Luke 3:7-9 - You brood of vipers!

3:7

Now this is the way to preach! None of the seeker-friendly nonsense, just give it to them straight. “You brood of vipers”. I bet no course on preaching recommends this sort of introduction to a sermon, yet it was what John did. Now, of course, we need to remember that what is recorded in the gospels is a greatly cut-down version of the message, maybe even just the sound bites! So Luke is recording the most memorable and key parts of the message. Even so, it is clear that John told them as it was, he was quite prepared to call sin sin, and sinners sinners. We definitely do need more of this direct preaching today. There is also a clear expectation of the “coming wrath”, there is a day of judgement, and it is real. Note also that there were crowds who came out to be baptised. It is also clear from other references in the gospels that John had had quite an effect. So direct preaching can certainly be effective, when it is the message of God.

3:8,9

The Jews relied on their Abrahamic ancestry, thinking that this gave them a special place in God’s plan. In one way it did, but not in the way that they thought. Jesus encountered the same issue (John 8:31-47). And Peter stresses that God does not show favouritism. John makes it clear that repentance is not merely saying sorry, or regretting what we have done, it involves action, “fruit in keeping with repentance”. God is concerned with who we really are, and the gospel is concerned with producing good fruit, and this includes uprooting what is fruitless or corrupt. We should remember that the message of Jesus is entirely consistent with the message of John. Jesus too preached repentance, and He too looked for fruit, and many of His parables concerned producing fruit.

Luke 3:3-6 - A voice in the wilderness

3:3

John preached a baptism of repentance. Proselyte baptism existed for Gentiles who converted to Judaism, and this may have existed in the first century. A key feature of John’s preaching was that he was calling on the Jews to repent. A fundamental failing of the Jews, particularly the leaders, was their failure to recognise their own need for forgiveness. This is something we all do well to be aware of, namely our own need for forgiveness. If do forget this then we become arrogant and we will be blind to the truth of the gospel. Repentance included an admission of one's guilt and a turning away from our ways and turning to God’s ways. The purpose of all this is forgiveness, not condemnation.

3:4-6

This quote comes from Isaiah 40:3-5. Isaiah is the book in the Old Testament with the clearest prophecies of the coming of Christ and the purpose of God’s plans. All four gospels quote from Isaiah 40:3, only Luke extends it to include verses 4 and 5. A particular concern of Luke’s is the gospel going to the Gentiles, so he is keen to stress that “all peoples will see God’s salvation”.

Luke 3:1,2 - In the fifteenth year

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.

Luke 2:48-52 - Increasing in wisdom

2:48-50

In some ways Mary and Joseph were just normal parents with the anxieties that normal parents have with regard to their offspring. Jesus expresses surprise that they did not know where to find Him. The angel had told Mary that her son would be Son of the Most High (Luke 1:32). The temple was the natural place to find Him, in His Father’s house. Jesus expects us to take the word of God seriously. However, Mary and Joseph did not understand.

2:51,52

Jesus then returned with them to Nazareth “and was obedient to them”. His visit to the temple was not a symptom of disobedience. Just ponder for a moment the magnitude of what we are reading here. Jesus is the Son of God, the One through whom all things were created. Yet here is the Son of God submitting in obedience to normal human beings. We something of the fulness of the incarnation, the fulness of His becoming human.

Mary pondered the things that had been happening, and the things that had been said. We need to dwell on the word of God, and on what He does in our lives. Sometimes there is a sudden flash of light and we see something, but at other times we need to ponder things and it is only over time that the truth will dawn.

So Jesus grew in wisdom and stature. The verse is similar to what was said about John, but there are also differences. There was no mention of John growing in favour with God and man.

Luke 2:45-47 - Mature beyond his years

2:45-47

They had travelled for one day, so it would take a further day to travel back, and it took them a further day to actually find Jesus. They must have been quite worried by this point. When they did find Him He was in the temple. There He was in the temple courts listening and asking questions. He was also giving answers, and the people who heard Him were amazed at His understanding and answers. Jesus is the Son of God and He naturally had great understanding. We should also note that it is possible for young people today to have great understanding. Obviously not to the level of Jesus, but significant understanding nonetheless. There is a girl in our church who attends some teaching meetings and her wisdom and understanding is amazing, and it is a joy to listen to her. Our society, in its rush towards godlessness, is destroying people. Increasingly people do not “grow-up” in the sense of taking responsibility and becoming mature, yet at the same time society pressurises them into becoming sexually active. In the church we should aim to adopt a much more Biblical approach.

Luke 2:41-44 - Boy gone missing

2:41,42

We now jump almost twelve years and come to one of the most well-known stories. Yet again the obedience to the Law of Joseph and Mary is stressed, with their regular attendance at the Festival of the Passover (Deut 16:16). The significance of Jesus being twelve years old is that He was now considered to be a man in terms of obeying the Law.

2:43,44

Jesus’ parents left, not knowing that Jesus had stayed behind. Now we might wonder how they could have been unaware of it. Well, things like that happen even today. David Cameron infamously left his daughter in a pub . In those days people were far less paranoid than we are now, and there was a greater community atmosphere, so Mary and Joseph probably just assumed he was just somewhere else “in their company” (they would have travelled with a group of people). Only after they had travelled for a day did they realise He wasn’t with them. They would have travelled maybe twenty miles.

Luke 2:36-40 - Anna the prophet

2:36-38

Another prophet is now involved. Note that this prophet is a woman. Women can be prophets of God. She had also had a hard life in many ways. She had been married for only a few years and had then been widowed. Now she was eighty four. Rather than marrying again she had devoted herself to God. Now this does not mean that a widow must remain single (see 1 Timothy 5), but there is great value in choosing to deny oneself and instead devote oneself to serving the Lord. This devotion involved fasting, worshipping and praying. This time, rather frustratingly, we are not told what she said about Jesus. Her words were directed not just to Mary and Joseph, but to others in the temple who were waiting for the redemption of Jerusalem. Since her words are not mentioned one can guess that the content was much the same as had been said in the previous songs and prophecies.

2:39,40

There is yet further emphasis on Mary and Joseph having fulfilled the Law. Why does Luke place such an emphasis on this? It is because most of the early opposition to the gospel came from the Jewish leaders, Luke wants to demonstrate that Jesus is the fulfilment of the Law and the Prophets, not a rebellion against it, and to counter accusations made against the gospel and the church by Jewish leaders.

They returned to Nazareth and Jesus grew up in the way that all children grow up. Naturally, He did this in obedience to God, and the favour of God was upon Him. In Jesus we see what humanity is meant to be like, and can be like if live in faith and obedience to God.