Series on the Gospel of Luke – Luke 3
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Luke 3 is a little strange. “Why” you ask? Because we never hear Jesus speak.
Not one word. Jesus doesn’t say a single thing in Luke 3. He said more in the previous chapter when he was 12 years old than in this chapter. The good news is that the Good News still shows up in Luke 3.
Though Jews were not in physical exile, they were not in charge of their own kingdom. The Roman occupation left the Children of Israel longing for a Deliverer, a mighty leader like Moses, Joshua, or Elijah. But what they ended up with is more than they bargained for as the Messiah came not just to rescue the Jacob’s descendants but also everyone else. The Gentiles. But we’re getting ahead of ourselves. Before the Messiah would come, one had to go before him. Later in Luke 7:27b, Jesus quotes Malachi when speaking about John the Baptist.
“I will send my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way before you.”
Jesus believed and KNEW John was that messenger who would prepare a way.
Prepare the Way
Before John could prepare the way for Jesus, he prepared himself for ministry or rather God took him to the wilderness to prepare him until he was ready. Luke 1:80
“80 And the child grew and became strong in spirit; and he lived in the wilderness until he appeared publicly to Israel.”
Let’s take a look at John at the start of Luke 3
“In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar—when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, Herod tetrarch of Galilee, his brother Philip tetrarch of Iturea and Traconitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene— 2 during the high-priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John son of Zechariah in the wilderness. 3 He went into all the country around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.”
John begins preaching that you must be baptized to have your sins forgiven… OH wait… [imagine tongue in cheek tone of voice]
Oh, no. It actually says, “Preaching a Baptism OF repentance for the forgiveness of sin.”
The Jews had a process of ritualistic washing. If you were unclean, unable to worship or present offerings, you’d have to follow specific procedures, but usually they would include the washing of the body. Through the observation of these practices, you would be deemed clean in the sight of the Lord. Able to worship and bring offerings and such. John calls people to this very physical encounter of washing away their sins, the uncleanness, BUT also it was a baptism of repentance to deal with the issues of Morality.
They were washed physically to symbolize removing the status of “unclean” AND they were cleansed in their heart through repentance or turning away from that old life, old ways.
Then soon after people were being baptized, they needed some practical applications of this repentance.
10 “What should we do then?” the crowd asked.
11 John answered, “Anyone who has two shirts should share with the one who has none, and anyone who has food should do the same.”
12 Even tax collectors came to be baptized. “Teacher,” they asked, “what should we do?”
13 “Don’t collect any more than you are required to,” he told them.
14 Then some soldiers asked him, “And what should we do?”
He replied, “Don’t extort money and don’t accuse people falsely—be content with your pay.” (Luke 3:10-14 NIV)
These folks are coming to John, desiring a changed life but not too sure how to live it out.
That can be us sometimes. We may understand that God forgives us of our sins when ask and turn away from sinning, but some areas of sin might not be so clear to the sinner. You need a second opinion. That’s what John provided to these people. Guidance on living out a repentant life.
John was baptizing but he was also warning people. Warning people of the Judgment of God, Of the coming Messiah.
“15 The people were waiting expectantly and were all wondering in their hearts if John might possibly be the Messiah. 16 John answered them all, “I baptize you with[a] water. But one who is more powerful than I will come, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you with[b] the Holy Spirit and fire. 17 His winnowing fork is in his hand to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his barn, but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.” 18 And with many other words John exhorted the people and proclaimed the good news to them.” Luke 3:15-18
People, even repentant people are looking for some Earthly, Militant, political leadership. Someone to follow. Could it be John? John brushes off this idea. Luke portrays him as more priestly than political, though in his duties of calling people to repent, he rubbed Herod the wrong way.
19 But when John rebuked Herod the tetrarch because of his marriage to Herodias, his brother’s wife, and all the other evil things he had done, 20 Herod added this to them all: He locked John up in prison.
Now don’t get too confused by this next part, because John’s not in jail when Jesus comes to be baptized. It’s a bit of context that Luke places there, kind of messing with our concept of chronological storytelling. Since John Prepared the way, it’s fitting that The Way would come to him and be baptized, and a Powerful Presentation ensued.
Powerful Presentation
Interestingly enough, Luke does not note that John baptized Jesus in the following passage, only that Jesus was also baptized.
21 When all the people were being baptized, Jesus was baptized too. And as he was praying, heaven was opened 22 and the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.” Luke 3:21-22
John had been calling people to repentance, overseeing the ceremonial and spiritual washing of the crowds that came to him. He rebuked those without pure motives, calling them a “brood of Vipers.” All along, as he began to live out his life’s calling, it would always lead to the baptism of Jesus. When you clear a path for someone, it’s implied that they eventually will take it.
Isaiah 40:3-5 is a powerful passage. Luke points to John saying, “This is the guy! This is the one the passage is talking about.”
“A voice of one calling in the wilderness,
‘Prepare the way for the Lord,
make straight paths for him.
5 Every valley shall be filled in,
every mountain and hill made low.
The crooked roads shall become straight,
the rough ways smooth.
6 And all people will see God’s salvation.’ (Luke 3:4-6, quoting Isaiah 40:3-5)
It’s not Isaiah’s writing alone that leads us to John being the forerunner for Jesus. John’s own father prophesied about John once he got back his ability to speak.
