Friday, June 19, 2020

The writings of Luke the physician starting with his version of the gospel - Luke 3:1-14 comments: John the Baptist preaches





Luke 3:1 ¶  Now in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate being governor of Judaea, and Herod being tetrarch of Galilee, and his brother Philip tetrarch of Ituraea and of the region of Trachonitis, and Lysanias the tetrarch of Abilene, 2  Annas and Caiaphas being the high priests, the word of God came unto John the son of Zacharias in the wilderness. 3  And he came into all the country about Jordan, preaching the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins; 4  As it is written in the book of the words of Esaias the prophet, saying, The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. 5  Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be brought low; and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough ways shall be made smooth; 6  And all flesh shall see the salvation of God. 7  Then said he to the multitude that came forth to be baptized of him, O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come? 8  Bring forth therefore fruits worthy of repentance, and begin not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to our father: for I say unto you, That God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham. 9  And now also the axe is laid unto the root of the trees: every tree therefore which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. 10  And the people asked him, saying, What shall we do then? 11  He answereth and saith unto them, He that hath two coats, let him impart to him that hath none; and he that hath meat, let him do likewise. 12  Then came also publicans to be baptized, and said unto him, Master, what shall we do? 13  And he said unto them, Exact no more than that which is appointed you. 14  And the soldiers likewise demanded of him, saying, And what shall we do? And he said unto them, Do violence to no man, neither accuse any falsely; and be content with your wages.

I’ve already mentioned that Herod’s territory was divided among his children after death. Tiberius Caesar had been a very successful general but also a very reluctant emperor at the age of 55 when he succeeded Augustus who spent much of his time away from Rome. The wicked Caligula would rule after him. Pontius Pilate is known to us outside of the Bible account by the inscription on the Pilate Stone, a brief mention by the historian Tacitus, and some apocryphal Christian writings.

Like any good historian, Luke is giving the political/religious context of the events he is about to relate starting with the beginning of John the Baptist’s preaching. The Saviour of the Jews and mankind has come to earth at the bottom of the socio-political ladder. God’s order and His plan is not about kings and princes. He doesn’t come into the world in a palace with a high-sounding titles like king so-and-so or general whose-its leading an army with swords and spears, or even tanks and airplanes for that matter.

John came preaching the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins.

Ezekiel 18:30 ¶  Therefore I will judge you, O house of Israel, every one according to his ways, saith the Lord GOD. Repent, and turn yourselves from all your transgressions; so iniquity shall not be your ruin.

This is fundamentally different from the baptism that Christians will have done after the resurrection. Notice how Apollos had to be corrected because he knew only this baptism of national repentance for the Jewish people.

 Acts 18:24 ¶  And a certain Jew named Apollos, born at Alexandria, an eloquent man, and mighty in the scriptures, came to Ephesus. 25  This man was instructed in the way of the Lord; and being fervent in the spirit, he spake and taught diligently the things of the Lord, knowing only the baptism of John. 26  And he began to speak boldly in the synagogue: whom when Aquila and Priscilla had heard, they took him unto them, and expounded unto him the way of God more perfectly.

Notice here in Acts that the community of the Jews and proselytes had to be baptized before receiving the Holy Spirit.

Acts 2:38  Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.

But, in Acts 10 the Holy Ghost is poured out on the Gentile believers who then are baptized afterwards as a sign of their new position in God with Christ.

Acts 10:44 ¶  While Peter yet spake these words, the Holy Ghost fell on all them which heard the word. 45  And they of the circumcision which believed were astonished, as many as came with Peter, because that on the Gentiles also was poured out the gift of the Holy Ghost. 46  For they heard them speak with tongues, and magnify God. Then answered Peter, 47  Can any man forbid water, that these should not be baptized, which have received the Holy Ghost as well as we?
48  And he commanded them to be baptized in the name of the Lord. Then prayed they him to tarry certain days.

Baptism is an important Christian ordinance associated with a changed heart without which baptism alone has no saving power. It is not magic, but an outward profession of an inward commitment after the Holy Ghost has worked on a person’s heart and they realize they must turn from their dead works and receive Christ as their Saviour. Baptizing a baby who has no understanding of what is happening is no more effective than baptizing a corpse.

Remission is synonymous with forgiveness with the former implying a lessening of the penalty and the latter is the act of forgiving. This usage of words teaches us that we can refuse to enact the punishment and still not forgive. They both go hand-in-hand in the way God deals with us. You cannot say you forgive someone and then punch them in the mouth for their offense against you anymore than you can honestly say that simply because you did not choke someone unconscious that you’ve forgiven them. God forgives and doesn’t exact the penalty we so richly deserve. That is grace that goes beyond mercy. The Greek word is translated 9 times as remission and 6 as forgiveness.

Ephesians 1:7  In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace; [see forgiveness with grace, unmerited mercy, here]

Colossians 1:14  In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins: [see forgiveness lined up with redemption through Christ’s blood here]

Matthew 26:28  For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins. [Christ paid the penalty that man deserved]

Romans 3:25  Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God; [remission, not demanding that man pay the due debt for sin, is based on the forbearance of God]

On a side note of warning, though, about interpretation one of the errors of modern fundamentalism is the viewing of the Bible like the owner’s manual for your car or computer and refusing to use the cross-references to see parallel or synonymous meanings. Obviously, they say, if it is a different word it must have a different meaning. But, by cross-referencing verses, like reviewing the entire context of a verse, the passage in which it is found, one can learn meanings without spending all of our time trying to figure out how many angels can dance on the head of a pin, a phrase that refers to the foolishness of wasting our time on nothing of value.

