The document provides a detailed commentary on Luke 3, specifically focusing on the historical context during the reign of Tiberius Caesar and the roles of various rulers such as Pontius Pilate and Herod Antipas. It highlights the significance of John the Baptist's ministry beginning during this time of Roman governance, illustrating the political climate and the implications of the change in leadership for the Jewish people. Additionally, it discusses the geographical regions governed by Herod's family and the implications of their rule on the narrative of the New Testament.

1. LUKE 3 COMMENTARY
EDITED BY GLENN PEASE
John the Baptist Prepares the Way
1 In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius
Caesar—when Pontius Pilate was governor of
Judea, Herod tetrarch of Galilee, his brother
Philip tetrarch of Iturea and Traconitis, and
Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene—
BARNES, "Now in the fifteenth year - This was the “thirteenth” year of his
being sole emperor. He was “two” years joint emperor with Augustus, and Luke
reckons from the time when he was admitted to share the empire with Augustus
Caesar. See Lardner’s “Credibility,” vol. i.
Tiberius Caesar - Tiberius succeeded Augustus in the empire, and began his
“sole” reign Aug. 19th, 14 a.d. He was a most infamous character - a scourge to the
Roman people. He reigned 23 years, and was succeeded by “Caius Caligula,” whom
he appointed his successor on account of his notorious wickedness, and that he
might be, as he expressed it, a “serpent” to the Romans.
Pontius Pilate - Herod the Great left his kingdom to three sons. See the notes at
Mat_2:22. To “Archelaus” he left “Judea.” Archelaus reigned “nine” years, when, on
account of his crimes, he was banished into Vienne, and Judea was made a Roman
province, and placed entirely under Roman governors or “procurators,” and became
completely tributary to Rome. “Pontius Pilate” was the “fifth” governor that had been
sent, and of course had been in Judea but a short time. (See the chronological table.)
Herod being tetrarch of Galilee - This was “Herod Antipas” son of Herod the
Great, to whom Galilee had been left as his part of his father’s kingdom. The word
“tetrarch” properly denotes one who presides over a “fourth part” of a country or
province; but it also came to be a general title, denoting one who reigned over any
part - a third, a half, etc. In this case Herod had a “third” of the dominions of his
father, but he was called tetrarch. It, was this Herod who imprisoned John the
Baptist, and to whom our Saviour, when arraigned, was sent by Pilate.
And his brother Philip tetrarch of Iturea - “Iturea” was so called from
“Jetur,” one of the sons of Ishmael, Gen_25:15; 1Ch_1:31. It was situated on the east
side of the Jordan, and was taken from the descendants of Jetur by the tribes of
Reuben and Gad and the half tribe of Manasseh, 1Ch_5:19.
Region of Trachonitis - This region was also on the east of the Jordan, and
extended northward to the district of Damascus and eastward to the deserts of
1

2. Arabia. It was bounded on the west by Gaulonitis and south by the city of Bostra.
Philip had obtained this region from the Romans on condition that he would
extirpate the robbers.
Lysanias the tetrarch of Abilene - Abilene was so called from “Abila,” its chief
city. It was situated in Syria, northwest of Damascus and southeast of Mount
Lebanon, and was adjacent to Galilee.
CLARKE, "Fifteenth year - This was the fifteenth of his principality and
thirteenth of his monarchy: for he was two years joint emperor, previously to the
death of Augustus.
Tiberius Caesar - This emperor succeeded Augustus, in whose reign Christ was
born. He began his reign August 19, a.d. 14, reigned twenty-three years, and died
March 16, a.d. 37, aged seventy eight years. He was a most infamous character.
During the latter part of his reign especially, he did all the mischief he possibly could;
and that his tyranny might not end with his life, he chose Caius Caligula for his
successor, merely on account of his bad qualities; and of whom he was accustomed to
say, This young prince will be a Serpent to the Roman people, and a Phaethon to the
rest of mankind.
Herod - This was Herod Antipas, the son of Herod the Great who murdered the
innocents. It was the same Herod who beheaded John Baptist, and to whom our
Lord was sent by Pilate. See the account of the Herod family in the notes on Mat_2:1
(note).
Iturea and Trachonitis - Two provinces of Syria, on the confines of Judea.
Abilene - Another province of Syria, which had its name from Abila, its chief city.
These estates were left to Herod Antipas and his brother Philip by the will of their
father, Herod the Great; and were confirmed to them by the decree of Augustus.
That Philip was tetrarch of Trachonitis, in the fifteenth year of Tiberius, we are
assured by Josephus, who says that Philip the brother of Herod died in the twentieth
year of Tiberius, after he had governed Trachonitis, Batanea, and Gaulonitis thirty-
seven years. Antiq. b. xviii. c. 5, s. 6. And Herod continued tetrarch of Galilee till he
was removed by Caligula, the successor of Tiberius. Antiq. b. xviii. c. 8, s. 2.
That Lysanius was tetrarch of Abilene is also evident from Josephus. He continued
in this government till the Emperor Claudius took it from him, a.d. 42, and made a
present of it to Agrippa. See Antiq. b. xix. c. 5, s. 1.
Tetrarch signifies the ruler of the fourth part of a country. See the note on Mat_
14:1.
GILL, "Now in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar,....
Emperor of Rome, and the third of the Caesars; Julius was the first, and Augustus
the second, in whose time Christ was born, and this Tiberius the third; he was the
son of Livia, the wife of Augustus, but not by him; but was adopted by him, into the
empire: his name was Claudius Tiberius Nero, and for his intemperance was called,
Caldius Biberius Mero; the whole of his reign was upwards of twenty two years, for
he died in the twenty third year of his reign (g); and in the fifteenth of it, John began
to preach, Christ was baptized, and began to preach also; so that this year may be
truly called, "the acceptable year of the Lord".
Pontius Pilate being governor of Judea; under the Emperor Tiberius, in whose
2

3. reign the Jewish chronologer (h) places him, and the historian (i) also, and make
mention of him as sent by him to Jerusalem: he was not the first governor of Judea
for the Romans; there were before him Coponius, Marcus Ambivius, Annins Rufus,
and Valerius Gratus:
and Herod being tetrarch of Galilee; this was Herod Antipas, the son of Herod
the great, and brother of Archelaus; the above chronologer (k) calls him also a
tetrarch, and places him under Tiberius Caesar: he is sometimes called a king, and so
he is by the Ethiopic version here called "king of Galilee"; and in the Arabic version,
"prince over the fourth part of Galilee"; besides Galilee, he had also Peraea, or the
country beyond Jordan, as Josephus (l) says, and which seems here to be included in
Galilee; See Gill on Mat_14:1.
And his brother Philip tetrarch of Iturea, and of the region of
Trachonitis: Pliny (m) makes mention of the nation of the Itureans, as belonging to
Coele Syria; perhaps Iturea is the same with Batanea, or Auranitis, or both; since
these with Trachon, the same with Trachonitis here, are allotted to Philip by
Josephus (n): it seems to take its name from Jetur, one of the sons of Ishmael, Gen_
25:15 Trachonitis is mentioned by Pliny (o), as near to Decapolis, and as a region and
tetrarchy, as here: Ptolemy (p) speaks of the Trachonite Arabians, on the east of
Batanea, or Bashan: the region of Trachona, or Trachonitis, with the Targumists (q),
answers to the country of Argob. This Philip, who as before by Josephus, so by
Egesippus (r), is said, in agreement with Luke, to be tetrarch of Trachonitis, was
brother to Herod Antipas, by the father's, but not by the mother's side. Philip was
born of Cleopatra, of Jerusalem, and Herod of Malthace, a Samaritan (s): he died in
the twentieth year of Tiberius (t), five years after this:
and Lysanias the tetrarch of Abilene: mention is made of Abila by Pliny (u), as
in Coele Syria, from whence this tetrarchy might have its name; and by Ptolemy (w),
it is called Abila of Lysanius, from this, or some other governor of it, of that name;
and the phrase, "from Abilene to Jerusalem", is to be met with in the Talmud (x),
which doubtless designs this same place: who this Lysanias was, is not certain; he
was not the son of Herod the great, as Eusebius suggests (y), nor that Lysanias, the
son of Ptolemy Minnaeus, whom Josephus (z) speaks of, though very probably he
might be a descendant of his: however, when Tiberius Caesar reigned at Rome, and
Pontius Pilate governed in Judea, and Herod Antipas in Galilee, and Philip his
brother in Iturea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias in Abilene, John the Baptist began to
preach and baptize; to fix the area of whose ministry and baptism, all this is said.
HENRY, "John's baptism introducing a new dispensation, it was requisite that we
should have a particular account of it. Glorious things were said of John, what a
distinguished favourite of Heaven he should be, and what a great blessing to this
earth (Luk_1:15, Luk_1:17); but we lost him in the deserts, and there he remains
until the day of his showing unto Israel, Luk_1:80. And now at last that day dawns,
and a welcome day it was to them that waited for it more than they that waited for
the morning. Observe here,
I. The date of the beginning of John's baptism, when it was that he appeared; this
is here taken notice of, which was not by the other evangelists, that the truth of the
thing might be confirmed by the exact fixing of the time. And it is dated,
1. By the government of the heathen, which the Jews were under, to show that they
were a conquered people, and therefore it was time for the Messiah to come to set up
a spiritual kingdom, and an eternal one, upon the ruins of all the temporal dignity
and dominion of David and Judah.
3

4. (1.) It is dated by the reign of the Roman emperor; it was in the fifteenth year of
Tiberius Caesar, the third of the twelve Caesars, a very bad man, given to
covetousness, drunkenness, and cruelty; such a man is mentioned first (saith Dr.
Lightfoot), as it were, to teach us what to look for from that cruel and abominable
city wherein Satan reigned in all ages and successions. The people of the Jews, after a
long struggle, were of late made a province of the empire, and were under the
dominion of this Tiberius; and that country which once had made so great a figure,
and had many nations tributaries to it, in the reigns of David and Solomon, is now
itself an inconsiderable despicable part of the Roman empire, and rather trampled
upon than triumphed in.
- En quo discordia cives, Perduxit miseros
- What dire effects from civil discord flow!
The lawgiver was now departed from between Judah's feet; and, as an evidence of
that, their public acts are dated by the reign of the Roman emperor, and therefore
now Shiloh must come.
(2.) It is dated by the governments of the viceroys that ruled in the several parts of
the Holy Land under the Roman emperor, which was another badge of their
servitude, for they were all foreigners, which bespeaks a sad change with that people
whose governors used to be of themselves (Jer_30:21), and it was their glory. How is
the gold become dim! [1.] Pilate is here said to be the governor, president, or
procurator, of Judea. This character is given of him by some other writers, that he
was a wicked man, and one that made no conscience of a lie. He reigned ill, and at
last was displaced by Vitellius, president of Syria, and sent to Rome, to answer for his
mal-administrations. [2.] The other three are called tetrarchs, some think from the
countries which they had the command of, each of them being over a fourth part of
that which had been entirely under the government of Herod the Great. Others think
that they are so called from the post of honour they held in the government; they had
the fourth place, or were fourth-rate governors: the emperor was the first, the pro-
consul, who governed a province, the second, a king the third, and a tetrarch the
fourth. So Dr. Lightfoot.
JAMISON, "Luk_3:1-20. Preaching, baptism, and imprisonment of John.
(See on Mat_3:1-12; see on Mar_6:17, etc.).
Here the curtain of the New Testament is, as it were, drawn up, and the greatest of
all epochs of the Church commences. Even our Lord’s own age (Luk_3:23) is
determined by it [Bengel]. No such elaborate chronological precision is to be found
elsewhere in the New Testament, and it comes fitly from him who claims it as the
peculiar recommendation of his Gospel, that he had “accurately traced down all
things from the first” (Luk_1:3). Here, evidently, commences his proper narrative.
Also see on Mat_3:1.
the fifteenth year of Tiberius — reckoning from the period when he was
admitted, three years before Augustus’ death, to a share of the empire [Webster and
Wilkinson], about the end of the year of Rome 779, or about four years before the
usual reckoning.
Pilate ... governor of Judea — His proper title was Procurator, but with more
than the usual powers of that office. After holding it about ten years he was ordered
to Rome, to answer to charges brought against him, but ere he arrived Tiberius died
(a.d. 35), and soon after Pilate committed suicide.
4

5. Herod — (See on Mar_6:14).
Philip — a different and very superior Philip to the one whose wife Herodias went
to live with Herod Antipas. (See Mar_6:17).
Iturea — to the northeast of Palestine; so called from Ishmael’s son Itur or Jetur
(1Ch_1:31), and anciently belonging to the half tribe of Manasseh.
Trachonitis — farther to the northeast, between Iturea and Damascus; a rocky
district, infested by robbers, and committed by Augustus to Herod the Great to keep
in order.
Abilene — still more to the northeast, so called from Abila, eighteen miles from
Damascus [Robinson].
CALVIN, "Luke 3:1.When Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea It is probable
that this was the second year of Pilate’s government: for since Tiberius had held
the reins of government, he had, as Josephus informs us, (xviii. 2:2,) appointed
Valerius Gratus to be governor of Judea, in room of Annius Rufus. This change
might take place in his second year. The same Josephus writes, that Valerius was
governor of Judea for “eleven years, when Pontius Pilate came as his successor,”
(Ant. 18:2:2.) Pilate, therefore, had governed the province for two years, when
John began to preach the Gospel. This Herod, whom Luke makes tetrarch of
Judea, was the second heir of Herod the Great, and succeeded to his father by
will. Archelaus had received the ethnarchy of Judea, but, when he was banished
to Vienna (Jos. Wars, 2, vii. 3) by Augustus, that portion fell into the hands of
the Romans. Luke mentions here two sons of Herod, — Herod Antipas, who had
been made tetrarch of Galilee, and governed Samaria and Peraea, — and Philip,
who was tetrarch of Trachonitis and Iturea, and reigned from the sea of
Tiberias, or Gennesareth, to the foot of Lebanon, which is the source of the river
Jordan.
Lysanias has been falsely supposed to be the son of Ptolemy Mennaeus, King of
Chalcis, who had been long before put to death by Cleopatra, about thirty years
before the birth of Christ, as Josephus relates, (Ant. 15:4:1.) He could hardly
even be the grandson of Ptolemy, who, as the same Josephus records, kindled the
Parthian war, (Wars, 1, xiii. 1;) for then he must have been more than sixty years
of age at the time of which Luke speaks. Besides, as it was under Antigonus that
the Parthian war commenced, he must even then have been a full-grown man.
Now Ptolemy Mennaeus died not long after the murder of Julius Caesar, during
the triumvirate of Lepidus, Antony, and Octavius, (Jos. Wars, 1, xiii. 1.) But as
this grandson of Ptolemy bore the name of Lysanias as well as his father, he
might have left a son who had the same surname. Meanwhile, there can be no
hesitation in rejecting the error of those who make Lysanias to live sixty years
after he had been slain by Cleopatra.
The word Tetrarch is here used in a sense not quite accurate, as if the whole
country had been divided into four parts. But as at first there was a fourfold
division into districts, so afterwards, when other changes took place, the names
Tetrarch and Tetrarchies were retained by way of honor. In this sense Pliny
enumerates seventeen tetrarchies of one country.
BARCLAY, "THE COURIER OF THE KING (Luke 3:1-6)
5

6. 3:1-6 In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, when Pontius Pilate
was governor of Judaea, and when Herod was tetrarch of Galilee, his brother
Philip tetrarch of Ituraea and the district of Trachonitis, and Lysanias tetrarch
of Abilene, in the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came
to John, the son of Zacharias, when he was in the desert. So he came into the
territory around Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance whereby sins might
be forgiven--as it stands written in the book of the words of Isaiah, the prophet,
"The voice of one crying in the wilderness, 'Get ready the road of the Lord,
make his paths straight; every ravine shall be filled up; every mountain and hill
will be made low; the twisted places will be made into straight roads and the
rough places into smooth; and all flesh shall see God's instrument of salvation.'"
To Luke the emergence of John the Baptist was one of the hinges on which
history turned. So much so is that the case that he dates it in no fewer than six
different ways.
(i) Tiberius was the successor of Augustus and therefore the second of the
Roman emperors. As early as A.D. 11 or 12 Augustus had made him his
colleague in the imperial power but he did not become sole emperor until A.D.
14. The fifteenth year of his reign would therefore be A.D. 28-29. Luke begins by
setting the emergence of John against a world background, the background of
the Roman Empire.
(ii) The next three dates Luke gives are connected with the political organization
of Palestine. The title tetrarch (see Greek #5075 and Greek #5076) literally means
governor of a fourth part. In such provinces as Thessaly and Galatia, which were
divided into four sections or areas, the governor of each part was known as a
tetrarch; but later the word widened its meaning and came to mean the governor
of any part. Herod the Great died in 4 B.C. after the reign of about forty years.
He divided his kingdom between three of his sons and in the first instance the
Romans approved the decision.
(a) To Herod Antipas were left Galilee and Peraea. He reigned from 4 B.C. to
A.D. 39 and therefore Jesus' life was lived in Herod's reign and very largely in
Herod's dominions in Galilee.
(b) To Herod Philip were left Ituraea and Trachonitis. He reigned from 4 B.C. to
A.D. 33. Caesarea Philippi was called after him and was actually built by him.
(c) To Archelaus were left Judaea, Samaria and Edom. He was a thoroughly bad
king. The Jews in the end actually petitioned Rome for his removal; and Rome,
impatient of the continual troubles in Judaea, installed a procurator or governor.
That is how the Romans came directly to rule Judaea. At this time Pilate, who
was in power from A.D. 25 until A.D. 37, was the Roman governor. So in this one
sentence Luke gives us a panoramic view of the division of the kingdom which
had once belonged to Herod the Great.
(iii) Of Lysanias we know practically nothing.
6

7. (iv) Having dealt with the world situation and the Palestinian political situation,
Luke turns to the religious situation and dates John's emergence as being in the
priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas. There never at any time were two high-
priests at the one tine. What then does Luke mean by giving these two names?
The high-priest was at one and the same time the civil and the religious head of
the community. In the old days the office of high-priest had been hereditary and
for life. But with the coining of the Romans the office was the object of all kinds
of intrigue. The result was that between 37 B.C. and A.D. 26 there were no fewer
than twenty-eight different high-priests. Now Annas was actually high-priest
from A.D. 7 until A.D. 14. He was therefore at this time out of office; but he was
succeeded by no fewer than four of his sons and Caiaphas was his son-in-law.
Therefore, although Caiaphas was the reigning high-priest, Annas was the power
behind the throne. That is in fact why Jesus was brought first to aim after his
arrest (John 18:13) although at that time he was not in office. Luke associates his
name with Caiaphas because, although Caiaphas was the actual high-priest,
Annas was still the most influential priestly figure in the land.
Luke 3:4-6 are a quotation from Isaiah 40:3-5. When a king proposed to tour a
part of his dominions in the east, he sent a courier before him to tell the people to
prepare the roads. So John is regarded as the courier of the king. But the
preparation on which he insisted was a preparation of heart and of life. "The
king is coming," he said. "Mend, not your roads, but your lives." There is laid on
everyone of us the duty to make life fit for the King to see.
COFFMAN, "In this chapter lies the record of the emergence of John the Baptist
(Luke 3:1-6), the message he delivered (Luke 3:7-14), his announcement of the
Christ (Luke 3:15-17), the conclusion of John's ministry and the baptism of Jesus
(Luke 3:18-21), and the genealogy of Jesus as traced through Mary (Luke
3:23-38).
Now in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate being
governor of Judea, and Herod being tetrarch of Iturea and Trachinitis, and
Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene, in the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the
word of God came unto John the son of Zacharias in the wilderness. (Luke 3:1-2)
The fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius ... On Sept. 17,14 A.D., this ruler
ascended the throne of the Roman Empire.[1]; Luke 3:23 of this chapter states
that Jesus, very near this time, was "about thirty years of age." This was the
consideration that led to the mistake in our present calendar of dating Jesus'
birth at the beginning of our era in the year 1. It is now known, however, that
Tiberius was reigning at the beginning of the year 11 A.D. The Encyclopedia
Britannica has this:
From the beginning of 11, when he celebrated a magnificent triumph, to the time
of the emperor's death in 14, Tiberius remained almost entirely in Italy, and held
rather the position of joint-emperor than that of expectant heir.[2]
All of the provincial affairs of the empire were in the hands of Tiberius from the
date 11 A.D.; and, as Robertson noted, "Luke would naturally use the provincial
point of view."[3] This dates the emergence of John the Baptist and the
7

8. beginning of the ministry of Christ, the latter being in 26 A.D., and John's
ministry having been prior to that, with the two overlapping somewhat, as
detailed in John's Gospel. This harmonizes with a date of April 6,30 A.D. for
Jesus' crucifixion, as recently determined scientifically through computer
studies.[4] It is further corroborated by Matthew's Gospel, which definitely
placed the birth of Christ prior to the death of Herod the Great (4 B.C.). The
calculation based on John 2:20, where Jesus' enemies affirmed that the temple
had been under construction for forty-six years, also confirms this. "The temple
was begun the year the emperor came to Syria; and this was in 20 or 19 B.C."[5]
Adding the forty-six years brings us to the year 26 A.D. in which the first
passover of our Lord's ministry occurred. Any more exact determination of the
date would appear to be impossible at this time, as the many contradictory
opinions of great scholars indicate.
It will be noted that Luke cited no less than six notable persons in high office
with the Roman empire and also with the Jews, nailing down the historical
context of this record with the most dogmatic certainty. This student has an
impression that Luke's citing so many names here was prompted by some
uncertainty on his part with regard to the exact meaning of "fifteenth year of
Tiberius," knowing perhaps that it could have been counted from either 11 A.D.
or 14 A.D.
Here is a list of the dates history has assigned to the periods when each of the
notables Luke here mentioned exercised his authority:
Pontius Pilate, Roman Governor of Judaea (26 A.D. to 36 A.D.). Herod
(Antipas), tetrarch of Galilee (4 B.C. to 39 A.D.). (Herod) Philip, tetrarch of
Iturea (4 B.C. to 34 A.D.). Lysanias, tetrarch of Abilene (not certainly known).[6]
Annas and Caiaphas, high priests in Jerusalem: Annas was high priest from 7
B.C., and although deposed in 15 A.D., continued to be recognized by the Jews as
the true high priest. Caiaphas was only one of five sons and sons-in-law of
Annas, among whom the high priesthood was rotated during New Testament
times.[7] Caiaphas was named high priest, perhaps briefly, in 18 A.D.; and
Dummelow stated that he was appointed "before 26 A.D., being deposed in 37
A.D."[8] Significantly, Luke regarded Annas and Caiaphas as joint-high priests,
corresponding exactly with statements in John.
The date of 26 A.D., as accepted in this commentary for the baptism of Jesus, is
not denied by any of the dates noted in the table.
The word of God came to John ... It is not related just how the word of God came
to John, for God spoke of old to the fathers by the prophets in various ways
(Hebrews 1:1).
[1] Jack P. Lewis, Historical Backgrounds of Bible History (Grand Rapids,
Michigan: Baker Book House, 1971), p. 143.
[2] Encyclopedia Britannica (Chicago: William Benton, Publisher, 1961), Vol. 22,
p. 177.
8

