Luke 3 - John the Baptist's Ministry, The Genealogy of Jesus

Click Here to Read or LIsten to Luke 3

John the Baptist Prepares the Way

Notice Luke gives all the information about the political figures of Jesus' day, which is in accordance with his goal to write and orderly account of the things that happened amongst them. 

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 in the wilderness. Oftentimes we need to set aside time for solitude and silence to create space and be able to hear from God. John preached repentance in order for the people to be ready to receive Jesus. Repentance is always turning from something to something else. In this case the people repented FROM their sins in order to turn TO Jesus. 

When the crowds of Jewish people came to John, he told them to bear fruit worthy of repentance. They were not merely to say they were children of Abraham, as if somehow that was a free pass to keep on sinning. Each person had to come to grips with how they had fallen away from God. The key indicator for each person was whether or not they were bearing fruit, which meant turning away from what they knew was wrong. 

A good tree can't help but bear fruit. A healthy Christian cannot help but bear the fruit of the Holy Spirit. When they asked him what it meant, he gave them examples of repentance.  If one had an abundance and someone else was in need, the rich person would share with the one who was poor. If one was cheating people out of money, they were responsible to pay the person back and make them whole. 

Because of the the authority with which John spoke and preached, they thought he might be the Messiah. But he quickly corrected them by saying that he would not even be worthy to untie the shoes of Jesus' feet. John's baptism was one of water for repentance, but Jesus would baptize with the Holy Spirit and fire. The Holy Spirit would both purify believers. but also convict unbelievers of their sin before God. To the one who believed, the Holy Spirit brought new life. But to those who rejected him, He would bring judgment. 

The Baptism and Genealogy of Jesus

Jesus was baptized by John not because he was sinful, but to show his obedience to the Father. As Jesus was baptized, the Holy Spirit came upon him and God the Father said, "You are my son with whom I am well pleased!"

Jesus was thirty years old when he began his public ministry. Again, we are reminded of how much time elapsed between when we last heard of Jesus at 12 years old teaching the elders in the temple.  Now, 18 years later he begins his public ministry. We don't why God waited 18 years, but obviously this was God's timing. We often need to wait for God's perfect timing. A lot of times our timing is not God's timing. We often get ahead of God, instead of waiting on Him. This was the perfect time for Jesus to begin his ministry full of the Holy Spirit. 

Luke's genealogy of Jesus differs slightly from Matthew and here's why.

According to ancient custom, genealogies were almost always traced through the father, not the mother. This was a problem in the unique situation of a virgin birth. Luke differs in the account of Matthew from David onward, but they both end their genealogies with Joseph. The best explanation for this seems to be that Luke followed Mary’s line (Jesus’ actual lineage) while Matthew followed Joseph’s line (His legal lineage by adoption). This was Luke’s point in his important phrase “being (as was supposed) the son of Joseph.” Luke began with Joseph because he followed proper form and included no women in his genealogy.

Luke painstakingly gives information about the historical figures living in Jesus' time, and also Jesus' lineage to show that he was truly human. If Jesus was truly human and came from a line of ancestors, when he rose from the dead, the only logical conclusion was that He was AND is the Son of God! 

This was Luke's purpose and it is no less important today! Jesus really lived. Jesus really died. And Jesus REALLY rose again! 


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