JOHN THE
BAPTIST
1In the
fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate being governor
of Judea, and Herod being tetrarch of Galilee, and his brother Philip tetrarch
of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene,
2during the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas,
the word of God
came to John the son of Zechariah in the wilderness.
3And he went
into all the region around the Jordan, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for
the forgiveness of sins.
4As it is
written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet,
“The voice of
one crying in the wilderness:
‘Prepare the way
of the Lord,
make his paths
straight.
5Every valley
shall be filled,
and every
mountain and hill shall be made low,
and the crooked
shall become straight,
and the rough
places shall become level ways,
6and all flesh
shall see the salvation of God.’”
LUKE 3:1-6
COMMENTARY
Luke is well
known for his own investigation of the biographical data of the life of our
Lord (Luke 1:1-4); and in this case, he starts the ministry of John the Baptist
by giving us the exact time period when this supernatural event took place,
mentioning the year in which the Roman Emperor reigned, 29CE; and the
subsequent leaders in the world that Jesus and John lived, being Pontius Pilate
governor of Judea, and the tetrarchies of Herod Antipas, his brother Phillip,
and the Greek Lysanias, during the Hight Priesthood of Annas and his son in law
Caiaphas, in order to provide a credible historical frame to the story he is
about to tell. It is plain clear that the author is trying to communicate a
historical event and not a fable or tale.
By the story, we
know John, the son of Zachariah and Elisabeth (Luke 1:5-17), was already living
an austere life in the desert, south of Jerusalem, near the Jordan-Dead Sea region
(Luke 3:2). He was full of the Holy Spirit before he was born, like other men
of God before and after him (Jeremiah 1:5; Galatians 1:5). He was chosen and sanctified
for the ministry he had ahead of him. But that year, the Holy Spirit moved John
to an active ministry of repentance.
The text says
that ‘The Word of God’ came to him. That is the idea of preaching the coming of
the Messiah, and the calling of people to repentance and baptism, cleaning
themselves of their sins in a visible manner, in order to be ready to receive
the Messenger of God.
It has been said
that this baptism was not the same as Christian baptism. That is undeniable by
Scripture alone (Acts 19:4-5). But the difference was the person of our Lord
Jesus. John’s Baptism was not in the Name of the Trinity, or even Jesus; and
did not mark the New Birth of a believer, which is essential; but otherwise, it
was similar to it. An aspiration to a pure life towards GOD (1Peter 3:21); and
it is the precursor of our modern baptism in water and by immersion of
believing adults.
John’s ministry
was an act of mercy from the Father, who sent a messenger to prepare the people
for the coming of the Messiah, our Lord JESUS CHRIST.
John came living
an ascetic and holy life, preaching openly about holiness and the coming of Jesus,
in order that the people, in their limited knowledge, could at least recognize
in John a true prophet, and listen to his call of repentance, and be ready to
the words of Jesus.
That is how it
was fulfilled in John’s ministry the prophecy of Isaiah 40:3-5.
The Grace of God
was active prior to the appearance of the Son of God.
Omar Flores.
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