Luke 3:1 - Meaning and Application

Because John’s baptism introduced a new way of God dealing with people, it is right that Scripture gives a clear account of it. Great things had already been said about John, how honored he would be in God’s sight and how much good he would do on earth (Luke 1:15, Luke 1:17). Yet we lose sight of him in the wilderness, where he stayed until the day he was shown to Israel (Luke 1:80). Now that day has finally come, and it was a joyful day for those who had been waiting for it.

Notice first the time when John began his work. The other evangelists do not give this same exact date, but Luke does, to confirm the truth of the event. He marks it by the rule of the Gentiles, that is, the nations outside Israel, because the Jews were now under foreign power. This showed they were a conquered people, and that it was time for the Messiah to come and establish a spiritual and eternal kingdom in place of all earthly greatness.

Luke dates it by the reign of the Roman emperor. It was in the fifteenth year of Tiberius Caesar, the third of the twelve Caesars, a very wicked man known for greed, drunkenness, and cruelty. Dr. Lightfoot notes that such a ruler is mentioned first, as if to remind us what to expect from that cruel city where Satan had long ruled. The Jews had recently become a province of the Roman Empire and were under Tiberius’s control. A nation that once stood so high under David and Solomon was now just a small and despised part of Rome, pressed down rather than honored. Their lawgiver had departed from among Judah, and as a sign of that, public events were now dated by a Roman emperor. So Shiloh, the promised ruler, must come.

Luke also dates this by the rulers over the Jewish regions under Rome, which showed even more clearly that the Jews were under servitude. These rulers were all foreigners, a sad change for a people whose leaders had once come from among themselves (Jeremiah 30:21). How the gold had grown dim. Pontius Pilate is called governor, president, or procurator of Judea. Other writers describe him as a wicked man who did not care about lying. He ruled badly and was later removed by Vitellius, the governor of Syria, and sent to Rome to answer for his conduct. The other three are called tetrarchs, meaning rulers over a fourth part, or possibly officials of fourth rank. In either case, their titles showed the low place now held by the Jewish people.

Luke then marks the condition of the Jews under their own religious leaders, to show that they were also corrupt and needed reform. Annas and Caiaphas were the high priests. God had appointed only one high priest at a time, but here there were two. Some say they served in alternating years. Others say one was the acting high priest and the other his deputy, or that one represented Aaron and the other Moses. But for us there is only one high priest, one Lord over all, to whom all judgment has been given.

Second, Luke shows where John’s baptism came from and what it was meant to do. Its origin was from heaven. The word of God came to John (Luke 3:2), giving him full authority and full instructions for his work. This is the same kind of wording used for the Old Testament prophets (Jeremiah 1:2), and John was a prophet, more than a prophet, in whom prophecy began again after a long pause. We are not told exactly how God’s word came to him, whether by angel, dream, vision, or voice, but it came clearly enough to satisfy him, and that should satisfy us too.

John is called the son of Zacharias, which points us back to what the angel had told his father, promising that he would have this son. The word of the Lord came to him in the wilderness, which shows that God can find and fit his servants wherever they are. God’s word is not shut up by prison walls, and it is not lost in a wilderness. It came to Ezekiel among the captives by the river Chebar, and to John on the island of Patmos.

John was the son of a priest and was now entering his thirtieth year. By temple custom, he would have been ready to begin temple service five years earlier. But God had called him to a higher ministry, and so the Holy Spirit records his beginning here, even though the temple records did not. John the son of Zacharias began his ministry at this time.

Third, Luke shows the purpose of John’s baptism. John came into all the country around the Jordan, the region where he lived. This was the same area where Israel first took possession of the promised land under Joshua, and there the banner of the gospel was first lifted up. John had lived in the most lonely part of the land, but when God’s word came to him, he left the wilderness and went into the inhabited country. Those who enjoy quiet places must still gladly leave them when God calls them to public work.

He came out of the wilderness into the whole region with a distinctive message, preaching a new baptism. This was not the beginning of a new sect or party, but a public sign or profession. The outward ceremony was something the Jews already knew, washing with water, which was sometimes used when proselytes, that is, Gentile converts, were received, or when disciples were attached to a teacher. But the meaning of John’s baptism was repentance for the forgiveness of sins. Everyone who submitted to it was, first, to confess that they needed to turn from sin, be sorry for what they had done wrong, and do so no more. They were to mean what they said, and they were to keep the promise they made.