9. [3] A. T. Robertson, A Harmony of the Gospels (New York: Harper and
Brothers, 1922), p. 264.
[4] Roger Rusk, "The Day He Died," article in Christianity Today (Vol. 18, No.
19, March 1974).
[5] A. T. Robertson, op. cit., p. 265.
[6] The dates of all four of these secular rulers are from the Encyclopedia
Britannica.
[7] H. C. Hervey, The Pulpit Commentary (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Wm. B.
Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1962), Vol. 18, Acts I, p. 123.
[8] J. R. Dummelow, Commentary on the Holy Bible (New York: Macmillan
Company, 1837), p. 708.
COKE, "Luke 3:1. Now in the fifteenth year, &c.— Though the evangelist has
told us in what year the Baptist made his first public appearance, he has not
intimated in what period of his ministry Jesus came to be baptized; (see Luke
3:21.) wherefore, seeing the Baptist's fame had spread itself in every corner, and
brought people to him from all quarters, it is probable that he had preached at
least several months before our Lord arrived at Bethabara. If so, as it is natural
to think that John came abroad in the spring, Jesus could not be baptized by him
soonerthan in the summer or autumn. The reign of Tiberius had two
commencements; one when Augustus made him his colleague in the empire, and
another when he began to reign alone after Augustus's death. If, as historians tell
us, Tiberius's pro-consular empire began about three years before Augustus
died, that is to say, August 28, in the year of our Lord, 11, and from the building
of Rome 764, the whole ofthat year would, by common computation, be reckoned
the first of Tiberius; and consequently, his fifteenth year, though really
beginning August 28, in the year of our Lord 24, and from the building of Rome
778, would be reckoned from the January preceding. Supposing then, that the
Baptist begantopreachinthespring of this fifteenth year, according to common
computation, and that Jesus came to him in the summer or autumn following,
the latter would be, at his baptism, thirty years of age, a few days more or less,
provided we fix his birth to September, from the building of Rome 748, that is, a
little more than a year before Herod died;—or, but twenty-nine years of age, if
we suppose that he was not born till September, from the building of Rome 749,
that is, a few months only before Herod died.
At this period Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea: after the death of Herod the
Great, Augustus confirmed the partition which that prince by his latter will had
made of his dominions among his children. According to this partition,
Archelaus obtained Judea, Samaria, and Idumea, with the title of Ethnarch; for
though his father had called him king in his testament, the emperor would not
allow him that dignity, till he should do something for the Roman state which
deserved it. Archelaus, after a tyrannical reign of ten years, was deposed for his
mal-administration; and his country was made a province of the Roman empire,
9

10. under the name of Judea. Properly speaking, indeed, Judea was an appendage to
the province of Syria, being governed by a procurator, subject to the president of
that province. Yet the procurators of Judea were always vested with the power of
presidents or governors; that is to say, gave final judgment in every cause,
whether civil or criminal, without appeal, unless to the emperor, by whom
Roman citizens, in whatever part of the empire they lived, had a right to be tried,
if they demanded it. Judea therefore was in effect, a distinct province or
government from Syria. Accordingly, the evangelists give its procurators, when
they have occasion to mention them, the title of governors, as that which best
expressed the nature of their dignity. The proper business of a procurator was,
to take care of the emperor's revenues in the province belonging to him; as the
quaestor's business was to superintend the senate's revenuein the province
belonging to him. But such procurators as were the chief magistrates of a
province, had the dignities of governor and quaestor united in their persons, and
enjoyed privileges accordingly.
By virtue of the partition above-mentioned, Herod Antipas, another of the first
Herod's sons, governed Galilee and Perea, or the country beyond Jordan, with
the title of Tetrarch; which, according to some, was the proper denomination of
the fourth dignity in the empire; or, as others think, the title of one who had only
the fourth part of a country subject to him; though in process of time it was
applied to those who had any considerable share of a kingdom in their
possession. This is the Herod, under whose reign John began his ministry, and by
whom he was beheaded. It was to him likewise that Pilate sent our Lord, in the
course of his trial.
St. Luke tells us, that Philip's dominions were Iturea and Trachonitis: but
Josephus says, they were Auranitis and Trachonitis. Reland reconciles the
historian with the evangelist, by supposing that Iturea and Auranitis were
different names of the same country. The Itureans are mentioned with the
Hagarites, 1 Chronicles 5:19 and half the tribe of Manasseh is said to have seized
upon their territories. Jetur, the son of Ishmael, the son of Hagar, was their
father, and gave them their name. Trachonitis was situated between Palestine
and Coelo-Syria; its ancient name was Argob, Deuteronomy 3:13. It was full of
rocky hills, which in Herod the First's time afforded shelter to bands of robbers,
whom he was at great pains to extirpate. Abilene was a considerable city of
Syria, whose territories reached to Lebanon and Damascus, and were peopled
with great numbers of Jews.
BURKITT, "The two foregoing chapters give us an account of the birth of our
Saviour Christ, and of John the Baptist. The evangelist now leaving the history
of our blessed Saviour for eighteen years, namely till he was thirty years old, (the
Holy Ghost having thought fit to conceal that part of our Saviour's private life
from our knowledge,) he begins this chapter with a relation of the Baptist's
ministry, acquainting us with the time when, and the place where, and the
doctrine which, the Baptist taught.
Observe 1. The time described when St. John began his public ministry, namely,
when Tiberius was emperor, and Annas and Caiaphas high priests.
10

11. Observe 2. In the fifteenth year of Tiberius, when the Jews were entirely under
the power of the Romans, who set four governors over them, called Tetrarchs, so
named from their ruling over a fourth part of the kingdom.
From hence the Jews might have observed, had not prejudice blinded their eyes,
that the sceptre being thus departed from Judah, according to Jacob's prophecy,
Genesis 49:10 Shiloh, or the Messiah was now come.
Again, the time when St. John began his ministry was when Annas and Caiaphas
were high priests. Under the law there were three sorts of ministers that attended
the service of the temple, namely, priests, Levites, and Nethinims; over these the
high priest was chief, who by God's command was to be the first-born of Aaron's
family.
But how came two high priests here, seeing God never appointed but one at a
time?
In answer to this, say some, the power and covetousness of the Romans put in
high priests at pleasure to officiate for gain.
Say others, the high priest was allowed his assistant or deputy who in case of his
pollution and sickness, did officiate in his place.
But that which we may profitably observe from hence, is this, the exactness and
faithfulness of this historian, St. Luke, in relating the circumstances of our
Saviour's nativity, and the Baptist's ministry. That the truth might evidently
appear, he is exact in recording the time.
BENSON, "Luke 3:1-2. Now in the fifteenth year of Tiberius — Reckoning from
the time when Augustus made him his colleague in the empire: Pontius Pilate
being governor of Judea — He was made governor in consequence of Archelaus
being banished, and his kingdom reduced into a Roman province. See note on
Matthew 2:22. And Herod — Namely, Herod Antipas; being tetrarch of
Galilee — The dominions of Herod the Great were, after his death, divided into
four parts or tetrarchies: this Herod, his son, reigned over that fourth part of his
dominions. His brother Philip reigned over another fourth part, namely, the
region of Iturea and that of Trachonitis; (that tract of land on the other side
Jordan, which had formerly belonged to the tribe of Manasseh;) and Lysanias,
(probably descended from a prince of that name, who was some years before
governor of that country,) was tetrarch of Abilene, which was a large city of
Syria, whose territories reached to Lebanon and Damascus, and contained great
numbers of Jews. Annas and Caiaphas being the high- priests — “By the original
constitution of the Israelitish state, one only could be high-priest at one time, and
the office was for life. But after the nation had fallen under the power of
foreigners, great liberties were taken with the sacred office; and high-priests,
though still of the pontifical family of Aaron, were put in or out arbitrarily, as
suited the humour, the interest, or the political views of their rulers. And though
it does not appear that they ever appointed two to officiate jointly in that station,
11

12. there is some probability that the Romans about this time made the office
annual, and that Annas and Caiaphas enjoyed it by turns. See John 11:49; John
18:13; Acts 4:6. If this was the case, which is not unlikely; or if, as some think,
the sagan, or deputy, is comprehended under the same title, we cannot justly be
surprised that they should be named as colleagues by the evangelist. In any event
it may have been usual, through courtesy, to continue to give the title to those
who had ever enjoyed that dignity, which, when they had no king, was the
greatest in the nation.” — Campbell. Thus the time of the public appearance of
John the Baptist, the harbinger of the Messiah, is distinctly marked by Luke; for
he tells us the year of the Roman emperor in which it happened, and mentions,
not only the governor or procurator of Judea, and the high-priest who then
officiated, but several contemporary princes who reigned in the neighbouring
kingdoms. By his care, in this particular, he has fixed exactly the era of the
commencement of the gospel. The word of God came unto John — John, the son
of Zacharias and forerunner of Jesus, was a priest by descent, and a prophet by
office, (Luke 1:76.) He was surnamed the Baptist, from his baptizing his
disciples; (see note on Matthew 3:1;) and was foretold anciently under the name
of Elijah, because he was to come in the spirit and power of that prophet. From
his infancy he dwelt in the wilderness, or hill-country, with his father, till the
word of God, by prophetic inspiration, or, as some think, by an audible voice
from heaven, such as the prophets of old heard, and which he knew to be God’s
by the majesty thereof, came to him — Called him forth to enter upon the work
to which he was destined before he was conceived in the womb, namely, to
prepare the Jews for the reception of the Messiah.
CONSTABLE, "Luke made detailed reference to the time when John
commenced his ministry to document the reliability of his Gospel. [Note:
Compare Thucydides 2:2 for a similarly elaborate chronological synchronism.]
Only the reference to Tiberius is necessary to date the beginning of John's
ministry that shortly preceded the commencement of Jesus' ministry. The other
references place these events in a broader historical context.
Pontius Pilate was governor (prefect) of Judea from A.D. 26 to late 36 or early
37. Herod Antipas ended his reign as tetrarch of Galilee that began in 4 B.C. by
deposition in A.D. 39. His brother Herod Philip, who ruled territories to the
northeast of Palestine from 4 B.C., died in A.D. 34. Present historical evidence
does not enable scholars to date Lysanias, the tetrarch of Abilene, an area
northeast of Damascus. Annas was Israel's high priest from A.D. 6 to 15 until the
Roman authorities deposed him. However the Jews continued to regard him as
the high priest, and he retained his title. [Note: Jeremias, pp. 157-58.] His son-in-
law Caiaphas served as the official high priest from A.D. 18 to the spring of 37.
Thus the general time frame when John began his ministry was between A.D. 26
and the spring of 37. The specific date, the fifteenth year of Tiberius Caesar, is
harder to pinpoint, but it was probably A.D. 29. [Note: Hoehner, pp. 29-37.]
Then the word of God came to John in the wilderness where he lived (cf. Luke
1:80), and he began his ministry as a prophet (cf. Isaiah 1:1; Jeremiah 1:1-3; et
al.).
NISBET, "Jewish religionism, as expressed in its decadent representatives, had
12

13. opportunity afterwards of expressing what they thought of John, and a Herod
killed him. And yet here with John in the desert, and not there with the great
ones of the earth, was the word of power and the centre of interest for the
world’s progress at the time.
I. To whom the message came.—Why are we asked to believe that God should
have singled out a nation so peculiarly unattractive in their history as the Jews
would seem to have been to be His own chosen people? Yet so it is. He who most
is disposed to cavil at the Divine estimate of the world’s history, as set forth in
the Holy Scriptures, must feel that the Jew is a present problem which cannot be
explained off-hand. Clearly he has had a past; it is difficult to believe that he has
not a future—‘the wanderer of the nations’; indispensable to all, yet cruelly
persecuted and oppressed; thriving, yet never prosperous as a nation. We surely
do not make enough in our modern perplexities of the strange and unique
phenomenon of this nation to whom we believe that the Word of God came,
which bears witness in its decay to the loss of a privilege whose very memory is a
tradition of power. The great nations of the world had their opportunities and
lost them; the Jews had their opportunity and lost it. It is our turn to-day. What
are we going to do with our Imperial responsibility? There it is: Tiberius Cæsar
sits on his throne; we are shouting ourselves hoarse with our grandiloquent cries,
we think imperially, we are trying to act imperially; we open the map with pride
if red means the extent of the British Empire, we close it with shame if it means
the extent of the Empire of Jesus Christ. There are our procurators and
representatives in all parts of the world, ready to uphold the honour of the
British flag, but not quite so sure of what they ought to do with the Cross of
Jesus Christ, and very Pilates in their keen scrutiny of the political trend of
religious enterprise. There are our dependents—the different Herods which rule
by our means, to whom we exhibit too often a civilisation barely tinged with
Christian responsibility, and who, in imitating European manners, find them
largely composed of European vices. There are our allies—perhaps in some ways
more religious than ourselves—whom we leave to societies and amateurs if they
wish to study the religious sources of our strength, while we give them of our best
instruction in everything else which has to do with the construction or defence of
our material empire. Annas and Caiaphas are not wanting, rival religious
agencies, rival religious claims strive with each other in deadly theological
contest, until perplexity merges into disgust, and disgust into opposition, and the
Word of God passes on its way, leaving those channels which have choked and
polluted it.
II. The message.—Progress, not retrenchment, was in the mind of kings; an ever-
widening luxury and aggrandisement for the future, not a mournful looking into
the past. We cannot imagine ‘repentance’ as a word in the vocabularies of
Tiberius or Herod, or any way of the Lord other than their own way. If Domitian
could not blush, certainly a Herod would know and care little about his past
misdeeds. Even religion had twisted and turned God’s revelation, putting bitter
for sweet, and sweet for bitter, perverting promises and minimising judgments.
A Messiah reigning on the throne of David, an earthly kingdom and freedom
from the Roman yoke—thus they brooded and plotted, and the day of the Lord
was to them darkness. And every age has a tendency to magnify its own
13

14. importance, to proclaim its own millennium, and shout aloud its proud message,
until the voice of God is driven away into quiet corners where they can only hear
it who have ears to hear, the ready heart, and the humble mind. Is not there a
strange discrepancy between the important things as the world counts
importance and the important things according to the mind of God? And here
stands John the son of Zacharias. Here stands the Church, saying, ‘O soul, you
were made for God. Seek Him, He is your rest.’ ‘You were made for happiness, it
is here.’ ‘You are the son of God, here is He Who became Incarnate for you.’ Joy
is the never-ceasing message which God proclaims to you—heaven here, and
heaven hereafter, in the satisfaction of every longing, in the gratification of all
true aspirations.
III. We should do well not to turn a deaf ear to the appeal of special seasons for
quiet, for times of earnest and serious thought, for a resolute facing of some of
these great questions which concern time and eternity. To many a man the hour
of death is his first really quiet time, and alone with his own soul he hardly
knows it, its powers, and its needs, and its strong vitality. Gradually he has been
driven in, as outwork after outwork is taken; he can no longer take his exercise
or follow his all-absorbing sports and games. His acquaintances have gone away
from the falling house, and his friends are few, and they gradually drop off;
insensibly he is pressed in upon himself, until he finds himself alone with his
artificial life fallen from him and face to face with God. Surely we ought to make
more of the quiet times of our life. Our Lord has bid us with His own lips to
enter into our closet and shut the door and pray to our Father which is in secret.
In prayer, if it be only for a short time each day, we can stand face to face with
eternal verities, and deal with things that really signify, and talk to Him Who
links the past, the present, and the future in one.
—Rev. Canon Newbolt.
MACLAREN, “JOHN THE PREACHER OF REPENTANCE
Why does Luke enumerate so carefully the civil and ecclesiastical authorities in Luk_
3:1-2? Not only to fix the date, but, in accordance with the world-wide aspect of his
Gospel, to set his narrative in relation with secular history; and, further, to focus into
one vivid beam of light the various facts which witnessed to the sunken civil and
darkened moral and religious condition of the Jews. What more needed to be said to
prove how the ancient glory had faded, than that they were under the rule of such a
delegate as Pilate, of such an emperor as Tiberius, and that the bad brood of Herod’s
descendants divided the sacred land between them, and that the very high-
priesthood was illegally administered, so that such a pair as Annas and Caiaphas held
it in some irregular fashion between them? It was clearly high time for John to come,
and for the word of God to come to him.
The wilderness had nourished the stern, solitary spirit of the Baptist, and there the
consciousness of his mission and his message ‘came to him’-a phrase which at once
declares his affinity with the old prophets. Out of the desert he burst on the nation,
sudden as lightning, and cleaving like it. Luke says nothing as to his garb or food, but
goes straight to the heart of his message, ‘The baptism of repentance unto remission
of sins,’ in which expression the ‘remission’ depends neither on ‘baptism’ alone, nor
on ‘repentance’ alone. The outward act was vain if unaccompanied by the state of
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15. mind and will; the state of mind was proved genuine by submitting to the act.
In Luk_3:7-14 John’s teaching as the preacher of repentance is summarised. Why did
he meet the crowds that streamed out to him with such vehement rebuke? One would
have expected him to welcome them, instead of calling them ‘offspring of vipers,’ and
seeming to be unwilling that they should flee from the wrath to come. But Luke tells
why. They wished to be baptized, but there is no word of their repentance. Rather,
they were trusting to their descent as exempting them from the approaching storm,
so that their baptism would not have been the baptism which John required, being
devoid of repentance. Just because they thought themselves safe as being ‘children of
Abraham,’ they deserved John’s rough name, ‘ye offspring of vipers.’
Rabbinical theology has much to say about ‘the merits of the fathers.’ John, like every
prophet who had ever spoken to the nation of judgments impending, felt that the
sharp edge of his words was turned by the obstinate belief that judgments were for
the Gentile, and never would touch the Jew. Do we not see the same unbelief that
God can ever visit England with national destruction in full force among ourselves?
Not the virtues of past generations, but the righteousness of the present one, is the
guarantee of national exaltation.
John’s crowds were eager to be baptized as an additional security, but were slow to
repent. If heaven could be secured by submitting to a rite, ‘multitudes’ would come
for it, but the crowd thins quickly when the administrator of the rite becomes the
vehement preacher of repentance. That is so to-day as truly as it was so by the fords
of Jordan. John demanded not only repentance, but its ‘fruits,’ for there is no virtue
in a repentance which does not change the life, were such possible.
Repentance is more than sorrow for sin. Many a man has that, and yet rushes again
into the old mire. To change the mind and will is not enough, unless the change is
certified to be real by deeds corresponding. So John preached the true nature of
repentance when he called for its fruits. And he preached the greatest motive for it
which he knew, when he pressed home on sluggish consciences the close approach of
a judgment for which everything was ready, the axe ground to a fine edge, and lying
at the root of the trees. If it lay there, there was no time to lose; if it still lay, there was
time to repent before it was swinging round the woodman’s head. We have a higher
motive for repentance in ‘the goodness of God’ leading to it. But there is danger that
modern Christianity should think too little of ‘the terror of the Lord,’ and so should
throw away one of the strongest means of persuading men. John’s advice to the
various classes of hearers illustrates the truth that the commonest field of duty and
the homeliest acts may become sacred. Not high-flying, singular modes of life,
abandoning the vulgar tasks, but the plainest prose of jog-trot duty will follow and
attest real repentance. Every calling has its temptations-that is to say, every one has
its opportunities of serving God by resisting the Devil.
BI, ‘Now in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar
The fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar
In this year, which fell between August, A.. 28, and August, A.D. 29, the Roman
empire lay under the shadow of the darkest years of the tyrant, now an old man of
seventy-one. Among those alive at the time, and remembered since, for good or for
evil, the elder Pliny—afterwards, when a Roman admiral, killed at the first eruption,
in historical times, of Mount Vesuvius—was a child of four; Vespasian, hereafter,
with his son Titus, to crush Jerusalem, was full of the ambitions and dreams of a
youth of nineteen; Caligula, one day to horrify the world by the spectacle of an insane
despot at the head of the empire, was a lad of sixteen; Claudius, one day to be
15

16. emperor, was a poor lame trembling man of thirty-eight; and among the marriages of
the year was that of the daughter of the ill-fated Germanicus, from which, nine years
later, was born Nero. Pontius Pilate had been two years procurator of Samaria,
Judaea, and Idumea; Herod Antipas had been reigning for about thirty-two years
over Galilee and Samaria, and was now a man of about fifty; and Philip, his brother,
about the same age, and of the same standing as ruler, was still tetrarch of the rest of
the land beyond the Jordan, living a quiet life, usefully and worthily. (Dr. C. Geikie.)
The date
Singularly enough this very exactness is a source of difficulty. Augustus Caesar died,
and was succeeded by Tiberius in August, A.D. 14. Reckoning from this date, the
fifteenth year of Tiberius was from August,
A.D. 28, to August, A.D. 29. But this does not fit with the date which, onother
grounds, we are led to assign to the beginning of our Lord’s ministry, viz., A.D. 27.
The solution, however, is simple and satisfactory. The reign of Tiberius as sole
emperor began at the death of Augustus; but he had been joint emperor with
Augustus—a sort of vice-emperor—for two years previously. The word used by St.
Luke, translated “ reign,” by no means implies sole empire, but applies with perfect
accuracy to this share in the government, which had special reference to the
provinces. We therefore understand the fifteenth year of Tiberius to have begun in
August, A.D. 26. (E. R. Condor, D. D.)
Lysanias
It has been said that St. Luke erred in stating that Lysanias was tetrarch of Abilene in
the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar. [Strauss, “Leben Jesu,” § 44.]
Lysanias, it is said, died sixty years previously, and St. Luke has ignorantly made him
alive, being deceived by the fact that Abilene continued to be called the Abilene of
Lysanias, after its former ruler, for sixty or seventy years subsequently. Now, here it
is in the first place assumed, without any word of proof, that the Lysanias who died
B.C. 34, once ruled over Abilene. Secondly, it is assumed, also without any word of
proof, that Abilene came to be known as the Abilene of Lysanias, from him. I venture
to assert that there is absolutely no ground for believing that the old Lysanias was
ever ruler of Abilene; and I venture to maintain that Abilene came to be called the
Abilene of Lysanias from a second or later Lysanias, a son of the former one, who is
the person intended by St. Luke. Till recently, Christian apologists were defied to
show historically that there was ever more than one Lysanias, and were accused of
inventing a second to escape a difficulty. But a few years since a discovery was made
which must be regarded by all reasonable persons as having set the whole matter at
rest. This was an inscription found near Baalbek, containing a dedication of a
memorial tablet or statue to “Fenodorus, son of the tetrarch Lysanias, and to
Lysanias, her children,” by (apparently) the widow of the first and the mother of the
second Lysanias. Fenodorus was already known as having succeeded the first
Lysanias in his government. It is thus clear that there were, as previously suspected,
two persons of the name, a father and a son, and there is not the slightest reason for
doubting that the latter was tetrareh of Abilene in the fifteenth of Tiberius.
(Professor Rawlinson.)
EBC 1-22, "THE VOICE IN THE WILDERNESS.
16

