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LUKE - Christ, the Savior of the World
A Bible Study Course on the Gospel of Christ according to Luke
1. The Acts of John the Baptist (Luke 3:1-20)
LUKE 3:1-6
1 Now 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 in the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John, the son of Zacharias, in the wilderness. 3 He came into all the region around the Jordan, preaching the baptism of repentance for remission 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, ‘Make ready the way of the Lord. Make his paths straight. 5 Every valley will be filled. Every mountain and hill will be brought low. The crooked will become straight, and the rough ways smooth. 6 All flesh will see God’s salvation.
The wheel of history turns toward its end. At that time, Augustus Caesar had died in AD 14 after he had reigned for 45 years (from B.C. 31 to AD 14) over the Mediterranean area calling himself the savior of the world. Tiberius Caesar succeeded him in Rome, and was filled with spite, hatred, and distrust toward all the people. He ruled from AD 14 to AD 37 and during his reign all the events reported in the gospel took place.
The physician Luke particularly focused on the year AD 28/29, for in that year John the Baptist, Christ’s forerunner, came out of his ascetic isolation in the wilderness. The political and religious situations were bad, for Satan’s power over the whole country was evident.
At that time the bloody Herod, killer of the infant boys of Bethlehem had died. Antipas and Philip, Herod’s sons had divided with Lysanias the kingdom of Herod, who had been an agent for Rome. They were no less proud, haughty, and adulterous in their grandiose palaces than their father had been.
During the disorder that took place after Herod’s death, Rome abolished the liberty of Judea, and appointed governors with unrestricted authority. The second governor over Judea was Pontius Pilate, a violent, cold ruler without conscience, who once mixed his enemies’ blood with that of the sacrifices offered in the temple, to abuse the rites, laws, and faith of the people.
The governor who preceded him had deposed Annas, the high priest in AD 15 and appointed in his place one of his relations, whom he also deposed thereafter, until he found in Caiaphas, the attorney general, an obedient person who would do his will. Caiaphas, for his part, delivered legal opinions in agreement with Pilate’s policy toward Jewish law and customs. The Jewish law had appointed that there should be but one high priest at a time, but here were two, to serve some ill turn or other.
Consequently, the situation became worse, and the hearts of people became like a burning desert without water. Yet in a special way, in the midst of public corruption, God began to save mankind, not in the temple, but in the wilderness. There the word of the Lord came to John, the son of Zacharias, as man is unable to establish salvation through his own prayers and acts, but God pierces the wall of our sins with his word, and lightens our dull minds with his gospel. This is the consolation at the beginning of each year, and at all times. The word of God comes to you and fills you, so that you may become filled with the word of your Lord and help to shed light in the world.
John, the greatest of all prophets, preached to those who were thirsty for righteousness. He spoke of a small word of six letters: “repent” (turn back to your Lord). Turn away from your worldly designs and seek God. Change your mind and realize your need of the Holy One. Then you will become conscious of your sinful condition. He who lives without his Lord remains superficial and aimless, in spite of his high diplomas and good manners. Study the gospel deeply, and confess all your sins, asking God’s forgiveness, so that the power of the Lord may dwell in you.
John came in the name of God with baptism, in token of repentance. Immersion in the Jordan symbolized the drowning and burial of the sinner and his purification from sins, whereas his coming out of the water signified his consecration to the holy service of God. Did you realize the meaning of your baptism? Did you die to yourself and rise again in the Spirit of your Lord?
How astonishing! The gospel does not only command you to repent and to deny yourself but guides you, first of all, to the ancient prophecy in (Isaiah 3:4-5) which Luke records. The aim of this prophecy was to reveal the coming of the Lord. To John the preaching of repentance, baptism, and remission of sin were all preparation for the way of the Lord, for the Holy One visited mankind in his Son. Are you ready to meet your Lord, with your heart prepared to receive him?
You cannot come to your Lord while you are unclean. The Holy Spirit leads you to straighten your crooked ways, to break the mountains of your haughtiness, and to fill the valleys of your abominations and the trenches of your error with the grace of God. However, if you try to reform yourself, you will experience in fact that you are unable to prepare the way of the Lord. So we advise you to commit your sinful soul into Christ’s hands from the first day of this year, so that he may give you the power of the Holy Spirit. He will lead you to repentance, strengthen you to overcome your sins and fill you with God’s salvation. Repent, dear brother, for your Lord is coming to you.
PRAYER: O Holy One, I do not deserve to hear your voice. Open my ears, and sanctify my heart, so that I may understand your saying, and separate myself from the corrupt world to prepare myself for your service. Make your way into my heart, and fill my mind with your gospel so that I may become filled with the gospel of your salvation and call the world to you.
QUESTION 31: When did John the Baptist begin his ministry, and what is the meaning of his baptism?