He tied people to repentance, not to the ceremonial rules imposed by the elders. He called them to change their minds and their whole way of life, to turn from every sin, and to receive new hearts and live new lives. The gospel, which was now beginning, aimed to make people devoted and godly, holy and heavenly, humble and gentle, sober and pure, honest and fair, generous and kind, and good in every part of life, even if they had been very different before. That is what it means to repent.

He also assured them that, if they repented, their sins would be forgiven. His baptism did not only call them to stop serving sin’s power, it also sealed to them a gracious and defendable release from sin’s guilt. “Turn away from all your sins, so that iniquity will not ruin you” agrees with the Lord’s word through the Old Testament prophet Ezekiel (Ezekiel 18:30).

The fulfillment of Scripture in John’s ministry is also shown here. The other Gospel writers had already pointed us to the same text from Isaiah (Isaiah 40:3). It is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet, words he received from God and spoke for God, words preserved for later generations. There we find the voice of one crying in the wilderness, and John is that voice, clear, distinct, loud, and plain. He cries, “Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.”

John’s work was to make room for the gospel in people’s hearts, to bring them into a frame of mind where Christ would be welcome to them, and they would be welcome to Christ. Luke carries the quotation further than Matthew and Mark, and also applies the next words to John’s ministry (Luke 3:5, Luke 3:6), “Every valley shall be filled.” Dr. Hammond takes this as a prediction of the destruction coming on the Jews because of their unbelief: the land would be made level for the Roman army and laid waste, and there would then be a clear division between the unrepentant and those who received the gospel. But it seems better to understand it as speaking of Christ’s gospel, of which John’s work was the beginning.

The humble would be enriched with grace and lifted up. Every low, moist valley would be filled. The proud would be brought down, both the self-reliant and the self-important. Every mountain and hill would be brought low. If they repented, they would be humbled to the dust. If they did not, they would be brought to the lowest hell.

Sinners would be turned back to God. Crooked ways and crooked hearts would be made straight, for though no one can make straight what God has made crooked (Ecclesiastes 7:13), God’s grace can make straight what sin has twisted. Hard places that discouraged people on the way to heaven would be removed. The rough paths would be made smooth, and those who love God’s law would have great peace, with nothing to make them stumble. The gospel has made the way to heaven clear, easy to find, and smooth to walk.

The great salvation would also be shown more fully than ever before, and its message would spread wider (Luke 3:6). “All flesh shall see the salvation of God” means not only the Jews, but the Gentiles as well. All would see it, in the sense that it would be set before them and offered to them, and people from every kind of background would see it, enjoy it, and benefit from it. When the gospel is made ready in the heart, when proud thoughts are brought under Christ’s rule and the soul is leveled and cleared of whatever blocks Christ and his grace, then the salvation of God is ready to be welcomed.

John also gave general warnings and calls to repentance to those who came for baptism (Luke 3:7-9). Matthew says he spoke these same words to many Pharisees and Sadducees, the religious leaders who came to his baptism (Matthew 3:7-10). Here, though, he is said to have spoken them to the crowd that came to be baptized by him (Luke 3:7). This was the substance of his preaching to everyone who came, and he did not soften it for the Pharisees and Sadducees when they arrived. He spoke just as plainly to them as to anyone else. He also did not flatter the crowd or seek their favor, but gave the same warnings about sin and judgment to the multitude that he gave to the Pharisees and Sadducees. If they did not have the same sins, they had others just as serious.

The whole guilty and corrupted human race has become a brood of vipers, poisonous as well as poisoned, hateful to God and hating one another. This shows God’s patience in keeping the human race alive on the earth and not destroying that nest of vipers. He once did that by water, and he will again do it by fire. This brood of vipers is warned to flee from the wrath to come, which is certainly ahead if they remain as they are. Their being many will not protect them at all, for it will cost God nothing to cut them off.

We are not only warned about this wrath, but also shown the way to escape it, if we pay attention in time. There is no way to flee from the wrath to come except by repentance. Those who submitted to the baptism of repentance showed that they had heard the warning and taken it seriously. By our baptism, we also profess that we have fled from Sodom because we fear what is coming on it. Those who claim repentance must also live like repentant people (Luke 3:8): “Bring forth therefore fruits meet for repentance,” or else, even with all your talk of repentance, you cannot escape the coming wrath. The fruit will show whether repentance is real. A changed life must prove a changed heart.

