In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate being governor of Judea, and Herod being tetrarch of Galilee, and his brother Philip tetrarch of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene, 2 during the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John the son of Zechariah in the wilderness. 3 And he went into all the region around the Jordan, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. 4 As it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet,
“The voice of one crying in the wilderness:
‘Prepare the way of the Lord,
make his paths straight.
5 Every valley shall be filled,
and every mountain and hill shall be made low,
and the crooked shall become straight,
and the rough places shall become level ways,
6 and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.’”
7 He said therefore to the crowds that came out to be baptized by him, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? 8 Bear fruits in keeping with repentance. And do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children for Abraham. 9 Even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees. Every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.”
10 And the crowds asked him, “What then shall we do?” 11 And he answered them, “Whoever has two tunics is to share with him who has none, and whoever has food is to do likewise.” 12 Tax collectors also came to be baptized and said to him, “Teacher, what shall we do?” 13 And he said to them, “Collect no more than you are authorized to do.” 14 Soldiers also asked him, “And we, what shall we do?” And he said to them, “Do not extort money from anyone by threats or by false accusation, and be content with your wages.”
15 As the people were in expectation, and all were questioning in their hearts concerning John, whether he might be the Christ, 16 John answered them all, saying, “I baptize you with water, but he who is mightier than I is coming, the strap of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. 17 His winnowing fork is in his hand, to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.”
18 So with many other exhortations he preached good news to the people. 19 But Herod the tetrarch, who had been reproved by him for Herodias, his brother’s wife, and for all the evil things that Herod had done, 20 added this to them all, that he locked up John in prison.
21 Now when all the people were baptized, and when Jesus also had been baptized and was praying, the heavens were opened, 22 and the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form, like a dove; and a voice came from heaven, “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.”
(I’m in the midst of some intense course-prep for the upcoming semester, so this will be shorter than usual)
The first few chapters of Luke do this back-and-forth between John the Baptist and Jesus, but Luke makes clear that John is subordinate to Jesus in importance. And, as we see in verse 15, there were some at the time who disputed this. They wondered if John was the Christ. John the Baptist certainly made an impression and was undoubtedly extraordinary, as Jesus himself would testify (Matt. 11:11). John also resembled the Old Testament prophets who had not been seen or heard from in about 460 years (since Malachi), and, indeed he was a prophet. Note the language in v.2 where “the word of God came to John,” just like it had come to the old prophets. In this way, then, John fulfills the prophecy of Isaiah 40:3-5. Luke also takes the time to provide some historical and political context, naming five Roman officials who can be identified by non-biblical sources. It’s a subtle reminder that he’s not making this up. It’s based on eyewitnesses and, presumably, carefully maintained records.
There’s a lot we could unpack in this passage, as it has been used for centuries in doctrinal disputes about baptism (i.e. whether infants should be baptized) or whether John’s words to the tax collectors and soldiers point to specific doctrines on taxation, just war, and similar issues. But I’m not going to focus on that here.
John’s calling is to prepare for the coming ministry of Jesus; to get the men and women of his land ready for the Messiah. And their question is ours, “What then shall we do?” John was “proclaiming a baptism for the forgiveness of sins.” This repentance and admonition to be generous to the poor is the major theme of the “good news” that he preaches to the people. That was his answer to their question. Repentance and generosity is the way we prepare for the Holy Spirit to work in and through us. We need to empty ourselves of any pretense that the love of Jesus is something that we deserve or that our outward piety could persuade God to grant us favor (this was one of the Pharisees’ and religious leaders’ great sins). It is only by Jesus’ death and resurrection, and by God’s freely given grace, that we can know the love and work of Christ.
Today, when you hear some claiming to be prophets, note whether they call Christians and others to repentance. If they just skip ahead to the divine intervention that they desire, I tend to be very suspicious. Their will is being placed before God’s.
But modern false prophets tend to avoid messages of repentance, despite the clear biblical basis for its importance. And John’s story gives us at least one important reason for why – it may land you in prison, and, eventually, with your head cut off (Matt. 14). John called the religious and political leaders to repentance, and he paid the price.
I’ll conclude with two additional commentaries on this passage. The first is by the German Protestant Theologian of the 16th Century, Konrad Pelikan and the second is by John Calvin.
PELIKAN: “So up till now, John was concealed among the wild animals and passed his life in unusual austerity, hidden in clothing woven from camel’s hair with a leather belt around his waist, living on wild honey and locusts, certainly never touching wine or strong drink, that he might be fit to be a preacher of repentance. He wanted first to teach by his life, and then by his words, so that he might be free from all accusations and have great liberty to rebuke the sins of others. Inspired and urged by the Spirit of God, he went forth from his hermit’s refuge, but he did not head for the temple, which is the place given to Christ, but into all those regions which border on the river Jordan. Here there was plenty of water provided so that he might baptize. And so he preached the coming of the kingdom of heaven, encouraging them by the coming blessings that they might first prepare by repentance of life and baptism by water, which he gave as a forerunner so that they might be rendered suitable for the baptism of the spirit, which would be given by the one whose coming was imminent.”
From In Sacrosancta Quatuor Evangelia, 42 (cf. LB 7:309), Quoted in Reformation Commentary on Scripture, Vol. III: Luke. Ed. By Beth Kreitzer. IVP Academic, 2015. p. 77
CALVIN: “A true feeling of repentance produces an anxiety that causes the sinner to seek eagerly after what it is that God desires and commands. But John’s reply briefly explains the fruits worthy of repentance; for the world always desires to discharge its duty toward God with ceremonies, and everyone is inclined to give fictitious worship to God, whenever he invites us to repentance. But what fruits does the Baptist here recommend? The duties of charity and the second table of the law: not that God does not attend to the external profession of piety and worship of him, but because this is a more certain sign of distinction and less often leads to error. The hypocrites trouble themselves excessively to prove themselves to God through the performance of ceremonies, but they forget about caring for true justice, for they are either cruel to their neighbors or addicted to deceit and robbery. That is why it is necessary to submit them to a more simplistic test and see whether they practice honesty toward others, or come to the aid of the poor, or show mercy to the wretched, or share generously what the Lord bestowed on them. For this reason, Christ particularly names “justice, mercy” and truth as the main points of the law, and Scripture recommends justice and judgment throughout. We should first notice here that the duties of charity are named, not because they are better than the worship of God but because they testify to people’s piety, in that they detect the pretense of those who brag with their mouths about things that are far away from their hearts.
From Commentary on a Harmony of the Gospels Quoted in Reformation Commentary on Scripture, Vol. III: Luke. Ed. By Beth Kreitzer. IVP Academic, 2015. p. 79
Be First to Comment