Luke 03.15-22
What we will study today is The Forerunner and the Messiah…01. John’s Testimony About the Christ (Luke 03.15-18);
02. John Rebukes Herod (Luke 03.19-20);
and 03. The Baptism of Jesus (Luke 03.21-22).
01. John’s Testimony About the Christ (Luke
03.15-18)
Dr. Luke tells us that “…the people were in a state of expectation and
all were wondering in their hearts about John, as to whether he was the Christ”
(Luke 03.15).
The phrase “state of expectation” in Greek is one Greek word (G4328. prosdokaw prosdokao pros-dok-ah’-o) that means to anticipate, to expect, to look for. The
word for “wondering”
in Greek (G1260. dialogizomai dialogizomai dee-al-og-id’-zom-ahee)
means to bring together different reasons,
to reckon up the reasons, to reason, revolve in one’s mind, deliberate.
It was only natural that the people were wondering if John
was the Messiah (HaMashiach), the Christ, because he urged the people to repent
of their sins (Luke
03.03; Luke 03.08-14). The Jerusalem Talmud also
said, “If Israel repented but one day,
the Son of David would immediately come.” (Jerusalem Talmud Taanith 64a) It
is interesting that the people would think that there is a chance that John was
the Messiah (HaMashiach), since John was from the tribe of Levi (Luke 01.05),
while the Messiah (HaMashiach) was known to be from the tribe of Judah (Genesis 49.09-10;
Hebrews
07.14; Revelation 05.05). When this was made known to John,
he did all that he could to straighten out their error. “As for me, I
baptize you with water; but One is coming who is mightier than I, and I am not
fit to untie the thong of His sandals…” (Luke 03.16, see also John 01.19-28;
John
03.28-29).
John was mighty, coming in the power of Elijah (Luke 01.17),
but John tells the people that the Messiah (HaMashiach) “is mightier than I” (Luke 03.16).
John modestly refuted the thought that he was the Messiah (HaMashiach) by
saying that he was “not fit to untie the thong of His sandals” (Luke 03.16).
The untying of the sandals, possibly to get the feet ready to be washed (Luke 07.44),
was the role or duty of the slaves, as well as the duty of a disciple towards
his teacher. John was stating here in Luke 03.16 that he was not worthy to do the
service of a slave or of a disciple to Jesus.
John’s baptism (G907. baptizw baptizo to be
completely immersed) was a physical baptism of repentance in water in
preparation for the coming Messiah (HaMashiach) (Luke 03.16). The baptism of Jesus
was a spiritual baptism of “the Holy Spirit” that purifies (“fire”)
the soul (Luke
03.16; Acts 02.01-04).
The baptism by “fire” (Luke 03.16) seems to be a reference to the
purifying work of judgment that the Messiah (HaMashiach) will accomplish (Malachi
03.02-03).
Luke 03.17 A
farmer separates the chaff from the wheat by using the winnowing fork, throwing
it into the air to allow the chaff, the inedible part of the wheat, to blow
away in the afternoon breeze. He then gathers the wheat in his granary and
burns the useless chaff. In the same way the Messiah (HaMashiach) as the Judge
of the world, will deal with those who are unbelievers, casting them into the
eternal lake of fire (Revelation 20.15).
Here in Luke 03.17 the word “unquenchable” is the Greek word (G762. asbestov asbestos) which
means not
extinguished, perpetual, not to be quenched.
Fire
is a frequently recurrent emblem of the Holy Spirit, both in the Old and New
Testament and it is not always destructive. The refiner’s fire melts metal, and
the impurities are scraped away. Water washes the surface, fire pierces to the heart.
The Messiah (HaMashiach) will also be the One to divide the true
from the false, to separate the wheat from the chaff; the winnowing fan is in
His hand. Just as one thief blasphemed Jesus on the cross, the other believed (Luke 23.39-43).
John was like the best man at a wedding. He knew his calling
and purpose, and that was to introduce the Messiah (HaMashiach) to the people
and then get out of the way, no longer attracting attention to himself.
Luke 03.18 The
phrase “preached
the gospel” in the Greek (G2097. euaggelizw euaggelizo) is where we get the English word evangelize and means to announce good news.
02. John Rebukes Herod (Luke 03.19-20)
The word “tetrarch”
(Luke 03.19)
just means a person who rules over a fourth of the country. When Herod the
Great died in 4bc,
his estate was divided among three of his sons, Archelaus, Herod Antipas, and Philip,
who married Salome (sal-o-may).
