40 Days of Jesus ~ Day 19 (Luke 3)

Luke 3

Now
in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate
being governor of Judea, Herod being tetrarch of Galilee, his brother
Philip tetrarch of Iturea and the region of Trachonitis, and Lysanias
tetrarch of Abilene, 2 while Annas and Caiaphas were high priests,[a] the word of God came to John the son of Zacharias in the wilderness. 3 And he went into all the region around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the remission of sins, 4 as it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet, saying:

“The voice of one crying in the wilderness:
‘Prepare the way of the Lord;
Make His paths straight.
5 Every valley shall be filled
And every mountain and hill brought low;
The crooked places shall be made straight
And the rough ways smooth;
6 And all flesh shall see the salvation of God.’”[b]

John Preaches to the People

7 Then
he said to the multitudes that came out to be baptized by him, “Brood
of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? 8 Therefore bear fruits worthy of repentance, and do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I say to you that God is able to raise up children to Abraham from these stones. 9 And
even now the ax is laid to the root of the trees. Therefore every tree
which does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.”
10 So the people asked him, saying, “What shall we do then?”
11 He
answered and said to them, “He who has two tunics, let him give to him
who has none; and he who has food, let him do likewise.”
12 Then tax collectors also came to be baptized, and said to him, “Teacher, what shall we do?”
13 And he said to them, “Collect no more than what is appointed for you.”
14 Likewise the soldiers asked him, saying, “And what shall we do?”
So he said to them, “Do not intimidate anyone or accuse falsely, and be content with your wages.”
15 Now as the people were in expectation, and all reasoned in their hearts about John, whether he was the Christ or not, 16 John
answered, saying to all, “I indeed baptize you with water; but One
mightier than I is coming, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to loose.
He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. 17 His winnowing fan is
in His hand, and He will thoroughly clean out His threshing floor, and
gather the wheat into His barn; but the chaff He will burn with
unquenchable fire.”
18 And with many other exhortations he preached to the people. 19 But Herod the tetrarch, being rebuked by him concerning Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife,[c] and for all the evils which Herod had done, 20 also added this, above all, that he shut John up in prison.

This advice that John gives is interesting–the specifics we see are very physical things. We know he preached repentance, but this practical advice in answer to the “what shall we do?” question has nothing overtly to do with the spiritual?

Or does it? Each thing he instructs has something in common–John’s instructions all point people to focus away from themselves. To not be self-seeking. Once you’re no longer self-seeking, it’s so much easier to hear God whisper what He wants for you.

John Baptizes Jesus

21 When all the people were baptized, it came to pass that Jesus also was baptized; and while He prayed, the heaven was opened. 22 And
the Holy Spirit descended in bodily form like a dove upon Him, and a
voice came from heaven which said, “You are My beloved Son; in You I am
well pleased.”

The Genealogy of Jesus Christ

23 Now Jesus Himself began His ministry at about thirty years of age, being (as was supposed) the son of Joseph, the son of Heli, 24 the son of Matthat,[d] the son of Levi, the son of Melchi, the son of Janna, the son of Joseph, 25 the son of Mattathiah, the son of Amos, the son of Nahum, the son of Esli, the son of Naggai, 26 the son of Maath, the son of Mattathiah, the son of Semei, the son of Joseph, the son of Judah, 27 the son of Joannas, the son of Rhesa, the son of Zerubbabel, the son of Shealtiel, the son of Neri, 28 the son of Melchi, the son of Addi, the son of Cosam, the son of Elmodam, the son of Er, 29 the son of Jose, the son of Eliezer, the son of Jorim, the son of Matthat, the son of Levi, 30 the son of Simeon, the son of Judah, the son of Joseph, the son of Jonan, the son of Eliakim, 31 the son of Melea, the son of Menan, the son of Mattathah, the son of Nathan, the son of David, 32 the son of Jesse, the son of Obed, the son of Boaz, the son of Salmon, the son of Nahshon, 33 the son of Amminadab, the son of Ram, the son of Hezron, the son of Perez, the son of Judah, 34 the son of Jacob, the son of Isaac, the son of Abraham, the son of Terah, the son of Nahor, 35 the son of Serug, the son of Reu, the son of Peleg, the son of Eber, the son of Shelah, 36 the son of Cainan, the son of Arphaxad, the son of Shem, the son of Noah, the son of Lamech, 37 the son of Methuselah, the son of Enoch, the son of Jared, the son of Mahalalel, the son of Cainan, 38 the son of Enosh, the son of Seth, the son of Adam, the son of God.

Many of us experience a glazing-over of the eyes when it comes to the genealogy . . .  and many of us also wonder why all the genealogies trace Joseph’s lineage, when Joseph wasn’t his biological father. But it’s interesting to note that Luke and Matthew give two different genealogies for Jesus. Both tracing back to David’s house, and beyond. The explanation for this is pretty simple–there’s no separate word for son-in-law in the ancient languages. When you married, you were one, and you became the son of your wife’s father. So while Matthew’s genealogy actually says “Matthan begot Jacob, and Jacob begot Joseph the husband of Mary,” this one in Luke doesn’t say that. It says that Jesus was the son of Joseph, who was the son of Heli. Scholars think this one must be that Joseph was the son-in-law of Heli, who must have been Mary’s father. They can both trace their lineage back to David. But where Joseph’s goes through Solomon, this one, if you notice, goes through another of David’s sons, Nathan. Pretty interesting!