17. WHEN the Old Testament closed, prophecy had thrown upon the screen of the future
the shadows of two persons, cast in heavenly light. Sketched in outline rather than in
detail, still their personalities were sufficiently distinct to attract the gaze and hopes
of the intervening centuries; while their differing, though related missions were
clearly recognized. One was the Coming ONE, who should bring the "consolation" of
Israel, and who should Himself be that Consolation; and gathering into one august
title all such glittering epithets as Star, Shiloh, and Emmanuel, prophecy reverently
saluted Him as "the Lord," paying Him prospective homage and adoration. The other
was to be the herald of another Dispensation, proclaiming the new King, running
before the royal chariot, even as Elijah ran from Ahab to the ivory palace at Jezreel,
his Voice then dying away in silence, as he himself passes out of sight behind the
throne. Such were the two figures that prophecy, in a series of dissolving views, had
thrown forward from the Old into the New Testament; and such was the signal honor
accorded to the Baptist, that while many of the Old Testament characters appear as
reflections in the New, his is the only human shadow thrown back from the New into
the Old.
The forerunner thus had a virtual existence long before the time of the Advent.
Known by his synonym of Elias, the prophesied, he became as a real presence,
moving here and there among their thoughts and dreams, and lighting up their long
night with the beacon-fires of new and bright hopes. His voice seemed familiar, even
though it came to them in far-distant echoes, and the listening centuries had caught
exactly both its accent and its message. And so the preparer of the way found his own
path prepared: for John’s path and "the way of the Lord" were the same; it was the
way of obedience and of sacrifice. The two lives were thus thrown into conjunction
from the first, the lesser light revolving around the Greater, as they fulfill their
separate courses-separate indeed, as far as the human must ever be separated from
the Divine, yet most closely related.
Living thus through the pre-Advent centuries, both in the Divine purpose and in the
thoughts and hopes of men, so early designated to his heraldic office, "My
messenger," in a singular sense, as no other of mortals could ever be, it is no matter
of apology, or even of surprise, that his birth should be attended by so much of the
supernatural. The Divine designation seems to imply, almost to demand, a Divine
declaration; and in the birth-story of the Baptist the flashes of the supernatural, such
as the angelic announcement and the miraculous conception, come with a simple
naturalness. The prelude is in perfect symphony with the song. St. Luke is the only
Evangelist who gives us the birth-story. The other three speak only of his mission,
introducing him to us abruptly, as, like another Moses, he comes down from his new
Sinai with the tables of the law in his hands and the strange light upon his face. St.
Luke takes us back to the infancy, that we may see the beginnings of things, the
Divine purpose enwrapped in swaddling clothes, as it once was set adrift in a rush-
plaited ark. Back of the message he puts the man, and back of the man he puts the
child-for is not the child a prophecy or invoice of the man?-while all around the child
he puts the environment of home, showing us the subtle, powerful influences that
touched and shaped the young prophet-life. As a plant carries up into its outmost
leaves the ingredients of the rock around which its fibers cling, so each upspringing
life-even the life of a prophet-carries into its farthest reaches the unconscious
influence of its home associations. And so St. Luke sketches for us that quiet home in
the hill-country, whose windows opened and whose doors turned toward Jerusalem,
the "city of the great" and invisible "King." He shows us Zacharias and Elisabeth, true
saints of God, devout of heart and blameless of life, down into whose placid lives an
angel came, rippling them with the excitements of new promises and hopes. Where
could the first meridian of the New Dispensation run better than through the home
17

18. of these seers of things unseen, these watchers for the dawn? Where could be so
fitting a receptacle for the Divine purpose, where it could so soon and so well ripen?
Had not God elected them to this high honor, and Himself prepared them for it? Had
He not purposely kept back all earlier, lower shoots, that their whole growth should
be upward, one reaching out towards heaven, like the palm, its fruit clustering
around its outmost branches? We can easily imagine what intense emotion the
message of the angel would produce, and that Zacharias would not so much miss the
intercourse of human speech now that God’s thoughts were audible in his soul. What
loving preparation would Elisabeth make for this child of hers, who was to be "great
in the sight of the Lord!" what music she would strike out from its name, "John" (the
Grace of Jehovah), the name which was both the-sesame and symbol of the New
Dispensation! How her eager heart would outrun the slow months, as she threw
herself forward in anticipation among the joys of maternity, a motherhood so
exalted! And why did she hide herself for the five months, but that she might prepare
herself for her great mission? That in her seclusion she might hear more distinctly
the voices that spake to her from above, or that in the silence she might hear her own
heart sing?
But neither the eagerness of Elisabeth nor the dumbness of Zacharias is allowed to
hasten the Divine purpose. That purpose, like the cloud of old, accommodates itself
to human conditions, the slow processions of the humanities; and not until the time
is "full" does the hope become a realization, and the infant voice utter its first cry.
And now is gathered the first congregation of the new era. It is but a family
gathering, as the neighbors and relatives come together for the circumcising of the
child-which rite was always performed on the corresponding day of the week after its
birth; but it is significant as being the first of those ever-widening circles that moving
outwards from its central impulse, spread rapidly over the land, as they are now
rapidly spreading over all lands. Zacharias, of course, was present; but mute and
deaf, he could only sit apart, a silent spectator. Elisabeth, as we may gather from
various references and hints, was of modest and retiring disposition, fond of putting
herself in the shade, of standing behind; and so now the conduct of the ceremony
seems to have fallen into the hands of some of the relatives. Presuming that the
general custom will be observed, that the first-born child will take the name of the
father, they proceed to name it "Zacharias." This, however, Elisabeth cannot allow,
and with an emphatic negative, she says, "Not so; but he shall be called John."
Persistent still in their own course, and not satisfied with the mother’s affirmation,
the friends turn to the aged and mute priest, and by signs ask how they shall name
the child (and had Zacharias heard the conversation, he certainly would not have
waited for their question, but would have spoken or written at once); and Zacharias,
calling for the writing-table, which doubtless had been his close companion, giving
him his only touch of the other world for the still nine months, wrote, "His name is
John." Ah, they are too late! The child was named even long before its birth, named,
too, within the Holy Place of the Temple, and by an angel of God. "John" and "Jesus,"
those two names, since the visit of the Virgin, have been like two bells of gold,
throwing waves of music across heart and home, ringing their welcome to "the Christ
who is to be," the Christ who is now so near. "His name is John"; and with that brief
stroke of his pen Zacharias half rebukes these intrusions and interferences of the
relatives, and at the same time makes avowal of his own faith. And as he wrote the
name "John," his present obedience making atonement for a past unbelief, instantly
the paralyzed tongue was loosed, and he spake, blessing God, throwing the name of
his child into a psalm; for what is the "Benedictus" of Zacharias but "John" written
large and full, one sweet and loud magnifying of "the Grace and Favor of Jehovah?"
It is only a natural supposition that when the inspiration of the song had passed
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19. away, Zacharias’ speech would begin just where it was broken off, and that he would
narrate to the guests the strange vision of the Temple, with the angel’s prophecy
concerning the child. And as the guests depart to their own homes, each one carries
the story of this new Apocalypse, as he goes to spread the evangel, and to wake
among the neighboring hills the echoes of Zacharias’s song. No wonder that fear
came upon all that dwelt round about, and that they who pondered these things in
their hearts should ask, "What then shall this child be?"
And here the narrative of the childhood suddenly ends, for with two brief sentences
our Evangelist dismisses the thirty succeeding years. He tells us that "the hand of the
Lord was with the child," doubtless arranging its circumstances, giving it
opportunities, preparing it for the rugged manhood and the rugged mission which
should follow in due course; and that "the child grew, and waxed strong in spirit," the
very same expression he afterwards uses in reference to the Holy Child, an
expression we can best interpret by the angel’s prophecy, "He shall be filled with the
Holy Ghost even from his mother’s womb." His native strength of spirit was made
doubly strong by the touch of the Divine Spirit, as the iron, coming from its baptism
of fire, is hardened and tempered into steel. And so we see that in the Divine
economy even a consecrated childhood is a possible experience; and that it is
comparatively infrequent is owing rather to our warped views, which possibly may
need some readjustment, than to the Divine purpose and provision. Is the child born
into the Divine displeasure, branded from its birth with the mark of Cain? Is it not
rather born into the Divine mercy, and all enswathed in the abundance of Divine
love? True, it is born of a sinful race, with tendencies to self-will which may lead it
astray; but it is just as true that it is born within the covenant of grace; that around
its earliest and most helpless years is thrown the aegis of Christ’s atonement; and
that these innate tendencies are held in check and neutralized by what is called
"prevenient grace." In the struggle for that child-life are the powers of darkness the
first in the field, outmarching and out-maneuvering the powers of light? Why, the
very thought is half-libelous. Heaven’s touch is upon the child from the first. Ignore
it as we may, deny it as some will, yet back in life’s earliest dawn the Divine Spirit is
brooding over the unformed world, parting its firmaments of right and wrong, and
fashioning a new Paradise. Is evil the inevitable? Must each life taste the forbidden
fruit before it can attain to a knowledge of the good? In other words, is sin a great
though dire necessity? If a necessity, then it is no longer sin, and we must seek for
another and more appropriate name. No; childhood is Christ’s purchased and
peculiar possession; and the best type of religious experience is that which is marked
by no rapid transitions, which breaks upon the soul softly and sweetly as a dawn, its
beginnings imperceptible, and so unremembered. So not without meaning is it that
right at the gate of the New Dispensation we find the cradle of a consecrated
childhood. Placed there by the gate, so that all may see it, and placed in the light, so
that all may read it, the childhood of the Baptist tells us what our childhood might
oftener be, if only its earthly guardians whose hands are so powerful to impress and
mould the plastic soul-were, like Zacharias and Elisabeth, themselves prayerful,
blameless, and devout.
Now the scene shifts; for we read he "was in the deserts till the day of his showing
unto Israel." From the fact that this clause is intimately connected with the
preceding, "and the child grew and waxed strong in spirit"-the two clauses having but
one subject-some have supposed that John was but a child when he turned away
from the parental roof and sought the wilderness. But this does not follow. The two
parts of the sentence are only separated by a comma, but that pause may bridge over
a chasm wide enough for the flow of numerous years, and between the childhood and
the wilderness the narrative would almost compel us to put a considerable space. As
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20. his physical development was, in mode and proportion, purely human, with no hint
of anything unnatural or even supernatural, so we may suppose was his mental and
spiritual development. The voice must become articulate; it must play upon the
alphabet, and turn sound into speech. It must learn, that it may think; it must study,
that it may know. And so the human teacher is indispensable. Children reared of
wolves may learn to bark, but, in spite of mythology, they will not build cities and
found empires. And where could the child find better instructors than in his own
parents, whose quiet lives had been passed in an atmosphere of prayer, and to whom
the very jots and tittles of the law were familiar and dear? Indeed, we can scarcely
suppose that after having prepared Zacharias and Elisabeth for their great mission,
working what is something like a miracle, that she and no one else shall be the
mother of the forerunner, the child should then be torn away from its natural
guardians before the processes of its education are complete. It is true they were both
"well stricken in years," but that phrase would cover any period from threescore
years and upwards, and to that three score the usual longevity of the Temple
ministrants would easily allow another twenty years to be added. May we not, then,
suppose that the child-Baptist studied and played under the parental roof, the bright
focus to which their hopes, and thoughts, and prayers converged; that here, too, he
spent his boyhood and youth, preparing for that priestly office to which his lineage
entitled and designated him? For why should not the "messenger of the Lord" be
priest as well? We have no further mention of Zacharias and Elisabeth, but it is not
improbable that their death was the occasion of John’s retirement to the deserts, now
a young man, perhaps, of twenty years.
According to custom, John now should have been introduced and consecrated to the
priesthood, twenty years being the general age of the initiates; but in obedience to a
higher call, John renounces the priesthood, and breaks with the Temple at once and
for ever. Retiring to the deserts, which, wild and gloomy, stretch westward from the
Dead Sea, and assuming the old prophet garb-a loose dress of camel’s hair, bound
with a thong of leather-the student becomes the recluse. Inhabiting some mountain
cave, tasting only the coarse fare that nature offered-locusts and wild honey-the new
Elias has come and has found his Cherith; and here, withdrawn far from "the
madding crowd" and the incessant babble of human talk, with no companions save
the wild beasts and the bright constellations of that Syrian sky, as they wheel round
in their nightly dance, the lonely man opens his heart to God’s great thoughts and
purposes, and by constant prayer keeps his clear, trumpet voice in drill. Evidently,
John had seen enough of so-called "society," with its cold conventionalities and
hypocrisies; his keen eye had seen only too easily the hollowness and corruption that
lay beneath the outer gloss and varnish-the thin veneer that but half concealed the
worminess and rottenness that lay beneath. John goes out into the desert like
another scapegoat, bearing deep within his heart the sins of his nation-sins, alas,
which are yet unrepented of and unforgiven! It was doubtless thoughts like these,
and the constant brooding upon them, which gave to the Baptist that touch of
melancholy that we can detect both in his features and his speech. Austere in person,
with a wail in his voice like the sighing of the wind, or charged at times with
suppressed thunders, the Baptist reminds us of the Peri, who-
"At the gate Of Eden stood disconsolate."
Sin had become to John an awful fact. He could see nothing else. The fragments of
the law’s broken tables strewed the land, even the courts of the Temple itself, and
men were everywhere tripping against them and falling. But John did see something
else; it was the day of the Lord, now, very near, the day that should come scathing
and burning "as a furnace," unless, meanwhile, Israel should repent. So the prophet
mused, and as be mused the fire burned within his soul, even the fire of the Refiner,
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21. the fire of God.
Our Evangelist characterizes the opening of John’s ministry with an official word. He
calls it a "showing," a "manifestation," putting upon the very word the stamp and
sanction of a Divine appointment. He is careful, too, to mark the time, so giving the
Gospel story its place among the chronologies of the world; which he does in a most
elaborate way. He first reads the time on the horoscope of the Empire, whose
swinging pendulum was a rising or a falling throne; and he states that it was "the
fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar," counting the two years of his joint rule
with Augustus. Then, as if that were not enough, he notes the hour as indicated on
the four quarters of the Hebrew commonwealth, the hour when Pilate, Herod, Philip,
and Lysanias were in conjunction, ruling in their divided heavens. Then, as if that
even were not enough, he marks the ecclesiastical hour as indicated by the marble
time-piece of the Temple; it was-when Annas and Caiaphas held jointly the high
priesthood. What is the meaning of this elaborate mechanism, wheels within wheels?
Is it because the hour is so important, that it needs the hands of an emperor, a
governor, three tetrarchs, and two high priests to point it? Ewald is doubtless right in
saying that St. Luke, as the historian, wished "to frame the Gospel history into the
great history of the world" by giving precise dates; but if that were the Evangelist’s
main reason, such an accumulation of time-evidence were scarcely necessary; for
what do the subsequent statements add to the precision of the first-"In the fifteenth
year of Tiberius?" We must, then, seek for the Evangelist’s meaning elsewhere.
Among the oldest of the Hebrew prophecies concerning the Messiah was that of
Jacob. Closing his life, as Moses did afterwards, with a wonderful vision, he looked
down on the far-off years, and speaking of the coming "Seed," he said, "The scepter
shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh
come". (Gen_49:10) Might not this prophecy have been in the thought of the
Evangelist when he stayed so much longer than his wont to note times and seasons?
Why does he mention Herod and Pilate, Philip and Lysanias, but to show how the
scepter has, alas! departed from Judah, and the lawgiver from between his feet, and
how the chosen land is torn to pieces by the Roman eagles? And why does he name
Annas and Caiaphas, but to show how the same disintegrating forces are at work
even within the Temple, when the rightful high priest can be set aside and
superseded by the nominee of a foreign and a Pagan power? Verily "the glory has
departed from Israel"; and if St. Luke introduces foreign emperors, tetrarchs, and
governors, it is that they may ring a muffled peal over the grave of a dead nation, a
funeral knell, which, however, shall be the signal for the coming of the Shiloh, and
the gathering of the people unto Him.
Such were the times-times of disorganization, disorder, and almost despair-when the
word of God came unto John in the wilderness. It came "upon" him, as it literally
reads, probably in one of those wonderful theophanies, as when God spake to Moses
from the flaming bush, or as when He appeared to Elijah upon Horeb, sending him
back to an unfinished task. John obeyed. Emerging from his wilderness retreat, clad
in his strange attire, spare in build, his features sharp and worn with fasting, his
long, disheveled hair telling of his Nazarite vow, he moves down to the Jordan like an
apparition. His appearance is everywhere hailed with mingled curiosity and delight.
Crowds come in ever-increasing numbers, not one class only, but all classes-priests,
soldiers, officials, people-until it seemed as if the cities had emptied themselves into
the Jordan valley. And what went they "out for to see?" "A reed shaken with the
wind?" A prophesier of smooth things? A preacher of revolt against tyranny? Nay;
John was no wind-shaken reed; he was rather the heavenly wind itself, swaying the
multitudes at will, and bending hearts and consciences into penitence and prayer.
John was no preacher of revolt against the powers that be; in his mind, Israel had
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22. revolted more and more, and he must bring them back to their allegiance, or himself
die in the attempt. John was no preacher of smooth things; there was not even the
charm of variety about his speech. The one burden of his message was, "Repent: for
the kingdom of heaven is at hand." But the effect was marvelous. The lone voice from
the wilderness swept over the land like the breath of God. Borne forwards on a
thousand lips, it echoed through the cities and penetrated into remotest places.
Judaea, Samaria, arid even distant Galilee felt the quiver of the strange voice, and
even from the shore of the Northern Sea men came to sit at the feet of the new
teacher, and to call themselves John’s disciples. So widespread and so deep was the
movement, it sent its ripples even within the royal palace, awaking the curiosity, and
perhaps the conscience, of Herod himself. It was a genuine revival of religion, such as
Judaea had not witnessed since the days of Ezra, the awaking of the national
conscience and of the national hope.
Perhaps it would be difficult, by any analysis of ours, to discover or to define the
secret of John’s success. It was the resultant, not of one force, but of many. For
instance, the hour was favorable. It was the Sabbatic year, when field-work was in the
main suspended, and men everywhere had leisure, mind and hand lying, as it were,
fallow. Then, too, the very dress of the Baptist would not be without its influence,
especially on a mind so sensitive to form and color as the Hebrew mind was. Dress to
them was a form of duty. They were accustomed to weave into their tassels sacred
symbols, so making the external speak of the eternal. Their hands played on the
parti-colored threads most faithfully and sacredly; for were not these the chords of
Divine harmonies? But here is one who discards both the priestly and the civilian
dress, and who wears, instead, the rough camel’s-hair robe of the old prophets. The
very dress would thus appeal most powerfully to their imagination, carrying back
their thoughts to the time of the Theocracy, when Jehovah was not silent as now, and
when Heaven was so near, speaking by some Samuel or Elijah. Are those days
returning? they would ask. Is this the Elias who was to come and restore all things?
Surely it must be. And in the rustle of the Baptist’s robe they heard the rustle of
Elijah’s mantle, dropping a second time by these Jordan banks. Then, too, there was
the personal charm of the man. John was young, if years are our reckoning, for he
counted but thirty; but in his case the verve and energy of youth were blended with
the discretion and saintliness of age. What was the world to him, its fame, its luxury
and wealth? They were only the dust he shook from his feet, as his spirit sighed for
and soared after Heaven’s better things. He asks nothing of earth but her plainest
fare, a couch of grass, and by-and-by a grave. Then, too, there was a positiveness
about the man that would naturally attract, in a drifting, shifting, vacillating age. The
strong will is magnetic; the weaker wills follow and cluster round it, as swarming
bees cluster around their queen. And John was intensely positive. His speech was
clear-cut and incisive, with a tremendous earnestness in it, as if a "Thus saith the
Lord" were at his heart. John’s mood was not the subjunctive, where his words could
eddy among the "mays" and "mights"; it was plainly the indicative, or better still, the
imperative. He spoke as one who believed, and who intensely felt what he believed.
Then, too, there was a certain nobleness about his courage. He knew no rank, no
party; he was superior to all. He feared God too much to have any fear of man. He
spake no word for the sake of pleasing, and he kept back no word-even the hot
rebuke-for fear of offending. Truth to him was more than titles, and right was the
only royalty. How he painted the Pharisees-those shiny, slimy men, with creeping,
sinuous ways-with that dark epithet "brood of vipers!"
With what a fearless courage he denounced the incest of Herod! He will not level
down Sinai, accommodating it to royal passions! Not he. "It is not lawful for thee to
have her"-such were his words, that rolled in upon Herod’s conscience like a peal of
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23. Sinai’s thunder, telling him that law was law, that right was more than might, and
purity more than power. Then, too, there was something about his message that was
attractive. That word "the kingdom of heaven" struck upon the national heart like a
bell, and set it vibrating with new hopes, and awaking all kinds of beautiful dreams of
recovered pre-eminence and power.
But while all these were auxiliaries, factors, and co-efficients in the problem of the
Baptist’s success, they are not sufficient in themselves to account for that success. It
is not difficult for a man of superior mental attainment, and of strong individuality,
to attract a following, especially if that following be in the direction of self-interest.
The emotions and passions of humanity lie near the surface; they can be easily swept
into a storm by the strong or by the pathetic voice. But to reach the conscience, to lift
up the veil, and to pass within to that Most Holy of the human soul is what man,
unaided, cannot do. Only the Divine Voice can break those deep silences of the heart;
or if the human voice is used the power is not in the words of human speech-those
words, even the best, are but the dead wires along which the Divine Voice moves-it is
the power of God.
"Some men live near to God, as my right arm Is near to me; and then they walk
about Mailed in full proof of faith, and bear a charm That mocks at fear, and bars
the door on doubt, And dares the impossible."
Just such a man was the Baptist. He was a "man of God." He lived, and moved, and
had his being in God. Self to him was an extinct passion. Envy, pride, ambition,
jealousy, these were unknown tongues; his pure soul understood not their meaning.
Like his great prototype, "the Spirit of the Lord God" was upon him. His life was one
conscious inspiration; and John himself had been baptized with the baptism of
which he spoke, but which he himself could not give, the baptism of the Holy Ghost
and of fire. This only will account for the wonderful effects produced, by his
preaching. John, in his own experience, had antedated Pentecost, receiving the
"power from on high," and as he spoke it was with a tongue of fire, a voice in whose
accent and tone the people could detect the deeper Voice of God.
But if John could not baptize with the higher baptism, usurping the functions of the
One coming after, he could, and he did, institute a lower, symbolic baptism of water,
that thus the visible might lead up to the invisible. In what mode John’s baptism was
administered we cannot tell, nor is it material that we should know. We do know,
however, that the baptism of the Spirit-and in John’s mind the two were closely
related-was constantly referred to in Scripture as an effusion, a "pouring out," a
sprinkling, and never once as an immersion. And what was the "baptism of fire" to
the mind of John? Was it not that which the prophet Isaiah had experienced, when
the angel touched his lips with the live coal taken from the altar, pronouncing over
him the great absolution, "Lo, this hath touched thy lips; and thine iniquity is taketh
away, and thy sin purged?" (Isa_6:7) At best, the baptism of water is but a shadow of
the better thing, the outward symbol of an inward grace. We need not quarrel about
modes and forms. Scripture has purposely left them indeterminate, so that we need
not wrangle about them. There is no need that we exalt the shadow, leveling it up to
the substance; and still less should we level it down, turning it into a playground for
the schools.
Thus far the lives of Jesus and John have lain apart. One growing up in the hill-
country of Galilee, the other in the hill-country of Judaea, and then in the isolation of
the wilderness, they have never looked in each other’s face, though they have
doubtless heard often of each other’s mission. They meet at last. John had been
constantly telling of ONE who was coming after-"after," indeed, in order of time, but
"before," infinitely before, in preeminence and authority. Mightier than he, He was
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24. the Lord. John would deem it an honor to kneel down before so august a Master, to
untie and bear away His shoes; for in such a Presence servility was both becoming
and ennobling. With such words as these the crier in the wilderness had been
transferring the people’s thought from himself, and setting their hearts, listening for
the Coming One, so preparing and broadening His way. Suddenly, in one of the
pauses of his ministrations, a Stranger presents Himself, and asks that the rite of
baptism may be administered to Him. There is nothing peculiar about His dress; He
is younger than the Baptist-much younger, apparently, for the rough, ascetic life has
prematurely aged him-but such is the grace and dignity of His person, such the
mingled "strength and beauty" of His manhood, that even John, who never quailed in
the presence of mortal before, is awed and abashed now. Discerning the innate
Royalty of the Stranger, and receiving a monition from the Higher World, with which
he kept up close correspondence, the Baptist is assured that it is He, the Lord and
Christ. Immediately his whole manner changes. The voice that has swept over the
land like a whirlwind, now is hushed, subdued, speaking softly, deferentially,
reverentially. Here is a Presence in which his imperatives all melt away and
disappear, a Will that is infinitely higher than his own, a Person for whom his
baptism is out of place. John is perplexed; he hesitates, he demurs. "I have need to be
baptized of Thee, and comest Thou to me?" and John, Elias-like, would fain have
wrapped his mantle around his face, burying out of sight his little "me," in the
presence of the Lord. But Jesus said, "Suffer it now: for thus it becometh us to fulfill
all righteousness". (Mat_3:15)
The baptism of Jesus was evidently a new kind of baptism, one in which the usual
formulas were strangely out of place; and the question naturally arises, Why should
Jesus submit to, and even ask for, a baptism that was so associated with repentance
and sin? Could there be any place for repentance, any room for confession, in the
Sinless One? John felt the anomaly, and so shrank from administering the rite, till
the reply of Jesus put His baptism on different ground-ground altogether clear of any
personal demerit. Jesus asked for baptism not for the washing away of sin, but that
He might "fulfill all righteousness." He was baptized, not for His own sake, but for
the world’s sake. Coming to redeem humanity, He would identify Himself with that
humanity, even the sinful humanity that it was. Son of God, He would become a true
Son of man, that through His redemption all other sons of men might become true
sons of God. Bearing the sins of many, taking away the sin of the world, that heavy
burden lay at His heart from the first; He could not lay it down until He left it nailed
to His cross. Himself knowing no sin, He yet becomes the Sin-offering, and is
"numbered among the transgressors." And as Jesus went to the cross and into the
grave mediatorially, as Humanity’s Son, so Jesus now passes into the baptismal
waters mediatorially, repenting for that world whose heart is still hard, and whose
eyes are dry of godly tears, and confessing the sin which He in love has made His
own, the "sin of the world," the sin He has come to make atonement for and to bear
away.
Such is the meaning of the Jordan baptism, in which Jesus puts the stamp of Divinity
upon John’s mission, while John bears witness to the sinlessness of Jesus. But a
Higher Witness came than even that of John; for no sooner was the rite
administered, and the river-bank regained, than the heavens were opened, and the
Spirit of God, in the form of a fiery dove, descended and alighted on the head of
Jesus; while a Voice out of the Unseen proclaimed, "This is My beloved Son, in whom
I am well pleased." And so the Son of man receives the heavenly, as well as the
earthly baptism. Baptized with water, He is new baptized with the Holy Ghost and
with fire, and anointed with the unction of the Holy One. But why should the Holy
Spirit descend upon Jesus in the form of a dove, and afterwards upon the disciples in
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25. the form of cloven tongues of fire? We can understand the symbolism of the cloven
tongues; for was not their mission to preach and teach, spreading and establishing
the kingdom by a consecrated speech-the Divine word carried forward by the human
voice? What, then, is the meaning of the dove-form? Does it refer to the dove of the
Old Dispensation, which bearing the olive-leaf in its mouth, preached its Gospel to
the dwellers in the ark, telling of the abatement of the angry waters, and of a
salvation that was near? And was not Jesus a heavenly Dove, bearing to the world the
olive-branch of reconciliation and of peace, proclaiming the fuller, wider Gospel of
mercy and of love? The supposition, at any rate, is a possible one; while the, words of
Jesus would almost make it a probable one; for speaking of this same baptism of the
Spirit, He says-and in His words we can hear the beat and whir of dove-wings-"He
anointed me to preach good tidings to the poor: He hath sent me to proclaim release
to the captives to set at liberty them that are bruised." (Luk_4:18)
The interview between Jesus and John was but brief, and in all probability final. They
spend the following night near to each other, but apart. The day after, John sees
Jesus walking, but the narrative would imply that they did not meet. John only
points to Him and says, "Behold the Lamb of God; which taketh away the sin of the
world"; and they part, each to follow his separate path, and to accomplish his
separate mission.
"The Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world." Such was John’s
testimony to Jesus, in the moment of his clearest illumination. He saw in Jesus, not
as one learned writer would have us suppose, the sheep of David’s pastoral, its life
encircled with green pastures and still waters-not this, but a lamb, "the lamb of God,"
the Paschal Lamb, led all uncomplaining to the slaughter, and by its death bearing
away sin-not either the sin of a year or the sin of a race, but "the sin of the world."
Never had prophet so prophesied before; never had mortal eye seen so clearly and so
deeply into God’s great mystery of mercy. How, then, can we explain that mood of
disappointment and of doubt which afterwards fell upon John? What does it mean
that from his prison he should send two of his disciples to Jesus with the strange
question, "Art Thou He that cometh, or look we for another?". (Luk_7:19) John is
evidently disappointed-yes, and dejected too; and, the Elias still, Herod’s prison is to
him the juniper of the desert. He thought the Christ would be one like unto himself,
crying in the wilderness, but with a louder voice and more penetrating accent. He
would be some ardent Reformer, with axe in hand, or fan, and with baptism of fire.
But lo, Jesus comes so different from his thought-with no axe in hand that he can
see, with no baptism of fire that he can hear of, a Sower rather than a Winnower,
scattering thoughts, principles, beatitudes, and parables, telling not so much of "the
wrath to come" as of the love that is already come, if men will but repent and receive
it-that John is fairly perplexed and actually sends to Jesus for some word that shall
be a solvent for his doubts.
It only shows how this Elias, too, was a man of like passions with ourselves, and that
even prophet’s eyes were sometimes dim, reading God’s purposes with a blurred
vision. Jesus returns a singular answer. He says neither Yes nor No; but He goes out
and works His accustomed miracles, and then dismisses the two disciples with the
message, "Go your way, and tell John what things ye have seen and heard; how that
the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are
raised, to the poor the Gospel is preached. And blessed is he, whosoever shall not be
offended in Me." These words are in part a quotation from John’s favorite prophet,
Isaiah, who emphasized as no other prophet did the evangelistic character of Christ’s
mission-which characteristic John seems to have overlooked. In his thought the
Christ was Judge, the great Refiner, sifting the base from the pure, and casting it into
some Gehenna of burnings. But Jesus reminds John that mercy is before and above
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26. judgment; that He has come, "not to condemn the world," but to save it, and to save
it, not by reiterations of the law, but by a manifestation of love. Ebal and Sinai have
had their word; now Gerizim and Calvary must speak.
And so this greatest of the prophets was but human, and therefore fallible. He saw
the Christ, no longer afar off, but near-yea, present; but he saw in part, and he
prophesied in part. He did not see the whole Christ, or grasp the full purport of His
mission. He stood on the threshold of the kingdom; but the least of those who should
pass within that kingdom should stand on a higher vantage-ground, and so be
greater than he. Indeed, it seems scarcely possible that John could have fully
understood Jesus; the two were so entirely different. In dress, in address, in mode of
life, in thought, the two were exact opposites. John occupies the border-region
between the Old and the New; and though his life appears in the New, he himself
belongs rather to the Old Dispensation. His accent is Mosaic, his message a
tritonomy, a third giving of the law. When asked the all-important question, "What
shall we do?" John laid stress on works of charity, and by his metaphor of the two
coats he showed that men should endeavor to equalize their mercies. And when
Publicans and soldiers ask the same question John gives a sort of transcript of the old
tables, striking the negatives of duty: "Extort no more than that which is appointed
you"; "Do violence to no man." Jesus would have answered in the simple positive that
covered all classes and all cases alike: "Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself." But
such was the difference between the Old and the New: the one said, "Do, and thou
shalt live"; the other said, "Live, and thou shalt do." The voice of John awoke the
conscience, but he could not give it rest. He was the preparer of the way; Jesus was
the Way, as He was the Truth and the Life. John was the Voice; Jesus was the Word.
John must "decrease" and disappear; Jesus must "increase," filling all times and all
climes with His glorious, abiding presence.
But the mission of John is drawing to a close and dark clouds are gathering in the
west. The popular idol still, a hostile current has set against him. The Pharisees,
unforgetting and unforgiving, are deadly bitter, creeping across his path, and hissing
out their "Devil"; while Herod, who in his better moods had invited the Baptist to his
palace, now casts him into prison. He will silence the voice he has failed to bribe, the
voice that beat against the chambers of his revelry, like a strange midnight gust, and
that set him trembling like an aspen. We need not linger over the last sad tragedy-
how the royal birthday was kept, with a banquet to the State officials; how the
courtesan daughter of Herodias came in and danced before the guests; and how the
half-drunken Herod swore a rash oath, that he would give her anything she might
ask, up to the half of his kingdom. Herodias knew well what wine and passion would
do for Herod. She even guessed his promise beforehand, and had given full directions
to her daughter; and soon as the rash oath had fallen from his lips-before he could
recall or change his words-sharp and quick the request is made, "Give me here John
Baptist’s head in a charger." There is a momentary conflict, and Herod gives the
fearful word. The head of John is brought into the banquet-hall before the assembled
guests-the long flowing locks, the eyes that even in death seemed to sparkle with the
fire of God; the lips sacred to purity and truth, the lips that could not gloss a sin, even
the sin of a Herod. Yes; it is there, the head of John the Baptist. The courtiers see it,
and smile; Herod sees it, but does not smile. That face haunts him; he never forgets
it. The dead prophet lives still, and becomes to Herod another conscience.
"And she brought it to her mother. And his disciples came, and took up the corpse,
and buried him; and they went and told Jesus". (Mat_14:11-12) Such is the finis to a
consecrated life, and such the work achieved by one man, in a ministry that was only
counted by months. Shall not this be his epitaph, recording his faithfulness and zeal,
and at the same time rebuking our aimlessness and sloth?-
26

