Pastors Jim and Marie Watt
(From: LUKE #6 - 3:1-20)
IV. 3:1-4:44 BEGINNING AND NATURE OF JESUS' MINISTRY
A. 3:1-20 JOHN'S MESSAGE: PREPARATION FOR JESUS
1. 3:1-14 JOHN THE BAPTIST'S MESSAGE OF REPENTANCE
a. 3:1-2 TIME OF GOD'S WORD TO JOHN PINPOINTED
En Etei de pen-te-kai-deKAtotes he-ge-moNIas [2231]Ti-beRIou KAIsa-ros,
Now in the fifteenth year of the government of Tiberius Caesar,
he-ge-moNEUon-tos PonTIou PeiLAtou tes IouDAIas, kai te-tra-arCHOUNtos tes Ga-liLAIas HeROdou,
Pontius Pilate being governor of :Judea, and Herod being tetrarch of :Galilee,
PhiLIPpou de tou a-delPHOU auTOU te-tra-arCHOUNtos tes I-touRAIas
and his :brother Philip tetrarch of the region of :Ituraea
kai Tra-choNIti-dos CHOras [5561], kai Lu-saNIou tes A-bei-leNES te-tra-arCHOUNtos,
and Trachonitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of :Abeilene,
ePI ar-chi-eREos [749]HANna kai KaiApha,
2in the time of high priest Annas and Caiaphas,
eGEne-to 'REma TheOU ePI IoAnen ton Za-chaRIou huiON en teeREmo.
theword of God came unto John the son of Zacharias in the wilderness.
b. 3:3-4 REPENTANCE UNTO REMISSION OF SINS: JOHN'S MESSAGE
kai ELthen eis PAsan peRIcho-ron [4066]tou IorDAnou,
And he came into all theregion round about the Jordan,
keRUSson [2784]BAPtis-ma [908]me-taNOIas [3341]eis Aphe-sin [859]ha-mar-tiON;
preaching a baptism of repentance unto remission of sins;
hos GEgrap-tai en BIBloLOgon E-SAIou tou proPHEtou, PhoNEboONtos [994]en te eREmo,
4 as it is written in the book of Isaiah the prophet's words, A voice of one crying in the wilderness,
He-toiMAsa-te [2090] ten hoDON KuRIou, euTHEIas [2117]poiEIte tas TRIbous [5747]auTOU.
Prepare the way of the Lord, Make his :paths straight.
c. 3:5-6 DEFINITION OF REPENTANCE
PAsa PHAragx [5327] ple-roTHEse-tai [4137], kai pan Oros [3735]kai bouNOS [1015]ta-pei-noTHEse-tai [2048];
Every valley shall be filled, And every mountain and hill shall be brought low;
kai EStai ta sko-liA [4646] eis euTHEIas [2117],
And the crooked shall become straight,
kai hai traCHEIai [5138] eis hoDOUS LEIas [3006]; kai Opse-tai PAsa sarx to soTEri-on tou TheOU.
And the rough ways smooth; 6And all flesh shall see the salvation of :God.
d. 3:7 JOHN BAPTIST: WITHOUT FEAR OF MAN
Ele-gen oun tois ek-por-reu-oMEnois OCHlois bap-tisTHEnai hup' auTOU, GenNEma-ta [1081]e-chidNON,
He said therefore to the crowds that went out to be baptized of him, Offspring of vipers,
tis huPEdei-xen [5263] huMIN phuGEIN [5343] aPO te melLOUses orGES [3709]?
who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?
c. 3:8 EITHER FRUIT OF REPENTANCE - OR A NEW GENERATION
poiEsa-te oun karPOUS aXIous [514]tes me-taNOIas, kai me ARxes-the [756]LEgein en he-auTOIS,
Bring forth therefore fruits worthy of :repentance, and begin not to say within yourselves,
PaTEra Echo-men ton A-braAM: LEgo gar huMIN,
We have :Abraham for ourfather: for I say unto you,
HOti DUna-tai ho TheOS ek ton LIthon [3037]TOUton eGEIrai TEKna to A-braAM.
that :God can of these :stones raise up children to :Abraham.
f. 3:9 ALTERNATIVE: FRUIT OF REPENTANCE - OR BE CUT OFF!
Edede kai he aXIne[513]pros ten 'RIzan [4491]ton DENdron KEItai [2749]:
And even now the axe lies at the root of the trees:
pan oun DENdron mepoiOUN karPON kaLON ekKOPte-tai [1581], kai eis pur BALle-tai.
every tree therefore that brings not forth good fruit is cut down, and cast into the fire.
g. 7:10 And the crowds asked him, saying, What shall we do?
kai e-peROton auTON hoi OCHloi, LEgon-tes, Ti oun poiEsa-men?
h. 3:11 PEOPLE MUST SHARE WITH THE NEEDY
a-po-kriTHEIS de Ele-gen auTOIS, Ho Echon DUo chiTOnos [5509], me-taDOto [3330] to me Echon-ti;
And he answered andsaid to them, Who has two coats, let him impart to him that has none;
kai ho Echon BROma-ta [1033], hoMOIos poiEIto.
and who has food, let him do likewise.
i. 3:12 And publicans also came to be baptized, and said unto him, Teacher, what shall we do?