Cross-referencing verses, like context, provides meaning. The Holy Ghost, for his own purpose, defines gospel as good tidings (good news) by comparing Luke 4:18 with Isaiah 61:1 and the kingdom of God as also the kingdom of Heaven by comparing Matthew 19:23 with verse 24 and Matthew 11:11 & 12 with Luke 7:28 and other passages. The Bible, the story of God’s ministry of reconciling man to Himself, is not like Emily Post’s Etiquette, put your fork here and your knife there, but is a conversation between our Creator and ourselves. Be careful how nitpicky you get trying to swallow subtle meanings, numerology, and codes while choking on mercy, truth, justice, faith, and turning from sin. It is not rocket-science but we make it so because of our modern mind-set about judging a thing by its smallest part from the bottom-up rather than judging a thing by its context from the top-down.

Verses 4-6 hearkens back to;

Isaiah 40:3 ¶  The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye 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 shall be made low: and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain: 5  And the glory of the LORD shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it.

By comparing verses in Isaiah and here in Luke we see that one definition of the glory of the LORD is His salvation. You do this by seeing how an Old Testament verse is quoted or alluded to and then noting the words that are substituted by the Holy Spirit.

John the Baptist is pretty rough on his congregation, the crowds coming to be baptized by him. In verse 7 he uses a phrase the wrath to come. While he will elaborate on God’s judgment through Christ at the end of the human story in the next passage this phrase is used elsewhere for the judgment to come.

1Thessalonians 1:10  And to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, even Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to come.

Revelation 6:17  For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?

Revelation 11:18  And the nations were angry, and thy wrath is come, and the time of the dead, that they should be judged, and that thou shouldest give reward unto thy servants the prophets, and to the saints, and them that fear thy name, small and great; and shouldest destroy them which destroy the earth.

God’s wrath on fallen mankind who rejects His free offer of amnesty is a prominent subject of the book of Revelation but is mentioned throughout the Bible and the church is promised that it will be spared from God’s wrath, although many Christians will experience the wrath of the Beast, popularly called the Antichrist.

John the Baptist tells them to bring an attitude of repentance, not self-justification and ethnic/racial pride. Regardless of their heritage from Abraham they stand morally and religiously bankrupt before a holy God. In the so-called “Sermon on the Mount” Jesus said;

Matthew 5:3  Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Poor in spirit is defined in Psalms and Isaiah.

Psalm 51:17  The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.

Isaiah 66:2  For all those things hath mine hand made, and all those things have been, saith the LORD: but to this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at my word.

This attitude is the foundation of and the origin of fruits worthy of repentance, not pride over your race, religious affiliation, national origin, political leanings.

The people then pleaded with him for instruction. How will these fruits display themselves?
For the people, in verse 11, it is a life of generosity and charity, helping each other.

James 1:27  Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world.

James 2:16  And one of you say unto them, Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled; notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are needful to the body; what doth it profit?

Paul will further define the fruits or proof of the Holy Spirit indwelling a Christian in Galatians, chapter 5, as something against which there can be no law.

22  But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, 23 
Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.

And in Ephesians, chapter 5;

8  For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light: 9  (For the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth;) 10  Proving what is acceptable unto the Lord. 11  And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them.

Verses 12 and 13 show that those wielding governmental authority, here the hated collectors of Roman taxes the publicans, were not to abuse their lawful authority or go beyond it, not to be corrupt. Remember how Zacchaeus in Luke 19, a chief tax collector, swore to Jesus that he restored fourfold to any man that had been accused falsely.

Verse 14 has to do with the extortion that soldiers could be guilty of with their authority of the government behind them and carrying weapons of death on their persons. The people suffered at their hands. The same might be applied to police today [This was written long before the current troubles so get over it.] Jesus gave instructions to His followers that when one of these soldiers demanded that they carry the soldier’s kit for them a mile that they offer to go another mile, giving the disciple of Jesus a moral authority and control over the situation that one does not have if you just grudgingly comply with a soldier who could legally require your assistance in first-century Judea as a guide or a porter. The ability to requisition local services was fundamental to an occupying army. In the context of this next passage you can see the contrast in that while John the Baptist focused on those who had power Jesus focused on the response of those who did not have power.

Matthew 5:38 ¶  Ye have heard that it hath been said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth: 39  But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also. 40  And if any man will sue thee at the law, and take away thy coat, let him have thy cloke also. 41  And whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him twain. 42  Give to him that asketh thee, and from him that would borrow of thee turn not thou away.

Traditionally, many Christians have not viewed these admonitions in regard to avenues of power. They have denied that a person can even defend themselves from ruffians and robbers which shows a clear disregard for the context. This is evident in an interaction Jesus has later in Luke with His disciples.

Luke 22:36  Then said he unto them, But now, he that hath a purse, let him take it, and likewise his scrip: and he that hath no sword, let him sell his garment, and buy one. 37  For I say unto you, that this that is written must yet be accomplished in me, And he was reckoned among the transgressors: for the things concerning me have an end. 38  And they said, Lord, behold, here are two swords. And he said unto them, It is enough.

To say that Jesus’ admonitions deny your ability to defend your family from criminals, whether they wear uniforms or not, is an absurdity. In the passage in Matthew 5 quoted above the context is lawful authority. John the Baptist said to exercise authority lawfully and Jesus said to obey man’s law to the fullest extent and beyond. We are then told the exceptions in Acts when man’s law intrudes on God’s command.

Acts 5:26 ¶  Then went the captain with the officers, and brought them without violence: for they feared the people, lest they should have been stoned. 27  And when they had brought them, they set them before the council: and the high priest asked them, 28  Saying, Did not we straitly command you that ye should not teach in this name? and, behold, ye have filled Jerusalem with your doctrine, and intend to bring this man’s blood upon us. 29  Then Peter and the other apostles answered and said, We ought to obey God rather than men.

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