Bible Commentaries
Luke 3

Verse 1

1 According to some facts of history it would seem that the.fifteenth year of Tiberius Caesar is too late for the other things mentioned in this verse. The difficulty is made clear by a statement in Webster's Ancient History, page 447. "Of the successors of Augustus, the first, and by far the ablest, was his stepson, Tiberius. His merits as a soldier and administrator were well known to Augustus, who, even during his own lifetime, granted Tiberius a share in the government." The fifteen years of Tiberius mentioned by Luke includes the three years he reigned jointly with Augustus.

Verse 2

2 Joh 18:13 calls Annas the father-in-law to- Caiaphas the high priest. There was no provision made in the law of Moses for more than one high priest to be in office at the same time, but in the days of Christ the secular government was taking much part in the affairs of the Jews. In that arrangement Annas was president of the Sanhedrin and Caiaphas was high priest for religious activities. Chapter 1:80 leaves John in the wilderness, and the present verse says the Lord called him by His word.

Verse 3

3 At the Lord's call, John came out of his retirement and began preaching in the region of the Jordan. Baptism of repentance means baptism that is preceded and prompted by repentance or a turning away from the practice of sin. For remission of sins denotes that repentance and baptism was in order to the remission of sins.

Verse 4

4 Esaias is the same as Isaiah, and this prophecy is in that book, chapter 40:3; 4. Make his paths straight is explained at Mat 3:3.

Verse 5

5 This verse is a figurative description of preparing the path mentioned in the preceding verse, which was to be accomplished by adjusting the conditions in the lives of men to suit them for the service of Christ who was to follow soon.

Verse 6

6 All flesh signifies that the Gentiles as well as the Jews were to receive the benefits of salvation through the work of Christ.

Verse 7

7 This verse is explained at Mat 3:7.

Verse 8

8 Fruits worthy of repentance means to show by a reformation of life that they had repented. For further comments on this verse see those at Mat 3:9.

Verse 9

9 Ax is laid means it will be done at the proper time which will be at the judgment day. However, the way for them to avoid that "ax" was being pointed out by John, and it required the people to bring forth a life of righteousness.

Verse 10

0 John had been preaching in general terms, now the people wished him to specify some of the things they would be expected to do.

Verse 11

1 This verse pertains to the duty that one owes to another, in sharing his good things of life with those who do not have them.

Verse 12

2 The publicans are described by comments on Mat 9:10.

Verse 13

3 The quotation cited at the preceding verse shows that the publicans were assigned the duty of collecting the taxes from the people. Many of them had taken advantage of their appointment to demand more than the government levied, then putting the difference in their own pockets.

Verse 14

4 A soldier has no right to oppress the citizens just because he is a military man. To accuse falsely means to extort money from the people to be used on their own gratification. Be content with your wages. Dissatisfaction with one's wages does not make it right to use violence against the government or other employer.

Verse 15

5 Mused is properly rendered "reasoned, or debated" in the margin. The people were considering the reasons for and against the question whether John were the Christ predicted in the Scriptures.

Verse 16

6 John answered. The people had done their reasoning in their hearts, hence John had to be inspired to answer them. He did so by telling some of the differences between himself and "the Christ." The first one he gave was the baptism each performed. John baptized with water only but the one coming next would baptize with the Holy Ghost (Spirit) and with fire. The first one by Jesus took place on the day of Pentecost and the subjects were the apostles. The second one will take place after the judgment and the subjects will be the disobedient persons of the earth. What he says about the shoes is to illustrate his sense of inferiority to Christ.

Verse 17

7 Fan is explained by the comments on Mat 3:12.

Verse 18

8 John not only' preached the truth to the people, but he exhorted them, which means to "insist on doing a known duty."

Verse 19

0 For the information on this see Mat 14:3-5 and comments.

Verse 21

2 The reader should see the comments on Mat 3:13-17.

Verse 23

3 As was supposed is from NOMIZO and is defined by Thayer, "to hold by custom or usage, own as a custom or usage." The people in general did not understand the whole story of Jesus and Joseph, hence Luke inserts the clause in order to make his record conform to the facts. Matthew (chapter 1) records the genealogy of Jesus from Abraham, down through David's son Solomon until he gets to the same Joseph of our chapter, who was the son-in-law of Heli, the father of Mary. Then, beginning his genealogy of Jesus on his real mother's side, Luke records it from her and her father Heli up on that side and joins the genealogy with that of Matthew when he gets to Nathan who was the full brother of Solomon. From there on Luke records the same genealogy as Matthew until he gets to Abraham, the plate where Matthew begins his, but Luke goes on up until he gets to Adam who was the first man. Before going any further here, the reader should carefully consult the comments on Mat 1:1-2.

Verse 24

8 I have grouped these verses into one paragraph because they have been virtually all considered in the preceding one. In ancient times certain names were used even by more than one person in the same family. If the reader observes some that he thinks he has read elsewhere he should not become confused. To clarify the subject for a final comment, let it be understood that Matthew gives the genealogy of Christ on his foster father's (Joseph) side of the house, while Luke gives it on his mother's side, both blood streams being joined in David.