Sermon notes for August 24, 2003
What Shall We Do? Luke 3:1-38
INTRODUCTION
John’s message of impending judgment on Israel is not some side issue for him or for Jesus. Both are prophets of doom, warning Israel as Moses warned Pharaoh. This message is an essential part of “preaching the gospel” (v. 18), and is good news because God is coming to take out the trash.
THE TEXT
“Now in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate being governor of Judea, Herod being tetrarch of Galilee, his brother Philip tetrarch of Iturea . . . . the word of God came to John . . . .” (Luke 3:1-38).
A BAPTISM OF REPENTANCE
What did John’s baptism mean? Luke gives us several clues. First, he calls it a “baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins” (3:3). John’s baptism was the ritual sign of repentance and of the washing away of sins. Those who were baptized and repented of their sins were ready for the coming day of judgment.
Second, Luke quotes from Isaiah 40:3-5 to describe John’s ministry (3:4-6). In that passage, Isaiah is predicting Israel’s redemption from Babylonian exile, offering Israel hope of a “new Exodus.” John’s baptism fits into this setting. John assembles people in the wilderness (3:2), as Israel was assembled in the wilderness in the days of Moses. Those who are baptized pass through the waters of the Jordan, as Israel passed through the waters of the Jordan into the promised land (Joshua 3). For those who accept John’s baptism and repent as required, the exile is coming to an end. They are ready to reconquer the land.
Third, John’s baptism with water points to the greater baptism that the Messiah will bring (vv. 15-17). John is not the Christ, and does not bring the Spirit. But the one who receives the Spirit from the Father (v. 22) will pour out that Spirit on His disciples and pour out fire on His enemies.
THE WRATH TO COME
Because “One is coming” with fire, John’s message is an urgent one. Israel needs to repent and be baptized because judgment is about to take place. The axe is “already” at the root of the trees (v. 9), and the One already has His “winnowing fork” in His hand (v. 17).
John is not talking about some general judgment that is always coming. He is warning about a specific judgment on Israel, one that Jesus later talks about at length (see Luke 21). John’s description of an “axe” is taken from Isaiah 10:15-19, where Assyria is pictured as an axe in the Lord’s hand, ready to chop down the Northern Kingdom of Israel. John is saying that the Lord is about to pick up another axe, Rome, and chop at unfruitful trees in the forest. The forest is an image of Israel, the planting and grove of the Lord (see Isaiah 61:3). More specifically, the “forest” is the temple, which was largely wood (see Psalm 74:1-7, especially v. 5, which refers to an axe). John is prophesying the destruction of Herod’s temple, which at the time was not even completed. (It was completed in AD 63).
WHAT SHALL WE DO?
Many who came to John were children of the serpent (v. 7), hypocrites who came for baptism but refused to repent. Those who did repent were unlikely people — IRS agents, soldiers probably from Herod’s guard. Priests and Pharisees are notably absent.
John’s instruction to the truly penitent is a masterpiece of simplicity. He doesn’t demand superhuman ethical exertion, and doesn’t tell tax collectors and soldiers to quit. The people will escape wrath if they share with those who have no clothes or food, and if they act justly. He focuses attention on abuses of authority — tax collectors lining their pockets with extra revenues, soldiers using their power to extort and slander. Herod too acted as if his position elevated him above normal rules of sexual faithfulness (3:19). We are supposed to use power to guard the powerless, not to gouge them. John called his followers to be the true Israel, the community that embodied the justice and generosity of God.
SON OF GOD
A people has been prepared, and it’s time for the hero to appear on stage. According to the order of Luke’s account, John is in prison before Jesus is baptized (vv. 20-21), and does not even appear at Jesus’ baptism. We know from other gospels that John did baptize Jesus (Matthew 3:13-17; Mark 1:9-11), but Luke’s account highlights other aspects. First, given the way Luke has been drawing out parallels between John and Jesus, John’s imprisonment foreshadows Jesus’ eventual arrest. Just as Jesus’ conception and birth were “greater” than John’s, so also the opposition He provokes and the suffering he experiences will be greater. Second, Jesus’ baptism , like yours, is an act of God the Father and God the Spirit. (Note that Jesus receives the Spirit in response to prayer, and see Luke 11:13.) Creation (Genesis 1:2) and flood imagery (Genesis 8:8) indicate that in Jesus’ baptism God is remaking the world.
Jesus did not need to be cleansed of sin. Why then was He baptized? In part, He was identifying with the people gathering around John: “when all the people were baptized, Jesus also was baptized” (v. 21). His baptism also marks the beginning of His priestly and royal ministry, His “anointing” with the Spirit, His public appointment as the Messianic “Son,” the true Israel and Last Adam (3:38).
For Further Study
- Did you notice the chiasm in Luke 3:1-20? What is at the center?
- How many names are there in the genealogy of Jesus in Luke 3:23-38? How are they arranged? What is significant about the arrangement? Can you figure out how to reconcile Luke’s genealogy with Matthew’s (1:1-17)?
- Why is it important to know that Jesus was “about thirty years of age” when He was baptized (v. 23)? Look at Genesis 41:46; Numbers 4:3; 2 Samuel 5:4.