27. "He liveth long who liveth well; All other life is short and vain: He liveth longest
who can tell Of living most for heavenly gain."
2 during the high-priesthood of Annas and
Caiaphas, the word of God came to John son of
Zechariah in the wilderness.
BARNES, "Annas and Caiaphas being highpriests - There was, properly
speaking, but one high priest of the Jews; yet the name of high priest continued to be
given to those who had been in that office, and especially when they still possessed
some civil office after they had left the high priesthood. In this case it appears that
“Caiapas” was high priest, and Annas “had been,” but had been dismissed from the
office. It is highly probable that he still held an office under the Romans, and was
perhaps president of the Sanhedrin. He is mentioned before Caiaphas because he was
the father-in-law to Caiaphas, and probably was the eldest, and had been longest in
office. Instances similar to this may be found in Josephus.
There is one remark to be made here about the manner in which the gospels are
written. They have every mark of openness and honesty. An impostor does not
mention names, and times, and places particularly. If he did, it would be easy to
ascertain that he was an impostor. But the sacred writers describe objects and people
as if they were perfectly familiar with them. They never appear to be “guarding”
themselves. They speak of things most minutely. If, therefore, they had been
impostors, it would have been easy to detect them. If, for example, John did not
begin to preach in the 15th year of Tiberius - if Philip was “not” tetrarch of Iturea - if
Pontius Pilate was not governor of Judea, how easy would it have been to detect them
in falsehood! Yet it was never done. Nay, we have evidence of that age, in Josephus,
that these descriptions are strictly true; and, consequently, the gospels must have
been written by people who were personally acquainted with what they wrote, who
were not impostors, and who were “honest” people. If they were “honest,” then the
Christian religion is true.
CLARKE, "Annas and Caiaphas being the high priests - Caiaphas was the
son-in-law of Annas or Ananias, and it is supposed that they exercised the high
priest’s office by turns. It is likely that Annas only was considered as high priest; and
that Caiaphas was what the Hebrews termed ‫משנה‬ ‫כהן‬ cohen mishneh, or ‫כהנים‬ ‫סגן‬ sagan
cohanim, the high priest’s deputy, or ruler of the temple. See the note on Mat_2:4,
and on Joh_18:13.
The facts which St. Luke mentions here tend much to confirm the truth of the
evangelical history. Christianity differs widely from philosophic system; it is founded
in the goodness and authority of God; and attested by historic facts. It differs also
from popular tradition, which either has had no pure origin, or which is lost in
unknown or fabulous antiquity. It differs also from pagan and Mohammedan
27

28. revelations, which were fabricated in a corner, and had no witnesses. In the above
verses we find the persons, the places, and the times marked with the utmost
exactness. It was under the first Caesars that the preaching of the Gospel took place;
and in their time, the facts on which the whole of Christianity is founded made their
appearance: an age the most enlightened, and best known from the multitude of its
historic records. It was in Judea, where every thing that professed to come from God
was scrutinized with the most exact and unmerciful criticism. In writing the history
of Christianity, the evangelists appeal to certain facts which were publicly transacted
in such places, under the government and inspection of such and such persons, and
in such particular times. A thousand persons could have confronted the falsehood,
had it been one! These appeals are made - a challenge is offered to the Roman
government, and to the Jewish rulers and people - a new religion has been
introduced in such a place, at such a time - this has been accompanied with such and
such facts and miracles! Who can disprove this? All are silent. None appears to offer
even an objection. The cause of infidelity and irreligion is at stake! If these facts
cannot be disproved, the religion of Christ must triumph. None appears because
none could appear. Now let it be observed, that the persons of that time, only, could
confute these things had they been false; they never attempted it; therefore these
facts are absolute and incontrovertible truths: this conclusion is necessary. Shall a
man then give up his faith in such attested facts as these, because, more than a
thousand years after, an infidel creeps out, and ventures publicly to sneer at what his
iniquitous soul hopes is not true!
The word of God came unto John - That is, the Holy Spirit that revealed to
him this doctrine of salvation. This came upon him in the desert, where he was living
in such a state of austerity as gave him full right to preach all the rigours of penitence
to others. Thus we find that the first preachers, historians, and followers of the
doctrines of the Gospel were men eminent for the austerity of their lives, the
simplicity of their manners, and the sanctity of their conduct; they were authorized
by God, and filled with the most precious gifts of his Spirit. And what are the apostles
which the new philosophy sends us? Philosophers full of themselves, not guided by
the love of truth or wisdom, but ever seeking their own glory; in constant hostility
among themselves, because of their separate pretensions to particular discoveries, of
the honor of which they would almost as soon lose life as be deprived. Who are they?
Men of a mortified life and unblamable conversation? No, they are poets and
poetasters; composers of romances, novels, intrigues, farces, comedies, etc., full of
extravagance and impurity. They are pretended moralists that preach up pleasure
and sensual gratification, and dissolve, as far as they can, the sacred and civil ties
that unite and support society. They are men whose guilt is heightened by their
assuming the sacred name of philosophers, and dignifying their impure system with
a name at which Philosophy herself blushes and bleeds.
GILL, "Annas and Caiaphas being the high priests,.... Some difficulty here
arises, how these two could be both high priests; when according to the law of God,
and the usages of the Jewish nation, there was to be, and was but one high priest at a
time: many things are observed by writers, to solve this difficulty: some go this way;
that though according to the divine institution, and the practice of former times,
there was but one high priest at a time; yet now, through the corruption of the
present age, there were two high priests; or at least, which officiated alternately in
the same year: but of such a corruption, no instance can be given, even in those
corrupt times; and as Maimonides says (a), there can be but "one high priest" ‫בכל‬
‫,העולם‬ "in all the world"; and besides, is contrary to their canons, which were then in
28

29. being, and still remain; one (b) of which runs thus, ‫כאחת‬ ‫גדולים‬ ‫כהנים‬ ‫שני‬ ‫ממנין‬ ‫אין‬ "they
do not appoint two high priests at once". Others suppose, that these two annually
performed the office of high priests by turns; that Caiaphas was high priest one year,
and Annas another: it is true indeed, that through the corruption of those times, this
office became venal, hence it is said in the Talmud (c),
"because they gave money for the priesthood, they changed it every twelve months.''
And which is more largely expressed by one of their commentators (d),
"because the high priests, who were under the second temple, after Simeon the just,
gave money to minister in the high priest's office, and because they were wicked, they
did not fill up their years, therefore they changed every year.''
But though it is certain, that there were frequent, and sometimes annual changes in
the priesthood, hence it is said of Caiaphas, Joh_11:49 that he was "high priest the
same year", yet it does not appear that he and Annas took it yearly by turns: for
Caiaphas continued in that office some years, even till after the death of Christ: and
besides, had this been the case, as one of them could be but high priest for the year
being, both in one year as here, could not with propriety be said to be high priests.
Others take another method, and suppose Caiaphas to be properly the high priest, as
he certainly was; and Annas so called, because he had been one formerly, the same
with Ananus, the son of Seth; who was put into the priesthood by Quirinius, in the
room of Joazar, and was deposed by Valerius Gratus, and Ishmael ben Phabi was put
into his room: but though there may be instances of persons being called high
priests, who had been in that office, after they were removed from it, yet no reason
can be given, why Annas should be peculiarly called so, when there were in all
probability several alive, who had been in that office as well as he; as Joazar his
predecessor, and Ishmael ben Phabi, who succeeded Joazar, and after him Eleazar,
the son of Annas, and then Simeon ben Camhith; nor why he should be put in the
annals of the high priests, in a year in which he was not one. It seems most likely
therefore, that he was the "Sagan" of the priests, of which office mention is frequently
made, in the Jewish writings (e); yea, we often read of Chanina, or Chananiah, or
Ananias, perhaps the same with this Annas, who is called, ‫כהנים‬ ‫,סגן‬ "the Sagan of the
priests" (f). This officer was not a deputy high priest, or one that was substituted to
officiate occasionally, in the room of the high priest, when any thing hindered him, or
rendered him unfit for his office; as on the day of atonement, if the high priest
contracted any pollution, they substituted another to minister (g); which was not the
"Sagan", but another priest; and even such an one was called an high priest, as
appears from the following story (h).
"It happened to Simeon ben Camhith (a predecessor of Caiaphas), that he went out
to speak with the king, on the evening of the day of atonement, and the spittle was
scattered from his mouth, upon his garments, and he was unclean; and his brother
Judah went in, and ministered in his stead in the high priesthood; and their mother
saw her "two sons", ‫אחד‬ ‫ביום‬ ‫גדולים‬ ‫כהנים‬ ‫שני‬ "high priests in one day".''
But the "Sagan" was not an officer pro tempore, or so much under the high priest,
and one in his stead, as a ruler and governor over other priests. Maimonides says of
him thus (i);
"they appoint one priest, who is to the high priest as a second to the king, and he is
29

30. called "Sagan"; and he is called a ruler: and he stands at the right hand of the high
priest continually; and this is an honour to him, and all the priests are under the
hand of the Sagan.''
The account given of him in the Talmud (k) is this;
"in five things the "Sagan" ministers; the "Sagan" says to him, my lord, high priest,
lift up thy right hand (i.e. when he took the lots out of the vessel for the goats, on the
day of atonement (l); which should be slain); the "Sagan" is on his right hand, and
the father of the sanhedrim on his left (i.e. when he went to the east of the court and
the north of the altar (m), where were the two goats, and the vessel in which were the
lots); the "Sagan" waved with the veils, or linen clothes; the "Sagan" held him by his
right hand, and caused him to ascend (by the steps to the altar); and no man was
appointed an high priest, before he was a "Sagan."''
Now these might be as Serojab and Zephaniah, the one chief priest, and the other
second priest, Jer_52:24 where the Targum and Jarchi interpret the text, the "Sagan"
of the priests. And this being an office of such dignity and authority, supposing
Annas in it, though he was not "the" high priest, yet being the head of the other
priests, he might be called one, and be joined with Caiaphas, and set before him; not
only because he had been an high priest, but because he was his father-in-law:
the word of God came to John the son of Zachariah: a priest of the order of
"Abia"; and of Elisabeth, a daughter of Aaron, and cousin of Mary, the mother of
Jesus; as it had come formerly to the prophets, and particularly to Jeremiah, who
was sanctified from the womb, as the Baptist was: he was blessed with a prophetic
spirit, and with the extraordinary gifts of the Holy Ghost, and with a wonderful
revelation of the Messiah, and of the Gospel dispensation; and was abundantly
qualified for the work he was called to, and sent to perform: and this befell him
in the wilderness; that is, of Judea; where he had been brought up and lived, and
from whence and where he came, preaching: he had lived a solitary life, and had not
learnt his doctrine from men, but had his mission, ministry, and baptism, from
heaven.
HENRY, “2. By the government of the Jews among themselves, to show that they
were a corrupt people, and that therefore it was time that the Messiah should come,
to reform them, Luk_3:2. Annas and Caiaphas were the high priests. God had
appointed that there should be but one high priest at a time, but here were two, to
serve some ill turn or other: one served one year and the other the other year; so
some. One was the high priest, and the other the sagan, as the Jews called him, to
officiate for him when he was disabled; or, as others say, one was high priest, and
represented Aaron, and that was Caiaphas; Annas, the other, was nasi, or head of
the sanhedrim, and represented Moses. But to us there is but one high priest, one
Lord of all, to whom all judgment is committed.
II. The origin and tendency of John's baptism.
1. The origin of it was from heaven: The word of God came unto John, Luk_3:2.
He received full commission and full instructions from God to do what he did. It is
the same expression that is used concerning the Old Testament prophets (Jer_1:2);
for John was a prophet, yea, more than a prophet, and in him prophecy revived,
which had been long suspended. We are not told how the word of the Lord came to
John, whether by an angel, as to his father, or by dream, or vision, or voice, but it was
30

