Luke 3:1-20 "John The Baptist"
Lots of people say they believe in God. They say they’re “spiritual” but not “religious.” They say they believe in God but they’re not into “organized religion.” I used to wonder if that means they prefer “unorganized religion”—but as time went on and the way culture is going… Yes. They definitely seem to prefer unorganized religion. They seem to prefer absolute unorganized insanity. People say they believe in God but they don’t live like they do, they live as though they believe THEY are God. That’s why the world is completely mad.
Because to actually believe in God is to know they are NOT God. And if they’re not God, then they’d have to pay attention to what that God has actually said. What that God wants. Their life and reality would have to be defined by that God. But that’s not what people do—they make up their own meaning, their own version of reality—they set up their own wishy-washy standard and judge anyone who doesn’t agree with them.
This is nothing new. God has been frustrated since the beginning with the way people, who claim to believe in Him, ignore Him. Selfishly and wickedly live for themselves.
So, in His frustration, what does God do? The way you understand the answer to that question makes all the difference in the world. Because this is what God did: He came to earth to offer us grace. Mercy. Kindness. A way to turn away from all the unorganized insanity. A free “get out of jail” card before He comes back at the end of time—literally the “End of Time”—and stops all our foolishness once and for all.
We’re going through the Gospel of Luke. You should pay attention to what God’s saying to you in all of this. If you say you believe in God, this is what God is saying to you. If you say you don’t believe in God—this is still what He’s saying. Either way, if you sit there with your fingers in your ears pretending like you can make up your own reality, then you’re choosing a life of madness and hell in this life and in the next.
Luke chapter three.
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—during the high-priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John son of Zechariah in the wilderness. Luke 3:1-2
So, we’re talking about John the Baptist. Jesus’ cousin. The one who would prepare the way for Him. The first couple of chapters told John’s story right alongside of Jesus’ story in parallel—we heard about their miraculous conceptions, their births, their future ministries, their circumcisions. John is the Old Testament, Jesus is the New Testament. The Old pointing to the New. In every part of the story, Jesus was shown to be greater than John. This chapter is going to focus on the ministry of John the Baptist, and how his ministry pointed to Jesus, how Jesus’ ministry would be greater than his.
Luke is careful, once again, to start off with a verifiable historical context. We can look at Roman history and Jewish history to pinpoint when these things actually happened—THAT it actually happened. This is not a fairytale. It’s not just for the Jews and it’s not just for the Gentiles. It’s for all people.
So around 26 AD, the word of God came to John in the wilderness.
Verse 3:
He went into all the country around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. Luke 3:3
The wilderness. Like Moses and Elijah. The Jordan river—which is where Joshua crossed over to the Promised Land. Where Elijah was taken up to heaven. The wilderness where Jesus would be tempted by the Devil. Where Jesus would feed the 5,000. This is where John preached a baptism of repentance—repentance means to stop and turn around. When you realize you did something wrong, or are still doing something wrong—when it’s too late to change your mind because you already did something you regret. You know you’re guilty. Repent. Turn around. Turn away from your sin. Stop doing it. Turn away from the selfish madness of this world and turn back toward God. When you sin, it leaves a stain. You’re dirty. Filthy. When you sin you’re covered in death that you’ve smeared all over yourself. It’s not a pretty picture. So every day you have two choices: you can pretend like you’re fine, there’s no such thing as sin, there’s no such thing as God, and your filth doesn’t stink—or you can repent.
John was preaching a baptism of repentance. Baptism is a bath. A washing. The Jews had all kinds of “baptisms” to get ceremonially clean, but they always washed themselves. John came up with something new—he didn’t let them baptize themselves. He was called “John the Baptizer” because he was like, “and you’re so disgustingly filthy, you can’t even wash yourselves. You’re like a baby that needs to be changed—come over here. I’m going to wash you, you stinking dirty sinners. It’s a picture of how we can’t save ourselves, we can’t forgive our own sins. God’s grace and mercy have to come from outside of us. This is one of the ways he was preparing the way for Jesus.
There are three kinds of baptisms mentioned in the Gospel of Luke: John’s baptism of the people, Jesus’ baptism by John, and Jesus’ bloody baptism on the cross. Acts will refer to Christian baptism, which is a culmination of all three.
Third, this baptism of repentance was for the forgiveness of sins. To forgive sins is to release a person from them like a prisoner is freed from a dungeon. John was getting the people ready for the Messiah to start His ministry. John’s baptism resulted in the remission of sins—the “sending away” of sins. The sins are taken from the sinner and sent so far away that even God won’t find them on judgment day. As far as the east is from the west according to Psalm 103:12. Is there any better news than that?