John “reprimanded” Herod Antipas, “reprimanded” in the Greek means (G1651. elegcw elegcho) to tell a fault, to rebuke,
to reprove.
Solomon said, “A scoffer does not love one who reproves him, He will
not go to the wise.” (Proverbs 15.12)
The Gospel of Matthew and the Gospel of Mark also tells us
that the reason why John was imprisoned because “John had been saying to Herod, “It is not
lawful for you to have your brother’s wife.” (Matthew 14.03-04; Mark 06.17-18) This
was Herod Antipas, the son of Herod the Great. Herod
the Great was the Herod who ordered the death of all male babies two
years old and younger when he realized that the Magi tricked him (Matthew 02.16-18).
After the death of Herod the Great, Joseph and his family came back to Nazareth
from Egypt (Matthew
02.13-15) when Archelaus began his reign over Judea (Matthew 02.19-23). Herod the Great married his second wife (out of ten),
Mariamne I and they had a couple of sons, most notably Aristobulus. Aristobulus
married Bernice of Salome and they had a daughter
named Herodias. Herodias
married her uncle, Herod Philip and they had a daughter named Salome. Herodias
then married her other uncle Herod Antipas, who John rebuked for marrying his
brother’s wife (Matthew 14.01-05). Herodias
didn’t like John the Baptist (Mark 06.17-20), and
at Herod Antipas’ birthday, Herodias had her daughter, Salome (from her first
marriage with Herod Antipas’ brother, Herod Philip) dance seductively for
stepfather. Herod Antipas was so pleased with the dance of his stepdaughter
Salome, he offered to reward her in any way that she desired. Herodias prompted
Salome to ask for the head of John the Baptist on a platter (Matthew 14.06-12; Mark 06.21-29). Salome then married Philip the Tetrach (her great-uncle), the
son of Herod the Great and Cleopatra of Jerusalem (Herod the Great’s fifth
wife).
The ministry of John the Baptist lasted about only six months,
maybe at most a year, ending with his imprisonment by Herod Antipas.
Last time we mentioned that John was a lot like Elijah in
how bold he was in standing up to those in authority who were breaking the
commandments of God (1Kings 17.01; 1Kings 18.17-40; 2Kings 01.01-16;
Matthew
14.01-12; Mark 06.17-29). Elijah stood up to Ahab, King
of Israel much like John stood up to Heron Antipas in the same way.
03. The Baptism of
Jesus (Luke 03.21-22)
We saw last time that the nation of Israel was starting to
lose hope for the coming of the Messiah (HaMashiach). They had been overrun by
foreign powers, the Maccabees had come and gone, and the Kingdom of Heaven had
not appeared. In their mind, there was no Messiah (HaMashiach). They saw that
they were under Roman rule “…when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea…” (Luke 03.01),
and they would have wondered why Jacob’s prophesy to Judah on his deathbed in Genesis 49.10
was left unfulfilled. Around 12ad Josephus (The
Jewish War 02.08.01) and history tells us that the Romans took away capital
punishment from the Jews. In the mind of the Jews, this took away the
foundation of their government, which is to be able to put to death those who
deserved it (Exodus 21.12; Exodus 21.15-17; Exodus 22.19; Exodus 31.14-15; Exodus 35.02; Leviticus 19.20; Leviticus 20.02; Leviticus 20.09-16; Leviticus 20.27; Leviticus 24.16-17; Leviticus 24.21). On this day when Rome took capital
punishment away from the Jews, we know that the Jewish people went out and wept
because they believed that the Messiah (HaMashiach) had not come and they could
not understand how God can do this. Shiloh (rest) in Genesis 49.10 is another name of
Jesus! We
know that at this time, Jesus the Messiah (Yeshua HaMashiach) was already alive
(about sixteen years old) and they did not recognize Him as a boy, and of
course, even as a man! Shiloh was here, on earth, as a young man
even though the political scene was dim and dark for the Jews.
Malachi’s message (Malachi 04.05-06) was the final authentic
revelation from God to the nation of Israel, and that ended with a curse, until
John the Baptist shattered the four hundred years of silence with his
proclamation of “Repent,
for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” (Matthew 03.02) John was
preaching the need for them to be baptized and repent of their sins (Luke 03.03).
His
message was not “Repent, in order that the Kingdom of heaven may come, but,
because it has come.” The hope that God would send His Messiah
(HaMashiach), down to earth to deliver the children of Israel from the bondages
of Rome and the Gentiles was the prevailing thought of most Jews at this time.