31. to his satisfaction, and ought to be to ours. John is here called the son of Zacharias,
to refer us to what the angel said to his father, when he assured him that he should
have this son. The word of the Lord came to him in the wilderness; for those whom
God fits he will find out, wherever they are. As the word of the Lord is not bound in a
prison, so it is not lost in a wilderness. The word of the Lord made its way to Ezekiel
among the captives by the river of Chebar, and to John in the isle of Patmos. John
was the son of a priest, now entering upon the thirtieth year of his age; and therefore,
according to the custom of the temple, he was now to be admitted into the temple-
service, where he should have attended as a candidate five years before. But God had
called him to a more honourable ministry, and therefore the Holy Ghost enrols him
here, since he was not enrolled in the archives of the temple: John the son of
Zacharias began his ministration such a time.
SBC, “Luke 3:2-14
I. How shall we picture John the Baptist to ourselves? Great painters, greater than
the world seems likely to see again, have exercised their fancy upon his face, his
figure, and his actions. We must put out of our minds, I fear, at once, many of the
loveliest of them all, those in which Raffaelle and others have depicted the child
John, in his camel’s-hair raiment, with a child’s cross in his hand, worshipping the
Infant Christ. There is also one exquisite picture, by Annibale Caracci, in which the
blessed Babe is lying asleep, and the blessed Virgin signs to St. John, pressing
forward to adore Him, not to awake his sleeping Lord and God. But such
imaginations, beautiful as they are and true in heavenly, spiritual sense, which
therefore is true eternally for you and me and all mankind, are not historic fact. For
St. John the Baptist said himself, "And I knew Him not." The best picture which I can
recollect of John is the great picture by Guido of the magnificent lad sitting on the
rock, half-clad in his camel’s-hair robe, his stalwart hand lifted up to denounce he
hardly knows what, save that things are going all wrong, utterly wrong to him. The
wild rocks are around him, the clear sky is over him, and nothing more.
II. St. John preached the most common—let me say boldly, the most vulgar, in the
good old sense of the word—the most vulgar morality. He tells his hearers that an
awful ruin was coming unless they repented and mended. How fearfully true his
words were the next fifty years proved. The axe, he said, was laid to the root of the
tree, and the axe was the heathen Roman, even then master of the land. But God, not
the Roman Cæsar merely, was laying the axe. And He was a good God, who only
wanted goodness, which He would preserve; not badness, which He would destroy.
Therefore men must not merely repent and do penance, they must bring forth fruits
meet for penance; do right instead of doing wrong lest they be found barren trees to
be cut down and cast into that everlasting fire of God, which, thanks be to His Holy
Name, burns for ever, unquenchable by all men’s politics and systems and political or
other economies, to destroy out of God’s kingdom all that offendeth and whatsoever
loveth and maketh a lie—oppressors, quacks, cheats, hypocrites, and the rest.
C. Kingsley, All Saints’ Day and Other Sermons, p. 256.
CALVIN, "Luke 3:2.Annas and Caiaphas being the high priests It is certain,
that there never were two persons who held the office of high priest at the same
time. Josephus states, that Valerius Gratus made Caiaphas high priest, a short
time before he left the government. During the time that Pilate was governor of
Judea, Josephus does not speak of him as having made any change in this
respect; (244) but, on the contrary, states that, when Pilate had been recalled
31

32. from the government, and sent to plead his cause at Rome, Vitellius, who was at
that time governor of Syria, reduced Caiaphas to a private rank, and transferred
the high priesthood to Jonathan, the son of Ananus, (Ant. 18:4:3.) When Luke
says that there were two high priests, we must not understand him to mean, that
both held the same title, but that the honor of the priesthood was partly shared
with him by Annas his father-in-law. Luke’s narrative indicates such a state of
trouble and confusion, that, though there was not more than one person who was
actually high priest, the sacred office was torn in pieces by ambition and
tyranny.
The word of the Lord came upon John Before relating, as the other Evangelists
do, that John began to exercise his office of teaching, Luke asserts that he was
divinely called to that office: and he does so, in order to assure us, that the
ministry of John carried undoubted authority. Why the interpreters have chosen
to translate the word, ἐπὶ ᾿Ιωάννην, UPON John, instead of TO John, I do not
see: but because there is no ambiguity as to the meaning, that this commission
was entrusted to him, and that he received a command to preach, I have followed
the received version. Hence infer, that there are no regular teachers, but those on
whom God has conferred the office; and that it is not enough to have the word of
God, if there be not likewise a special calling.
Matthew and Mark do not speak of the preaching of John as extending beyond
the wilderness, while Luke says, that he came into all the country around Jordan
These statements may be reconciled by observing, that John discharged the
office of teaching among the neighbors, with whom he dwelt; but that his Gospel
spread more widely, and became known in many places, so that the report of it,
in a short time, reached Jerusalem. Indeed, the whole of that tract of the Jordan
might be called a wilderness: for the word does not mean “a solitude,” but “a
rough, and mountainous, and thinly inhabited district.”
COKE, "Luke 3:2. Annas and Caiaphas being the high-priests— According to
the institutions of the Jewish religion, there could be only one high-priest,
properly so called, at a time; that minister being typical of the one Mediator
between God and man. The most probable solution therefore of the difficulty in
the text, is, that Annas was the high-priest, and Caiaphas his sagan, or deputy; to
whom also the title of high-priest might, in an improper or secondary sense, be
given. Aaron, the high-priest, left two sons, Eleazar and Ithamar; Eleazar, the
eldest, obtained the sacerdotal tiara by birth-right; but under the judges it was
translated from his family to that of his brother; for Eli, who was both high-
priest and judge, is not mentioned among Eleazar's posterity; (see 1 Chronicles
6:4; 1 Chronicles 6:81.) So that he must have been of Ithamar's family, as indeed
Josephus expressly affirms. Accordingly, Ahimelech, the father of that Abiathar
(1 Samuel 22:20.) whose deposition by Solomon is declared to have been an
accomplishment of the word of the Lord concerning the house of Eli, 1 Kings
2:26-27 and who, for that reason, must have been one of Eli's descendants, is said
to have been of the stock of Ithamar, 1 Chronicles 24:3. But the high-priesthood
passed from one family to the other more than once; either through the legal
incapacity of him to whom it appertained by right of succession, or by the decree
of the chief magistrates, who seem to have claimed the disposal of this dignity;
32

33. for it was brought back to the family of Eleazar, in the person of Zadok, by
Solomon, 1 Kings 2:27-35. In latter times, the high-priesthood was possessed by
the Asmoneans, who were neither of the one family nor the other, but common
priests of the course of Joarib. The dignity of the high-priesthood made him who
enjoyed it, whether he was of the posterity of Eleazar or Ithamar, the first of the
sacerdotal order; the head of the other family being second only, and next to
him. It is supposed that the prophet Jeremiah speaks of both, when he mentions
a chief-priest and a second priest, Jeremiah 52:24. In like manner,
notwithstanding Abiathar, of the line of Ithamar, was deposed from the high-
priesthood, he is honoured with the title which in those days was given to the
high-priests, and set almost on an equality with his successor Zadok, of the line
of Eleazar, 1 Kings 4:4.—and Zadok and Abiathar the priests. If therefore
Caiaphas was the second priest, as is probable from his succeeding Annas, he
might be called the high-priest in a less proper sense. Or, if Annas was removed,
and Caiaphas succeeded him before the year expired, they might both properly
be said to have been high-priests that year: but though Annas was deposed to
make way for Caiaphas, he was restored to his dignity soon after our Lord's
death, Acts 4:6. It should be observed, that those who once bore the office of
high-priests always retained the title afterwards; and Annas having enjoyed it
before Caiaphas, might for that reason have been honoured with the title. It has
been suggested, that Annas represented Moses, as the nasi, prince, or head of the
Sanhedrim; and Caiaphas Aaron, as the proper high-priest; and that they both
continued in their office till the death of Christ. See John 18:13.
BI, “Annas and Caiaphas being the high priests
Annas and Caiaphas
The way in which these two names occur in the New Testament has given some
trouble to commentators.
They are found in St. Luke’s Gospel, mentioned both together at the commencement
of the preaching of John the Baptist, and are there called “the high priests.” St.
Matthew, in the narrative of our Lord’s trial, speaks only of Caiaphas, and calls him
“the high priest.” But St. John, who also mentions Caiaphas as “the high priest,” tells
us that Jesus, after His arrest, was first brought to Annas, as if he were of chief
importance, and then was sent by him to Caiaphas, Lastly, in the Acts, we have Annas
called the high priest, and the name of Caiaphas mentioned at the same time, but no
title is given to the latter. But we know from Josephus that Annas (Ananus), who was
father-in-law to Caiaphas, was made high priest by Quirinus (Cyrenius), A.D. 7, and
continued in that office for seven years, when he was deprived of it by Valerius
Gratus, and was never chosen to be high priest afterwards. It is clear, however, that
from the earliest times down to a date after the composition of the Acts of the
Apostles, there were often circumstances under which two men were called high
priests at the same time. That one who had once been high priest, but had ceased to
be in office, would still be called high priest, is evident from that principle which is
laid down in several places in the Talmud, that “you may elevate in the matter of a
sacred thing, or office, but you cannot bring down.” As with us, “once a bishop,
always a bishop.” We see, therefore, that when Annas had been high priest, it was not
only likely that he would continue to be so called, but that, according to Jewish
usage, he could be called nothing else. The age of Annas, and the influential position
naturally occupied by one who had been acting high priest himself, whose son had
twice held the same office, and who was father-in-law to the present high priest, are
33

34. sufficient to warrant the action of the crowd in taking Christ to Annas first; while in
the passage of the Acts, the mention of Annas at the head of the list, with the title of
high priest, was nothing more than was due to his years and to the relationship in
which he stood to Caiaphas, while the omission of the high priest’s title after the
name of Caiaphas is no more a proof that he was not also high priest than the
language of St. Mark’s Gospel, where it is said, “Go your way, tell His disciples, and
Peter,” is evidence that Peter was not one of the disciples. (J. Rawson Lumby, D. D.)
The Word of God came unto John
An important statement
The events of the first verse, as compared with the events recorded in the second, are
of the most trifling importance. In the first instance there is a list of govern mental
personalities and districts, and in the second verse there is the solemn fact that the
word of God came unto the forerunner of our Lord. This juxtaposition of events is
remarkably suggestive as bearing upon what is current in our own day. The world has
a large list of its own appointments, regulations, and authorities, which reads most
imposingly: on the other hand there are single sentences bearing upon spiritual life
and work which totally eclipse the pomp of royal nomenclature and dominion.
Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate, Herod, Philip, and Lysanias, are names which will
perish from the roll of the highest factors of human history and service; but the name
of John will be remembered and reverenced as the highest name known amongst
men before the building up of the distinctive kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ. The
word of God came unto John. This is a most remarkable expression, showing that
John did not run before he was sent, and showing also that God knows where to find
men when He wants them for any work in the world. John in the wilderness is
nobody, but the word of God entering into this same John kindles him into a light
that is seen afar. The true minister of God is charged with the word of Heaven. That
which he speaks he speaks not of himself, he simply pronounces and proclaims with
earnestness and persistency the truth which has been breathed into his own heart by
the Spirit of God. The sword in the scabbard is a useless weapon, but when grasped
by the hand of the trained soldier carries with it alike death and victory. It is, indeed,
possible to have received the word of God as a commandment to go forth, and yet to
have stifled the great conviction. There are men who are silent to-day in the Church,
who, if faithful to their convictions, would be heard in loud protest against evil, and
vehement proclamations as the apostles of Christian truth. -Grieve not the Spirit!
Quench not the Spirit! We do not begin by quenching the Spirit; the deadly work
begins by grieving the sacred presence. It is to be noted that John was in the
wilderness when the word of God came unto him. Time spent in solitude is not
misspent if the ear be bent towards God, and our love be listening for the coming of
His word. (J. Parker, D. D.)
Teachings of the wilderness
Few Bible characters are so strangely fascinating to the devout reader as that of John
the Baptist. In the wilderness God came to him; in the wilderness he was equipped
for public service; from the wilderness he began his missionary work. This fact
suggests three ideas of practical importance.
I. THE NATURE OF WILDERNESS LIFE.
1. Solitude.
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35. 2. Abstemiousness.
3. Privation.
II. THE LESSONS OF WILDERNESS LIFE. What John was taught in the wilderness
gave him his regal manhood, viz., the high moral lessons of—
1. Self-denial.
2. Humility.
3. Courage for what is true and holy.
“Separate from the world, his breast
Did deeply take and strongly keep
The print of heaven.”
III. THE REASON OF GOD’S VISITATION IN THE WILDERNESS. The “word” was
a call to active endeavour in the busy world. The wilderness had done its work, that
is, had made John a fit person in the sight of God to be called to the important work
of heralding the ministry of Christ. That same “word of God “ is constantly coming to
us all in all the great and little wildernesses of life. In all ages notable instances of
such visitations have been recorded. Moses, Luther, Wordsworth, amongst the hills
and vales of his native Westmoreland; Carlyle, who, in the wilderness of
Craigenputtock, heard and obeyed a call to preach in his books repentance as the first
and last need of his age. If we would be true to our higher nature we must cultivate
the love of solitude.
“Morn is the time to act, noon to endure,
But O! if thou wouldst keep thy spirit pure,
Turn from the beaten path by worldlings trod,
Go forth at eventide in heart to walk with God.”
And if to solitude there be added suffering in our wilderness, let us despise it not.
Though often dreary, it has its charms, its blessings. God may be found there. (J.
McGavin Sloan.)
John in the wilderness
Wide as was the moral and spiritual difference between the two great prophets of the
Jordan wilderness, and the wild ascetics of later times, it is for this very reason
important to bear in mind the outward likeness which sets off this inward contrast.
Travellers know well the startling appearance of the savage figures who, whether as
Bedouins or Dervishes, still haunt the solitary places of the East, with a cloak—the
usual striped Bedouin blanket—woven of camel’s hair thrown over the shoulders, and
tied in front on the breast; naked except at the waist, round which is a girdle of skin,
the hair flowing loose about the head. This was precisely the description of Elijah,
whose last appearance had been on this very wilderness, before he finally vanished
from the eyes of his disciple. This, too, was the aspect of his great representative,
when he came, in the same place, dwelling, like the sons of the prophets, in a leafy
covert, woven of the branches of the Jordan forest, preaching, in raiment of camel’s
hair, with a leathern girdle round his loins, eating the locusts of the desert, and the
wild honey or manna which dripped from the tamarisks of the desert region, or
which distilled from the palm-groves of Jericho. To the same wilderness, probably
that on the eastern side, Jesus is described as “led up” by the Spirit—up into the
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36. desert-hills whence Moses had seen the view of all the kingdom of Palestine—“with
the wild beasts” which lurked in the bed of the Jordan, or in the caves of the hills,
“where John was baptising, beyond Jordan.” (Dean Stanley.)
John’s life in the desert
A soul lost in the greatness of eternal truths, like that of John, may well have risen to
an indifference to the comforts, or even ordinary wants of the body, otherwise almost
impossible. We have no record of his daily life, but that of one who, in saintliness of
spirit, trod in his steps, is still preserved. Saint Antony, in the deserts of Egypt, was
wont to pass whole nights in prayer, and that not once, but often, to the
astonishment of men. He ate once a day, after the setting of the sun; his food was
bread with salt, his drink nothing but water. Flesh and wine he never tasted. When
he slept, he was content with a rush mat, but mostly he lay on the bare ground. He
would not anoint himself with oil, saying that it was more fit for young men to be
earnest in subduing the body, than to seek things which softened it. Forgetting the
past, he, daily, as if beginning afresh, took more pains to improve, saying over to
himself, continually, the apostle’s words—“Forgetting what is behind, stretching
forth to what is before”; and mindful, too, of Elijah’s saying, “the Lord liveth, before
whom I stand”—he said, himself, that the ascetic ought ever to be learning his own
life from that of the great Elias, as from a mirror. The picture may not suit in some
particulars, but as a glimpse of the mortified life of the desert, in its best aspect, it
may serve to realize that of John, in the loneliness of the rough wilderness of Judaea.
(Dr. C. Geikie.)
John in the wilderness
Here St. John the Baptist spent long years of solitary musing on the things of God, till
his soul kindled into irresistible ardour, which drove him forth among men to plead
with them to prepare for the coming of the Messiah. During the hot months it is a
land of scorpions, lizards, and snakes, Be that his experience readily supplied him
with a comparison for his wicked contemporaries, whom he denounced as “a
generation of vipers.” Wild bees make their combs in the hollows of the limestone
rocks; the aromatic thymes, mints, and other labiate plants, sprinkled over the face of
the wilderness, furnishing them with honey, which is more plentiful in the wilderness
of Judaea than in any other part of Palestine. They thus provided for him a main
article of his diet, while in one wady or another, or in soma cleft, there was always
water enough to quench his thirst. Locusts, the other article of his food, are never
wanting in this region, and, indeed, are to this day eaten by the Arabs in the
southeast of Judaea, the very district where John lived; by those of the Jordan valley,
and by some tribes in Gilead. They stew them with butter, and travellers say—for I
myself have never tasted them—that they are very like shrimps in flavour. (Dr. C.
Geikie.)
3 He went into all the country around the
Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for
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37. the forgiveness of sins.
CLARKE, "The baptism of repentance - See on Mat_3:4-6 (note), and Mar_
1:1 (note), etc., and Mark 16 (note) at the end.
GILL, "And he came into all the country about Jordan,.... He came out of the
wilderness of Judea, where he first began his ministry, to some parts of the country
that bordered on Jordan, and was near unto it, on either side the river; sometimes he
was at Bethabara, and sometimes at Aenon, near Salim; for he did not take a tour
round about all, the country that encompassed Jordan, but being at it, or in places
adjacent to it, all the country round about came to him; see Mat_3:5.
Preaching the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins: this was the
work and office of John, as signified by Elias, in Mal_4:5 the Jews say (n),
"the Israelites will not repent, till Elias comes; as it is said, Mal_4:5 in the land of
Israel repentance delights.''
John came into this land, preaching this doctrine; See Gill on Mar_1:4.
HENRY, “2. The scope and design of it were to bring all the people of his country
off from their sins and home to their God, Luk_3:3. He came first into all the
country about Jordan, the neighbourhood wherein he resided, that part of the
country which Israel took possession of first, when they entered the land of promise
under Joshua's conduct; there was the banner of the gospel first displayed. John
resided in the most solitary part of the country: but, when the word of the Lord came
to him, he quitted his deserts, and came into the inhabited country. Those that are
best pleased in their retirements must cheerfully exchange them, when God calls
them into places of concourse. He came out of the wilderness into all the country,
with some marks of distinction, preaching a new baptism; not a sect, or party, but a
profession, or distinguishing badge. The sign, or ceremony, was such as was
ordinarily used among the Jews, washing with water, by which proselytes were
sometimes admitted, or disciples to some great master; but the meaning of it was,
repentance for the remission of sins: that is, all that submitted to his baptism,
(1.) Were thereby obliged to repent of their sins, to be sorry for what they had done
amiss, and to do so no more. The former they professed, and were concerned to be
sincere in their professions; the latter they promised, and were concerned to make
good what they promised. He bound them, not to such ceremonious observances as
were imposed by the tradition of the elders, but to change their mind, and change
their way, to cast away from them all their transgressions, and to make them new
hearts and to live new lives. The design of the gospel, which now began, was to make
men devout and pious, holy and heavenly, humble and meek, sober and chaste, just
and honest, charitable and kind, and good in every relation, who had been much
otherwise; and this is to repent.
(2.) They were thereby assured of the pardon of their sins, upon their repentance.
As the baptism he administered bound them not to submit to the power of sin, so it
sealed to them a gracious and pleadable discharge from the guilt of sin. Turn
yourselves from all your transgressions, so iniquity shall not be your ruin; agreeing
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38. with the word of the Lord, by the Old Testament prophets, Eze_18:30.
CALVIN, "Luke 3:3.Preaching the baptism of repentance This form of
expression shows first, generally, what is the right use of the Sacraments; and
next, why baptism was instituted, and in what it consists. A sacrament, then, is
not a dumb ceremony, exhibiting some unmeaning pomp without doctrine; but
the Word of God is joined to it, and gives life to the outward ceremony. By the
Word I mean, not mutterings of a magical character, made by some exorcist
between his teeth, but what is pronounced with a clear and distinct voice, and
leads to the edification of faith. For we are not simply told, that John baptized
unto repentance, as if the grace of God were contained in a visible sign; but that
he explained, in his preaching, the advantage of baptism, that the sign, through
the word preached, might produce its effect. This is the peculiarity of baptism,
that it is said to be an outward representation of repentance for the forgiveness
of sins Now, as the meaning, power, and nature of that baptism are the same as
ours, if we judge of the figure from its true import, it is incorrect to say, that the
baptism of John is different from the baptism of Christ. (246)
COFFMAN, "This was an extensive area evangelized by John, some sixty-five
miles in a straight line from Galilee to the Dead Sea, but as the river runs, more
than twice that.
Baptism of repentance unto the remission of sins ... This baptism was a new rite,
"not founded on the immersions of the old dispensation, but a divinely appointed
act, peculiar to Christianity, and first introduced by John."[9] It is one of the
seven baptisms mentioned in the New Testament.[10] It consisted of the
immersion of the penitent in water by the administrator, requiring John to
preach where there was "much water" (John 3:23); and, coupled with
repentance, it was "unto the remission of sins." John's baptism was, in fact,
"God's baptism"; and those who rejected it rejected God (Luke 7:30). It was the
only baptism ever submitted to by the apostles of Christ (Paul excepted) and was
the only baptism in force until Pentecost. Those baptized by John and who
followed on to receive the Spirit of Christ experienced the new birth, being born
of water and of the Spirit, as Jesus commanded (John 3:1-5). Significantly, the
new birth, which requires a birth of water (baptism) and a birth of the Spirit
(receiving the Holy Spirit as promised in Acts 2:38), could not be experienced
until after Jesus was risen from the dead (John 7:39). From this it is clear that
"the remission of sins" was a blessing which John promised prospectively, the
actuality of it being necessarily deferred until Pentecost.
For an extensive discussion of the new birth, see my Commentary on John,
chapter 3.
Only a very few of the proud Jewish leaders submitted to John's baptism, a
failure on their part which issued finally in their total rejection of the Lord.
Christ brought the rite of baptism over into Christianity, making it mandatory
for all who would be saved (Mark 16:15,16); but, the tragic pattern of rejection,
as in the case of John's baptism, has been continued under the new covenant;
and those who reject it should take note of the consequences in the people who
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39. rejected baptism under John.
Repentance ... is a change of the human will that issues in reformation of life. It
may occur in a moment, but the best results of it last a lifetime. Jesus allowed
that repentance may occur seven times in a single day (17:4), and this shows that
it may not last a lifetime! However, it is admitted by all that it should. It is the
basic condition of God's forgiveness; and, as long as one is under the probation
of life, the need of repentance is constant.
[9] H. Leo Boles, Commentary on the Gospel according to Luke (Nashville,
1940), p. 76.
[10] James Burton Coffman's Commentary on Matthew, p. 29.
CONSTABLE, "Luke mentioned John's itinerant ministry in the region around
the Jordan River whereas Matthew described it as in the wilderness of Judea
(Matthew 3:1). The thing that characterized John's ministry in the minds of his
contemporaries was his baptism. What marked his baptism distinctively was that
it expressed repentance that resulted in divine forgiveness of sins. When people
came to John for baptism they were saying that they had repented of their sins.
John's baptism prefigured Jesus' different kind of baptism (cf. Luke 3:16). Luke
said little about John's baptizing but stressed his preaching.
"The task of 'proclaiming ... repentance for release of sins' (Luke 3:3) remains
central throughout Luke-Acts [cf. Luke 4:18; Luke 5:17-32; Luke 24:47]." [Note:
Tannehill, 1:48.]
COKE, "Luke 3:3. And he came into all the country about Jordan— What St.
Luke terms the country about Jordan, St. Matthew calls the hill-country of
Judea: their accounts maybe illustrated from Josephus, who tells us, that the
mountains above Jericho ran north as far as Scythopolis, and south to the
territory of Sodom, at the bottom of the Asphalticlake: opposite to this there was
another range of mountains on the other side of Jordan, beginning at Julias,
where the river falls into the sea of Galilee; and extending themselves southward
to the extremity also of the Asphaltic lake. The plain between these mountains,
and through which the Jordan ran, was called the Aulon, also the Campus
Magnus, or Great Plain; and is often mentioned in the Jewish history. According
to Josephus, the length of the Aulon was from the village of Ginnabris, to the
northern extremity of the Asphaltic lake, and measured 1200 stadia; but its
breadth between the mountains was only 120 stadia. The Scriptures, however,
extend the Campus Magnus to the southern extremity, or bottom of the Dead
Sea; Deuteronomy 34:1-3 which for that reason they call the sea of the plain.
There is another Campus Magnus mentioned by Josephus, called also The Plain
of Esdraelon, from the city ofJezreel. This plain extendeditself from Scythopolis
on the east, to the plain of Ptolemais, or Acra, on the west. The plain of Acre on
the north was bounded by a range of hills, and to the south by mount Carmel,
but eastward it was joined to the plain of Esdraelon by a narrow way. Besides
the above-mentioned, there is a large extent of flat country lying along the
Mediterranean, from mount Carmel to the utmost boundary of the land
39

