Day 47 – Thursday, March 6, 2025

One Year Journey Through the New Testament

Luke 3

Welcome to our journey through the New Testament!

The Ministry of John the Baptist

Matt. 3:1-12; Mark 1:2-8; John 1:19-31

1 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 and the region of Trachonitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene, ² while Annas and Caiaphas were high priests, the word of God came to John the son of Zacharias in the wilderness. ³ And he went into all the region around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the remission of sins, ⁴ as it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet, saying:

“The voice of one crying in the wilderness:

‘Prepare the way of the Lord;

Make His paths straight.

⁵ Every valley shall be filled

And every mountain and hill brought low;

The crooked places shall be made straight

And the rough ways smooth;

⁶ And all flesh shall see the salvation of God.’ ”

⁷ Then he said to the multitudes that came out to be baptized by him, “Brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? ⁸ Therefore bear fruits worthy of repentance, and do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I say to you that God is able to raise up children to Abraham from these stones. ⁹ And even now the ax is laid to the root of the trees. Therefore every tree which does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.”

¹⁰ So the people asked him, saying, “What shall we do then?”

¹¹ He answered and said to them, “He who has two tunics, let him give to him who has none; and he who has food, let him do likewise.”

¹² Then tax collectors also came to be baptized, and said to him, “Teacher, what shall we do?”

¹³ And he said to them, “Collect no more than what is appointed for you.”

¹⁴ Likewise the soldiers asked him, saying, “And what shall we do?”

So he said to them, “Do not intimidate anyone or accuse falsely, and be content with your wages.”

¹⁵ Now as the people were in expectation, and all reasoned in their hearts about John, whether he was the Christ or not, ¹⁶ John answered, saying to all, “I indeed baptize you with water; but One mightier than I is coming, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to loose. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. ¹⁷ His winnowing fan is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clean out His threshing floor, and gather the wheat into His barn; but the chaff He will burn with unquenchable fire.”

¹⁸ And with many other exhortations he preached to the people. ¹⁹ But Herod the tetrarch, being rebuked by him concerning Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife, and for all the evils which Herod had done, ²⁰ also added this, above all, that he shut John up in prison. (Luke 3:1–20, NKJV)

Points to Ponder:

• In Luke 3, the stage for the adult ministry of Jesus comes into focus.
• Caesar is emperor, Pilate is governor of Judea, and Herod in Galilee
• His brother, Philip was in Iturea (betweeen Galilee and Hermon, in the northernmost region of Israel). Lysanias was governor in the area of Lebanon, north of Israel.
• Anna and Caiaphas were the high priests in Judaism at the time.
• John was the forerunner, preparing the way for the Messiah, Jesus.
• John preached repentance and called out hypocrisy. He was a true prophet of the new way. When people asked how they could be saved, he told them to stop extorting or gouging for money, and to stop intimidating those under their authority.
• John then spoke of the coming Messiah. John said that he baptized with water, but that the Messiah would baptize with the Holy Spirit and fire. He would bring judgment and justice.
• John even called out the tetrarch Herod for his adulterous relationship with his brother Philip’s wife. He had no fear. He spoke the truth. He spoke for the Lord.
• Parts of this passage are found in all four gospels.

The Baptism of Christ

 Matt. 3:13-17; Mark 1:9-11; John 1:32-34

²¹ When all the people were baptized, it came to pass that Jesus also was baptized; and while He prayed, the heaven was opened. ²² And the Holy Spirit descended in bodily form like a dove upon Him, and a voice came from heaven which said, “You are My beloved Son; in You I am well pleased.” 

Luke 3:21–22, NKJV

Points to Ponder:

• This passage recounts the baptism of Jesus, but in a truly concise form.
• The gospel of Matthew described more detail, while Mark described the event very similarly to Luke.
• Jesus was baptized and the heavens opened, the dove (Holy Spirit) descended on Christ, the the Father spoke His approval, much like in each gospel.

The Geneaology of Christ Through Joseph

Gen. 5:1-32; 11:10-26; Ruth 4:18-22; 1 Chr. 1:1-4, 24-27, 34; 2:1-15; Matt. 1:2-6

²³ Now Jesus Himself began His ministry at about thirty years of age, being (as was supposed) the son of Joseph, the son of Heli, ²⁴ the son of Matthat, the son of Levi, the son of Melchi, the son of Janna, the son of Joseph, ²⁵ the son of Mattathiah, the son of Amos, the son of Nahum, the son of Esli, the son of Naggai, ²⁶ the son of Maath, the son of Mattathiah, the son of Semei, the son of Joseph, the son of Judah, ²⁷ the son of Joannas, the son of Rhesa, the son of Zerubbabel, the son of Shealtiel, the son of Neri, ²⁸ the son of Melchi, the son of Addi, the son of Cosam, the son of Elmodam, the son of Er, ²⁹ the son of Jose, 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 Jonan, the son of Eliakim, ³¹ the son of Melea, the son of Menan, the son of Mattathah, 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, the son of Nahshon, ³³ the son of Amminadab, the son of Ram, 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 Cainan, ³⁸ the son of Enosh, the son of Seth, the son of Adam, the son of God. 

Luke 3:23–38, NKJV

Points to Ponder:

• Matthew is the only other gospel writer to record the genealogy of Christ.
• After David, this genealogy takes a different track that the genealogy of Matthew. Matthew’s genealogy flows through Solomon and this one through Nathan.
• This genealogy follows Joseph’s line to Jesus instead of Mary’s. He
• Also, Luke counts back to Adam, whereas Matthew counts back to Abraham. Luke’s account contains more generations, but is about the same number of words because of how the generations are described.
• Each genealogy includes unusual characters in good and bad ways.

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All Scriptures from New King James Version unless otherwise noted.

Join us this afternoon at 5:00 pm for a discussion of this chapter live online. Live@5 with Dr. Greg Sloop can be found on Facebook on the Dr. Greg Sloop page or on the Kannapolis Church of God Facebook page or Youtube page. Another blog will be posted each weekday at 6:00 a.m.