They looked at the promises of the coming kingdom in Zechariah 14.09
and Daniel
07.13-14 and were in expectation that they would be fulfilled here
in this time and place. But they didn’t realize that this was in reference to
the Second Coming of the Messiah (HaMashiach) and not the first. For when Jesus
was asked by Pilate “Are You the King of the Jews?” (John 18.33)
and Jesus answered: “My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this
world, then My servants would be fighting so that I would not be handed over to
the Jews; but as it is, My kingdom is not of this realm.” (John 18.36).
According to the rabbinic view of that time, the terms “Kingdom”, “Kingdom of
Heaven” and “Kingdom of God” were all one and the same. In fact the word
“heaven” was often used instead of “Lord or YHWH” to avoid being familiar with the
most sacred name of God, YHWH. The Book of Matthew records the only use of
“Kingdom of Heaven” (about thirty times). And now the air is pierced with the
cry from John the Baptist, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”
(Matthew
03.02), “The next day he saw Jesus coming to him and said,
“Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 01.29) The
preaching of John was not one of armed resistance, but to repentance, which
most knew at this time knew that nationwide repentance preceded the Kingdom of
the Messiah: “If Israel repented but one
day, the Son of David would immediately come.” (Jerusalem Talmud Taanith
64a).
One day after all the people had been baptized, Jesus came
to John to be baptized in the Jordan River. John at first refused to baptize
Jesus (Matthew
03.13-15). In Matthew 03.14 we read the phrase “tried to
prevent”, which in the Greek (G1254. diakwluw diakoluo) means to
hinder, prevent, separation, to separate by shutting, shut out and it implies earnest resistance. John knew that Jesus was
the perfect Son of God who had no need to repent of sin. Why then did Jesus, the perfect, spotless
Lamb of God (John 01.29; 1Peter 01.19)
need to be baptized?
-His baptism identified with the sinners that He came to
save.
-His baptism was the official start of His ministry (Luke 03.23;
Acts
01.21-22; Acts 10.37-38).
-His baptism He said was necessary because it was “…to fulfill all
righteousness.” (Matthew 03.15) This was why Jesus did all that He
did in His life. This is why He was in subjection to His parents (Luke 02.51),
why He was brought back to live in Nazareth (Luke 02.39), and why He lived
how He lived that we see recorded for us in the Gospels.
The word “us” in Matthew 03.15 is in reference to the Trinity:
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Not to John and Jesus.
-His baptism was a picture of His work of redemption (Matthew 20.22;
Luke 12.50).
-His baptism of suffering on the cross that God fulfilled
all righteousness (Matthew 03.15).
-The baptism of Jesus also showed us the answer to the
question that Jesus posed to the priest and scribes (Matthew 21.23-27; Mark 11.27-33;
Luke 20.01-08).
Other Gospel writers describe the baptism of Jesus, but only
Luke points out that it happened “while He was praying” (Luke 03.21). Luke tells us more about
the prayers of our Saviour than the other Gospel writers. As
the perfect Son of Man, Jesus depended on His Heavenly Father to meet His needs
(Luke
09.28-29; John 12.27-28). While Jesus was being
baptized and praying, Dr. Luke tells us in Luke 03.21 that, “heaven was opened”. The
Jews knew about baptism, for they would baptize Gentile proselytes. But John
baptized Jews, which was unusual and strange. For a Jew to allow himself to be
baptized, he was essentially saying that he was as bad a heathen Gentile. So
when these Jews were being baptized, it was a sign of humility and repentance. Jesus
was identifying Himself with the sinners that He came to save (Philippians
02.01-08).
Luke 03.22 The
three persons of the Trinity are all manifested at once. The Holy Spirit came
in bodily form like a dove. The voice of God the Father was heard, and the
beloved Son was baptized. Peter, in his first epistle, compared the
baptism to the flood of Noah, by saying that “Corresponding to that (to the
flood of Noah),
baptism now saves you--not the removal of dirt from the flesh, but an appeal to
God for a good conscience--through the resurrection of Jesus Christ,” (1Peter 03.21).
It would almost seem symbolic that the baptism of Jesus would be marked with
the Holy Spirit coming upon Him like a dove. For it was Noah who sent out a
dove (Genesis
08.08-12) to see if the judgment of the flood waters had decreased. The
name Noah means, “rest”, and Jesus said to “Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and
humble in heart, and YOU WILL FIND REST FOR YOUR SOULS.” (Matthew 11.29)
The Spirit descending on the Son was foretold in Isaiah 42.01 and Isaiah 61.01.
This is one of three recorded times when the
Father spoke from Heaven (Transfiguration-Luke 09.28-36; In His last week before the
cross-John
12.28).
