Matthew 3:1-3
Mark 1:2-4
Luke 3:1-6 (Wilderness, Jordan region) (Oct A.D. 27)
John the Baptizer
Preaches and Baptizes
Matthew 3:1–3; Mark 1:1–4; Luke 3:1–6
Lk 3:1–2In the fifteenth year of the reign of
Tiberius Caesar, while Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, Herod was tetrarch
of Galilee, his brother Philip tetrarch of the region of Iturea and
Trachonitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene, 2during the high
priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, God’s word came to John the son of Zachariah in the wilderness.
Mt 3:1aJohn the Baptist came, Mk 1:4bpreaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins, Mt 3:2–3aand saying, “Repent, because the kingdom of heaven has come near!” 3aFor he is the one spoken of through the prophet Isaiah, Mk 1:2b–3“Look, I am sending My messenger ahead of You, who will prepare Your way. 3A voice of one crying out in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way for the Lord; make His paths straight! Lk 3:5–6Every valley will be filled, and every mountain and hill will be made low; the crooked will become straight, the rough ways smooth, 6and everyone will see the salvation of God.’ ”[1]
[1]
Knight, G. W. (2001). A simplified harmony of the Gospels (pp.
27–29). Holman Bible Publishers.
Other Resources:
Here begins the wonderful story of Jesus the Messiah, the Son of God. In the book written by the prophet Isaiah, God announced that he would send his Son to earth, and that a special messenger would arrive first to prepare the world for his coming.
"This messenger will live out in the barren wilderness," Isaiah said, "and will proclaim that everyone must straighten out his life to be ready for the Lord's arrival."
This messenger was John the Baptist. He lived in the wilderness and taught that all should be baptized as a public announcement of their decision to turn their backs on sin, so that God could forgive them. People from Jerusalem and from all over Judea traveled out into the Judean wastelands to see and hear John, and when they confessed their sins, he baptized them in the Jordan River. His clothes were woven from camel's hair and he wore a leather belt; locusts and wild honey were his food.
A Voice in the Wilderness (Luke 3:1-22) by Toby Levering
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LUKE'S ACCURACY AS A HISTORIAN NO. 1
The physician and historian Luke authored both the gospel bearing his name and the book of Act, which together constitute about one-quarter of the entire New Testament. Consequently, a critical issue is whether Luke was a historian who could be trusted to get things right.
For instance, in Luke 3:1 he refers to Lysanias being the tetrarch of Abilene in about AD 27. For years scholars pointed to this as evidence that Luke didn't know what he was talking about, since everybody knew that Lysanias was not a tetrarch but ruler of Chalcis half a century earlier. If Luke cannot get that basic facts right, they suggested, nothing he has written could be trusted.
That is when archeology stepped in. "An inscription was later found from the time of Tiberius, from AD 14 to 37, which names Lysanias as tetrarch in Abila near Damascus - just as Luke had written. There had been two government officials named Lysanias! Once more Luke was shown to be exactly right."
Lee Strobel, "The Case For Christ," Zondervan Publishing House, Grand Rapids, Michigan, 1998.
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Other Scriptures: #JohnTheBaptist
- John the baptizer's ministry is the fulfillment of 2 Old Testament prophecies: Isaiah 40:3-5 and Malachi 3:1 and both are quoted in Mark 1.
- John was a forerunner who would prepare people for the Messiah.
3. How did Luke explain the date when John began his ministry? (Luke 3:1-2) How much time passes between appearances of John the Baptizer here (Luke 3:1 and in Luke 1:80)? What was John doing in those intervening years (Matthew 3:1-6; Mark 1:4-6)? Why?
6. What was the message of John the Baptist? (Luke 3:3-9)
Footnotes:
prophet A person that spoke for God. Sometimes a prophet told things that would happen in the future.
locusts Insects like grasshoppers. The law of Moses said that locusts could be eaten (See Lev. 11:21-22).
baptize(d) A Greek word meaning to immerse, dip, or bury a person or thing briefly under water.
Pharisees The Pharisees were a Jewish religious group that claimed to follow carefully all Jewish laws and customs.
Sadducees A leading Jewish religious group. They accepted only the first five books of the Old Testament. They believed that people don't live again after death.
Abraham The most respected ancestor of the Jews.
trees The people that don't accept Jesus. They are like "trees" that will be cut down.
Spirit, Holy Spirit Also called the Spirit of God, the Spirit of Christ, and the Comforter. Joined with God and Christ, he does God's work among people in the world.
clean the grain John means that Jesus will separate the good people from the bad people.
