John the Baptist Prepares the Way
3 In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar—when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, Herod tetrarch of Galilee, his brother Philip tetrarch of Iturea and Traconitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene— 2 during the high-priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John son of Zechariah in the wilderness. 3 He went into all the country around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. 4 As it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet:
“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 ]
7 John said to the crowds coming out to be baptized by him, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? 8 Produce fruit in keeping with repentance. And do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham. 9 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.”
10 “What should we do then?” the crowd asked.
11 John answered, “Anyone who has two shirts should share with the one who has none, and anyone who has food should do the same.”
12 Even tax collectors came to be baptized. “Teacher,” they asked, “what should we do?”
13 “Don’t collect any more than you are required to,” he told them.
14 Then some soldiers asked him, “And what should we do?”
He replied, “Don’t extort money and don’t accuse people falsely—be content with your pay.”
15 The people were waiting expectantly and were all wondering in their hearts if John might possibly be the Messiah. 16 John answered them all, “I baptize you with[Or in ] water. But one who is more powerful than I will come, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you with[Or in ] 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 he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.” 18 And with many other words John exhorted the people and proclaimed the good news to them.
19 But when John rebuked Herod the tetrarch because of his marriage to Herodias, his brother’s wife, and all the other evil things he had done, 20 Herod added this to them all: He locked John up in prison.
CROSS REFERENCES GOSPEL OF MARK 1
John the Baptist Prepares the Way
1 The beginning of the good news about Jesus the Messiah,[a] the Son of God,[b] 2 as it is written in Isaiah the prophet:
“I will send my messenger ahead of you,
who will prepare your way”[c]—
3 “a voice of one calling in the wilderness,
‘Prepare the way for the Lord,
make straight paths for him.’”[d]
4 And so John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. 5 The whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem went out to him. Confessing their sins, they were baptized by him in the Jordan River. 6 John wore clothing made of camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey. 7 And this was his message: “After me comes the one more powerful than I, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie. 8 I baptize you with[e] water, but he will baptize you with[f] the Holy Spirit.”
The Baptism and Genealogy of Jesus
21 When all the people were being baptized, Jesus was baptized too. And as he was praying, heaven was opened 22 and the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.”
CROSS REFERENCE MARK 1
The Baptism and Testing of Jesus
9 At that time Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. 10 Just as Jesus was coming up out of the water, he saw heaven being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove. 11 And a voice came from heaven: “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.”
23 Now Jesus himself was about thirty years old when he began his ministry. He was the son, so it was thought, of Joseph, the son of Heli, [Heli is Joachim the father of Mary. Joseph being the son-in-law is counted as the son of Heli. Luke used the bloodline of Mary which originated from Nathan the son of David not from Solomon from which the bloodline of Joseph came from. While Matthew used the bloodline of Joseph to prove the legal claim of Jesus to the Kingdom of David, Luke used the Mary to prove that Jesus really came from both the priestly and kingly bloodline of Jesus]
24 the son of Matthat, the son of Levi, the son of Melki, the son of Jannai, the son of Joseph,
25 the son of Mattathias, the son of Amos, the son of Nahum, the son of Esli, the son of Naggai,
26 the son of Maath, the son of Mattathias, the son of Semein, the son of Josek, the son of Joda,
27 the son of Joanan, the son of Rhesa, the son of Zerubbabel, the son of Shealtiel, the son of Neri, 28 the son of Melki, the son of Addi, the son of Cosam, the son of Elmadam, the son of Er,
29 the son of Joshua, the son of Eliezer, the son of Jorim, the son of Matthat, the son of Levi,
30 the son of Simeon, the son of Judah, the son of Joseph, the son of Jonam, the son of Eliakim,
31 the son of Melea, the son of Menna, the son of Mattatha, the son of Nathan, the son of David,
32 the son of Jesse, the son of Obed, the son of Boaz, the son of Salmon,[ Some early manuscripts Sala] the son of Nahshon,
33 the son of Amminadab, the son of Ram,[ Some manuscripts Amminadab, the son of Admin, the son of Arni; other manuscripts vary widely.]
the son of Hezron, the son of Perez, the son of Judah,
34 the son of Jacob, the son of Isaac, the son of Abraham, the son of Terah, the son of Nahor,
35 the son of Serug, the son of Reu, the son of Peleg, the son of Eber, the son of Shelah,
36 the son of Cainan, the son of Arphaxad, the son of Shem, the son of Noah, the son of Lamech,
37 the son of Methuselah, the son of Enoch, the son of Jared, the son of Mahalalel, the son of Kenan,
38 the son of Enosh, the son of Seth, the son of Adam, the son of God. [Luke identified Adam as the son of God, adopted son since he was the first man to be created]
NOTES:
3:1–20 Although Luke is indebted in this section to his
sources, the Gospel of Mark and a collection of sayings of John the Baptist, he
has clearly marked this introduction to the ministry of Jesus with his own
individual style. Just as the gospel began with a long periodic sentence (Lk
1:1–4), so too this section (Lk 3:1–2). He casts the call of John the Baptist
in the form of an Old Testament prophetic call (Lk 3:2) and extends the
quotation from Isaiah found in Mk 1:3 (Is 40:3) by the addition of Is 40:4–5 in
Lk 3:5–6. In doing so, he presents his theme of the universality of salvation,
which he has announced earlier in the words of Simeon (Lk 2:30–32). Moreover,
in describing the expectation of the people (Lk 3:15), Luke is characterizing
the time of John’s preaching in the same way as he had earlier described the
situation of other devout Israelites in the infancy narrative (Lk 2:25–26,
37–38). In Lk 3:7–18 Luke presents the preaching of John the Baptist who urges
the crowds to reform in view of the coming wrath (Lk 3:7, 9: eschatological
preaching), and who offers the crowds certain standards for reforming social
conduct (Lk 3:10–14: ethical preaching), and who announces to the crowds the
coming of one mightier than he (Lk 3:15–18: messianic preaching).
