- LESSON FOUR - THE NEW ERA BEGINS: JOHN
BAPTIST AND JESUS
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- Luke Chapter Three
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- Luke was very specific and exact in his
listing of details. This very precision is itself a mark
of both the authenticity of his sources and the
reliability of his record.
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- Note, in the first two verses of Chapter
Three of Luke's recital, the detailed identification of
all ruling authorities when John the Baptist began his
ministry. We saw a similar exactitude in the opening
verses of Chapter Two identifying the time of the birth
of Jesus. We can see similar recital of details from time
to time as we read further in the third gospel.
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- Luke tells us that the word of God came to John the Baptist. The form of the language indicates that God filled the Baptist with the very words he was to speak. Thus we see that, as was evident in the first two chapters, God Himself was actively at work, both in power and in timing. In Ephesians 6:17 we are told that this "word of God" ("rhema Theou": divine speech) is the conquering power of the Holy Spirit. Thus when John the Baptist preached, it was not he who preached, but it was the Holy Spirit speaking through him.
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- When Absalom desired to be king, (II Samuel 15:1), he chose fifty men to be the forerunners before his chariot. But when God's own Anointed One was to be announced, God chose only one single man, out in the desert, as His forerunyner. And while Matthew and Mark, as well as Luke, indicate that a prophec of Isaiah was being fulfilled, it is Luke alone who quotes the promised success: "Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be brought low; And the crooked shall become straight, And the rough ways smooth; And all flesh shall see the salvation of God." (Luke 3:5-6, quoting Isaiah 40:4-5).
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- And when John preached his fiery message
of judgment and his call to repentance, Luke tells us
that those who heard were stricken, and asked what to do.
The "multitudes" were told to share their food and
clothing; tax-collectors (publicans) were to stop
extorting more taxes than the law called for; and even
Gentile soldiers were enjoined against violence and
extortion, and live within their soldier's pay.
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- Note that both Jews (publicans) and
Gentiles (the soldiers) were responding, and so John's
message was for all. This is an early hint in Luke that
God's kingdom, and the citizens thereof, were to come
from both peoples alike.
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- Was this desert orator the promised
Messiah? So many wondered, and the crowds stood ready to
acclaim him. But the Baptist, like a true and loyal
forerunner, directed their attention to One about to make
His appearance among them, One greater than the Baptist
himself, One Who could and would carry out the judgment
warned of by John.
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- Is
this a lesson for us? When we speak a word or do an act
for Jesus, do we turn aside any praise and direct it to
Jesus, or do we bask in the glow of the warm tributes
directed our way? There may be a grave temptation here,
and we need to study the words and actions of the Baptist
at this point.
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- The Coming of Jesus to be baptized.
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- It was at this time that Jesus Himself made His first public appearance. He came to John and Himself received baptism. He, the sinless One, identified Himself with sinners - repentant sinners; and joined with them at the point of their repentance, their decision to turn away from their sin, their acted-out symbolic cleansing.
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- When we commit sin, we are apt to feel
despair: how can God possibly forgive us when we knew
better but sinned? But it is precisely at that point that
Jesus is most ready to meet us.
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- Have you ever noticed that in a
courtroom, when the defendant is pronounced guilty, and
he stands up to hear his sentence, his attorney always
stands up with him, at his side? But Jesus does more than
any human attorney can do. He not only stands up with us,
but tells the court, "Do not punish this man, this woman,
because I Myself have already borne his/her penalty
Myself." Jesus acted out this drama by submitting Himself
for baptism, alongside all those who were repentant in
heart.
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- The first recorded instance of prayer by
Jesus
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- All three synoptic evangelists (Matthew, Mark, and Luke) tell of the baptism of Jesus and of the coming upon Him of the Holy Spirit, but Luke alone adds a very significant point. Luke, as we shall see, (and as was suggested in the opening lesson of this series,) presents Jesus in His humanity, as in fact, The Son of Man.
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- As The Son of Man, as the perfect man, Jesus was constantly in prayer. Here Luke tells us that as Jesus came up out of the water He was praying, and so received the Holy Spirit. Jesus praying to receive the Holy Spirit? Jesus, sensing His own need? Or rather, was it that Jesus was constantly, (here as at other times,) was constantly in that fellowship with God His Father which we call prayer?
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- And if He, the Perfect Man, so prayed,
how much more do we need to be constantly praying? May
this statement about Jesus challenge us.