Footnotes:
Caesar The name given to the emperor (ruler) of Rome.
Herod Herod Antipas, tetrarch (ruler) of Galilee and Perea, son of Herod the Great.
high priests The most important Jewish priests.
baptize(d) A Greek word meaning to immerse, dip, or bury a person or thing briefly under water.
prophet A person that spoke for God. Sometimes a prophet told things that would happen in the future.
trees The people who do not accept Jesus. They are like "trees" that will be cut down.
tax collector(s) Jews hired by the Romans to collect taxes. They often cheated, and the other Jews hated them.
Christ The "anointed one" (Messiah) or chosen one of God.
Holy Spirit Also called the Spirit of God, the Spirit of Christ, and the Comforter. Joined with God and Christ, he does God's work among people in the world.
clean the grain John means that Jesus will separate the good people from the bad people.
Good News The news that God has made a way for people to have their sins forgiven and live with him forever.
Further Reading:
The Ministry of John the Baptist
John Baptizes the People
Matthew 3:4-6
Mark 1:5,6
John the Baptizer
Preaches and Baptizes
Matthew 3:4–6; Mark 1:5-6
Mt 3:4–6John himself had a camel hair garment with a leather belt around his waist, and his food was locusts and wild honey. 5Then Jerusalem, all Judea, and all the vicinity of the Jordan were flocking to him, 6and they were baptized by him in the Jordan River as they confessed their sins.”[1]
[1]
Knight, G. W. (2001). A simplified harmony of the Gospels (pp.
27–29). Holman Bible Publishers.
Research Questions
John chose to live in the desert (1) to get away from distractions so he could hear God's instructions; (2) to capture the undivided attention of the people; (3) to symbolize a sharp break with the hypocrisy of the religious leaders who preferred their luxurious homes and positions of authority over doing God's work; (4) to fulfill Old Testament prophecies that said John would be a voice calling in the wilderness to prepare the way for the Lord (Isaiah 40:3). The purpose of John's preaching was to prepare people to accept Jesus as God's Son. When John challenged the people to confess sin individually, he signaled the start of a new way to relate to God. Is change needed in your life before you can hear and understand Jesus' message? You have to admit that you need forgiveness before you can accept it. To prepare to receive Christ, repent. Denounce the world's dead-end attractions, sinful temptations, and harmful attitudes.
John's clothes were not the latest style of his day. He dressed much like the prophet Elijah (2 Kings 1:8) in order to distinguish himself from the religious leaders, whose longflowing robes reflected their great pride in their position. John's striking appearance reinforced his striking message.
John Preaches Repentance
Matthew 3:7-10
Luke 3:7-14
John the Baptizer
Preaches and Baptizes
Matthew 3:7–10; Luke 3:7–18
7When he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to the place of his baptism, he said to them, “Brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? 8Produce fruit consistent with repentance. 9And don’t presume to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I tell you that God is able to raise up children for Abraham from these stones! 10Even now the ax is ready to strike the root of the trees! Therefore, every tree that doesn’t produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.”
Lk 3:10“What then should we do?” the crowds were
asking him.
11He replied to them, “The one who has two shirts must share with someone who has none, and the
one who has food must do the same.”
12Tax collectors also came to be baptized, and they asked him, “Teacher,
what should we do?”
13He told them, “Don’t collect
any more than what you have been authorized.”
14aSome soldiers also questioned him: “What should we do?”
14bHe said to them, “Don’t take money from anyone by force or false accusation; be satisfied with your wages.”[1]
[1]
Knight, G. W. (2001). A simplified harmony of the Gospels (pp.
27–29). Holman Bible Publishers.
Here is a sample of John's preaching to the crowds that came for baptism: "You brood of snakes! You are trying to escape hell without truly turning to God! That is why you want to be baptized! First go and prove by the way you live that you really have repented. And don't think you are safe because you are descendants of Abraham. That isn't enough. God can produce children of Abraham from these desert stones! The ax of his judgment is poised over you, ready to sever your roots and cut you down. Yes, every tree that does not produce good fruit will be chopped down and thrown into the fire."
The crowd replied, "What do you want us to do?"
"If you have two coats," he replied, "give one to the poor. If you have extra food, give it away to those who are hungry."
Even tax collectors—notorious for their corruption—came to be baptized and asked, "How shall we prove to you that we have abandoned our sins?"
"By your honesty," he replied. "Make sure you collect no more taxes than the Roman government requires you to."
"And us," asked some soldiers, "what about us?"