Verse 4:
As it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet: “A voice of one calling in the wilderness, ‘Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him. Every valley shall be filled in, every mountain and hill made low. The crooked roads shall become straight, the rough ways smooth. And all people will see God’s salvation.” Luke 3:4-
Sin had bent and twisted all the roads, going in circles, going nowhere—Jesus is going to make them straight. Jesus will be the way, the truth, and the life. John is calling for the people to get ready, repent, be made clean, be forgiven. All the arrogant people who think they have it all figured out, they think they’re special, acting like they’re their own God—they need to be brought down. All the people who think they’re not deserving of God’s grace and mercy, the poor in spirit, the meek—they need to be lifted up. Get ready to see God’s salvation!
John is preparing the way FOR the Lord. Not the way TO the Lord. God coming to His people, His people are not coming to Him. They couldn’t come to Him. We can’t climb our way up to God. He has to come to us. The image to straighten out all the crooked roads, fill in the valleys, and flatten the mountains—if that sounds impossible, that’s because it is. God’s the One who has to do it, none of us can. This is the big difference between all the other so-called “religions” of the world and Jesus. They all say “work harder, climb on your knees up to God.” But Jesus comes to us. We just get prepared for Him by hearing the Word of the Lord. Repent and believe. He makes it happen.
You have to picture this: All these people are showing up to be baptized and hear what this wildman John is saying out in the middle of nowhere. They came all the way out here to listen to him. So, of course, he speaks in his most “seeker-sensitive” voice…
Verse 7:
John said to the crowds coming out to be baptized by him, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? Produce fruit in keeping with repentance. Luke 3:7
They walked all the way out there to hear what this preacher had to say, and he insults them. Calls them a sack of snakes. Offspring of serpents—like the serpent in the Garden of Eden. “You bunch of demonic babies!” “Children of Satan!” “Who told you that you could come out here to have your sins washed away and forgiven and get on God’s good side—who told you that you could escape His wrath? It doesn’t work like that. Baptism’s not going to do you any good if you’re just going to go slop around in slime again, crawling on your belly eating dirt. Once you’ve been washed clean and forgiven—you need to start acting like it. “Produce fruit in keeping with your repentance.” Start acting like someone who believes in God.
Verse 8:
And do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham. The ax is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.” Luke 3:8-9
He anticipates what they’re probably thinking: “We’re the children of Abraham. The chosen people. We’re the special ones. How dare you talk to us like we’re a bunch of pagan unbelievers.” John says, “If you reject the One God is sending to save you, being a descendant of Abraham won’t help you at all.”
John paints a very disturbing picture for them: You’re nothing special, God can raise up children of Abraham from rocks. It was a common insult to Gentiles to call them rocks. Worthless rock people. Remember when Jesus said, “if these people remain silent, the rocks and stones will cry out?” Same idea. John is saying, “get your act together or God will make the Gentiles His children.” He changes the metaphor in case they didn’t get the point, “the ax is in His hand and He’s ready to start chopping. Start producing good fruit or be thrown in the fire.” God isn’t interested in planting a bunch of trees that don’t produce any fruit. That got their attention.
Verse 10:
“What should we do then?” the crowd asked. Luke 3:10
Always a good question. We should respond to God’s mercy every single day with this question. Baptism isn’t the fruit. Repentance isn’t the fruit. Praying and reading the Bible and going to church isn’t the fruit. That’s taking care of the tree. The fruit is what we do with the new life Jesus gives us. You repent, God forgives you—now what should you do? We need to ask this question every day. If we’re not supposed to spend all our time doing outward religious things trying to climb up to God—what should we spend our time doing?
Verse 11:
John answered, “Anyone who has two shirts should share with the one who has none, and anyone who has food should do the same.” Even tax collectors came to be baptized. “Teacher,” they asked, “what should we do?” “Don’t collect any more than you are required to,” he told them. Then some soldiers asked him, “And what should we do?” He replied, “Don’t extort money and don’t accuse people falsely—be content with your pay.” Luke 3:11-14
This is what God saved you to do. He wants you to look around and figure out how to help people. God doesn’t need your good works but your neighbor does. That’s what the Commandments are really all about. John says the same kinds of things Jesus is going to say—Christians aren’t supposed to be selfish and greedy. In every part of our life—our various vocations of neighbor, family member, our jobs—whatever we do. We’re supposed to do what we do for the blessing and good of others. Not ourselves. God saves you, and in response, you show your appreciation by loving all the people He puts in your life. Even if your job is to collect taxes. Even if your job is to enforce the law. Those jobs were just as unpopular then as they are now—more. Jews who collected Roman taxes and enforced Roman laws were considered traders. John said, “do your job, don’t cheat anyone, don’t be greedy, don’t use your position to intimidate people.” He didn’t tell them to stop being tax collectors or soldiers.
It wasn’t a popular message but a lot of them were listening.