If we are not truly holy, in heart and in life, then our profession of religion and our connection to God and his church will help us nothing. So do not begin to excuse yourself from this great duty of repentance by saying, “We have Abraham as our father.” What good will it do us to be the children of godly parents if we are not godly ourselves, or to be inside the church if we are not brought into the bond of the covenant? We should not depend on outward privileges and religious claims, because God does not need us or our service. He can secure his own honor and purpose without us. If we were cut off and ruined, he could raise up children for Abraham even from stones.

The more we profess repentance, and the more help and encouragement we receive to repent, the nearer and more severe our destruction will be if we do not bear fruits that fit repentance.

Now that the gospel is being preached, now that the kingdom of heaven is near, and now that the axe is laid to the root of the tree, warnings to the wicked and stubborn are more serious than before. At the same time, comfort for the repentant is now more full and sweet. When judgment is so close, people should watch themselves carefully.

Barren trees will at last be thrown into the fire, and that is where they belong. "Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire." If a person serves no use for fruit, to honor God's grace, then let that person serve as fuel, to honor his justice.

John also gave practical instructions to different kinds of people who asked what they should do, including the people, the tax collectors, and the soldiers. Some of the Pharisees and Sadducees came to his baptism, but we do not read that they asked, "What should we do?" They thought they already knew enough, or they were set on doing as they pleased no matter what he said. But the people, the tax collectors, and the soldiers knew they had done wrong. They also knew they needed to do better and that they were ignorant of God's law, so they asked with real concern, "What should we do?"

Those who are baptized must be taught, and those who baptize them should be ready to teach them whenever they have the chance (Matthew 28:19-20). Those who confess repentance in general must show it in specific changes that fit their calling and station in life. And anyone who wants to do duty well must want to know what that duty is. The first good words Paul spoke after his conversion were, "Lord, what do you want me to do?" These people did not ask, "What should this man do?" They asked, "What should we do?" They wanted to know what fruits worthy of repentance they should produce.

John answered each group according to their place in life. To the people, he said to be generous (Luke 3:11). If someone has two coats, and therefore one to spare, let him give, or at least lend, to the person who has none and needs warmth. John may have seen some who had more clothes than they needed while others were close to freezing in rags. He told those with extra to help those without enough. The gospel calls for mercy, not sacrifice, and its aim is to stir us to do all the good we can.

Food and clothing are the two main supports of life. So if someone has food to spare, let him give to the person who lacks daily bread, just as he would if he had extra clothes. What we have is not really ours to keep for ourselves. We are stewards, managers of God’s gifts, and we must use them as our Master directs.

To the tax collectors, the men who gathered the emperor's taxes, John said, "Collect no more than what is appointed for you" (Luke 3:13). They were to be fair between the government and the people, and not burden the public with heavier taxes than the law allowed. They must not think that, because they had power to protect the government from fraud, they could use that power to press down the people. People with even a little power are often tempted to abuse it. Instead, they were to stay within their tax lists and be satisfied with collecting what was due to Caesar, without enriching themselves by taking more.

Public money must be used for public service, not to feed private greed. John did not tell the tax collectors to leave their jobs. The work itself was lawful and necessary. He simply told them to be honest and fair in it.

To the soldiers, John said, "Do not do violence to anyone. Do not accuse anyone falsely, and be content with your wages" (Luke 3:14). Some think these soldiers were Jews, while others think they were Romans. Either way, it would be an early case of Gentiles accepting the gospel and submitting to it. Soldiers are not often eager for religion, yet these men accepted the Baptist's strict teaching and wanted to know what they should do.

Those who keep their lives in their hands and face death often need to think about how they can live in peace with God. John did not tell them to leave the army. Instead, he warned them against the sins soldiers were commonly guilty of, since repentance should show itself in turning away from sin. They were not to hurt the people among whom they were stationed. Their duty was to keep peace and stop violence, not to spread fear themselves. The sword, whether of war or justice, should terrorize only evildoers and protect those who do right. They were not to act rudely in their quarters, force money from people by threats, or take part in the cruel destruction armies sometimes cause.

They also must not make false accusations against anyone in order to seem dangerous or to win bribes. Some think this warning especially referred to complaints against fellow soldiers. They were not to use false reports to get revenge, weaken those above them, or push others out of their places. They must not oppress anyone. And they were to be content with their wages. If they had what they agreed to receive, they were not to grumble that it was not more. Discontent often leads people into unfair and harmful behavior. Those who never think they have enough for themselves are quick to use dishonest means to get more by wronging others. This is a rule for all servants: be content with your wages. People who give themselves over to discontent open the door to many temptations, and wisdom is to make the best of what one has.