the ax is laid at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.”

These false teachers were unproductive fruit trees. Unproductive fruit trees are useless. They were going to be cut down and thrown into the fire.

3:10 So the crowds were asking him, “What then should we do?”

The crowds were beginning to listen to John. They wanted to know what they were to do.

3:11 John answered them, “The person who has two tunics must share with the person who has none, and the person who has food must do likewise.”

Many of the Jewish people were hoarding their wealth. They were commanded to keep only what was essential for their needs. They were to give the rest to the poor. They were to share their extra clothes and food with the poor.

3:12 Tax collectors also came to be baptized, and they said to him, “Teacher, what should we do?”

The tax collectors asked the same question.

3:13 He told them, “Collect no more than you are required to.”

The Jewish tax collectors would collect more than that which was required in order to line their own pockets. John told them to no longer operate in that way.

3:14 Then some soldiers also asked him, “And as for us – what should we do?” He told them, “Take money from no one by violence or by false accusation, and be content with your pay.”

Many of the Jewish soldiers had become mercenaries in the Roman army. Their motive was to grow wealthy by plunder. John told them not to employ themselves for plunder.

3:15 While the people were filled with anticipation and they all wondered whether perhaps John could be the Christ,

There were many messianic rumors spreading throughout the Jewish community. Many of these rumors may have been around for thirty years, since many in Jerusalem knew the miracles surrounding John's unusual birth. Many had waited for thirty years to see what would come of his ministry. He had disappeared into the wilderness for a while, and then reappeared. They were eager to travel deep into the wilderness to hear him speak.

3:16 John answered them all, “I baptize you with water, but one more powerful than I am is coming – I am not worthy to untie the strap of his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.

John introduced the Messiah. The Messiah was to follow him. Even though the birth of John the Baptist followed miraculous events, John admitted that he was not even worthy of untying the Messiah's sandals. This was the job of a servant.

John gave two important baptism ministries of the Messiah. Those who believe in the Messiah will be baptized, or immersed, in the Holy Spirit. When one believes, then he is born again, or born from above, and he is instantly baptized with the Holy Spirit. This is a onetime completed action of the past which seals the believer for eternity.

Those who disbelieve will be baptized as well, but their baptism will be the Lake of Fire. According to John, everyone must experience one of these baptisms.

Sometimes, charismatics will ask God to baptize their congregation with the baptism of fire. This is not recommended, because the pastor is asking God to send his congregation to hell. 

3:17 His winnowing fork is in his hand to clean out his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his storehouse, but the chaff he will burn up with inextinguishable fire.”

The Messiah will grab his winnowing fork in his hand, go to the threshing floor, throw the wheat in the air, the worthless chaff will blow away, it will be gathered, and burned. There is no middle ground or purgatory. The wheat will be gathered and taken into the Millennial Kingdom. The chaff will be gathered and burned in the Lake of Fire.

3:18 And in this way, with many other exhortations, John proclaimed good news to the people.

There were many there who were Jewish messianic believers. John encouraged them. He brought them the good news of the Messianic Kingdom which was to come upon the earth.

3:19 But when John rebuked Herod the tetrarch because of Herodias, his brother’s wife, and because of all the evil deeds that he had done,

John was not a seeker-friendly pastor. He rebuked sin, even to a ruthless king who had the absolute authority to execute capital punishment upon him. Herod had married his brother's wife, so John called it incest.

3:20 Herod added this to them all: He locked up John in prison.

King Herod arrested and locked John the Baptist in prison for treason. 

The Baptism of Jesus

3:21 Now when all the people were baptized, Jesus also was baptized. And while he was praying, the heavens opened,

The Greek word for "baptize" is βαπτίζω (baptize), meaning to immerse a cloth into dye so that it changes color. The purpose of baptism was to identify with a person, a group, and a message. For example, Jewish proselytes were Gentiles who baptized themselves into Judaism. They were leaving the Greco-roman pagan system and identifying with the teachings and people of Judaism. They were like a dirty Greco-Roman cloth that was being immersed into Judaism. They would be cleansed by the baptism. They would actually change colors, being identifed with the colors of Judaism.

The people were identifying with the person of John the Baptist, his group of followers, and the message that he was to give. These people were actually making a commitment to believe in the Messiah that John would eventually point out.

When a Christian is baptized, he is identifying with the person of Christ, the group, and the message. The message is the death and resurrection of the Messiah. The Greek does not leave room for a baptism by sprinkling. There is no sprinkling or infant baptism in the Bible or in Judaism.

Jesus was baptized for six reasons. First, He was baptized to fulfill all righteousness. He was Jewish born under the Law, so He would be the only one to keep the Law.

Second, He was identifying with the message of John. The message of John was the Kingdom of heaven coming down to earth.

Third, He was identifying with the Jewish believing remnant. He was a member and the leader of this group.

Fourth, He made Himself publicly known to Israel. 

Fifth, 2 Corinthians 5 stated that He identified Himself with sinners.

Sixth, Acts 10:38 stated that He received His anointing by the Holy Spirit at the time of His baptism.  

3:22 and the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven, “You are my one dear Son; in you I take great delight.”

The entire trinity was visible at the baptism of Jesus.