John replied, "Don't extort money by threats and violence; don't accuse anyone of what you know he didn't do; and be content with your pay!"
What did John tell the people, tax collectors and soldiers to do? (Luke 3:10-14)
Beyond Words
John's message demanded at least three specific responses: (1) Share what you have with those who need it; (2) whatever your job is, do it well and with fairness; and (3) be content with what you're earning. John had no time to address comforting messages to those who lived careless or selfish lives—he was calling the people to right living. Just as a fruit tree is expected to bear fruit, God's people should produce a crop of good works. God has no use for people who call themselves Christians but do nothing about it. Like many people in John's day who were God's people in name only, we are of no value if we are Christians in name only. If others can't see our faith in the way we treat them, we may not be God's people at all.
Many of John's hearers were shocked when he said that being Abraham's descendants was not enough for God. The religious leaders relied more on their family lines than on their faith for their standing with God. For them, religion was inherited. But a personal relationship with God is not handed down from parents to children. Everyone has to commit to it on his or her own.
John Announces Christ
Matthew 3:11,12
Mark 1:7,8
Luke 3:15-18
John the Baptizer
Preaches and Baptizes
Matthew 3:11–12; Mark 1:7–8; Luke 3:15–18
15Now the people were waiting expectantly, and all of them were debating
in their minds whether John might be the Messiah. 16John answered
them all, “I baptize you with water. But One is coming who is more powerful than I. I am not worthy
to untie the strap of His sandals†.
He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit
and fire. 17His winnowing shovel is in His hand to clear His
threshing floor and gather the wheat into His barn, but the chaff He will burn
up with a fire that never goes out.” 18Then, along with many other
exhortations, he announced good news to the people.
The Jordan
River
By Western standards, the Jordan is not
much of a river—only about one hundred feet wide and three to ten feet deep in
most places. But it has been memoralized for all time as the stream in which
Jesus was baptized by John the Baptizer. The Jordan cuts a circuitous path
through the entire length of modern Israel, falling more than sixteen hundred
feet along its seventy miles before emptying into the Dead Sea. This drastic
fall is reflected in its name, which means “the descender.”[1]
Research Questions
Matthew 3:13-17
Mark 1:9-11
Luke 3:21-23a
Jesus Baptized by
John
Matthew 3:13–17; Mark 1:9–11; Luke
3:21–23
Mk 1:9aIn those days, Lk 3:21awhen
all the people were baptized, Mk 1:9bJesus came from Nazareth in Galilee and was baptized in the Jordan
by John†. Mt 3:14But
John tried to stop Him, saying, “I
need to be baptized by You, and yet You come to me?”
15Jesus answered him, “Allow it for now, because this is the
way for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he allowed Him to be baptized.
16After Jesus was baptized, He went up immediately from the water. The
heavens suddenly opened for Him, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming down on Him. 17And
there came a voice from heaven:
“This is My beloved Son. I take delight in Him!”
Lk 3:23aAs He began His ministry, Jesus was about 30 years old.[1]
[1]
Knight, G. W. (2001). A simplified harmony of the Gospels (pp.
29–30). Holman Bible Publishers.
Then Jesus went from Galilee to the Jordan River to be baptized there by John. John didn't want to do it. "This isn't proper," he said. "I am the one who needs to be baptized by you."
But Jesus said, "Please do it, for I must do all that is right." So then John baptized him. After his baptism, as soon as Jesus came up out of the water, the heavens were opened to him and he saw the Spirit of God coming down in the form of a dove. And a voice from heaven said, "This is my beloved Son, and I am wonderfully pleased with him."
Research Questions
Let Go of Ego
Put yourself in John's situation. Your work is going well, people are taking notice, everything is growing. But you know that the purpose of your work is to prepare the people for Jesus (John 1:35-37). Then Jesus arrives, and his coming tests your integrity. Will you be able to turn your followers over to him? John passed the test by publicly baptizing Jesus. Soon he would say, "He must become greater and greater, and I must become less and less" (John 3:30). Can you, like John, put your ego and profitable work aside in order to point others to Jesus? Are you willing to lose some of your status so that everyone will benefit?
Why did Jesus ask to be baptized? It was not for repentance for sin because Jesus never sinned. He was baptized because (1) he was confessing sin on behalf of the nation, as Nehemiah, Ezra, Moses, and Daniel had done; (2) he was showing support for what John was doing; (3) he was inaugurating his public ministry; and (4) he was identifying with the penitent people of God, not with the critical Pharisees who were only watching.
Further Reading:
The Baptism of Jesus
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