Bible Commentaries
Luke 3

Verses 1-20

Luke 3:1-20 . John the Baptist.— Mark 1:1-8 *, Matthew 3:1-12 *. also Mark 6:17-29 *, Matthew 14:3-12 *. Lk. now (to Luke 9:50) follows the Marcan account of the Galilean ministry of Jesus and its antecedents; he adds material from Q and other sources.

Luke 3:1 . On the chronology, see pp. 652f.; Pontius Pilate, p. 609; Herod (Antipas) and Philip, p. 609. Abilene was the district round Abila between Mt. Hermon and Anti-Lebanon, north-west of Damascus. Caiaphas was really high-priest (since A.D. 18); Annas, his father-in-law, had held the office A.D. 6– 15, and was still a man of great influence.

Luke 3:6 . Lk.’ s universalism appears in this extension of the quotation from Isaiah 40; Isaiah vv7 may also reflect hie wider interests against Mt.’ s “ Pharisees and Sadducees.”

Luke 3:10-14 . Lk. only. An interesting addition to Mt., giving us a view of John’ s teaching which reminds us of Micah 6:8. Kindness and fair dealing between man and man are the Divine requirements; they show that repentance is bearing fruit and therefore genuine.— publicans: Matthew 5:46 *.— soldiers: probably in the service of Antipas ( cf. Luke 23:11); perhaps for the war against Aretas (p. 654), or perhaps a kind of gendarmerie supporting the tax-collectors.— wages: lit. rations.

Luke 3:15 is also peculiar to Lk., and may be his own way of leading up to Luke 3:16 f. Another way is shown in John 1:19 ff.

Luke 3:18 f. Lk. here sums up, and inserts what Mk. and Mt. give more fully at a later point. He does not tell us of John’ s death, but like the others he makes the Baptist’ s imprisonment the signal for Jesus to begin His work.

Verse 21

Luke 3:21 f. The Baptism of Jesus ( Mark 1:9-11 *, Matthew 3:13-17 *).— Lk. notes that Jesus was praying ( cf. Luke 9:29, Luke 11:1, etc.). In the early Church it was customary immediately after baptism to pray for the gift of the Spirit. Lk. explicitly gives a bodily form to the Spirit, and does not definitely limit the vision to Jesus. Many scholars uphold the reading of Codex Bezæ in Luke 3:22, “ Thou art my Son: I have begotten thee this day” ( cf. Psalms 2:7.) If this be the true reading it indicates a belief that Jesus received, as it were, a new soul at the Baptism, or that He then became the Messiah.

Verses 23-28

Luke 3:23-38 . The Genealogy of Jesus ( cf. Matthew 1:1-17 *).— The words “ as was supposed” are perhaps from a later hand than that which first compiled the pedigree. Jesus here descends from David, not through Solomon (Matthew 16 f.) but through Nathan. There are other differences; the most noteworthy is that Lk. with characteristic universality goes back beyond Abraham to “ Adam, the son of God.” Jesus is the second Adam ( Romans 5:14, 1 Corinthians 15:22; 1 Corinthians 15:45).

Luke 3:23 . when he began: the words “ to teach” are not in the Gr. AV is wrong in connecting the verb with the age of Jesus. We must follow RV’ s interpretation, or suppose that something like “ to be the Son of God” ( cf. Luke 3:22 *) has been omitted on doctrinal grounds.