Verse 15:
The people were waiting expectantly and were all wondering in their hearts if John might possibly be the Messiah. John answered them all, “I baptize you with water. But one who is more powerful than I will come, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. Luke 3:15
They started to wonder if this rock star preacher was the Messiah they had been waiting for. John says, “Of course not. I’m just washing you with water—the Messiah will do a lot more than that. I’m not even worthy to untie His sandals.” It was a very low job for a slave to untie sandals and wash their master’s feet—John says he’s not even worthy to do that. Which is interesting because Jesus uses this idea at the Last Supper. He humbled Himself and washed the disciples’ feet—showing that we should all serve each other in humility. But John’s not even tempted to say he’s the Messiah. John says Jesus is far more powerful than he is…
He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fork is in his hand to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his barn, but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”
John says he just baptizes with water—which is always an element of baptism. Washing always involves water—no such thing as dry clean baptism. But when Jesus baptizes you, it’s not only going to be water—it’s also going to be the Holy Spirit and fire.
Holy Spirit and fire like Pentecost? Or, Holy Spirit and fire like judgment? Which is it?
God’s judgment is often associated with fire. Isaiah 30:27 says
“the name of the Lord comes from afar, burning with His anger, and in thick rising smoke; His lips are full of fury and His tongue is like a devouring fire; His breath (same word as Spirit) is like an overflowing stream (water image) that reaches up to the neck; to sift the nations with the sieve of destruction.”
On the other hand, at Pentecost, the Holy Spirit shows up as tongues of fire over the heads of the believers. [Isaiah 4:4] And Isaiah talks about the Messiah washing away the filth of the daughters of Zion and cleaning their bloodstains by a spirit of judgment and a spirit of burning—washing and cleansing, water and fire. The idea of the Spirit sanctifying us and burning off the impurities, “the crucible is for silver and the furnace for gold.”
He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire… There’s also an “end times” aspect to what John says here. The Scriptures mention fire along with God’s final judgment all the time. Malachi 4:1 says
“The day is coming; it will burn like a furnace. All the arrogant and every evildoer will be stubble, and the day that is coming will set them on fire.”
Jesus says in John 15:6,
“the branches cut from the Vine are burned,”
and in Matthew 13:40,
“the tares are gathered and burned.”
All of God’s judgments are like fire, especially the final ones—and Jesus is the most vocal “hell fire and brimstone” preacher in the Bible. Christians who try to deny this part are denying Jesus. In Mark 9:43 He says,
“the wicked shall go “into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched,”
and in Matthew 18:8 He says
“into everlasting fire,” “into hell fire.”
There are two kinds of people who say they believe in God: True believers who hear the Word of the Lord, repent, put their faith in Jesus, the cross, the resurrection and live a life of faithfulness. And people who say they believe in God but really just believe whatever sounds good at the moment and do whatever they feel like doing. John says Jesus is going to pick up His winnowing fork and separate the true believers from the fake believers. The grain from the chaff, the wheat from the tares, the sheep from the goats.
I think a lot of people don’t talk about these things because they don’t want to seem like they’re trying to scare people. I want to stay on the Gospel side of the fence, too. But you can’t understand salvation if you don’t understand what you’re being saved from.
So John started the baptizing other people thing, but the church continued to baptize throughout the New Testament. It’s still with water, it’s still for repentance and the forgiveness of sin, but now it’s also for the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. It’s a connection to Jesus. His body, the church. To His life, death, and resurrection. And it’s still to be followed by faithfulness. It’s like John’s baptism, only greater. So, what John said to his audience is also true for you: Once God shows you grace, you need to respond with faith and faithfulness. Faith without works is dead. You need to pay attention to what the God who saved you has said. What He wants. Your life and reality need to be defined by God’s Word. If you continue to live as if you’re your own God, you can expect discipline. He disciplines His children because He loves them. A father who doesn’t discipline his kids has given up on them. You don’t want to be chaff. You don’t want God to give up on you.
Verse 18:
And with many other words John exhorted the people and proclaimed the good news to them. But when John rebuked Herod the tetrarch because of his marriage to Herodias, his brother’s wife, and all the other evil things he had done, Herod added this to them all: He locked John up in prison. Luke 3:18-20
John was an equal opportunity offender. He called it like he saw it. Rich people, poor people, tax collectors, and kings. Herod called himself the King of the Jews but he was really a tetrarch—more of a local governor who served as a go-between for Rome. He was a wicked, nasty man. We don’t know if he actually went out to see John for himself, he might have, but he definitely heard about the wildman preacher who was talking smack about him. Herod married his brother’s wife, while his brother was still alive, she was also his cousin—both things were forbidden by God’s law. John called him out on it and Herod threw him in jail. A little while later, John was beheaded because he hurt Herod’s sister-in-law, cousin, wife’s feelings. That was the end of John’s ministry, he had done his part to prepare the way for Jesus.
It says John proclaimed the “good news”—the Gospel—but a lot of what he said kinda sounds like bad news, doesn’t it? It’s the kind of good news that only makes sense if you know what the bad news is first. The Messiah was just about to make His appearance. Get ready, people! He’s going to walk up any day now and save us from the coming wrath. This is good news.
And then He did. We’ll talk about that next week.