40. southward. In this plain there were no mountains, only a few sandy hillocks,
such as at Joppa, on which Gath of the Philistines is said to have been built.
These were all the remarkable plains in the land of Israel; the rest of the country
was high and mountainous, having but small openings or flats between the ridges
of the hills. With respect to the Jordan, we learn from Josephus, as well as from
other modern travellers, that it was a very large and rapid river. See his Wars, B.
3. 100: 18. Shaw's Travels, p. 373. Maundrell's Journey, p. 81 and the notes on
Joshua 3:13. Jeremiah 49:19. The particular part of the river where John
baptized was called Bethabara, or the house of the passage; either because the
Israelites anciently passed over at that place, or because it was the common
fording or ferrying place, to and from Judea. On either supposition, the banks of
the river there must have been free of wood, and not so steep as those described
in the place above referred to. If Bethabara was the place where the people
under Joshua passed the river, it stood directly opposite to Jericho. If it was the
then common ferrying-place, we may suppose that the Baptist chose it for the
sake of making himself better known, and that he might have an opportunity of
addressing greater numbers of his countrymen, as they travelled from one part
of the country to another.
Preaching the baptism of repentance— John being called to prepare the Jews for
the reception of the Messiah, he atchieved this work through divine grace, by
pressing all ranks of men to repent, — ΄ετανοειν, that is to say, to alter their
practical judgments concerning things, and to be suitably affected with remorse
and shame for their guilt and past misconduct: but the Baptist did not stop here;
he required all his hearers to bring forth fruits meet for repentance; (Luke 3:8.)
that is, enjoined them to make a thorough reformation in their lives: and all this
is well described, and fully expressed, in the metaphorical language of the
prophet, quoted in the next verses. The Baptist inculcated likewise this doctrine
by the rite of baptism, which represented the nature and necessity of repentance
to men's senses, as his sermons set these things before their understandings. See
the note on Matthew 3:2 and on Isaiah 40:3.
BURKITT, "Observe here, 1. The place where the Baptist exercised his ministry;
in the wilderness of Judea, where were some cities and villages, though thinly
inhabited.
Note here, the great humility of the Baptisit in preaching in an obscure place,
and to a small handful of people. Jerusalem, some might think, was a fitter place,
for so celebrated a preacher; but God had called him to preach in the wilderness,
and there he opens his commission.
Learn, that the most eminent of God's ministers must be content to execute their
office, and exercise their ministry, where God calls them, be the place never so
mean and obscure, and the people never so rude and barbarous. In the place
where God by his providence fixes us, we must abide, till he that called us
thither, removes us thence.
And this was the Baptist's case here. He leaves the wilderness at God's
command, and comes to more inhabited places: He came into the country about
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41. Jordan, preaching. It is not only lawful, but a necessary duty, for the ministers of
God to remove from one place and people to another, provided their call be
clear, their way plain, the good of souls their motive, and the glory of God their
end.
Observe, 2. The doctrine which the Baptist preached: namely, the baptism of
repentance for the remission of sins: that is, the doctrine of baptism, which
sealeth remission of sins to the party baptized.
Learn hence, that the preaching of the doctrine of repentance is the
indispensable duty of every gospel minister. John the Baptist preached it, our
Saviour preached it, his apostles preached it: They went out every where
preaching that men should repent.
Till we are in a state of sinless perfection, the doctrine of repentance must be
preached unto us, and practiced by us.
Observe, 3. The motive and inducement which prompted the Baptist to this duty;
which was, to fulfil the prophecies that went before of him: As it is written in the
book of the prophecies, the voice of one crying in the wilderness, prepare ye the
way of the Lord, make his paths straight: every valley shall be filled.
Where note, 1. The title given to John the Baptist: a Voice, a crying voice. This
implies both his vehemency and earnestness, and also his freedom and boldness,
in delivering his message: when a minister's own heart is warmly affected with
what he preaches, he may hope to affect the hearts of others.
Note, 2. The sum and substance of what he cried: Prepare ye the way of the
Lord, that is, make yourselves ready to receive the Messiah, to embrace and
entertain his doctrine. As loyal subjects, when their prince is coming near their
city, remove everything out of the way that may hinder his progress; all
annoyances and all impediments; in like manner the preparatory work of the
gospel upon the hearts of sinners, lies in pulling down mountains, and filling up
vallies; that is, in humbling the proud hearts of sinners, puffed up, as the
Pharisees were, with a conceit of their own righteousness, who would be their
own saviours, and not beholden to Christ, and to his free grace for salvation.
Learn hence, 1. That man's heart is naturally very unfit to receive and entertain
the Lord Jesus Christ, and his holy doctrine; we have naturally no fitness, no
inclination, nor disposition, to believe in him, or submit unto him.
2. That if ever we design to entertain Christ in our hearts, we must first prepare
and make ready our hearts for the receiving and embracing of him. For though
the preparation of the heart be from the Lord, yet he requires the exercise of our
faculties, and the use of our endeavours; he prepares our hearts, by enabling us
to prepare our own hearts, by getting a sight of the evil of sin, and a sense of our
misery without Christ; and hungering desire after him, and a lively faith in him.
God does not work upon man, as masons work upon a stone; what he doth in us
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42. and for us, he doth it by us; he works by setting us to work; therefore says the
holy Baptist, prepare ye the way of the Lord. The act of endeavour is ours, the
aid and assistance is God's.
Observe lastly, the encouragement which the Baptist gives to persons to prepare
the way of the Lord: For, says he, all flesh shall see the salvation of God; that is,
now is the time that all persons, Jews and Gentiles, may see the Author of
salvation, whom God has promised to the world; and may by faith be made
partakers of that salvation which the Messiah shall purchase for them, and in his
gospel tender to them. The great end of Christ's coming into the world, was to
purchase salvation for all flesh willing to be saved by him.
BENSON, "Luke 3:3-6. And he came into all the country about Jordan — He
made his first public appearance in the wilderness of Judea, Matthew 3:1; that
is, in the uncultivated and thinly-inhabited parts of the hill-country round
Hebron, where his father dwelt; Luke 1:39-40; but after his fame was spread
abroad, and many came to him, he left Judea and passed over Jordan, residing
chiefly at Bethabara, for the conveniency of baptizing, John 1:28; John 10:40. He
travelled, however, through all that country; preaching the baptism of
repentance — That is, calling sinners of all descriptions to repentance, and
admitting the penitent to the baptism of water as an outward or visible sign, or
emblem of the free and full remission of all their sins. In other words, he
enjoined the penitent to be baptized, as a testimony, on their part, of the sincerity
of their repentance, and on the part of John, who administered this ordinance by
the commandment of God, as a seal or token that their sins were remitted. As it
is written in the book of Esaias, The voice of one crying, &c. — See the notes on
Isaiah 40:3-5. The evangelist, by citing this prophecy, as accomplished in the
Baptist’s preaching, shows us its true meaning. Isaiah, by expressions taken from
the custom of kings, who commonly have the roads through which they pass
prepared for them, signified that the Messiah’s forerunner was to prepare his
way, by intimating that the institutions of Moses were to be relinquished as the
means of salvation, and by exhorting the people to repentance and amendment of
life. Matthew tells us, that John enforced his exhortations to repentance from the
consideration that the Messiah’s kingdom was at hand; the kingdom of heaven,
foretold by Daniel the prophet, the new dispensation of religion, wherein all
ceremonial observances were to be abolished, and nothing but repentance, partly
flowing from, and partly followed by, faith in the Messiah, and producing
sincere obedience, would avail toward the pardon of sin, acceptance with God,
and the enjoyment of eternal life. According to Luke, the argument whereby
John enforced his exhortations to repentance was, that sinners would thereby
obtain the remission of their sins. The two evangelists, therefore, being
compared, show, that the great and distinguishing privilege of the new
dispensation is, that therein pardon is promised to, and conferred on, penitents
who believe in Jesus, and that the kingdom of God, including righteousness,
peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost, (Romans 14:17,) is set up in their hearts and
governs their lives. Every valley shall be filled, &c. — Of these metaphors, which
are plainly taken from the making of roads, the meaning is, that the Messiah’s
forerunner, by preaching the doctrine of repentance, and thereby affecting
men’s minds with remorse and shame for their past conduct, and producing
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43. amendment of life, should be instrumental in effecting such a change in the
hearts and lives of the Jews, that many of them should acknowledge, receive, and
become subject to the Messiah, when he appeared. And all flesh shall see the
salvation of God — After such a preparation of the way as is now described,
mankind shall behold, not a splendid temporal monarch, accompanied with a
magnificent retinue, but the author of that salvation which God has prepared
before the face of all people. Luke 2:30-31; see notes on Matthew 3:3.
NISBET, "What is repentance?
I. Repentance is that change of mind which turns away with sorrow from
anything that is wrong, which owns it, and amends it, and is willing to start
afresh. So that repentance is the persistent enemy of a perpetual defect—viz. the
contented acquiescence in old unworthy habits because they are old; habits
which have ceased to move our indignation because we have got used to them;
habits which we never own to God or man because it is best to say nothing about
them; habits which we do not intend to alter, because we do not believe it
possible that we ever should.
II. Repentance an excellent thing for others.—Is it not so, that we think
repentance would be an excellent thing for many people—for those publicans
and soldiers, for instance, for that common herd of useless men—but not for
ourselves? No one is more ready than we are to lament the decadence of the
times. But if we read the short account of John’s ministry in the Gospel, we find
that nowhere were his denunciations more scathing, and his exhortations more
earnest, than when he was addressing the Pharisees and Sadducees, the religious
world of his time. And our religious services, which we have received to use, are
not meant for, or adapted to, the outcast and abandoned, but to such persons as
ourselves that we may cry mercy, and protest penitence, and promise again and
again an oft-renewed repentance—repentance that is for ourselves and not for
other people. Surely, unless we realise this, we are in great danger of unreality,
for there is nothing so numbing to all discipline as to use strong words which
have lost all their meaning, and to promise actions which we never mean to
perform.
III. It is so easy to be religious with a reservation.—It is so easy, with Ananias
and Sapphira, to get the credit of renunciation while we keep back part of the
price. Surely it is idle to believe in the omnipotence of God if we cannot trust
Him to free us from the impotency of some hereditary taint. It is idle to trust in
Christ the Liberator if we hug our chains and linger in captivity. It is melancholy
to boast of freedom and to allow year after year to find us still in fetters. The
divorce between faith and practice, between orthodoxy and morality, is always
terribly easy. It is this more than anything else which brings in converts to the
devil’s society for propagating infidelity, which is sometimes more successful
than the society which propagates the Gospel. Is it not written, ‘By their fruits ye
shall know them’? And how shall I recognise the power of Christianity in a
religion which cannot help a man to throw off even one bad habit? But with most
of us repentance means a vigorous effort to combat the deterioration which sets
in even in our best efforts. Why is it that the Church is making itself so little felt?
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44. Why are we not influencing the world around us more than we do? If a tenth of
our prayers were answered the world would be a different place, and why are
they not answered? ‘Ye ask and ye receive not because ye ask amiss.’
—Rev. Canon Newbolt.
BI, “The country about Jordan—
The river Jordan
The river Jordan rises in the Anti-Lebanon, to the north of Jerusalem.
Imagine that you are looking, as your glance may be directed towards me, to
Jerusalem; yonder on your right is Hermon. The river Jordan rises in the Anti-
Lebanon range, 1,700 feet above the sea level. There are many streams that
contribute to it in its first flow, it is disputed which of them is the real source. The
streams gather; they enter the waters of Merom, the first little lake. From that they
pass, and, after a course of a few miles, they enter a larger lake, and one more
familiar to us all, and endeared to us all, the Lake of Gennesaret, the Sea of Galilee.
They pass through this lake, which is itself between six and seven hundred feet below
the sea level. It is said that their current may be traced through the lake. They pass
from the Lake of Galilee and go down, and ever clown, until they enter into what we
now call the Dead Sea, the Lake Asphaltites. Now, reading the Scripture, we cannot
discover the wonder of this lake, and this itself is noticeable. The Scripture instructs
us respecting the Jordan and the events that occurred on its sides, but modern travel
tells us that in all the wonders of the world there is none, of its kind, comparable to
the great chasm of the Jordan. It is the lowest of rivers. We go to the margin of the
sea, and there we count ourselves indeed low. We descend from the mountains to the
sea. Near the sea, as, e.g., in Cornwall, there are sometimes mines; you descend those
mines, and of course you are below the sea level. The Jordan is a river that flows
down and down, till, when it enters the Dead Sea, it is 1,300 feet below the level of
the Mediterranean, below our ordinary holiday seaside level, and if you try the depth
of the water itself, you find there is another 1,300 feet before you reach the bottom.
The waters of the Dead Sea are briny, sour, smarting; they hang about your skin like
oil; they enter into any chaps of the skin and torment you. They are so heavy that if
you go in and bathe you can, as it were, sit on the waters. Heavy, salt, sour, sharp, are
these terrific waters—waters of death, flowing towards Jerusalem from the north, but
lying far below Jerusalem, as they pass it on the east, for the mountain city is 2,600
feet above the level of the sea—the Mediterranean; and the river Jordan as it enters
its lake of death is 1,300 feet below the level of that sea, or 4,000 feet below the level
of Jerusalem; and again the bottom of that lake—the sunken sea— is 1,300 feet below
its surface. There is no parallel to this in the globe—none. You do not get a hint of it
in the Bible. Does it mean anything? If I take a poker and dash a coal to pieces for the
sake of feeding my fire, do I care how the fragments split? Not I. But I arrange the
fragments presently that they may burn in the most agreeable manner. Does anybody
suppose that Jehovah made the world as a man splits a coal for the Christmas fire,
caring even less for the arranging of the parts or pieces; that He made a height here
and a hollow there, and a broad river here and a comparatively narrow but foaming
cataract there, without any purpose or meaning in His arrangements? Does any one
suppose that in the placing of such a people as Israel there was no correspondence
between the character and story of the people and the kind of country that they
occupied? Do not think it. “Sodom” is a proverb of wickedness, and the Sodomites
lived in the lowest place on the globe. “Jerusalem” is a name of glory, and Jerusalem
is the mountain city of the world. Is there no meaning there? The one river, so called,
44

45. of Palestine is as crooked as a serpent. It rushes on, muddy and foaming, like a
maddened sinner, and it loses itself utterly in the sea of death, a sea without an
outlet, a sea without a city on its shore, a sea without any animation of boats and
traffic upon its surface, a sea without fish—not without its aspects of occasional
loveliness though—and a sea that sends forth from its surface waters purified
invisibly into the heavenly air. Wonderful seal Does this mean anything, or does it
mean nothing?… The Jordan is the river of judgment. There is no such emblem of a
sinner in the world as the river Jordan. There is no such emblem of the prohibitive
law of Moses in its ultimate results as the Jordan and the lake into which it enters.
The sinner goes down, down, and the end of his way is death. The prohibitive law
drives us down, down, and the end of it is the sentence of death. Die we must if sin
drive us on; dead we are if we understand not the law spiritually. But were we born to
be destroyed? No; but to be saved. Were we born to be driven on by mere impulse?
No; but to be rescued from such “driving.” Were we born to enter into and be lost in
the deep, the to us, as it were, unfathomable brine? No; but to be raised from it,
purified, exalted. There is the Dead Sea: here the living Jerusalem. You look up—the
living Jerusalem: you look down—the Dead Sea. From the heights of Jerusalem we
look down and think of the Dead Sea as the sea from which we are rescued. We think
of the Jordan, muddy, swollen, rapid, and know that not such is now the course of
our life; but that we are rescued from such a course, and that we are to enter into
“life” itself by Jesus Christ, who died to become the rescuer. (T. T. Lynch.)
Symbolism of the Jordan
Pass from the thought of the Jordan to that “river of God which is full of water,”
whatever river may be by this phrase specially denoted in the Psalms, and recall this
fact, that Jerusalem is especially the city of waters. Springs of water and
subterranean streams are there in so much that if you are on the site of the old
temple of Jerusalem, you may lay your ear to the ground and hear water running
underneath, running, running. It is a wonderful thing. In the Church when it is most
desolate, lay but your ear to the ground and you shall hear the waters of God
running, running. The earth shall not perish of thirst, then? No, it shall not. The river
of God, it is full of water. Glorious river! Will He keep it full? He will. Has not He
kept the Nile “in its courses” through these thousand, thousand years? Has not He
kept all the great rivers in the world; and He will keep the river of His own truth, of
His own love running, running. Fear not, then; deliver thyself up, as to the “flesh,” to
Jordan. Let Jordan make away with thee, and the swellings of Jordan carry thee
down, down. Let his twenty-seven cataracts, or some of them, sweep thee on. Care
nothing for the descents of Jordan. God will make away with thee by the current of
Jordan, and yet will give thee to dwell by the river of His love and mercy, the river of
which He will make us to drink; the river beside which trees of life grow; the river
about which the Beautiful City is builded, the City of God so glorious and so peaceful.
Believe in this river and take the imagery of Scripture, and use it as you will, this way
to-day and another way to-morrow, yet always so as to enable your heart to trust and
love God more and more, and you will rejoice that Scripture, as it were, is written in
cipher; not merely in English, or Latin, or Greek, or Hebrew, but in cipher; in the
language of hieroglyph, so that the more a man has of the Holy Ghost in his heart,
the more he finds the Holy Ghost’s meaning and comfort as he reads the ancient
Word. (T. T. Lynch.)
Baptism in the Jordan
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46. The Jordan was regarded by the Israelites as the glory of their country, for it is the
only river in Palestine which always flows in a copious stream, though its sunken,
tumultuous, twisted course, which, between the Sea of Galilee and the Dead Sea,
winds for some two hundred miles over a space only about sixty miles in direct
length, has made it useless, for navigation, or as an attraction to human
communities, except at the plain of Jericho. The great miracle when the Hebrews
passed over made it sacred to them, so that its waters were already regarded with
reverence when Elisha commanded Naaman to wash in them as a cure for his
leprosy. Hallowed still more by the preaching of John and the baptism of Christ, the
Jordan has been the favourite goal of all pilgrimages to the Holy Land in every age
since the first Christian centuries. As early as the days of Constantine, to be baptized
in its waters was deemed a great privilege, while in the sixth century Antoninus
relates that marble steps led down into the water on both sides at the spot where it
was believed our Lord had been baptized, while a wooden cross rose in the middle of
the stream. Upon the eve of the Epiphany, he adds, “great vigils are held here, a vast
crowd of people is collected, and after the cock has crowed for the fourth or fifth
time, matins begin. Then, as the day commences to dawn, the deacons begin the holy
mysteries, and celebrate them in the open air; the priest descends into the river, and
all who are to be baptized go to him.” Holy water was even in that early age carried
away by masters of vessels who visited it as pilgrims, to sprinkle their ships before a
voyage; and we are told that all pilgrims alike went into the water wearing a linen
garment, which they sacredly preserved as a winding-sheet to be wrapped round
them at their death. The scene of the yearly bathing of pilgrims now is near the ford,
about two miles above the Dead Sea, and each sect having its own particular spot
which it fondly believes to be exactly that at which our Saviour was baptized. The
season of baptism has been changed from the colder time of Epiphany to that of
Easter, and as the date of the latter feast differs in the Roman and Greek Churches,
no collisions take place. Each Easter Monday thousands of pilgrims start in a great
caravan from Jerusalem under the protection of the Turkish government, a white flag
and loud music going before them, while Turkish soldiers, with the green standard of
the Prophet, close the long procession. On the Greek Easter Monday the same
spectacle is repeated, four or five thousand pilgrims joining in this second caravan.
The streets of Jerusalem are, for the time, deserted, to see the vast cavalcade set out:
women in long white dresses and veils, men in flowing robes and turbans, covering
the space outside the walls and the slopes and hollow of the Valley of Jehoshaphat in
a particoloured crowd, eager to see the start. At last the procession streams from the
gate and pours along the camel-track towards Bethany and the Jordan; some on foot,
others on horseback, or on asses, mules, or camels The broad space between the
Sultan’s Spring and Eriha is soon an extemporized town; tents of all sizes rising as by
magic, while at night the plain is lighted up by the flames of countless fires, Next
morning they start from this resting-place before sunrise, and march or ride by the
light of the Passover moon towards the brink of the Jordan, but the pace of such a
confused throng is slow. To help them on the first stages of their way multitudinous
torches blaze in the van, and huge watchfires, kindled at the sides of the road, guard
them past the worst places, till, as daylight breaks, the first of the throng reach the
sacred river. Before long the high bank above the trees and reeds is crowded with
horses, mules, asses, and camels in terrible confusion; old, young, men, women, and
children, of many nationalities, all pressing together in seemingly inextricable
disorder. Yet they manage to clear themselves after a time, and then, dismounting,
rush into the water with the most business-like quiet, too earnest and practical to
express much emotion. Some strip themselves naked, but most of them plunge in
clad in a white gown, which is to serve hereafter as a shroud, consecrated by its
present use. Families bathe together, the father immersing the infant and his other
46