“And you, my child, will be called a prophet of the Most High;
for you will go on before the Lord to prepare the way for him,
77 to give his people the knowledge of salvation
through the forgiveness of their sins,
78 because of the tender mercy of our God,
by which the rising sun will come to us from heaven
79 to shine on those living in darkness
and in the shadow of death,
to guide our feet into the path of peace.” Luke 1:76-79
And of course, Zechariah had heard this news firsthand from the angel Gabriel earlier in Luke 1:16-17
16 He will bring back many of the people of Israel to the Lord their God. 17 And he will go on before the Lord, in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the parents to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous—to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.”
John was prepared. John Prepared the way by calling people to a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.
One thing that might seem strange about John’s ministry leading to the baptism of Jesus is that Jesus had NO SIN to repent of.
15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin. (Hebrews 4:15 NIV)
And that’s just one of MANY verses that affirm Christ’s sinlessness. So, since scripture teaches he was without sin…
So, why did He get wet?
For the purpose of Testimony.
There had been so many testimonies over the past few chapters in Luke. Angels, pregnant women, priests that were mute but now can speak, Shepherds, and even more angels. Though Luke gives us no conversation between John and Jesus, Matthew records it.
13 Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to be baptized by John. 14 But John tried to deter him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?”
15 Jesus replied, “Let it be so now; it is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness.” Then John consented. (Matthew 3:13-15)
John initially objects. Jesus does not have sin. But in that moment, he signifies he has entered into the human condition with us. He identifies with us. Shows us what must be done. Cleansing of the heart. “To fulfill all righteousness.” It’s an example, a testimony.
Jesus endorsed the work John was doing, and the work John was doing was to prepare the way for Jesus.
Let’s look at 3:21-22 again.
21 When all the people were being baptized, Jesus was baptized too. And as he was praying, heaven was opened 22 and the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.”
Jesus’ baptism was an opportunity for yet another Testimony about Him. This time it’s God the Father and God the Holy Spirit Testifying about God the Son.
Pedigree
Let’s talk about everyone’s favorite part of the Gospel: the Genealogies. First let’s talk about the one found in the Gospel of Matthew. Matthew doesn’t beat around the bush. He starts his gospel, guns blazing with Jesus’ lineage. It begins with Abraham as an anchor point, listing off who he was the father of, and then who that guy was the father of…and so on down the line until he gets to Joseph. Then the cadence changes
“16 and Jacob the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary, and Mary was the mother of Jesus who is called the Messiah.” (Matt 1:16)
So, in this list of fathers, it concludes with a father who has a son, who is a husband of a woman who gave birth to the Messiah.
Luke takes a different approach. He starts with Jesus and works his way backward in time, ending on the following from Luke 3:38
“38 the son of Enosh, the son of Seth, the son of Adam, the son of God.”
Now if you were flipping back and forth between the two, you might notice they are not identical. Scholars are not sure as to why this is. Much of what is there lines up, but not all of it. Scholars do agree about the purpose of their inclusion in the gospels. It is to trace Jesus’ connection to the line of David. Luke goes one step further, connecting Jesus to the beginning of time and the phrase “the son of God.”
Luke connects Jesus with the phrase ‘The son of God’
Remember what God the Father JUST testified to at Jesus’ Baptism?
“You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.” (3:22b)
Conclusion
Jesus came as the Messiah, the Savior. The Jewish people had been waiting for a deliverer, but they assumed he’d be more like Judges or the Maccabees of the intertestamental period. They thought he’d be militant, or kingly, challenging the empty suit that was Herod the Tetrarch and others like him. Challenging Pilate, the Roman governor of Judea. They wanted to topple Tiberius Caesar. This is the type of freedom they believed the Messiah would bring. What they got is drastically different. The Messiah’s Hype-man is a wild-looking wilderness priest who calls people to change their actions and cleanse their hearts. And the Savior in question? He was the adopted son of a carpenter from Galilee.
Even though He wasn’t like what they were waiting for or looking for, some found him because they were looking.
Baptism/Salvation
Earlier we looked at the directions John gave the people who repented and were baptized. The Word of God continues to guide us in understanding where we might fall back into sin and warns us against it. But the believer also has one more helper: The Holy Spirit.
It’s not enough to get wet. It’s not enough to say you’re sorry. It’s not enough to try to live a holy life. The Holy Spirit guides us if we listen. As we engage in reading the bible, are we doing so for facts and figures or to experience God in a life changing way? His Spirit can point out things to us that we would not have thought of otherwise. Things that guide us on the life of Turning-away from Sin and toward the one who came to save the whole world.
The Messiah did come for the Whole World. The Jews were looking for the Messiah, but the Gentiles didn’t even know they should be looking for him.
But Luke kind of winks at Theophilus, including “And all people will see God’s salvation.”
The Apostle Paul wrote extensively about the salvation of the Gentiles and their inclusion into the family of God.
“This mystery is that through the gospel the Gentiles are heirs together with Israel, members together of one body, and sharers together in the promise in Christ Jesus.” Eph 3:6 NIV
“26 So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith, 27 for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. 28 There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” Galatians 3:26-28 NIV
If you’ve confessed your sin and trusted in Jesus to cleanse your heart you are Child of God through Faith in Jesus Christ. That’s the Good news! We are included. it doesn’t matter our ethnic background.
How do we testify to that faith? A Clean Heart and a repentant life, both enabled and empowered by the Holy Spirit.
Viroqua Naz 