Luke 3 Study Notes

3:1 The fifteenth year of . . . Tiberius Caesar could be as early as AD 26 or as late as AD 29 because Tiberius had been delegated some of the authority of his stepfather, Augustus (see note at 2:1), several years before he died. Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, Samaria, and Idumea (south of Judea, west of the Dead Sea), AD 26-36. He was responsible for regional administration and tax collection. At the death of Herod the Great (4 BC), his son, Herod Antipas, became tetrarch (a secondary prince) of Galilee and Perea (east of the Jordan River), while another son, Herod Philip, was tetrarch . . . of Iturea and Trachonitis (east and northeast of the Sea of Galilee), AD 4-34. Nothing else is known about Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene (the area near Damascus).

3:2-3 Technically, the high priesthood of Annas ended by AD 18. However, he continued to use the title and exercise considerable influence while his son-in-law Caiaphas was high priest during most of the period until AD 37. John the Baptist lived in the wilderness of Judea for a number of years before this (see note at 1:80), then moved a few miles northeast to the vicinity of the Jordan River, probably not far north of the Dead Sea. John preached repentance (a change of mind and heart about one’s personal sins) for the forgiveness of sins, with water baptism being the outer sign of inner cleansing.

3:4-6 The quotation from Is 40:3-5 shows that John was the forerunner of the Messiah (prepare the way for the Lord; see Mal 3:1; 4:5). The apocalyptic language figuratively depicts the earth becoming level (every mountain . . . made low) and all paths straight before the coming Christ. Everyone (lit “all flesh”) indicates that both Gentiles and Jews would see God’s salvation.

3:7 Some among the crowds who flocked to hear John preach (see note at vv. 2-3) and be baptized were not sincere. John called them poisonous snakes and warned them to change their attitudes and flee . . . the coming wrath (judgment based on God’s righteous anger). Jesus rescues believers from “the coming wrath” (1Th 1:10).

3:8-9 The fruit (behavioral impact) of repentance (see note at vv. 10-14), or the lack of it, proves whether or not a person has truly repented. At the time of judgment (the ax is already at the root of the trees), the claim of Jewish lineage (Abraham as our father) will mean nothing unless a person’s faith is genuine, like Abraham’s (see Gn 15:6; Gl 3:6-7).

3:10-14 The question the crowds asked John (What then should we do?) is the same as the one addressed to Peter on the day of Pentecost (Ac 2:37). To the general population, John answered: be compassionate (share with someone who has none); to the tax collectors (who were allowed to raise taxes to cover “expenses”): don’t collect any more than is owed; to the soldiers: don’t abuse military power but instead be satisfied with your wages.

3:15-17 John knew that the throngs of people wondered if he was the long-awaited Messiah. He answered that there was no comparison between him baptizing with water and Messiah baptizing with the Holy Spirit (see Ac 1:5; 2:4; 1Co 12:13) and fire of judgment. On winnowing, see Ru 3:1-3. Chaff (symbolizing unbelievers) is the worthless husk that covers wheat (standing for believers); it is separated at harvest and burned. A fire that never goes out refers, ultimately, to the eternal lake of fire (Rv 20:10,14-15).

3:18 As well as preaching related to repentance (v. 3), John also proclaimed good news consistent with the message Messiah was prophesied to deliver (see note at 4:18).

3:19 On Herod Antipas, the tetrarch, see note at v. 1. Antipas divorced his wife, the daughter of King Aretas IV of Arabia, so he could marry the wife of his brother Philip (Mt 14:3; see note at Lk 3:1). Such a marriage was forbidden by Mosaic law (Lv 18:16; 20:21).

3:20 The events here are not given in chronological sequence, since John could not have baptized Jesus (see note at vv. 21-22) while he was in prison. Luke wrapped up his discussion of John’s ministry before moving on to the beginning of Jesus’s ministry. John was arrested at some point after Jesus began his public ministry (Jn 3:22-24). Josephus, the Jewish historian, stated John was held in the Machaerus prison, east of the Dead Sea.

3:21-22 Jesus was not baptized for the forgiveness of sins, as were all the other people whom John baptized. Rather, Jesus was baptized to identify himself and his ministry with the ministry and message of his forerunner (see notes at vv. 4-6,15-17). Prayer, especially Jesus’s praying, is a strong emphasis of Luke’s Gospel. This is the first of three times in the Gospels when a voice from heaven spoke about Jesus. The other two were at the transfiguration (see note at 9:34-35) and in the temple during Passion Week (Jn 12:28). This is a relatively rare scriptural passage in which all three persons of the Godhead are mentioned: (1) the Father who said, you are my beloved Son, (2) Jesus the Divine Son, who was being baptized, and (3) the Holy Spirit who was in physical appearance like a dove. The words “you are my beloved Son” echo Ps 2:7, while with you I am well-pleased looks back to a key prophecy of the messianic servant in Is 42:1.

3:23-38 The family tree of Jesus in the Gospel of Luke is considerably different from the one in Mt 1:1-17. Luke’s genealogy traces Jesus’s lineage all the way back to Adam, emphasizing Jesus’s relation to all humankind, while Matthew’s version starts with Abraham and moves forward to Jesus, emphasizing Jesus’s relation to Israel (i.e., that he was the Son of Abraham, fulfiller of the Abrahamic promises, and the messianic Son of David). In Luke, the family tree moves through Nathan, a younger son of David (Lk 3:30), while in Matthew it goes through Solomon (Mt 1:6-7), inheritor of Israel’s throne after David. Since Lk 1-2 narrates events from Mary’s point of view, 3:23-38 follows Jesus’s physical line through Mary since v. 23 says Jesus was only “thought to be the son of Joseph.” By contrast, Mt 1:1-17, in the midst of a section from Joseph’s point of view (Mt 1-2), tracks Jesus’s legal lineage. This demonstrates his right to the throne of David through his adoptive father, Joseph.

3:23 Jesus began his ministry at about thirty years old—the age when a Levite began priestly service (Nm 4:46-47; see note at Lk 1:80). Thought to be the son of Joseph affirms the prophecy of the virgin birth of Jesus (see notes at 1:31-33,34-35). Jesus was not Joseph’s physical son, as everyone around them mistakenly assumed (see note at 4:22).

3:38 Adam is called son of God in this genealogy because he was directly created by God (see Gn 2:7).