47. children that they may not need to make the pilgrimage in later life. Most of them
keep near the shore, but some strike out boldly into the current; some choose one
spot, some another, for their bath. In little more than two hours the banks are once
more deserted, the pilgrims remounting their motley army of beasts with the same
grave quiet as they had shown on leaving them for a time, and before noon they are
back again at their encampment. They now sleep till the middle of the night, when,
roused by the kettledrums of the Turks, they once more, by the light of the moon,
torches, and bonfires, turn their faces to the steep pass up to Jerusalem in such
silence that they might all be gone without waking you if you slept near them. It was
thus with a great caravan of pilgrims who encamped a few yards from my tent near
the Lake of Galilee. Noisy enough by night, with firing of pistols and guns, they
struck their tents and moved off in the morning without breaking my sleep. (C.
Geikie, D. D.)
Preaching the baptism of repentance
The preacher and his message
I. THE PREACHER. You can often guess a man’s style or the character of his
message from his personal appearance and demeanour. I presume it is because of
this that Scripture, a book intended for man’s salvation, should still find space here
and there for notices of the personal appearance of some of its chief actors and
characters. John Baptist, like Elijah, was a thorough man. We are told that his
raiment was of camel’s hair, that he had a leathern girdle round his loins, and that he
lived upon the poorest of food; but I wonder why all this is described, unless to show
us that there are times and crises in the history of nations and of towns when a true
man cannot live in society. God help the towns and communities that drive a John
Baptist into the wilderness that he may there live and thrive and gather mental and
spiritual strength.
II. HIS MESSAGE.
1. What he preached was a gospel of Divine origin. There can be no other. A
human-made gospel is a self-condemned thing. You cannot manufacture a
gospel—it comes like the grace of God; it comes like a breath of heaven filling the
soul and commanding a rugged, rough man even in the very wilderness to cry
out, “I am a preacher.” It is inspiration—“the word of the Lord came.” If the
gospel be not Divine, it is nothing.
2. This gospel is an old-fashioned one. A recent writer has declared that the
producers of truth are very few, that the jobbers in truth are many, and that the
retailers of truth are numberless. I believe it is precisely the same with the gospel.
The originators of the gospel are few—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit; I know none
other. The jobbers in the gospel are many, alas; and the retailers of the gospel are
numberless. But it is the one gospel, and it must be an old-fashioned one, because
the thing that called it into existence is as old as tile history of mankind. What
called the gospel into the world? Man’s helplessness and sin.
3. Notice, further, that the gospel according to John Baptist is a self-accredited
thing. It has its credentials within itself. It does not need inspiration to tell me
that such a verse as “God is love” is inspired: there is the fragrance of heaven
upon that thought.
4. This gospel is a simple, intelligible gospel. It is said of Moliere that he would
allow no play of his to be published in which there was a single word which his
slave did not understand. Simpleness was the secret of his success, as it was of
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48. Shakspere, Milton, and John Bunyan. They don’t manufacture, as it were, long
words, they speak in the language of nature, and that is pre-eminently the great
qualification and sign of the gospel of God.
5. Now, let us notice the universal tone of John Baptist’s gospel. “All flesh shall
see the salvation of God.” How unlike a Jew is this style! Let us all—ministers,
Sunday-school teachers, &c.
beware of preaching the gospel in a narrow way. Do not cramp it; give it free
currency, and be sure that the gospel you preach is not your own, but God’s.
6. The subject-matter of the Baptist’s gospel is “Repent.” When a man’s heart is
wrung with grief for sin there is not, and there never has been, any gospel that
can be preached to him save this. Repentance means atonement; atonement
demands love; and the harsh, brassy sound of the call to repentance may bring a
man face to face with the more mellow, happier music of the spheres of glory—
“God is love.” (J. B.Meharry, B. A.)
John Baptist’s preaching
The preaching of the Baptist was—
1. Stern, as was natural to an ascetic whose very aspect and mission were
modelled on the example of Elijah. The particulars of his life, dress, food—the
leathern girdle, mantle of camel’s hair, living on locusts and wild honey—are
preserved for us by the other evangelists, and they gave him that power of
mastery over others which always springs from perfect self-control, and absolute
self-abnegation. Hence “in his manifestation and agency he was like a burning
torch; his whole life was a very earthquake; the whole man was a sermon.”
2. Absolutely dauntless. The unlettered Prophet of the desert has not a particle of
respect for the powerful Sadducees and long-robed, luxurious Rabbis, and
disdains to be flattered by their coming to listen to his teaching. Having nothing
to hope for from man’s favour, he has nothing to fear from man’s dislike.
3. It shows remarkable insight into human nature, and into the needs and
temptations of every class which came to him—showing that his ascetic seclusion
did not arise from any contempt of, or aversion to, his fellowmen.
4. It was intensely practical. Not only does it exclude all abstract and theological
terms such as “justification,” &c., but it says nothing directly of even faith or love.
In this respect it recalls the Old Testament, and might be summed up in the
words of Balsam, preserved in Mic_6:8.
5. Yet, though it still belongs to the dispensation of the shadow, it prophesies of
the dawn. His first message was “Repent”; his second, “The kingdom of heaven is
at hand.”
6. It does not claim the credentials of a single miracle. Without a “sign” it stirred
to its depths the heart of a sign-demanding age. What enormous moral force,
then, it must have possessed.
7. It had only a partial and temporary popularity. The lamp is laid aside when the
sun has dawned. (Archdeacon Farrar.)
Repentance the first thing
48

49. A ship’s company rise against their officers, put them in chains, and take the
command of the ship upon themselves. They agree to set the officers ashore on some
uninhabited island, to sail to some distant port, dispose of the cargo, and divide the
amount. After parting with their officers they find it necessary, for the sake of self-
preservation, to establish some kind of laws and order. To these they adhere with
punctuality, act upon honour with respect to each other, and propose to be very
impartial in the distribution of their plunder. But while they are on their voyage one
of the company relents and becomes very unhappy. They inquire the reason. He
answers, “We are engaged in a wicked cause.” They plead their justice, honour, and
generosity to each other. He denies that there is any virtue in it. “Nay,” he declares,
“all our equity, while it is exercised in pursuit of a scheme which violates the great
law of justice, is in itself a species of iniquity.” “You talk extravagantly,” they reply;
“surely we might be worse than we are if we were to destroy each other as well as our
officers.” “Yes wickedness admits of degrees; but there is no virtue of goodness in all
our doings; all has arisen from selfish motives. The same principles which led us to
discard our officers would lead us, if it were not for our own sake, to destroy each
other.” “But you speak so very discouragingly; you destroy all motives to good order
in the ship; what would you have us do? Repent; return to our injured officers and
owners, and submit to mercy.” “Oh, but this we cannot do: advise us to anything
which concerns the good order of the ship, and we will hearken to you.” “I cannot
bear to advise in these matters. Return, return, and submit to mercy!” (A. Fuller.)
The religion of penitence
The only religion possible to man is the religion of penitence. The righteousness of
man cannot be the integrity of the virgin citadel which has never admitted the
enemy; it can never be more than the integrity of the city which has been surprised
and roused, and which, having expelled the invader with blood in the streets, has
suffered great inward loss.
A true penitent’s feeling towards sin
I once walked into a garden with a lady to gather some flowers. There was one large
bush whose branches were bending under the weight of the most beautiful roses. We
both gazed upon it with admiration. There was one flower on it which seemed to
shine above all the rest in beauty. This lady pressed forward into the thick bush, and
reached far over to pluck it. As she did this, a black snake, which was hid in the bush,
wrapped itself round her arm. She was alarmed beyond all description; and ran from
the garden, screaming, and almost in convulsions. During all that day she suffered
very much with fear; her whole body trembled, and it was a long time before she
could be quieted. That lady is still alive. Such is her hatred now of the whole serpent
race, that she has never since been able to look at a snake, even though it were dead.
No one could ever persuade her to venture again into a cluster of bushes, even to
pluck a beautiful rose. Now this is the way the sinner acts who truly repents of his
sins. He thinks of sin as the serpent that once coiled itself round him. He hates it. He
dreads it. He flies from it. He fears the places where it inhabits. He does not willingly
go into the haunts. He will no more play with sin than this lady would afterwards
have fondled snakes. (Bishop Merd.)
4 As it is written in the book of the words of
49

50. Isaiah the prophet:
“A voice of one calling in the wilderness,
‘Prepare the way for the Lord,
make straight paths for him.
CLARKE, "Prepare ye the way - It was customary for the Hindoo kings, when
on journeys, to send a certain class of the people two or three days before them, to
command the inhabitants to clear the ways. A very necessary precaution where there
are no public roads. - Ward.
GILL, "As it is written in the book of the words of Esaias the prophet,....
Isa_40:3
saying, the voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of
the Lord make his paths straight; See Gill on Mat_3:3.
HENRY, “III. The fulfilling of the scriptures in the ministry of John. The other
evangelists had referred us to the same text that is here referred to, that of Esaias,
Isa_40:3. It is written in the book of the words of Esaias the prophet, which he
heard from God, which he spoke for God, those words of his which were written for
the generations to come. Among them it is found that there should be the voice of
one crying in the wilderness; and John is that voice, a clear distinct voice, a loud
voice, an articulate one; he cries, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, and make his
paths straight. John's business is to make way for the entertainment of the gospel in
the hearts of the people, to bring them into such a frame and temper as that Christ
might be welcome to them, and they welcome to Christ.
COFFMAN, "This great prophecy is from Isaiah 40:3ff, the same being God's
promise of a mighty prophet who would precede the coming of the Messiah, the
imagery being that of a herald going before an ancient king to make his journey
easier. Josephus relates how Vespasian marched into Galilee, with his men going
before him to prepare the way, thus:
(They) were to make the road even and straight and if it were anywhere rough
and hard to be passed over, to plane it, and to cut down the woods that hindered
their march, etc.[11]
Of course, it was no such thing that John the Baptist would do for Christ. The
preparation needed for the rising of the Sun of righteousness was a moral
improvement of the people. The conceit that physical descent from Abraham
would entitle them to Messiah's blessing, the foolish notion that the Messiah
50

51. would be a secular king like Solomon, the conviction that he would drive out the
Romans and execute a vindictive and punitive judgment against their Gentile
enemies, and the widespread hypocrisy and immorality of the people, the
selfishness and hardheartedness of the rich, and the greedy gouging of the people
by the concessioners in the temple itself, the gross ritualism and secularism that
had buried God's true law under the priestly traditions - all these cried out to
God for correction; and thus it was no small task that challenged the son of
Zacharias!
All flesh shall see the salvation of God ... Isaiah's great prophecy should have
alerted the Jews to the inclusion in God's plans of salvation for the Gentiles; but
the leaders of the people were set adamantly against any such idea. The chosen
people were destined to find in this concept the impossibility of their accepting
Christ, which resulted in their own rejection and judicial hardening.
ENDNOTE:
[11] Flavius Josephus, The Wars of the Jews, translated by William Whiston
(New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston), p. 717.
CONSTABLE, "All three synoptic writers quoted Isaiah 40:3 as the prophecy
that John fulfilled, and John the evangelist recorded John the Baptist quoting it
of himself (cf. John 1:23). However, Luke alone also quoted Isaiah 40:4-5. These
verses contained the preparations made for a royal visitor that were common in
the Greco-Roman world. They also included the fact that all people would
experience the salvation that God would provide. One of Luke's main themes
was the universal scope of salvation (cf. Luke 2:30; Acts 28:28; et al.). [Note:
Morris, p. 95.] Typically Luke quoted from the Septuagint. John's ministry
consisted of preparing the Jews by getting them right with God so when Messiah
appeared they would believe on Him.
"This quotation from Isaiah not only interprets John's special mission but
reveals the purpose of God which underlies the whole narrative of Luke-Acts."
[Note: Tannehill, 1:47.]
In Luke, John is a "prototype of the Christian evangelist." [Note: Charles H.
Talbert, Reading Luke: A Literary and Theological Commentary on the Third
Gospel, p. 27.]
"The section on John's ministry begins with a rather lengthy scriptural
quotation and ends with an arrest that will lead to death. Jesus' ministry will
begin and end in the same way." [Note: Tannehill, 1:53.]
SIMEON, "Luke 3:4-6. 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. 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; and all flesh shall see the salvation of
God.
51

