GOSPEL OF LUKE
Chapter 3
3:1 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--
Now in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, and Herod was tetrarch of Galilee, and his brother Philip was tetrarch of the region of Iturea and Traconitis, and Lysanias was tetrarch of Abilene,
Now in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate being governor of Judaea, and Herod being tetrarch of Galilee, and his brother Philip tetrarch of Iturea and of the region of Traconitis, and Lysanias the tetrarch of Abilene,
3:1 Tiberius, the Roman emperor, ruled from A.D. 14 to 37. Pilate was the Roman governor responsible for the province of Judea; Herod (Antipas) and Philip were half brothers and sons of the cruel Herod the Great, who had been dead more than 20 years. Antipas, Philip, Pilate, and Lysanias apparently had equal powers in governing their separate territories. All were subject to Rome and responsible for keeping peace in their respective lands.
C. H. Spurgeon
Does not John the Baptist speak like Elijah? Here are no honeyed phrases to delight the popular ear. The prophet of the wilderness talks like one who is all on fire with zeal for God, and indignation against evil.
Roman Senate Rejects Christ In Pantheon
There are various references in history to the "Acts of Pilate," in which he wrote Tiberius, the Roman emperor, concerning the things which had taken place in Palestine in connection with the crucifixion of Christ. Tiberius then sought to get Christ enrolled as a god, but it was rejected by the Roman senate. Tertullian gives the following account of it: "There was an ancient decree, that no one should be received for a deity unless he was first approved by the senate. Tiberius, in whose time the Christian religion had its rise, having received from Palestine in Syria an account of such things as manifested our Saviour's divinity, proposed to the senate, and giving his own vote as first in his favor, that Christ should be placed among the gods. The Senate refused because he had, himself, declined that honor. Nevertheless, the emperor persisted in his own opinion, and ordered that if any accused the Christians, they should be punished." True Stories
C. H. Spurgeon
“Full of the Holy Ghost,” and then led “into the wilderness” to be tempted.
You would not expect that. Yet it is a sadder thing to be led into a wilderness when you are not filled with the Spirit, and a sadder thing to be tempted when the Spirit of God is not resting upon you. The temptation of our Lord was not one to which he wantonly exposed himself, he “was led by the Spirit into the wilderness.” The Spirit of God may lead us where we shall have to endure trial. If he does so, we are safe; and we shall come off conquerors even as our Master did.
Josephus' Account
Josephus, the famed Jewish historian, lived from A.D. 37 to 95. He seems to record the death and resurrection of Jesus as a fact. In Vol. II, Book XVIII, Chap. III, page 3 of his Jewish Antiquities, he wrote: "Now there was about this time Jesus, a wise man, if it be lawful to call Him a man: for He was a doer of wonderful works, a teacher of such men as receive the truth with pleasure. He drew over to Him both many of the Jews and many of the Gentiles. He was Christ. "And when Pilate, at the suggestion of the principal men among us, had condemned Him to the cross, those that loved Him at the first did not forsake Him; for He appeared to them alive again the third day; as the divine prophets had foretold these and ten thousand other wonderful things concerning Him. And the tribe of Christians so named from Him, are not extinct at this day."
3:2 during the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John son of Zechariah in the desert.
in the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John, the son of Zacharias, in the wilderness.
Annas and Caiaphas being the high priests, the word of God came unto John the son of Zacharias in the wilderness.
3:2 Under Jewish law there was only one high priest. He was appointed from Aaron’s line, and he held his position for life. By this time, however, the religious system had been corrupted, and the Roman government was appointing its own religious leaders to maintain greater control over the Jews. Apparently the Roman authorities had deposed the Jewish-appointed Annas and had replaced him with Anna’s son-in-law, Caiaphas. Nevertheless, Annas retained his title (see Acts 4:6) and probably also much of the power it carried. Because the Jews believed the high priest’s position to be for life, they would have continued to call Annas their high priest.
3:2 This is John the Baptist, whose birth story is told in Luke 1. See his Profile for more information.
3:2 Pilate, Herod, and Caiaphas were the most powerful leaders in Palestine, but they were upstaged by a desert prophet from rural Judea. God chose to speak through the loner John the Baptist, who has gone down in history as greater than any of the rulers of his day. How often we judge people by our culture’s standards—power, wealth, beauty—and miss the truly great people through whom God works! Greatness is not measured by what you have, but by your faith in God. Like John, give yourself entirely to God so God’s power can work through you.
C. H. Spugeon
Six weeks of temptation. We read the story of the temptation, perhaps, in six minutes; but it lasted for nearly six weeks Forty days tempted of the devil.”
It does not appear, therefore, that Jesus hungered while he was fasting. He was miraculously sustained during that period. After fasting, one looks for deeper spiritual feeling, and more holy joy; but the most prominent fact here is that “he afterward hungered,” Think not that you have lost the benefit of your devout exercises when you do not at once feel it. Perhaps the very best thing that can happen to you, after much prayer, is a holy hunger; I mean not a natural hunger, as it was with our Lord; but a blessed hungering after divine things. “Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after
righteousness. for they shall be filled.”
Make A Difference
While Annas and Caiaphas were high priests, the word of God came to John the son of Zacharias in the wilderness. —Luke 3:2
Seven men are mentioned in Luke 3, who had political, economic, and religious control over Israel: Roman Emperor Tiberias Caesar, Governor Pontius Pilate, the tetrarchs Herod, Philip, and Lysanias, along with high priests Annas and Caiaphas. While they were in power,” The word of God came to John the son of Zacharias in the wilderness. And he went into all the region around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the remission of sins”(vv.2-3).