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- Then secondly, may we draw the inference
that the Holy Spirit came upon Jesus in direct answer to
His prayer. Do we need the power of the Holy Spirit for
our Christian walk? Do we pray for His power? Do we pray
enough? Do we pray continuously?
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- An
additional detail given us by Luke: he tells us (3:23)
that at this time Jesus was thirty years old. Back in the
days of the Old Testament, Moses taught that men of
Levi's descent and so appointed to the service of the
tabernacle (and temple), began their duties at the age of
thirty. (See Numbers 4:3, 23, 30, 35, 39, 43, 47.) And
David the king, although anointed to the kingship years
earlier, reached the throne at the age of thirty (II
Samuel 5:4.) So it would seem that Jesus, according to
Divine schedule, was destined to enter upon His public
ministry at the age of thirty.
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- And thus John the Baptist's work was
finished. So God brought it to an end by letting him be
imprisoned by Herod. (Luke 3:19-20.) God had lessons to
be taught: (1) to John Baptist himself; and (2) to those
studying his career. God raises up, and He puts down,
even those faithful to Himself. We ourselves shall hope
to learn why when we reach eternity's shore.
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- Luke's recital of the supposed genealogy
of Jesus
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- The remainder of the third chapter is
devoted to giving a supposed genealogy of Jesus. Without
analyzing the record in detail, there are several points
we may note:
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- (1) The list in Luke differs in some
regards from the genealogical list given by Matthew. (See
Matthew 1:2-17.) It has been suggested that perhaps
Matthew gives the ancestral list from Joseph, whom the
Jews regarded as the official father of Jesus; whereas
Luke has given the genealogy of Mary. Maybe.
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- (2) Whereas Matthew lists the record from Abraham, Luke carries the list back to Adam. Now Matthew's purpose seems to have been to show that Jesus was king (Messiah) of the Jews, but Luke's emphasis would seem to have been to show the manhood of Jesus, and so we have a genealogy going back to Adam, the first man. But Jesus was not of the seed of Adam. Being virgin-born, and as The Son of Man, He was to be the progenitor of a new race of mankind, even a new creation.
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- And so notice that in 3:23 it is written that Jesus was "the son (as was supposed) of Joseph." As we saw in the previous "virgin birth" stories about Jesus's conception and birth, He was not the real son of Joseph. When men take his genealogy back to Adam, they miss the point.
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- (3) And so a third point is this. Luke 3:38 speaks of Adam as being "the son of God." Adam was "the son of God" in that he was created "in the image of God." But when Adam sinned, he marred that image, both for himself and for all of us his descendants. On the other hand, Jesus, being The (true) Son of Man, Himself sinless, bears the true image of God. It is of the essence of the true character of Jesus that we perceive this distinction. To miss this is to misinterpret Luke's true emphasis upon the humanity of Jesus.
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- Looking ahead.
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- Next week we shall look at Chapter Four.
In it, we shall see Luke's account of the temptation of
Jesus in the wilderness by Satan (in which He learns by
experience to define His role as Man); and we shall also
examine His formal announcement of Himself in His home
synagogue in Nazareth; and finally His establishment of a
new headquarters in Capernaum.
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- There is much of importance for us to
learn in these early chapters. They clearly set forth an
understanding of the true identity of Jesus and of His
projected role, and later we shall see how Jesus outlines
the responsibilities of His followers, His new creation,
in relationship to the arriving Kingdom of God.
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- As
we read and study Luke's recital, try to keep in mind
this developing theme. It will outline for us our
responsibility in the light of this understanding.
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- QUESTIONS FOR REVIEW, STUDY, AND
DISCUSSION
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- 1.
Review of preceding text: As you read the foregoing text,
have any points impressed you to understand better the
true sinless humanity of Jesus? Discuss.
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- The following questions are based on Luke
Chapter Four:
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- 2.
Immediately after His baptism, Jesus was led by the Holy
Spirit to the wilderness, where He faced the temptations
of the Devil.
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Name the three temptations
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What were the respective answers of Jesus?
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- 3.
How long did Jesus endure the temptation? What do you
think is the significance of this number?
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- 4.
In the synagogue in Nazareth, Jesus read from Isaiah
Chapter Sixty-one (see Luke 4:18-19.) What five things
was Jesus commissioned to do?
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- 5.
Did Jesus in the synagogue declare Himself to be the
Messiah, and if so, how?
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- 6.
Why did the people in the synagogue rise up to destroy
Jesus? Why do you think Luke recorded this conclusion of
the sermon by Jesus?
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- 7.
Try to memorize Luke 4:18-19.
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Norman L. MacLeod Jr.
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