3:1
The fact that Luke carefully sets the date at the beginning of John’s ministry stresses the importance of John the Baptist. It was the revival of prophecy. However, despite Luke’s care with dates we do not actually know the exact date. The reason is that there are several calendars and dating systems that might have been used: the Roman, the Jewish or the Syrian. For instance, my Study Bible states that the likely date is AD 25-26, while both commentaries I am using prefer AD 28-29. In reality it isn’t that important, what is important is the significance of John the Baptist, and that these are real historical events. The scene is further elaborated upon with Pontius Pilate being the governor. Herod was tetrarch of Galilee, Philip tetrarch of Iturea., and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene. These three had some authority over Herod the Great’s “kingdom”.
3:2
“During the high-priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas”. There was only one high priest at any one time, Annas had been high priest until AD15 but was deposed by the Romans, but he was still respected by many of the Jews, and so still had some effective authority, though Caiaphas was the official high priest.
“The word of God came to John“. This phraseology is similar to that found in some of the Old Testament prophets, eg Jer 1:2; Hos 1:1; Joel 1:1, indicating his importance and place in the line of God’s prophets.
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