The Holy Spirit descended upon Jesus "in bodily form". The bodily form was like a dove. In Genesis 1:2, the Holy Spirit was introduced as "brooding" over the earth. The Hebrew word for "brooding" is מְרַחֶ֖פֶת (marachaphet), meaning a mother bird hovering over her eggs before they hatch. The rabbi taught that the Holy Spirit was hovering over the earth in the form of a dove. Therefore, God chose this dove revelation method to make the Holy Spirit visible to all of those who were present at the baptism of Jesus.

Jesus was present in His bodily form. He was to leave His life of silence and begin His ministry. Some cults and isms teach that deity entered Jesus at His baptism and left at His crucifixion. However, this is nowhere taught in Scripture. The imperfect active indicative verbs in John 1:1 disprove this false theology.

God the Father is invisible, but His presence was there in the voice of God. God had not spoken to man since the days of Micah. Micah was the last Old Testament prophet. God had not audibly spoken to man in over 400 years, but He was not silent. He was and still is very active in His creation

The Genealogy of Jesus

3:23 So Jesus, when he began his ministry, was about thirty years old. He was the son (as was supposed) of Joseph, the son of Heli,

Jesus began His ministry when He was "about" thirty years old, which was the age that a rabbi began teaching. He could have been 32 or 33 years old. The Greek word for "as was supposed" is νομίζω (nomizo), an imperfect passive indicative verb, meaning that many people were continually thinking that Jesus was the Son of Joseph. However, Jesus was virgin born, meaning that He had no human father. The virgin birth was one of the conditions of the Messiah given in Isaiah 7:14.

Therefore, Luke recorded the genealogy of Jesus through Mary. Notice that Joseph was not the son of Heli. Mary was the daughter of Heli. Therefore, this again is the genealogy of Mary.

3:24 the son of Matthat, the son of Levi, the son of Melchi, the son of Jannai, the son of Joseph,

Every name in this genealogy has a Greek definite article, except that of Joseph, meaning this is his wife's genealogical line. 

3:25 the son of Mattathias, the son of Amos, the son of Nahum, the son of Esli, the son of Naggai, 3:26 the son of Maath, the son of Mattathias, the son of Semein, the son of Josech, the son of Joda, 3:27 the son of Joanan, the son of Rhesa, the son of Zerubbabel, the son of Shealtiel, the son of Neri, 3:28 the son of Melchi, the son of Addi, the son of Cosam, the son of Elmadam, the son of Er, 3:29 the son of Joshua, the son of Eliezer, the son of Jorim, the son of Matthat, the son of Levi, 3:30 the son of Simeon, the son of Judah, the son of Joseph, the son of Jonam, the son of Eliakim, 3:31 the son of Melea, the son of Menna, the son of Mattatha, the son of Nathan, the son of David,

Many of these names are not recognizable, because none of them were kings of Judah. Notice that Nathan was a son of David, meaning that Mary's line qualified her son to be the Messiah. There was a curse set upon Jeconiah''s line, meaning that the Messiah could not come from his line. However, Mary was not from the cursed line of Jeconiah. She was from the line of uncursed Nathan.

3:32 the son of Jesse, the son of Obed, the son of Boaz, the son of Sala, the son of Nahshon,

Boaz married Ruth the Moabitess. Ruth was the grandmother of King David.

3:33 the son of Amminadab, the son of Admin, the son of Arni, the son of Hezron, the son of Perez, the son of Judah,

Judah was the fourth son of Jacob. Genesis 49 predicted that Shiloh would come from the line of Judah. Shiloh was another name for the Messiah.

3:34 the son of Jacob, the son of Isaac, the son of Abraham, the son of Terah, the son of Nahor,

Abraham, Issac and Jacob were the patriarchs who were given the Abrahamic Covenant. This was an unconditional promise that God would raise up a Messianic seed from this line that would eventually bless all people on the earth. Jesus was this Messianic seed of promise.

3:35 the son of Serug, the son of Reu, the son of Peleg, the son of Eber, the son of Shelah, 3:36 the son of Cainan, the son of Arphaxad, the son of Shem, the son of Noah, the son of Lamech,

Lamech lived before the flood and gave birth to Noah. Shem was the third son of Noah, who fathered the semitic races. 

3:37 the son of Methuselah, the son of Enoch, the son of Jared, the son of Mahalalel, the son of Kenan,

Methuselah was the oldest man in the Bible. His name means "When he dies, it will come". When Methuselah died, the global flood came upon the world.

Enoch walked with God, lived 365 years, and then God raptured him up to heaven.

3:38 the son of Enosh, the son of Seth, the son of Adam, the son of God.

Cain and Abel were the first two sons of Adam and Eve. Eve was hoping that Cain would be the Messiah, but he was nothing but a murderer. Cain killed his brother Abel, took one of his sisters, and left to live a godless nomadic life. 

In Genesis 5:4, Adam and Eve had other sons and daughters. The line of the Messiah would come from a descendant of Seth.

Adam was a son of God, because he was directly created by God Himself. After Adam sinned by eating the fruit, a curse and blessing was placed upon him and his descendants. All of Adam's descendants would be born with a dead spirit, meaning that no one would desire to seek or understand God. However, there would eventually come through his line "a seed of the woman" who would crush the head of Satan. Since the man has the seed, and not the woman, this is a prophecy concerning the virgin birth.