Luke 3 - Repentance is Behavioral!

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John the Baptist Prepares the Way

As Luke gets ready to tell the story of John the Baptist, he again gives many contextual details that remind us that his purpose was to write a historical account of the events that happened. Tiberias Caesar was the Roman Emperor. Pontius Pilate was the governor Judah. Annas and Caiaphas were the high priests overseeing the religious life of the Jews. 

Biblical chronology can be a complicated matter. From secular historical records we know with certainty the general time this was, but it is difficult to be certain exactly when this was. The best reckonings set it anywhere from A.D. 27 to 29. - Guzik

 Luke gave more than a chronological measure; he also told us something of the tenor of the times.

· Tiberius was an emperor known for his cruelty and severity.

· Pontius Pilate was also renowned for his brutal massacres of the Jewish people in Judea, and his insensitivity towards the Jews.

The mention of these two corrupt high priests reminds us that the Jewish leaders were more interested in power politics than in serving God. - Guzik

So you can see corruption ran through all of the governmental and religious leadership. This is the world John the Baptist, and his cousin Jesus came into. 

The word of God came to John the Baptist in the wilderness and he came preaching a "baptism of repentance." 

This is different than our baptism into Christ (Romans 6:3-4) where our immersion in water identifies us with Jesus’ death and resurrection. This baptism of repentance John presented identified a person with their need to get right with God and be cleansed. - Guzik

Luke carefully set the work of John in historical context, because “To Luke the emergence of John the Baptist was one of the hinges on which history turned.” (Barclay)

Luke quotes Isaiah the prophet's words about John the Baptist.

“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.’” Isaiah 40:3-5

 Luke connected John the Baptist with the one prophesied by Isaiah (Isaiah 40:3-5). John himself was aware of this from his early days, because his father was aware of it from before John’s birth (Luke 1:76-77).

“Simply stated, the theme of John’s preaching was that the messianic age was at hand.” (Pate)

In what ways do you think the theme of the church's preaching is that the return of Jesus is at hand?

John's message was to bear fruit worthy of repentance. This meant that it was not enough to be "sorry" for your sin, but to make specific changes in you behavior. John started by calling the crowds a "brood of vipers". Clearly he wasn't a "people pleaser". 

We can assume these are Jewish people John is addressing, because he cites the crowd saying, "We are children of Abraham". They thought because they were related to Abraham, they didn't have to worry about repentance. But John sternly warned them by saying, 

"The ax is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.”

Apparently the people were cut to the heart because they asked, "What then shall we do?"

John gives them very specific applications of what the "fruit of repentance" might look like. Another one of the themes of Luke's gospel is his concern for the poor. We see that coming out here when he gives specific things for people to do as a fruit of their repentance. 

1. The person who has extra clothes or food should share it with those who have none. 

2. The tax collectors should not collect any more than what was due. The tax collectors were notorious for overcharging, so they could line their pockets. 

3. Soldiers should not use their power to extort money out of people by threats. 

Because of the prophetic nature of John's message, as he fearlessly preached the Word of God, the crowds thought he might be the Messiah. John quickly answered this by saying though he baptized with water for repentance, Jesus would baptize them with the Holy Spirit and fire. 

Fire was always a sign of judgment in the bible. Part of Jesus' ministry would be to gather the wheat to the barn, and the chaff would be burned with an unquenchable fire. So John not only exhorted them to repentance, but also preached the Good News of the coming Messiah. 

John also rebuked Herod the Tetrarch because of his marriage to his niece and many other evil things he had done. Herod locked John up in prison. 

The relationship between Herod and Herodias was both complicated and sinful. He was her uncle, and he seduced her from his half-brother. In marrying Herodias, Herod at once married a woman both his niece and his sister-in-law. - Guzik

Because John made such a bold stand for the truth, Herod, who was steeped in immorality, punished him. - Guzik

The Baptism and Genealogy of Jesus

Luke then records the baptism of Jesus by John. When Jesus was baptized, the Holy Spirit descended upon "like a dove". And a voice said, "This is my son with whom I am well pleased". 

So we see the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit involved in Jesus' baptism. Today when we baptize, we baptize in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Jesus' reception of the Holy Spirit empowered him to begin his public ministry. 

Jesus did not receive baptism because He was a sinner that needed to repent and be cleansed from His sins. He did it to completely identify Himself with sinful man. This was the same heart that would lead to His ultimate identification with sinful man on the cross. - Guzik

There was some visible, tangible evidence that the Holy Spirit had come upon Jesus. A similar thing happened with the apostles when something like tongues of fire appeared over their heads on Pentecost. - Guzik

Luke then includes the genealogy of Jesus. He also states another historical fact that Jesus was 30 years old when he was baptized and began his public ministry. 

This seems to have been the age of full maturity in the Jewish mind. Priests could begin their service only at 30 (Numbers 4:2-3). - Guzik

It is interesting to me that Luke says in 3:23, "He was the son, so it was thought, of Joseph."

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 traced his genealogy all the way back to Adam, to show that Jesus belonged to all mankind, not only to the Jewish people.

A genealogy may not seem like much, but it exactly established Jesus’ credentials as a member of the human race. A Bible translator to a distant tribe saved the genealogies for last because he thought them the least important part of the gospels. But when he finally finished them last of all, the tribesmen were astounded – they told the translator, “You mean to tell us that this Jesus was a real person, with real ancestors? We had no idea!”

You can see that God was working throughout all of history to bring the Messiah into the world. Every generation was a link to God's plan for the salvation for the whole world. God was faithful to his promise to Abraham and to David to bring a Messiah to the world to save it from sin and establish an eternal kingdom!