ELthon de kai teLOnai [5057]bap-tisTHEnai, kai EIpan pros auTON, DiDAska-le, ti poiEso-men?
j. 3:13 And he said unto them, Exact no more than what is appointed you.
ho de EIpen pros auTOUS, MeDEN PLEon paRA to di-a-te-tagMEnon [1299]huMIN PRASse-te [4238].
k. 3:14a And soldiers also asked him, saying, And what are WE to do?
e-peROton de auTON kai stra-teuOme-noi [4754], LEgon-tes, Ti poiEso-men kai heMEIS?
l. 3:14b NO MISUSE OF AUTHORITY - AND - CONTENT WITH WAGES
kai EIpen auTOIS, MeDEna di-aSEIse-te [1286],
And he said to them, Extort from none,
meDE su-ko-phanTEse-te [4811]; kai arKEISthe [714] tois o-psoNIois [3800] huMON.
neither accuse wrongfully; and be content with your :wages.
2. 3:15-17 JOHN'S WITNESS: JESUS THE BAPTIZER AND JUDGE
Pros-doKONtos [4328] de tou laOU,
And as the people werein expectation,
kai di-a-lo-gi-zoMEnon [1260] PANton en tais karDIais auTON peRI tou IoAnou,
and all were reasoning in their :hearts about :John,
ME po-te AUtos EIe ho ChrisTOS;
whether perhaps HE were the Christ;
a-peKRIna-to, LEgon PAsin, ho IoAnes, E-GO men HUda-ti bapTIzo huMAS;
16:John answered, saying to all, I indeed baptize you with water;
ERche-tai de ho is-chuROteROS [2478] mou
but the onemightier than I comes
hou ouk eiMI hi-kaNOS [2425] LUsai [3089] ton hiMANta [2438] ton hu-po-deMAton [5256] auTOU:
the latchet of whose :shoes I am not fit to unloose:
auTOS huMAS bapTIsei en PNEUma-ti HaGIo kai puRI [4442]:
HE shall baptize you in theHoly Spirit and fire:
hou to PTUon [4425] en te cheiRI auTOU, di-a-kaTHArai ten HAlo-na [257] auTOU,
17whose :fan is in his :hand, thoroughly to cleanse his :threshing-floor,
kai su-na-gaGEIN [4863] ton SIton [4621] eis ten a-poTHEken [596] auTOU;
and to gather the grain into his :barn;
to de Achu-ron [892] ka-taKAUsei [2618] puRI asBEsto [762].
but the chaff he will burn up with unquenchable fire.
3. 3:18-20 HEROD IMPRISONS JOHN
PolLA men oun kai HEte-ra pa-ra-kaLON [3870] eu-eg-geLIze-to ton laON;
With many other exhortations therefore he preached good tidings to the people;
ho de HeROdes ho te-traARches, e-legCHOme-nos [1651] hup' auTOU
19but :Herod the tetrarch, being reproved by him
peRI He-ro-diAdos tes gu-naiKOS tou a-delPHOU auTOU,
for Herodias the wife of his :brother,
kai peRI PANton hon ePOIe-sen po-neRON ho HeROdes,
and for all the evils which :Herod had done,
proSEthe-ken [4369] kai TOUto ePI PAsin: kaTEklei-sen [2623] ton IoAnen en phu-laKE [5432].
20added this also to them all: he shut up :John in prison.
NOTE: 3:1-14 - John's Message of Repentance - Luke pinpoints the exacttime of the beginning of John the Baptist's ministry - by pointing out the various secular events that coincided with this time. What a blessing to Theophilus to receive a treatise from such a carefulhistorian. Not all historical writers are as carefulas Luke!
Isaiah prophesies centuries earlier of the extraordinary ministry of preparation for Jesus the Messiah, that John the Baptist performed. John's ministry was so spectacular and accompanied with such authority, that one can understand that the crowds could wonder - “Is thisthe Messiah?” John quickly freed himself from such a false expectation.
Then for three types of hearers John give wise counsel in the light of true fruit of repentance. For the general crowds he encourages a sharing of clothing and food for those without. This out-communizes Communism, and has no corruption of the former. Marxism is bankrupt. For the publicans: - No cheating in collecting taxes for the authorities. See Zachaeus for making this sin right. For soldiers: No extortionary acts; no false accusations; andcontentment with wages. This latter word needs to be heard by union leaders and workers. In times of economic stress when there isn'tthe money being demanded - this wordwould go a long way in helping a land to pull through rough times! At one time in our land - capitalists defrauded the worker. One man had strikes for this cause - even his family members said it was wrong as a philanthropist to build libraries etc. - when laborers were being cheated from rightful wages and safety conditions at work. Thatis one ditch; the other is where labor unions demand from companies what they just don't have! - the otherditch! We need to get on the balance of the broad highway - a difficult - but most important balance.
3:15-17 - All of us need to evaluate our ministries in the light of what Jesus has done for us. No comparison! He outshines us as the sun outshines the mere reflective light of the moon! No wonder Jesus said of John - Among those born of women - none is greater than John. Yet - the least in the Kingdom of God is greater than John. John lived in the transition time between OT and NT times, and did not have the privilege of living out his life through the Passover of Jesus and the Pentecost of the Holy Spirit.
Then John describes the baptism of the Holy Spirit by Jesus in a two-fold manner: Empowerment by the Holy Spirit filling and immersing us; but also the fireof the Spirit to cleanse and refine us. We need it all!
3:18-20 - But John was correct - “I must decrease- but Hemust increase!” The removal of John by God so that Jesus could shine out pre-eminent - was important and necessary. This- John fully understood and bowed to. May we like John say - When we have done our best for Jesus - We've only donewhat is our dutyto do - according to the gifting by gracewhich we each have received. All glory belongs to Jesus alone! J.A.W.