The sudden appearance of John on the scene, proclaiming a message of repentance is captured by all of the Gospel writers.[1] John introduces his namesake as the first significant event in his Gospel. He portrays those coming to him as curious and trying to identify him. It seemed that an Old Testament figure had re-emerged from the past. Many identified John with Elijah who had been notably taken straight to Heaven without dying. John’s appearance and demeaner also seemed to imitate Elijah’s. Could the prophet from Ahab’s day have retuned in effect to take up a similar role towards a similar northern king in Herod?[2] This would fit with Malachi’s prophecy.[3]
John’s emergence as a prophet was also significant because although there were clearly people around who prophesied such as Anna, the kind of prophetic ministry associated with Elijah, Elisha, Isaiah and Jeremiah seemed t have declined or even disappeared. There certainly hadn’t been serious Scriptural revelation for 400 years.
6.1 Read Luke 3:1-20
Luke sets the events in historical context by reference to four key rulers, it’s 15 years into Tiberius Caesar’s reign whilst Pilate is the governor of Judea and the Herodian dynasty, the brothers Herod and Philip controlling the north of the region. The High priests were Annas and Caiaphas. Note that the two seemed to overlap a little with the son taking over formally as High Priest from his father who retained a lot of influence. At this point, God gives John a prophetic message to proclaim. Note that as well as dating the events historically, Luke’s introduction here also echoes the way in which Old Testament prophets such as Isaiah were introduced v1-2). John begins preaching a message of repentance and baptism in the Jordan region (v3).
Each of the Gospel writers agree that John’s ministry is a fulfilment of Isaiah 40:3-8.[4] The prophet described someone crying out, the focus is on the voice, suggesting someone who seeks little attention or power for themselves and is willing to be a mere voice or herald. The cry was a call to prepare for a royal visit. Just as you might fill in potholes and prepare roads for the visit of a dignitary today, so in Isaiah and John’s day. However, preparations were on a more cosmic scale when the king of kings visited. It wasn’t just about repairing roads and rebuilding paths, no such a visit would require the levelling out of the entire country surrounding Jerusalem creating a gigantic highway for the Messiah. This language is used metaphorically by John, it’s not remodelling of the Judean countryside that is required but changed hearts. Again, the imagery encourages us to think of the proud brought low and the humble raised up. In other words a right heart attitude forsakes both pride, the belief that you are worthy in your own right and false humility or pity which fails to recognise the grace of God poured out in your life giving you a new status, declaring you righteous (v4-6). Observant readers will note that it is only Luke who gives the full quote. This may be intended to emphasise the raising up and lowering, restoring and humbling.
The crowds come to be baptised by John. However, he will not accept mere ritual nor verbal profession. He insists that their lives must change to show “fruit of repentance. This is not just a kind of get out jail free card available to them on the basis of ethnic descent from Abraham. In fact, their repentance is meant to demonstrate that they cannot rely on their ancestral heritage. The warning is that judgement is coming. If Israel had been pictured as a tree or vine in the prophetic books then God was now visiting to see if his people, if his tree was bearing fruit or not (v7-9).
When the people ask him what “fruit of repentance” looked like in practice, John urged them to act justly and fairly, not to oppress or extort the vulnerable but to do good to those in need, sharing clothes and food with the poor. In other words, they were to obey God’s law, particularly as described in Leviticus 19:13-18. Those responding to John included native Jews and soldiers in the service of the Romans and Herod (v10-18).
There was one person in particular who was not happy with John. Herod was in an adulterous relationship with his brother’s wife, Herodias and John rebuked him for this. As a result, Herod had him arrested and imprisoned.
6.2 Read Luke 3:21-38
Jesus also comes out to meet John and be baptised by him. Luke follows Mark’s account closely, keeping the details brief. The key differences are that Luke removes Mark’s reference to Jesus coming from Nazareth, a redundant detail given that Luke has already placed Jesus there. Additionally, where Mark focuses on Jesus himself seeing heaven open, Luke simply describes the event as happening (v21).[5] Matthew at this point includes a conversation between John and Jesus. The baptiser is reluctant to baptise in this case seeing Jesus as greater and therefore the one who should baptise him. Jesus insists, explaining that this is “to fulfil righteousness.”[6]
As the heavens open, God’s spirit is seen to descend on Jesus in the form of a dove. Who is the sign for? Well whilst Luke talks in general terms, Mark’s indication that Jesus saw it and John’s testimony that he had seen it happen and heard the voice from heaven suggest that eye witnesses may have been a small, select group.[7] This was not a sign to convince sceptics but an encouragement for Jesus himself and assurance to those already speaking for him. The Father speaks to the Son making this a Trinitarian moment. He declares that Jesus is his beloved son and that he is pleased with him. Spot the echo here from Genesis 22:2 where God describes Isaac as Abraham’s only beloved son (v22).
This moment seems intended to confirm and commission Jesus’ own public ministry. Luke tells us that he was about thirty years old at this stage (v23a). Luke then provides a family tree of Jesus to show his lineage back through David, Judah, Jacob and Abraham. Matthew begins his Gospel with a similar genealogy, although his begins with Abraham and works forwards to Jesus. There are some differences between the lines which may either indicate that one focuses on the maternal line and the other through Joseph, or alternatively may indicate the presence of levirate marriages in the family tree with one genealogy recording the actual physical ancestor and the other identifying the deceased husband who a younger brother had stepped in for. Luke takes us all the way back to Adam and then declares that he was “the son of God” (v23b-38).
The concluding line of the chapter identifying Adam as “God’s Son” should then be read in conjunction with the heavenly declaration that Jesus was God’s beloved son. Jesus’s sonship in the Gospels indicates divine identity but also tells us something about his humanity. Adam, made in God’s image was in a sense his son, just as the people of Israel are described as the Son.[8] If Adam lost that right to be called “Son” through sin, then in Christ, rightful human sonship is restored.
6.3 Pointing to Jesus
John’s Gospel, attributed to John the Evangelist and traditionally presumed to be the work of the disciple/apostle named John (so not to be confused with John the Baptist), also records that John specifically identified and pointed out Jesus to his disciples causing some of them to start following Jesus instead of him.[9]
The Baptist sees Jesus and says:
“Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! [10]
speaking to Andrew and another tells them:
“Look, the Lamb of God!””[11]
John’s language alludes to the lambs and goats used in the sacrificial system, possibly combining the imagery of a sin offering with that of the scapegoat, driven our of the camp or city to represent sin being removed from God’s people.
[1] C.f. Mark 1:2-8 & Matthew 3:1-12.
[2] John 1:19-28.
[3] Malachi 4:5.
[4] Mattthew 3:3, Mark 1:2-3. John 1:23 puts Isaiah’s words directly into John the Baptist’s mouth.
[5] Mark 1:9-10.
[6] Matthew 3:14-15).
[7] John 1:32-34.
[8] Hosea 11:1.
[9] John 1:29-42.
[10] John 1:29
[11] John 1:36.
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