1 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.’” ~ Luke 3:1-6
Luke 3:1-2 we are informs us that John the Baptist's ministry began when he was about thirty years old. John's dad, Zachariah, served as a priest in the temple when the angel Gabriel spoke to him that his wife Elizabeth, though old, was going to have a child. Since his dad was a priest, John was born into the priestly line. But, he wasn't your run of the mill priest. When he comes on the scene, he is living in the desert, wearing a camel's hair garment, and his diet was locusts and wild honey. .
At the end of v.2, we read, "The word of God came to John." This word "word" in the Greek, is rehma which is an experiential word, only recognized in a personal relationship. Rehma means "the spoken word of God." The rehma of God is a personal and special statement from God launching John into his calling.
Every follower of the Lord Jesus has a calling. In Romans 12:2, we read, “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.” Discerning the call of God assumes a renewed mind. To “be renewed in our mind” means to have our minds framed up by the word of God. And, out of a renewed mind, we are able to discern God's calling on our lives.
Integral to this is the development of our faith in the God of the Bible. I've mentioned this before but there are two things which create faith in the believer. First, trials that drive us to a position where we can hear God speak to us is the first part of this two step process. In 1 Peter 1:3-7, we read, "3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. This inheritance is kept in heaven for you, 5 who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. 6 In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. 7 These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed." This passage clearly shows us that when trials push us to look to the Lord and listen to Him, we will grow in our faith in Him.
The second step in this process is found in Romans 10:17, which reads, "Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word about Christ." Hearing the spoken word of the Lord causes our faith or our hearts ability to see God to grow. John experienced this here in our text.
In v.3, we read, "He went into all the country around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins." In v.3, John offers from God to the people "forgiveness of sins" in response to them turning back to God. This turning back to God is an offer for the people to have a personal relationship with God. This is what God had in mind from the very beginning.
And so we see in v.3, "He went into all the country around the Jordan," that is, the Jordan River. It's a river that stretches from north to south 156 miles. It's the eastern border of the country of Israel, Jordan being on the east side. "He went into all the country around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins." The Jordan is very hot, murky, dirty, slimy water.
This was the spot that the children of Israel crossed over into the land under Joshua. Nationally Israel had been baptized in that Jordan River years before. John takes this place as the place where he inaugurates his ministry. John's baptism was "a baptism of repentance for the remission of sins." Baptism was not a Christian ordnance in its origin. The Jews started it first. If someone wanted to become a Jew, they had to go through three steps: first, instruction by a scribe; second, male circumcision, and three, baptism in water, which illustrates cleansing.
In v.4, we learn John becomes “A voice of one calling in the wilderness, ‘Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him.'" And therein he announces the arrival of the Messiah. So, onto center stage comes John, the first prophet in Israel in over 400 years. And he has two tasks: first, to prepare the people for the Messiah; second, to present the Messiah to the people.
Now, John the Baptist is the cousin of the Lord Jesus. His job is to set the stage for the Messiah, pointing the way to the One who was coming. And he's going to do so by baptizing people. John's baptism was a baptism of preparation. It is not a baptism of transformation. It is not the same baptism of that of Jesus; it is different.
In v.4–6, Luke quotes Isaiah 40:3-5, which reads, "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."
The Greek word for "salvation" in Luke 3:6 is a rare word that occurs in Luke's two volumes, Luke-Acts, only three times: here, in 2:30, and in Acts 28:28. The point in each place is to stress that now salvation is being made clearly available for Gentiles as well as Jews.
In Luke 2:30-31 Simeon says of the baby Jesus, "My eyes have seen thy salvation which thou hast prepared in the presence of all peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles." And in Acts 28:28 Paul says to the Jews who rejected the Gospel, "Let it be known to you that this salvation of God has been sent to the Gentiles; they will listen." As indicated throughout the scriptures, God's heart has always been for all people, Jewish and Gentile.
