Make Straight the Way of The Lord

Luke 3:1–6 NKJV

1 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, 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.’ ”

Lukes begins this third chapter by giving us the political overview of the time, which helps us to date the time that these thing were happening. The people in power at this time are also important because we will see many of them appear later in the story.

These where the men that God had purposed to use to accomplish His plan of redemption.

In Acts Luke records an event that took place on Solomon’s Porch at the Temple. Peter and John were at the temple and they came across a lame man begging, and Peter healed him in the name of Jesus. Afterwards a crowd gather around and Peter began to preach. After he preached about 5000 came to faith in Christ. So the high priest (the same ones mentioned here in Luke) had them arrested. After keeping them over night they decided to let them go with a warning. When they were released they went back to the others and after they told them everything that happened they all prayed and the prayer is recorded in which I would like to read a potion of that prayer.

Acts 4:24–28 NKJV

24 So when they heard that, they raised their voice to God with one accord and said: “Lord, You are God, who made heaven and earth and the sea, and all that is in them, 25 who by the mouth of Your servant David have said: ‘Why did the nations rage, And the people plot vain things? 26 The kings of the earth took their stand, And the rulers were gathered together Against the Lord and against His Christ.’ 27 “For truly against Your holy Servant Jesus, whom You anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles and the people of Israel, were gathered together 28 to do whatever Your hand and Your purpose determined before to be done.

These kings and rulers were raised up by God to do whatever He determined before to be done.

The Kings and Rulers

Luke 3:1–2 NKJV

1 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, the word of God came to John the son of Zacharias in the wilderness.

The time was in the 15th year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar. so already we are seeing a change of power since the birth of Jesus. Luke 2:1

Luke 2:1 NKJV

1 And it came to pass in those days that a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered.

Tiberius Caesar was the stepson of Augustus. His father was a Roman politician who his mother divorced and she married Augustus. After Augustus die Tiberius became Caesar in 14 AD so that means that Luke record tells us that the events in chapter took place about 29 AD.

All the other rulers mentioned here falls in that time line as well.

The key names to remember as they will make later appearances are:

Pontius Pilate, governor of Judea

Herod who is Antipas tetrarch of Galilee, Same Herod who has John beheaded and mocks Jesus.

Annas and Caiaphas high priest. No this might sound confusing as there should only be one high priest and there was only one offical high priest and that was Caiaphas, his father in law Annas was high priest until 15AD however, he was the head of the Sanhedrin

So these were the ones in power at the time that John was in the wilderness and the word of God came to him.

Just like today there were wicked corrupt rulers. There was no justice, there was oppression. And just like today everyone had different ideas about how to fix the problems. The zealots wanted to overthrow the Roman oppressors but to what end. How long before they became corrupt. It reminds me of a quote from the movie The Patriot which is a movie about the American revolution. Why would I trade 1 dictator a 1000 miles away for a 1000 dictators 1 mile away.

We are about to have another election in the USA. Everyone will go to the polling booths and mark down the person that they hope will fix the problems with the country as they see them. But I can assure you of this that after the election, regardless of who gets into office, America will continue to have all the same problems they have now. Why? Because salvation will not come through a political leader.

I believe that one of the reasons that we put such hope in politicians is that we believe the lie that the problem with the world is external. We always think that we just need to tweak a couple of things and the world will be good again. The problem is not external, the problem is internal.

So John comes on the scene

Luke 3:2–3 NKJV

2 while Annas and Caiaphas were high priests, 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,

The Voice of One Crying Out in the Wilderness

John was a rough looking character according to the Bible. He wore a camel hair coat with a leather belt, he would have had long hair and a long beard as he had taken the vow of the nazarite which meant he couldn’t cut his hair. His diet consisted of locust and wild honey. And while he was in the wilderness the word of God came to him. That is the utterance of God came to him. When God gives you something to say you best say it. So it says that he began going all around the region of Jordan preaching the utterance of God. which was a baptism of repentance for the remission of sins.

So no doubt he was in the regions of the Jordan because there he could baptise people. But what is going on here? This was not quite the same as the baptism that we practice today. So what was it?

The Jews had many laws around the the rituals of washing yourself and still do today. They have a bath called a Mikvah which is used for ritual immersion for a ritual purification. It is used on various by both men and women but it symbolises spiritual purity. So anytime someone is considered unclean (such as if they have touched a dead body) then they would immerse themself of baptise themself in this pool. If a Gentile converts to Judaism then in the final stage of their conversion they would be immersed in a Mikvah. This could also be done in any natural water source particularly living water like a river.

So when John was baptising people it was not some foreign concept. They understood what he was doing. However, his baptism was particularly a baptism of repentance for the remission of sins. So John message was you are all sinners and you must repent and wash yourselves as a act of your decision to repent. So Johns message was the problem is not external it is internal, the problem is sin, your own sin and you need to repent and be washed.

Luke reminds us of what it says in Isaiah 40:3-5

Isaiah 40:3–5 NKJV

3 The voice of one crying in the wilderness: “Prepare the way of the Lord; Make straight in the desert A highway for our God. 4 Every valley shall be exalted And every mountain and hill brought low; The crooked places shall be made straight And the rough places smooth; 5 The glory of the Lord shall be revealed, And all flesh shall see it together; For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”

Prepare the Way of the Lord

How does preaching a baptism of repentance for remission of sins prepare the way for Christ?

Until you know your great spiritual need then Jesus has no way into your heart.

Luke 5:30–32 NKJV

30 And their scribes and the Pharisees complained against His disciples, saying, “Why do You eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?” 31 Jesus answered and said to them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. 32 I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance.”

Are you sick or are you well? Are you righteous or are you a sinner?

There is great advantage to being sick and to being a sinner.

Matthew 5:3–6 NKJV

3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, For theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 4 Blessed are those who mourn, For they shall be comforted. 5 Blessed are the meek, For they shall inherit the earth. 6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, For they shall be filled.