What possible difference could it make for a person with no money and power to respond to God’s word when it seemed that others were so firmly in control? How could the actions of one insignificant person change anything? The answer is revealed in John the Baptist’s message of repentance, his announcement of the coming Messiah (vv.16-17), and his bold confronting of Herod (v.19). John’s role was to prepare the way for Jesus the Messiah, and the world was blessed by his obedience.
Today our task as Christians is to reflect the crucified and risen Savior in everything we do, and to tell others about Him. God calls each of us to live according to His instructions in the Bible. And our response will make all the difference in the world.
Obedience to God
is the key to a lasting influence.
ANNAS son of Seth, was a priest at the time John the Baptist began his public preaching (Luke 3:2). Evidently, Annas, whose name means "merciful," was appointed to the high priesthood about A.D. 6 by Quirinius, governor of Syria. Though he was deposed in A.D. 15 by Gratus, he continued to exercise considerable influence. When Jesus was arrested, He was taken before Annas (John 18:13). After Pentecost, Annas led other priests in questioning Peter and the other church leaders (Acts 4:6).
CAIAPHAS Personal name meaning "rock" or "depression." The high priest at the time of Jesus' crucifixion (Matthew 26:3). He was the son-in-law of Annas and a leader in the plot to have Jesus arrested and executed. Little is known about Caiaphas beyond what can be learned from the New Testament. Evidently he was appointed high priest about A.D. 18 and removed from office about A.D. 36 or 37.
3:3 He went into all the country around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.
And he came into all the district around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins;
And he came into all the country about Jordan, preaching the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins;
3:3 Repentance has two sides—turning away from sins and turning toward God. To be truly repentant, we must do both. We can’t just say we believe and then live any way we choose (see Luke 3:7-8), and neither can we simply live a morally correct life without a personal relationship with God, because that cannot bring forgiveness from sin. Determine to rid your life of any sins God points out, and put your trust in him alone to guide you.
C. H. Spurgeon
Satan met the hungry Man, and suited his temptation to his present pangs, to his special weakness at that moment: “If thou be the Son of God, command this stone that it be made bread.” The devil suspected, and I think he knew that Jesus was the Son of God; but he began his temptation with an “if.” He hissed that into the Savior’s ear: “If thou be the Son of God.”
If you, believer, can be led to doubt your sonship, and to fear that you are not a son of God, Satan will have begun to will the battle. So he begins to storm the fort royal of faith: “If thou be the Son of God.” Our Lord was the Son of God, but he was then suffering as our Substitute; and in that condition he was a lone and humble man; what if I call him “a common soldier in the ranks”? Satan invites him to work a miracle of ail improper kind on his own behalf; but Jesus wrought no miracle for himself. Now, it may be, that the devil is trying some of you to-night. You are very poor, or business is going very awkwardly, and Satan suggests that you should help yourself in an improper manner. He tells you that you can get out of your trouble very easily by some action which, although it may not be strictly right, may not be so very wrong after all. He said to Jesus, “If thou be the Son of God, command this stone that it be made bread.”
Why Saddam Admires Nebuchadnezzar
Saddam Hussein likes to trace his family tree back to the prophet Mohammed. He has been compared to the warrior Saladin who fought the Christian Crusaders. But, above all, Saddam's favorite hero was Nebuchadnezzar. At a road crossing near the Hammurabi Museum, a big cutout shows Nebuchadnezzar II, Babylon's mightiest king, handing a flower to Saddam. Nebuchadnezzar II was the Babylonian king whose empire once stretched from sea to sea. He conquered the regions that comprise today's Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon and Israel. (Cf. Daniel 2, 4) Saddam once remarked that_ "What is most important to me about Nebuchadnezzar is the link between the Arabs' abilities and the liberation of Palestine....Whenever I remember Nebuchadnezzar, I like to remind the Arabs Iraqis in particular of their historical responsibilities.
3:4 As is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet:
"A voice of one calling in the desert,
'Prepare the way for the Lord,
make straight paths for him.
as it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet,
"The voice of one crying in the wilderness,
'Make ready the way of the Lord,
Make His paths straight.
As it is written in the book of the words of Esaias the prophet, saying, The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.
3:4-5 In John’s day, before a king took a trip, messengers would tell those he was planning to visit to prepare the roads for him. Similarly John told his listeners to make their lives ready so the Lord could come to them. To prepare for Jesus’ coming to us, we must focus on him, listen to his words, and respond obediently to his directions.
C.H. Spurgeon
The voice crying in the wilderness demanded a way for the Lord, a way prepared, and a way prepared in the wilderness. I would be attentive to the Master’s proclamation, and give Him a road into my heart, cast up by gracious operations, through the desert of my nature. The four directions in the text must have my serious attention.
Every valley must be exalted. Low and groveling thoughts of God must be given up; doubting and despairing must be removed; and self-seeking and carnal delights must be forsaken. Across these deep valleys a glorious causeway of grace must be raised.
Every mountain and hill shall be laid low. Proud creature-sufficiency, and boastful self-righteousness, must be leveled, to make a highway for the King of kings. Divine fellowship is never vouchsafed to haughty, high-minded sinners. The Lord hath respect unto the lowly, and visits the contrite in heart, but the lofty are an abomination unto Him. My soul, beseech the Holy Spirit to set thee right in this respect.
The crooked shall be made straight. The wavering heart must have a straight path of decision for God and holiness marked out for it. Double-minded men are strangers to the God of truth. My soul, take heed that thou be in all things honest and true, as in the sight of the heart-searching God.