Prepare the Way of the Lord | Luke 3:1-22
Luke 3:1-22
3 In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate being governor of Judea, and Herod being tetrarch of Galilee, and his brother Philip tetrarch of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene, 2 during the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John the son of Zechariah in the wilderness. 3 And he went into all the region around the Jordan, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. 4 As it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet,
“The voice of one crying in the wilderness:
‘Prepare the way of the Lord,
make his paths straight.
5 Every valley shall be filled,
and every mountain and hill shall be made low,
and the crooked shall become straight,
and the rough places shall become level ways,
6 and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.’ ”
7 He said therefore to the crowds that came out to be baptized by him, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? 8 Bear fruits in keeping with repentance. And do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children for Abraham. 9 Even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees. Every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.”
10 And the crowds asked him, “What then shall we do?” 11 And he answered them, “Whoever has two tunics is to share with him who has none, and whoever has food is to do likewise.” 12 Tax collectors also came to be baptized and said to him, “Teacher, what shall we do?” 13 And he said to them, “Collect no more than you are authorized to do.” 14 Soldiers also asked him, “And we, what shall we do?” And he said to them, “Do not extort money from anyone by threats or by false accusation, and be content with your wages.”
15 As the people were in expectation, and all were questioning in their hearts concerning John, whether he might be the Christ, 16 John answered them all, saying, “I baptize you with water, but he who is mightier than I is coming, the strap of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. 17 His winnowing fork is in his hand, to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.”
18 So with many other exhortations he preached good news to the people. 19 But Herod the tetrarch, who had been reproved by him for Herodias, his brother’s wife, and for all the evil things that Herod had done, 20 added this to them all, that he locked up John in prison.
21 Now when all the people were baptized, and when Jesus also had been baptized and was praying, the heavens were opened, 22 and the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form, like a dove; and a voice came from heaven, “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.”
Luke’s Reasons for Introducing John Through Others
1. This isn’t just biblical folklore; this is world history.
2. God works through the least and lowly, not the high and lofty.
Luke 3:4b-6 (MSG)
Thunder in the desert!
“Prepare God’s arrival!
Make the road smooth and straight!
Every ditch will be filled in,
Every bump smoothed out,
The detours straightened out,
All the ruts paved over.
Everyone will be there to see
The parade of God’s salvation.”
“…a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.”
βαπτίζω (baptizō) — to baptize, dip, immerse
μετάνοια (metanoia) — repentance
Repentance in OT
Jonah 3:8b-9 (ESV)
“Let everyone turn from his evil way and from the violence that is in his hands. Who knows? God may turn and relent and turn from his fierce anger, so that we may not perish.”
John the Baptist Renegade
1. He dressed inappropriately.
2. He came from the wrong side of town (country).
3. His message was anti-establishment.
Bearing Fruit in Keeping with Repentance
John 15:4-5 (ESV)
Abide (remain, keep) in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.
Matthew 28:18-20 (ESV)
Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
What Does Baptism Mean Today?
“Baptism is the enactment of Jesus’ death and resurrection for every Christian. The limits of time and geography are ereased and each of the baptized by this sacrament is linked to Good Friday and Easter. By this sacred washing of water and the word every child of God is taken with Jesus down into his grave to die his death and then raised up with Jesus to live his own risen life from then on.”
~ Harold Senkbeil, The Care of Souls
Romans 6:3-4 (ESV)
Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.
“Baptism happens only once. But its significance goes on and on. For the rest of their life, every baptised child of God goes on dying and rising every day. Dying to sin but rising to righteousness, the sin addict dies and rises again and again to live no longer as a slave but as a son within the Father’s house.”
~ Harold Senkbeil, The Care of Souls
“All that is left to do—if we can call it “doing”—is to turn from our sin and turn to our Savior. Trust and follow him in order to receive the salvation of God. Do not get offended when God tells you he loves you and when he loves you enough to point out your sin then loves you enough to point you to his salvation. Do not be offended. Receive it—all of it.”
~ Thabiti Anyabwile, Christ-Centered Exposition: Exalting Jesus in Luke (63-64)
Galatians 2:20 (ESV)
I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
COMMUNITY GROUP QUESTIONS
- Read Luke 3:1-22 together. Any questions? Confusion? Discuss.
- John’s mission was “a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.” Jesus came along and was baptized under that mantle, and then he picked up John’s mission and ran with it. But years later Jesus was crucified, buried, and resurrected to new life. If that changed everything, how did it change baptism?
- Think back on your baptism (if you can remember). What did it signify for you (or maybe your parents)? Have you thought about it much since then? How did this passage and message stretch your understanding of what happened when you “went into the water?”
- What can you do tomorrow to embrace “Baptismal Therapy,” or what Harold Senkbeil refers to as “the ongoing application of the power of baptism by which the sinner is given a new life to live–no longer fueled by his own measly and inept will power, but by the crucified and risen Savior who lives within him by faith?”
- Pray together for one another.