Luke 3:15

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 Ituraea and of the region of Trachonitis, and Lysanias the tetrarch of Abilene, For the exposition, see the notes at Matthew 3:1....

15-20 John the Baptist disowned being himself the Christ, but confirmed the people in their expectations of the long-promised Messiah. He could only exhort them to repent, and assure them of forgiveness upon repentance; but he could not work repentance in them, nor confer remission on them. Thus highly does it become us to speak of Christ, and thus humbly of ourselves. John can do no more than baptize with water, in token that they ought to purify and cleanse themselves; but Christ can, and will baptize with the Holy Ghost; he can give the Spirit, to cleanse and purify the heart, not only as water washes off the dirt on the outside, but as fire clears out the dross that is within, and melts down the metal, that it may be cast into a new mould. John was an affectionate preacher; he was beseeching; he pressed things home upon his hearers. He was a practical preacher; quickening them to th...

Verse Luke 3:15. _WHETHER HE WERE THE CHRIST_] So general was the reformation which was produced by the Baptist's preaching that the people were ready to consider _him_ as the promised Messiah. Thus John came in the spirit and power of Elijah, and _reformed all _ _things_; showed the _people_, the _tax-gatherers_, and the _soldiers_, their respective duties, and persuaded them to put away the evil of their doings. Matthew 17:11, Matthew 17:11....

IN EXPECTATION - Expecting the Messiah. Margin, “suspense.” That is, they were not certain whether John was not himself the Messiah. They confidently “expected” his appearing, and there minds were in “suspense,” or they were in a state of doubt whether he had not already come, and whether John was not the Messiah. MUSED IN THEIR HEARTS OF JOHN - Thought of his character, his preaching, and his success, and anxiously inquired whether he did not do the things which were expected of the Messiah....

EXPOSITION LUKE 3:1 THE BAPTISM OF JOHN. LUKE 3:1 NOW IN THE FIFTEENTH YEAR OF THE REIGN OF TIBERIUS CAESAR. St. Luke's Gospel is framed after the model of approved histories. He commenced with an elaborate rhetorical preface, most carefully worded, stating, in a few well-chosen sentences, the reasons which had induced him to undertake the work. He then (Luke 1:5) skillfully wove into the text of his narrative one or more original documents; these he translated, preserving, with great art, as closely as possible, the spirit, and oftentimes the very words, of his original authority. Now, in this

AND AS THE PEOPLE WERE IN EXPECTATION, OF THE COMING OF THE MESSIAH; Daniel's seventy weeks being now accomplished, the sceptre being departed from Judah, and the Romans having the government in their hands, from whom they hoped for a deliverance by Christ; AND ALL MEN MUSED IN THEIR HEARTS OF JOHN; WHETHER HE WERE THE CHRIST, OR NO; about which they had many reasonings and debates: some doubting of it, others ready to believe it, from his extraordinary birth, the singular holiness of his life, the power and efficacy of his doctrine, the new ordinance he administered, the restoration of religion by him, the freedom he took in reproving the vices of men, and the apt answers he gave to the questions now put to him. And that the Messiah was born, though he was not, as yet, made manifest, they might conclude, not only from the fulfilment of several prophecies, but from the song of Zacharias...

Luke 3:1. Now in the fifteenth yea of the reign of Tiberias Caesar, Pontius Pilate being governor of Judaea, and Herod being tetrarch of Galilee, and his brother Philip tetrarch of Ituraea and of the region of Trachonitis, and Lysanias the tetrarch of Abilene, Annas and Caiaphas being the high priests, the word of God came unto John the son of Zacharias in the wilderness. And he came into all the country about Jordan, preaching the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins; 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. Every valley shall be filed and every mountain and hill shall be brought low; and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough ways shall be made smooth; and all flesh shall see the salvation of God. Then said he to the multitude that ca...

II. THE BEGINNINGS OF HIS MINISTRY -- CHAPTER 3-4:13 CHAPTER 3 _ 1. The Ministry of John the Baptist. (Luke 3:1 .)_ 2. His Testimony to Christ and his Imprisonment. (Luke 3:15 .) 3. The Baptism of the Lord Jesus. (Luke 3:21 .) 4. The Genealogy of Mary, the Mother of our Lord. (Luke 3:23 .) Luke 3:1 Eighteen more years of silence follow. It is broken by the voice of the forerunner, John, who preached at Jordan the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins. He is not reported here preaching “the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand.” He

JOHN THE BAPTIST. Mark 1:1 *, Matthew 3:1 *. also Mark 6:17 *, Matthew 14:3 *. Lk. now (to Luke 9:50) follows the Marcan account of the Galilean ministry of Jesus and its antecedents; he adds material from Q and other sources. LUKE 3:1. On the chronology, see pp. 652f.; PONTIUS PILATE, p. 609; HEROD (Antipas) and PHILIP, p. 609. ABILENE was the district round Abila between Mt. Hermon and Anti-Lebanon, north-west of Damascus. Caiaphas was really high-priest

THE COURIER OF THE KING (Luke 3:1-6)...