3:1 Tiberius Caesar: Tiberius succeeded Augustus as emperor
in A.D. 14 and reigned until A.D. 37. The fifteenth year of his reign,
depending on the method of calculating his first regnal year, would have fallen
between A.D. 27 and 29. Pontius Pilate: prefect of Judea from A.D. 26 to 36.
The Jewish historian Josephus describes him as a greedy and ruthless prefect
who had little regard for the local Jewish population and their religious
practices (see Lk 13:1). Herod: i.e., Herod Antipas, the son of Herod the
Great. He ruled over Galilee and Perea from 4 B.C. to A.D. 39. His official
title tetrarch means literally, “ruler of a quarter,” but came to designate any
subordinate prince. Philip: also a son of Herod the Great, tetrarch of the
territory to the north and east of the Sea of Galilee from 4 B.C. to A.D. 34.
Only two small areas of this territory are mentioned by Luke. Lysanias: nothing
is known about this Lysanias who is said here to have been tetrarch of Abilene,
a territory northwest of Damascus.
3:2 During the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas: after
situating the call of John the Baptist in terms of the civil rulers of the
period, Luke now mentions the religious leadership of Palestine (see note on Lk
1:5). Annas had been high priest A.D. 6–15. After being deposed by the Romans
in A.D. 15 he was succeeded by various members of his family and eventually by
his son-in-law, Caiaphas, who was high priest A.D. 18–36. Luke refers to Annas
as high priest at this time (but see Jn 18:13, 19), possibly because of the
continuing influence of Annas or because the title continued to be used for the
ex-high priest. The word of God came to John: Luke is alone among the New
Testament writers in associating the preaching of John with a call from God.
Luke is thereby identifying John with the prophets whose ministries began with
similar calls. In Lk 7:26 John will be described as “more than a prophet”; he
is also the precursor of Jesus (Lk 7:27), a transitional figure inaugurating
the period of the fulfillment of prophecy and promise.
3:3 See note on Mt 3:2.
3:4 The Essenes from Qumran used the same passage to explain
why their community was in the desert studying and observing the law and the
prophets (1QS 8:12–15).
3:16 He will baptize you with the holy Spirit and fire: in
contrast to John’s baptism with water, Jesus is said to baptize with the holy
Spirit and with fire. From the point of view of the early Christian community,
the Spirit and fire must have been understood in the light of the fire the symbolism of the pouring out of the Spirit at Pentecost (Acts 2:1–4); but as
part of John’s preaching, the Spirit and fire should be related to their
purifying and refining characteristics (Ez 36:25–27; Mal 3:2–3). See note on Mt
3:11.
3:17 Winnowing fan: see note on Mt 3:12.
3:19–20 Luke separates the ministry of John the Baptist from
that of Jesus by reporting the imprisonment of John before the baptism of Jesus
(Lk 3:21–22). Luke uses this literary device to serve his understanding of the
periods of salvation history. With John the Baptist, the time of promise, the
period of Israel, comes to an end; with the baptism of Jesus and the descent of
the Spirit upon him, the time of fulfillment, the period of Jesus, begins. In
his second volume, the Acts of the Apostles, Luke will introduce the third
epoch in salvation history, the period of the church.
3:21–22 This episode in Luke focuses on the heavenly message
identifying Jesus as Son and, through the allusion to Is 42:1, as Servant of
Yahweh. The relationship of Jesus to the Father has already been announced in
the infancy narrative (Lk 1:32, 35; 2:49); it occurs here at the beginning of
Jesus’ Galilean ministry and will reappear in Lk 9:35 before another major
section of Luke’s gospel, the travel narrative (Lk 9:51–19:27). Elsewhere in
Luke’s writings (Lk 4:18; Acts 10:38), this incident will be interpreted as a
type of anointing of Jesus.
3:21 Was praying: Luke regularly presents Jesus at prayer at
important points in his ministry: here at his baptism; at the choice of the
Twelve (Lk 6:12); before Peter’s confession (Lk 9:18); at the transfiguration
(Lk 9:28); when he teaches his disciples to pray (Lk 11:1); at the Last Supper
(Lk 22:32); on the Mount of Olives (Lk 22:41); on the cross (Lk 23:46).
3:22 You are my beloved Son; with you, I am well pleased:
this is the best-attested reading in the Greek manuscripts. The Western
reading, “You are my Son, this day I have begotten you,” is derived from Ps
2:7.
3:23–38 Whereas Mt 1:2 begins the genealogy of Jesus with
Abraham to emphasize Jesus’ bonds with the people of Israel, Luke’s
universalism leads him to trace the descent of Jesus beyond Israel to Adam and
beyond that to God (Lk 3:38) to stress again Jesus’ divine sonship.
3:31 The son of Nathan, the son of David: in keeping with
Jesus’ prophetic role in Luke and Acts (e.g., Lk 7:16, 39; 9:8; 13:33; 24:19;
Acts 3:22–23; 7:37) Luke traces Jesus’ Davidic ancestry through the prophet
Nathan (see 2 Sm 7:2) rather than through King Solomon, as Mt 1:6–7.
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