Luke
3:1-20
Lesson 108
3:1-20
Lesson 108
Luke 3:1-20
John the Baptist preaches repentance 1 Now in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate being governor of Judaea, and Herod being tetrarch of Galilee, and his brother Philip tetrarch of Ituraea and of the region of Trachonitis, and Lysanias the tetrarch of Abilene, 2 Annas and Caiaphas being the high priests, the word of God came unto John the son of Zacharias in the wilderness. 3 And he came into all the country about Jordan, preaching the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins; 4 As it is written in the book of the words of Esaias the prophet, saying, The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. 5 Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be brought low; and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough ways shall be made smooth; 6 And all flesh shall see the salvation of God. 7 Then said he to the multitude that came forth to be baptized of him, O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come? 8 Bring forth therefore fruits worthy of repentance, and begin not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to our father: for I say unto you, That God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham. 9 And now also the axe is laid unto the root of the trees: every tree therefore which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. 10 And the people asked him, saying, What shall we do then? 11 He answereth and saith unto them, He that hath two coats, let him impart to him that hath none; and he that hath meat, let him do likewise. 12 Then came also publicans to be baptized, and said unto him, Master, what shall we do? 13 And he said unto them, Exact no more than that which is appointed you. 14 And the soldiers likewise demanded of him, saying, And what shall we do? And he said unto them, Do violence to no man, neither accuse any falsely; and be content with your wages. 15 And as the people were in expectation, and all men mused in their hearts of John, whether he were the Christ, or not; 16 John answered, saying unto them all, I indeed baptize you with water; but one mightier than I cometh, the latchet of whose shoes I am not worthy to unloose: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire: 17 Whose fan is in his hand, and he will throughly purge his floor, and will gather the wheat into his garner; but the chaff he will burn with fire unquenchable. 18 And many other things in his exhortation preached he unto the people. 19 But Herod the tetrarch, being reproved by him for Herodias his brother Philip's wife, and for all the evils which Herod had done, 20 Added yet this above all, that he shut up John in prison. |
Margin notes:
"Tetrarch." (3:1) - "Governor." "Ituraea." (3:1) - A small Roman province in Syria. Located Northeast of the Sea of Galilee, the Romans made King Herod ruler of the providence. Herod bequeathed it to his son, Philip. "Trachonitis." (3:1) - A Roman province in Syria. Located southwest of Damascus, it was also governed by Philip. "Abilene." (3:1) - Another Roman province in Syria, named after its capital, Abila. "Annas and Caiaphas being the high priests." (3:2) - According to Jewish law, there could only be one high priest at a time. Two are named here because the Romans deposed Annas and replaced him with Caiaphas. Because the position was supposed to be for life, many Jews continued to call Annas the high priest. "Baptism of repentance." (3:3) - Before John the Baptist, baptism was a symbolic Jewish ceremony to cleanse Gentiles converting to Judaism. Here, John is teaching that baptism is the public repentance of sin. "The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight." (3:4) - Verses 3:4-6 are taken from the prophecy in Isaiah 40:3-5. Additional note: In biblical days, "the way" was prepared and made secure for kings when they traveled. Similarly, "the way" should be prepared for Jesus, the King of Kings. "All flesh shall see the salvation of God." (3:6) - "All mankind (Jew and Gentile) will see the Savior sent from God" (Acts 28:28; Titus 2:11). "We have Abraham to our father." (3:8) - Abraham is the father of all Jews (Romans 4:11-16; Galatians 3:7). "Every tree therefore which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down." (3:9) - Jesus will repeat this message to bear fruit in The Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 7:19). "Let him impart to him that hath none; and he that hath meat, let him do likewise." (3:11) - "Let him share with those who have none, and those who have food, do likewise." "Publicans." (3:12) - Tax collectors. Some manned customhouses and collected duty on imported and exported trade goods. Others collected sales taxes on anything that was bought or sold. There were taxes to cross bridges, taxes to use the roads or the harbor, to enter the marketplace or to ship merchandise. There were taxes on wagons and the animals that pulled them. To the disgruntled population it seemed like everything was taxed and there was no redress if the publicans overtaxed you. In fact, the publicans paid Rome for the right to collect taxes and then paid themselves by overcharging (Luke 3:12-13) and keeping the difference. Couple this with the fact that they worked for the oppressive Romans meant they were not popular with the Jewish population. "Exact no more." (3:13) - "Collect no more." "Neither accuse any falsely." (3:14) - Exodus 23:1. "The latchet." (3:16) - "The straps." "Fan." (3:17) - A farmers tool used to separate wheat from worthless chaff. The valuable wheat represents those who have found God while chaff symbolizes unrepentant sinners. "Gather the wheat into his garner." (3:17) - "Gather the wheat into his barn." Also, see "Today's Question" below. "Being reproved." (3:19) - "Being reproached." |