Luke 3
1 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.”
23 Jesus, when he began his ministry, was about thirty years of age, being the son (as was supposed) of Joseph, the son of Heli,
24 the son of Mattha, the son of Levi, the son of Melchi, the son of Jannai, the son of Joseph,
25 the son of Mattathias, the son of Amos, the son of Nahum, the son of Esli, the son of Nagai,
26 the son of Maath, the son of Mattathias, the son of Semien, the son of Josech, the son of Joda,
27 the son of Joanan, the son of Rhesa, the son of Zerubbabel, the son of Shealtiel the son of Neri,
28 the son of Melchi, the son of Addi, the son of Cosam, the son of Elmadam, the son of Er,
29 the son of Joshua, the son of Eliezer, the son of Jorim, the son of Mattha, the son of Levi,
30 the son of Simeon, the son of Judah, the son of Joseph, the son of Jonam, the son of Eliakim,
31 the son of Melea, the son of Menna, the son of Mattatha, the son of Nathan, the son of David,
32 the son of Jesse, the son of Obed, the son of Boaz, the son of Sala, the son of Nahshon,
33 the son of Amminadab, the son of Admin, the son of Arni, the son of Hezron, the son of Perez, the son of Judah,
34 the son of Jacob, the son of Isaac, the son of Abraham, the son of Terah, the son of Nahor,
35 the son of Serug, the son of Reu, the son of Peleg, the son of Eber, the son of Shelah,
36 the son of Cainan, the son of Arphaxad, the son of Shem, the son of Noah, the son of Lamech,
37 the son of Methuselah, the son of Enoch, the son of Jared, the son of Mahalaleel, the son of Cainan,
38 the son of Enos, the son of Seth, the son of Adam, the son of God.
Hello everyone, I am kiki. Chinese name of our second phase of the program is “读经大讲堂”. The English name is “Bible study”.
We will adopt a relaxed also enjoyable learning mode to take you into a new learning world. Each time I will make a personal summary and analysis from the perspective of a learner, and then Sister Ingrid will help me conduct in-depth learning and problem discussions with everybody.
I hope that such an interesting and interactive process can bring new knowledge experience to you all. The following is my interview with sister on related issues. Today is the third lecture on the Gospel of Luke.
Everyone is welcome to leave a message in the comment area for discussion!
2.My summary of Luke third-time study:
Well, everybody! Firstly, is still my today’s personal study summary.
In this part of the Bible, John the Baptist begins his ministry
in the wilderness , telling people to repent and be baptized for the forgiveness of sins.
He tells everyone that the Lord is coming soon and that they should prepare by changing their ways.
John warns them not to rely on their ancestry (for instance: being descendants of Abraham) to save them.
Instead, they must show that they’ve truly repented by doing good deeds. For example, sharing clothes and food, being honest, and not taking advantage of others.
The people wonder if John is the Messiah, but he tells them that someone much greater than him is coming—Jesus.
John baptizes with water, but Jesus will baptize with the Holy Spirit and fire. John also warns that Jesus will separate the good from the bad, saving the good people but punishing the wicked.
When Jesus is baptized by John, the Holy Spirit comes down in the form of a dove, and God’s voice from heaven says, “You are my beloved Son; with you, I am well pleased.”
This is a sign that Jesus is the chosen one.
The passage also includes a long genealogy of Jesus, showing that he is a descendant of David and ultimately of Adam, the first man.
This genealogy emphasizes Jesus’ right place as the Savior who came to fulfill God’s promises.
Now let Ingrid sister make a go further summary.
3.Sister’s comment from my studying summary:
Hello sister, there is not much more to say. The first thing to add is, that the Jewish people waited for the prophet Eliah and they still wait for the prophet
Eliah, because, they believe, that he has to come first and then the Messiah.
When they saw John baptizing at the Jordan, most of them were blind for to see, that John was the one who came in the spirit of Eliah and that the word of the prophet Isaiah has fulfilled with the coming of John the Baptist.
The next thing that it interesting is, that only the common people and sinners came to John for to find a solution for their problems. The upper class – as we read in other gospels – sended messengers out for to ask John who he was, but they did not repent and they did not get baptized of John.
The common people thought, that John must be the Messiah, because of the deep repentance in their hearts. But at last, Jesus came for to become baptized, too, and the dove about him witnessed that he is the Messiah.
John had to go to prison after and were killed of Herodias, that was the end of his ministry.
The list of the fathers of Jesus is written here, to prove that he was man s descendent and a grandchild of King David and Adam, the first man. Here we find – in contrast to the gospel of Matthew – the list of the fathers of Joseph.
Joseph did not get the kingdom of David by blood but by marriage, the same way how David got the kingdom of Saul by marrying his daughter.
By this way, God solved a problem, that he said of one bad king in the past, there will never sit grandchildren on the throne, but the Messiah had to be descendent exactly of this king. For God no problem is insolvable.
- Q list part: base on Luke 3th items:
Okay. Base on above bible study content, now let me ask sister some related questions.
We hope the following questions can be helpful to our brothers and sisters who have just become Christians.
- Who was John the Baptist, and what was his role?
John the Baptist was the last of the old-testimony prophets and his role was, to come in the spirit of Eliah and call the people to repentance.
- What did John the Baptist preach about?
He preached about repentance and the forgiving of sin and that there will come the Messiah soon.
- What did John mean when he said that Jesus would baptize with the Holy Spirit and fire?
He refers to the book of Acts chapter 3 when Jesus sent down the Holy Spirit in form of fire flames unto the disciples.
- Why did John tell people not to rely on being descendants of Abraham?
Because family relationships and belonging to a religious people does not replace the need of repentance. Salvation is personal and everybody has to repent from his own sins.
- What did the crowds ask John, and what was his answer?
They asked what to do and he explained how to get baptized and what to do to be a better person.
- What did the Holy Spirit do when Jesus was baptized?
The Holy Spirit came down in form of a dove.
- How did God confirm that Jesus was His Son?
There was a voice of heaven that talked.
- Why is Jesus’ genealogy important in this passage?
It was necessary to proof, that Jesus earthly father has herniated the thrown of David by marriage.
- How did John describe the coming of the Lord?
He described, that Jesus will baptize with Holy Spirit and fire.
- What was the significance of the baptism of Jesus by John?
John prepared the people of the coming of the Lord and the salvation.
Jesus saved the people from sin and hell and he baptized with the Holy Spirit, that made it possible, that every person, who take Jesus as a personal savior has him and will be led by the Holy Spirit.