52. THERE is an abruptness in the language of the prophets, which, though it
sometimes casts an obscurity over their writings, often gives them very peculiar
force and energy. This may be noticed particularly in the passage referred to in
our text. At the beginning of the fortieth chapter of his prophecies, Isaiah,
without any particular intimation of it breaks forth into a distinct subject, which
from that time occupies his chief attention. He has indeed in the preceding
chapters occasionally spoken of the Redeemer’s kingdom: but from the
beginning of this chapter he almost loses sight of the deliverance from Babylon,
and dwells, even in the primary sense of his words, on the more important
deliverance of men from their bondage to sin and Satan. He informs us [Note:
ver. 1, 2.] that God had commissioned him to comfort his drooping people with
assured prospects of his returning favour through the intervention of the
Messiah. Then, passing over eight hundred years as scarcely more than a single
day, he seems to himself to hear the very voice of Christ’s forerunner, and to see
him occupied in preparing the Messiah’s way: and then, with a confident
expectation that God’s word should stand, he predicts the ultimate and universal
establishment of the Messiah’s kingdom.
The passage is quoted by St. Luke as actually fulfilled in the preaching of John
the Baptist; and it may well be considered as of peculiar importance, since it is
quoted by all the Four Evangelists. In considering it, we shall be led to shew,
I. What are the chief obstructions to our Redeemer’s
kingdom—
Some there were peculiar to the apostolic age—
[The Jews were so attached to Moses and their law, that they could not endure
any thing which appeared to weaken their authority, and to transfer the people’s
regard to any other teacher. Knowing that their religion was from God, and not
aware that it was intended only to be of temporary duration, they accounted it
the vilest blasphemy to speak of the ministry of the one, or the authority of the
other, being superseded.
They had also very erroneous notions of the Messiah’s kingdom: they supposed
he would be a great temporal prince, who would deliver them from the Roman
yoke, and raise their nation to the highest pinnacle of human grandeur. Hence
they were quite indignant that a poor despised Nazarene, who himself their
Messiah.
These prejudices greatly obstructed the establishment of Christ’s kingdom
among them, and proved an almost insurmountable bar to their conversion.
Nor were the Gentiles in a state more favourable than the Jews. They were
addicted to the vilest lusts, the grossest superstition, the most confirmed idolatry.
The more learned among them were still further from the kingdom of God, and
more hostile to it, on account of their philosophic pride, which led them to reject
every thing which did not savour of human wisdom, and the Gospel especially,
which appeared to them so repugnant to it. To be saved by a man who was
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53. crucified, and therefore apparently unable to save himself, was in their eyes a
most flagrant absurdity.
Thus St. Paul informs us, that “the preaching of the cross was to the Jews a
stumbling-block, and to the Greeks foolishness.”]
But there are others, which are common to all ages—
[It is not needful to distinguish between the different parts of the imagery,
whereby these obstructions are described; else we might see in the elations of
pride, the stubbornness of passion, and the gloominess of despondency, a
correspondence between the terms that are used, and the obstacles that are
depicted. Certain it is, without intending to refine upon the text, that these are
the most common impediments to the establishment of the Messiah’s kingdom.
Men will not endure to be told that they are justly obnoxious to the wrath of
God, and utterly incapable of saving themselves; and that all, the best as much as
the worst, must be indebted to the Lord Jesus Christ for all their hope and all
their salvation. The pride of the human heart rises against this, and turns from it
with disgust. The lusts and passions of men also are averse to the dominion of
Christ: they hate controul: they will not submit to the restraints of the Gospel: to
have them mortified, is like the plucking out of a right eye, or the cutting off of a
right hand: the spiritual, as well as the fleshly, filthiness that is in us, pleads for
indulgence: and every disposition of the mind, as well as every appetite of the
body, sets itself against the authority of Christ, and rejects his yoke.
But besides these, which are the more obvious impediments to the Gospel, there
are some others, which, though little noticed, are both powerful and common.
There is in most men a tendency to despair. Whilst the unbelief of some leads
them to despise the Gospel as an idle tale, in others, it operates to keep them
back from embracing it, under an idea, that they never can be brought to the
state that it requires. Either their guilt appears too great to be forgiven, or their
lusts too strong to be subdued, or their circumstances so peculiar, as not to admit
of so great a change in all the habits of their life.
These are obstacles which we all feel in a greater or less degree; and which must
be removed, before Christ can enter freely into our hearts.]
That a view of these things may not discourage us, let us consider,
II. How they are to be removed—
As there were some peculiar obstacles in the apostolic age, so were there also
peculiar circumstances calculated to remove them—
[The general expectation of the Messiah, which prevailed about the time of his
coming, certainly tended to prepare his way. The preaching of John the Baptist,
who with holy firmness laid his axe to the root of Pharisaic pride and hypocrisy,
awakened a great and general attention to religion [Note: Matthew 3:5-6.],
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54. insomuch that many doubted whether he were not the Messiah himself. The
ministry of Christ also produced a general sensation through the Jewish land:
the holiness of his life, the wisdom and authority of his words, and the number
and beneficence of his miracles, wrought conviction upon the minds of
thousands, and drove his enemies to the necessity of putting him to death, or of
leaving him in the uncontrolled possession of universal influence. The ministry of
the Apostles, confirmed as it was by the descent of the Holy Ghost, by the gift of
tongues, and by miracles unnumbered, had yet greater effect: it bore down all
opposition, and triumphed over the united powers of earth and hell. The
universal extension of the Roman empire contributed also not a little to the
facilitating of the establishment of the Redeemer’s kingdom; since it gave to the
Apostles an easy communication both with Jews and Gentiles throughout the
world, in almost every part of which the Jewish Scriptures had already prepared
their way.]
But it is of more practical importance to shew how our difficulties are to be
removed—
[As these are the same in every age, so the means of removing them are such as
are open to the use of all. We need notice only two; and these are, repentance and
faith. Repentance is the great leveller of all obstructions: it “humbles the
loftiness of man,” and “brings into captivity every thought that exalts itself
against the knowledge of Christ.” Wherever real penitence exists, it brings the
soul into the dust before God. No longer is the Gospel deemed unnecessary or
severe: the penitent sees, that without it he must inevitably perish. Whether he
have been more or less moral, he is equally disposed to smite on his breast and
cry for mercy. His vain conceits of his own goodness all vanish; and, instead of
despising others as inferior to him in sanctity, he accounts himself rather “the
chief of sinners.” And it deserves particular attention, that the Baptist himself
prescribed this as the very first and principal means of smoothing the way for
the reception of Christ [Note: ver. 3.].
The next means, and that which renders the other effectual, is faith. This, no less
than repentance itself, is an universal leveller. If repentance brings down the
hills and mountains, faith exalts the valleys, straightens the crooked paths, and
smooths the rough. Wonderful indeed is the efficacy of humble faith: it dissipates
at once all desponding fears: the things which appeared utterly insurmountable,
now become plain and easy: the blood of Christ is acknowledged as sufficient to
cleanse them from all sin; and the grace of Christ as sufficient to make them
victorious over every enemy. It is remarkable that our blessed Lord, on his first
entrance on his ministry, united this with repentance, as the grand, the effectual
expedient for establishing his kingdom in the world [Note: Mark 1:15.]. And his
Apostles after him continued to further his interests in the very same way: they
preached everywhere “repentance towards God, and faith in our Lord Jesus
Christ.”]
To stir us up to that exertion which is necessary, let us contemplate,
III. The blessed consequences of their removal—
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55. The manifestation of Christ’s glory is that which ever did, and ever shall, follow
the removal of those things which have hitherto veiled him in obscurity.
See how it was on his first appearance—
[The clouds which surrounded him, concealed in a measure the bright effulgence
of his rays: his humble birth, his mean appearance, the contempt and
abhorrence in which he was held, all tended to cast a veil over his divine majesty:
yet even then his own more immediate Disciples “beheld his glory, as the glory of
the only-begotten of the Father.”]
See it more particularly after the day of Pentecost—
[Till that time his very Apostles saw but very imperfectly the nature of that
kingdom which Christ came to establish: but when the Holy Ghost had opened
their eyes, and had sealed their testimony on the hearts of others, what a
splendour beamed from the countenance of our incarnate God! Then it was seen,
that he who had been “crucified, was the Lord of glory,” the brightness of the
Father’s glory, and the “express image of his person.” Every eye looked to him:
every heart trusted in him: every soul “received out of his fulness grace for
grace.” He was that object which, if I may so speak, was the centre and
circumference of the globe: in him all united; and beyond him none aspired. “In
him the whole body of believers, collectively and individually, were complete.”]
See it at this hour—
[Who is loved? who is honoured? who is served? who is glorified, wherever the
Gospel prevails? who, but that adorable Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ? Those
who once saw “no beauty or comeliness in him for which he was to be desired,”
now behold him as “fairer than ten thousand, and altogether lovely.” “He is truly
precious” to their souls; and to call him “their Friend and their Beloved,” is the
highest object of their ambition, or, rather, the only thing about which they have
any material concern. It is the same in every quarter of the world: it is the same
amongst high and low, rich and poor, learned and unlearned: if “God have
shined into their heart to give them the light of the knowledge of the glory of God
in the face of Jesus Christ,” they “determine to know nothing else,” to“glory in
nothing else:” “this is all their salvation, and all their desire.”]
But who can tell what it shall be in the latter days?
[The text informs us, that “all flesh shall see the salvation of God.” Hitherto,
notwithstanding all the efforts that have been used to spread the Gospel,
darkness very generally prevails, and the obstacles to the Redeemer’s kingdom
are but partially removed. But the day is near at hand, when “all nations shall
serve him,” and “all people shall know him from the least of them to the
greatest.” Yes, “the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it;” and therefore it shall
assuredly come to pass. Obstructions there are, no doubt, both great and
numerous: but “before Zerubbabel the mountains shall become a plain.” The
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56. extension of vital Christianity through the world is not more incredible than the
establishment which it has already gained in the earth; especially when we
consider, that, what has been already done, is, under God, the work of a few
unlettered fishermen. O that that day may appear! O that God would “hasten it
in his time!”]
Conclusion—
[As “a voice crying in this our wilderness,” I would now say to you, “Prepare ye
the way of the Lord.” He has entered into the world: he has established his
kingdom among men; he now “stands and knocks at the door of your hearts,”
and desires admission into them. O think what is it that obstructs his entrance
into your hearts? Is it a proud conceit of your own goodness? Let this mountain
be brought low, comparing your lives with the demands of God’s holy law. Is it
an inveterate love of sin, and of this present world? let it give way to penitence
and faith, that your path may be plain and smooth. Is it a doubt of the
practicability of your salvation? Rely on Christ: “all things are possible to him
that believeth.”
Perhaps you will say, that “a preparation of heart must be from the Lord:”true;
but it must be sought by you in the daily exercise of meditation and prayer. If
you need any incentive to these duties, do but reflect upon the benefits resulting
from them: think of a revelation of Christ to your soul! think of his glory
exhibited to the eyes of your mind, and shining with increasing brightness to the
perfect day! think too in how little a time you will “see him as he is,” and “be
with him for ever!” Dearly beloved, beg of God to “take the stumbling-blocks out
of your way:” he is the same gracious God as ever he was; and if you cry unto
him “he will make an high-way for you, like as he did for Israel in the day that
he brought them out of the land of Egypt [Note: Isaiah 11:16.];” he “will make
darkness light before you, and crooked things straight: these things will he do
unto you, and not forsake you [Note: Isaiah 42:16.].”]
NISBET, "EARNESTNESS IN RELIGION
‘The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make
His paths straight. Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall
be brought low; and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough wags
shall be made smooth; and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.’
Luke 3:4-6
What John the Baptist was to the First Advent, ministers of the Gospel ought to
be to the Second. The text suggests the idea of earnestness—earnestness in
religion—and the earnestness of which I wish to speak to you consists in a
‘prepared way’ and ‘straight paths.’
What is earnestness?
I. A fixed conviction that God loves you, that God desires to have you, that
Christ is waiting to come into your heart. It is to have this well laid in your mind
as a fact; and then to feel about it, ‘There is nothing like this; there is nothing in
the world to be compared to this; everything else is mere dust in the balance; this
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57. is all in all. Am I Christ’s? am I safe? am I ready?’
II. It is to have made up your mind that you will be a Christian.—It is to have
this as the one great object of life—above all, absorbing all, ruling all.
III. It is to have made up your mind that nothing whatever shall stand in the
way—no object, however dear; no sin, however pleasant; no habit, however
formed; there shall be no obstacle—nothing to grieve God wilfully, and to grieve
Christ—but it should go, go to the winds.
IV. It is to have some great object in view, something steadily in hand, something
you are living up to, the conquest of some particular sin which you hate, the
attainment of some point in the divine life which you see before you, some good
work which you will enterprise, something for love, something for God.
V. It is to be faithful and diligent in the use of means, as one who feels very weak,
whose new warmth makes him feel very cold, who, in proportion to his
earnestness, is painfully conscious of his sluggishness.
VI. It is to do all as in a very short time—‘My Saviour will very quickly be here.’
That is earnestness. Between such a soul and God, it is evident that all is now
open, that the heart is right with God. ‘The way of the Lord’ is ‘prepared,’ and
His ‘paths’ are ‘straight.’
BI, “The voice of one crying in the wilderness
Self-effacement
John Baptist is a type of those who resolve, at all risks, to discharge their duty and to
deliver the message entrusted to them by God, without one single thought of self,
without one transient wish to appear themselves in the matter.
There is no indolence here, nor cowardice. There is simply an absence of any
ambition to be prominent, and of any desire to hear their name whispered among the
crowd. It is enough to be a “voice”—to preach God’s Word, and not their own; to
pursue some truth which is not to enhance their own reputation; to advocate some
cause which is not to redound to their own advantage. Alas 1 how few are such
persons; but how precious in proportion to their rarity I If any of us, then, be on the
way to the attainment of this high grace, let us be supremely careful that our own
selfeffacement be both genuine in itself and be a sacrifice offered to a worthy cause.
For if I merely surrender to the first comer, or abdicate in favour of some worse
person than myself, the very humility that “ should have been for my wealth,
becomes to me an occasion of falling.” Instances are not uncommon, in every one’s
circle of acquaintance, where a man has surrendered not his pleasures, or his
advantages, but his principles, to some other person’s opinion. But if a single
person’s private opinion be sometimes thus overpowering, what must the combined
force of a thousand people’s opinion, of “public opinion,” be! Every one, it is obvious,
has a visual horizon of his own, in the centre of which he lives and moves and has his
being; and just so every one has a social circle—“a world” (as the Bible calls it) of his
own, amid which he lives, and which reacts too often with fatal influence upon his
character. We must, by prayer and watchful circumspection, safeguard this precious
grace of humble self-effacement, lest we expend it on unworthy objects. (Canon G. H.
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58. Curteis.)
Admission to the kingdom
I. 1. The one thing that is essential in order that we may enter the kingdom of God is
that we should be sincere. It was the evident sincerity of John the Baptist which drew
around him the sinners of Judea, even rough soldiers and mercenary tax-gatherers.
He demands sincerity in return. He could not do with professions unless they were
accompanied by fruits worthy of repentance.
2. But there were those who came out to John’s baptism in insincerity.
II. It is not necessarily a proof of sincerity that we are keenly interested in the
religious movements which are agitating men’s minds. It is a better test when we are
willing, in all simplicity, to put away those special sins which are hindering us from
surrendering ourselves to the rule of God. (Canon Vernon Hutton, M. A.)
The voice in the wilderness
“When the tale of bricks is doubled, then comes Moses”: this is an apothegm familiar
among the Jews even to the present day, and rehearsed in their stories of the past.
But Moses came twice; and, the first time, he was abruptly rejected. The “Prophet
like unto Moses,” promised and at last announced to our sin-enslaved race as the
Redeemer, was introduced by a forerunner, who was not accepted any more than his
Master. John the Baptist was ultimately beheaded for his reward of fidelity; and the
Lord Jesus was crucified. Thus it comes about that Christ’s sad history strikes back
on John’s, and gives it an unexpected interpretation. Very true have proved those
words of Heinrich Heine: “Wheresoever a great soul in this world has uttered its
thoughts, there always has been Golgotha.” Affairs had now reached the last crisis.
Pontius Pilate was misgoverning Judea, filling history with extortions and infamies
of crime. A new Herod, worthy of the name, was shaming the people with villainous
lusts and defections in faith, his desperate morals fitly keeping pace with his
downward career in apostasy. Suddenly was heard a voice in the wilderness. There
was singular pathos in it, as there is in all human tones that have power. But it had,
besides that, a sort of vibrating ring in it which intimated a challenge. Experts say
that idiots, even in the midst of a gibbering frolic, will pause abruptly to listen to the
sound of a musical instrument; perhaps some vague recollection of primal harmonies
in a healthy nature before it was shattered may be awakened at the stir near by; the
soul seems seeking to render answer, but only succeeds in giving wistful attention.
That was not a loud voice in those days down by the Dead Sea, but all Judea heard it,
and up the Jordan it rushed with more than the usual celerity; it certainly in due time
reached the villagers in the land of Gennesareth, for some of them journeyed at once
towards it—notably, Simon son of Jonas, and John, and James, and Andrew, who
were destined to figure in the train of Jesus Christ. (C. S. Robinson, D. D.)
The reality of the Baptist
John the Baptist was a reality. This poor world of ours has been so often trifled with,
that it has learned to be satisfied thoroughly only with what is honest and true. There
could be no ordinary possibility of mistaking such a man; he was genuine. And he
shook that miserable generation of hypocrites as might have been expected. Virgil
tells us that when AEneas descended into Hades to visit his father, he came to
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59. Charon’s ferry across the dark river; as he stepped into the light boat, accustomed to
carry only spirits, so heavy a burden of a real and living man made the craft tremble
and creek dismally through all the length of its sewed seams. We can presume that
the hollow forms of social life in those wretched days were writhed and strained, if
not shattered, by an uncompromising reality of manhood like that of John the
Baptist at the Jordan. He was a man among the shadows of men. He had an actual
“idea.” He shook off the shams of religion, and told souls a great deal more about
religion itself than they ever knew before. He put himself within the reach of living
people, and down on their planes of existence. Only he shred away the veils and
tinsels and mockeries of an outward show, and with an unsparing hand tore up the
traditions and mere commandments of Pharisees. (C. S. Robinson, D. D. )
Repentance is not alike in all
Let every man come to God in his own way. God made you on purpose, and me on
purpose, and He does not say to you, “Repent, and feel as Deacon A. feels,” or,
“Repent, and feel as your minister feels,” but, “Come just as you are, with your mind
and heart and education and circumstances.” You are too apt to feel that your
religious experience must be the same as others have; but where will you find
analogies for this? Certainly not in nature. God’s works do not come from His hand
like coins from the mint. It seems as if it were a necessity that each one should be in
some sort distinct from every other. No two leaves on the same tree are precisely
alike; no two buds on one bush have the same unfolding, nor do they seek to have.
(H. W. Beecher.)
The Baptist’s gospel
John, too, had a gospel to preach, though at the first sounding of it there was
terribleness enough in the tone. John preached the baptism of repentance, but,
behold, it was repentance with hope, repentance and the remission of sins. John the
Baptist is not a mere historic figure; his ministry represents a great fact which has a
prominent place in the spiritual transformation and progress of mankind; his voice
of repentance must always be first heard; his call to humiliation must always, in the
first instance, bow down the soul; and after the thunder and fire of his ministry will
come the still small voice of redeeming and welcoming love. John did not appear
before his contemporaries without connection with all the solemn and beautiful past
of Jewish history. Though he came from the wilderness, yet, as to the spiritual
aspects of his ministry, he came up from the region of holy prophecy, and upon him
there rested the benediction of holy men of old. It is something, after all, to feel that,
as preachers of repentance and grace, we are not speaking in our own name, or
clothing our words with the petty authority of merely personal position; the ages
repeat their demands in our voices; the prophets are heard again when we speak in
the name of Jesus Christ. John’s speech seemed to be regulated by the music of
prophecy. This quotation from the Book of Isaiah is like the sounding of a military
march, the anthem of those who move on to momentary battle, followed by
everlasting triumph. In this prophecy it will be observed that there is the same
combination of the human and Divine which is found throughout the whole of the
gospel scheme: men are called upon to make straight paths for the Lord, and they are
also called upon to work out their own salvation; they are exhorted to prepare the
way, as they were commanded to roll away the stone from the door of the sepulchre;
and when they have done their little part, there comes the full outflow of the Divine
sympathy, power, and love. Nothing can exceed in minuteness and completeness the
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60. description which is given in verses 5 and 6. The sixth verse contains the grandest
utterance that can possibly be put into human words, “All flesh shall see the salvation
of God.” (J. Parker, D. D.)
Character and mission of the Baptist
These words, quoted by John the Baptist, had been spoken seven hundred years
before by Isaiah. Nearly three hundred years after that, Malachi closed the course of
Scripture with these remarkable words: “Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet,”
&c. Then intervened a period of four hundred years, during which the voice of
prophecy was mute, and all that was left to guide the Israelite was that of which
Malachi reminded him in the previous verses: “Remember ye the law of Moses My
servant.” And then, when these four hundred years were closed, suddenly,
immediately before the Messiah’s advent, there appeared in the wilderness a
wonderful man, living a life like that of Isaiah and Elias, applying to himself this
prophecy of Isaiah, and having applied to him by Christ that of Malachi concerning
Elijah. I propose to endeavour to answer these two questions.
1. By what right, and in what sense, are these two prophecies, the one originally
spoken by Isaiah of himself, and the other distinctly marking out a particular
man Elias, referred to John the Baptist? And—
2. In what sense was John the forerunner of the Redeemer, preparing His way
before Him?
I. Now, to understand on what principle these words are applicable to John, we must
carry along with us the leading principle of prophecy. It is not merely a prediction of
separate events, but far rather an announcement of principles; through the
interpretation of the present the prophets predicted the future; for the
announcement of every principle connected with a fact is a prediction of all future
events that shall occur under similar circumstances. For instance, the astronomer, in
the announcement of the eclipse, has so plainly discovered the principles that
regulate it as to be able to foretell without a doubt the very moment of its return.
Thus it was that our Lord and the prophets applied their prophecy. The prophet
Malachi uses the name of Elijah, and says, “Before another great and dreadful day
come, another man shall rise up in the same spirit as Elijah.” Our blessed Lord
applies this prophecy to John the Baptist. He told men that “Elias truly shall first
come and restore all things,” but that the Elias that was to come was not the Elias
they had expected, but one in the spirit and power of Elias, who should turn the
hearts of the fathers, &c. He thus reminded them that what the prophet meant was
not a resurrection of the man, but of his spirit.
II. In the next place we return an answer to the second question proposed—In what
sense was John the forerunner, &c. The expression of theprophet a figurative one. In
Eastern countries, when a monarch desired to pay a visit to a distant part of his
dominions, he was accustomed to send his messengers before him to demand of the
inhabitants of every part through which he was to pass that they should make his
road easy by filling valleys and cutting through hills. Precisely in the same way was
John the Baptist to prepare the way for Christ. He came proclaiming a King,
declaring the conditions without which the kingdom could not come, and without
which the King could not reign. The first of these conditions was this: he prepared
the way for Christ by declaring private righteousness preparatory to public
reformation. “Change yourselves, or to you at least no kingdom of God can come.”
2. John prepared the way for the advent of the Messiah by a simple assertion that
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61. right is right, and wrong, wrong.
3. The Baptist prepared the way for the Messiah by teaching simple truths, falling
back upon first principles. Observe that all this was to prepare the way for
Christ—it was not Christ. Yet in all ages the baptism of John in the laver of duty
must precede the baptism of Christ in the laver of self-sacrifice. (F. W. Robertson,
M. A)
JOHN THE BAPTIST.
“Also of John a calling and a crying
Rang in Bethabara till strength was spent,
Cared not for counsel, stayed not for replying,
John had one message for the world—REPENT.
John, than which man a sadder or a greater
Not till this day has been of woman born;
John, like some iron peak by the Creator
Fired with the red glow of the rushing morn.
Thus, when the sun shall rise and overcome it,
Stands in his shining desolate and bare,
Yet not the less the inexorable summit
Flamed him his signal to the upper air.”
(F. W. H. Myers.)
Preparing the way of the Lord in worship
The way of the Lord should be prepared in our hearts. If we would have the Lord
come to us in our Sabbath worship, we must think of Him in our week-day work. As
it often is now, when the Sabbath comes, the gathered rubbish of a whole week must
be cleared away. The way of the Lord is blocked up by the remembrance of the week’s
cares, h man brings his business right up to the borders of the Sabbath, and, of
course, the Sabbath itself is full of it. Boxes and barrels, bales, dry goods, groceries
and hardware, remain over in the mind from the week’s work and worry. Now, a man
has no more right to take these things with him in his thoughts, than to leave his
goods exposed for display and sale in his store. If it were not for disturbing others, he
might just as well take his ledgers and invoices with him to church, and be making
out his bills and checking off his goods while there, as to be doing these things in his
thought all day. He might just as well wheel his boxes and bales right into the aisle, as
to have them present to mental vision all the time. Jesus drove out the traders from
the temple with a scourge of cords. But if He should come into our modern churches
and drive out all who in their thoughts have brought money, and merchandise, and
trade into the house of God, He would leave some very small congregations. If all the
business that is planned in church were really transacted there, it would make that a
busier place than ever the Jewish Temple was in the days of the Passover. If we
would enjoy the Sabbath as a day of rest and communion with God, we must drive
these money-changers of our thought out from the sacred temple of our hearts, and
let those hearts be again the temples of the Holy Ghost. We must prepare for the day,
not merely by laying aside our work, but by excluding it from our hearts, that God
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62. may come and dwell there. Thus, in all things, we must prepare for God’s work. We
must lay our plans for it, and shape our affairs for it. The Lord comes to reign, if He
comes at all. We must so prepare the way that He can come and can reign. There
must be forethought as well as good will; preparation as well as diligence. It is true
the Lord sometimes comes suddenly to His temple. But when He thus comes, “Who
shall abide the day of His coming? for He shall be like a refiner’s fire.”
All may assist in preparing the way of the Lord
Not one little brown and withered leaf falls to the ground on one of the November
days but the shape of the plant is changed; so there is not one little act of yours, one
whispered prayer that His kingdom may come, but becomes a factor in the world’s
redemption. If I can only place one little golden brick in the pavement of the Lord’s
highway, I will place it there, that coming generations may walk thereon to the
heavenly city. (Phillips Brooks, D. D.)
Various ways in which the way of the Lord has been prepared
Strangely, too, the movements of science, art, and commerce seem to wait on
ministerial life. Printing had just been invented in time to give the Bible to the people
in the period of the Reformation. The magnetic needle was applied to navigation to
send that Bible and its preachers to all lands. The spirit of exploration, which has
sought out every island, and is now engaged in revealing the character of Central
Africa and the steppes of Asia; the study of all languages; the preparation of
grammars and lexicons; the knowledge of the currents of the air and the water, of the
powers of steam and electricity—all these are so many voices crying, “Prepare ye the
way of the Lord!” They are so many indications that when man will carry God’s
message all the power of Omnipotence waits on his service. (M. Simpson, D. D.)
St. John the Baptist
How shall we picture John the Baptist to ourselves? Great painters, greater than the
world seems likely to see again, have exercised their fancy upon his face, his figure,
his actions. We must put out of our minds, I fear, at once, many of the loveliest of
them all; those in which Raffaelle and others have depicted the child John, in his
camel’s hair raiments, with a child’s cross in his hand, worshipping the Infant Christ.
There is also one exquisite picture, by Annibale Caracci, if I recollect rightly, in which
the blessed Babe is lying asleep, and the blessed virgin signs to St. John, pressing
forward to adore Him, not to waken his sleeping Lord and God. But such
imaginations, beautiful as they are, and true in a heavenly and spiritual sense, are not
historic fact. For St. John the Baptist said himself, “I knew Him not.” The best
picture of him which I can recollect is the great one by Guido, of the magnificent lad
sitting on the rock, half clad in his camel’s-hair robe, his stalwart hand lifted up to
denounce he hardly knows what, save that things are going all wrong, utterly wrong
to him; his beautiful mouth open to preach he hardly knows what, save that he has a
message from God, of which he is half conscious as yet—that he is a forerunner, a
prophet, a foreteller of something and some one which is to come, and which yet is
very near at hand. The wild rocks are around him, the clear sky is over him, and
nothing more. There, aloft and in the mountains, alone with nature and with God, he
preaches to a generation sunk in covetousness, superstition, party-spirit, and the rest
of the seven devils which brought on the fall of his native land, and which will bring
on the fall of every land on earth, preaches to them, I say, what? The most common,
let me say boldly, the most vulgar—in the good sense of the old word—the most
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63. vulgar morality. He tells them that an awful ruin was coming unless they repented
and mended. How fearfully true his words were the next fifty years proved. The axe,
he said, was laid to the root of the tree; and the axe was the heathen Roman, even
them master of the land. But God, not the Roman Caesar only, was laying the axe.
The people, the farming class, came to him with, “What shall we do? ‘: He has
nothing but plain morality for them. The publicans, the renegades who were farming
the taxes of the Roman conquerers, and making their base profit out of their
countrymen’s slavery, came to him, “Master, what shall we do?” He does not tell
them not to be publicans. He does not tell his countrymen to rebel, though he must
have been sorely tempted to do it. All he says is, “Make the bad and base
arrangement as good as you can; exact no more,” &c. The soldiers, poor fellows, came
to him. Whether they were Herod’s mercenaries, or real gallant Roman soldiers, we
are not told. Either had unlimited power under a military despotism, in an anarchic
and half-enslaved country; but whichever they were, he has the same answer to them
of common morality, “You are what you are; you are where you are.
Do what you have to do as well as you can. Do no violence to any man,” &c. Ah, wise
politician, ah, clear and rational spirit, who knows and tells others to do the duty
which lies nearest them; who sees (as old Greek Hesiod says) how much bigger the
half is than the whole; who, in the hour of his country’s deepest degradation, had
Divine courage to say, “ Our deliverance lies, not in rebellion, but in doing right.” But
he has sterner words. Pharisees, the separatists, the religious men, who think
themselves holier than any one else; and Sadducees, materialist men of the world,
who sneer at the unseen, the unknown, the heroic, came to him. And for Pharisee
and Sadducee—for the man who prides himself on believing more than his
neighbours, and for the man who prides himself on believing less—he has the same
answer. Both are exclusive, inhuman, while they are pretending to be more than
human. He knew them well, for he was born and bred among them, and he forestalls
our Lord’s words to them, “O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from
the wrath to come? “ (Charles Kingsley, M. A.)
5 Every valley shall be filled in,
every mountain and hill made low.
The crooked roads shall become straight,
the rough ways smooth.
CLARKE, "Every they shall be filled - All hinderances shall be taken out of
the way: a quotation from the Greek version of Isa_40:4, containing an allusion to
the preparations made in rough countries to facilitate the march of mighty kings and
conquerors. See the instance produced on Mat_3:3 (note).
GILL, "Every valley shall be filled,.... Luke cites more out of the same prophecy,
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64. as relating to the times of John the Baptist, and the Messiah, than the other
Evangelists Matthew and Mark do: in the prophet it is, "every valley shall be exalted";
which is done, by filling it up; the metaphor is persisted in, of preparing and clearing
the way, for the coming of the Messiah, done by the ministry of John; under which,
such souls as were lowly and humble, and depressed with the sense of sin, should be
raised and directed to believe in Christ, and be filled with divine consolation from
him. These words are owned by the Jews (o) to belong to the world to come; that is,
the times of the Messiah; though they understand them, of making way for the return
of the Israelites from captivity, by the Messiah: just as they suppose such things were
done by the miraculous cloud, for the children of Israel, as they passed through the
wilderness; of which they say (p),
"that it went before them, smote the serpents and scorpions, and fiery serpents, and
the rock; and if there was any low place, it raised it up; or high place, it made it low,
and caused them to be plain; as it is said, Isa_40:3 "And every valley shall be
exalted", &c.''
But what they say of this cloud literally, as preparing the way for the Israelites, is in a
spiritual sense true, of the ministry of John; whereby many of the children of Israel,
had the way prepared for them, for the reception of the Messiah; when as every
humble soul had its expectation raised, and its faith encouraged, and its heart filled
with spiritual joy; so such as were proud and haughty, were humbled:
and every mountain and hill shall be brought low; all such as are elated with
their own abilities, and boast of their righteousness, trust in themselves, and look
with disdain and contempt on others, their loftiness shall be bowed down, and their
haughtiness made low; and the Messiah alone, in his person, grace, and
righteousness, be exalted:
and the crooked shall be made straight: such as are of a crooked spirit, and
walk in crooked ways, with the workers of iniquity, shall have new spirits given them,
and be directed to right ways, and be led in the paths of righteousness and truth:
and the rough ways shall be made smooth; and men of rough tempers,
comparable to lions and bears, shall become quiet and peaceable, smooth and easy;
and moreover, whatever difficulties were in the minds of men concerning the
Messiah, the end of his coming, and the nature of his kingdom; and whatever
impediments were in the way of embracing him when come, should now be removed
at least from many persons: R. David Kimchi, a very noted Jewish commentator (q),
acknowledges that the whole of this passage is to be understood, ‫משל‬ ‫,דרך‬ "by way of
parable", in a mystical and figurative sense.
HENRY, "Luke goes further on with the quotation than Matthew and Mark had
done, and applies the following words likewise to John's ministry (Luk_3:5, Luk_
3:6), Every valley shall be filled. Dr. Hammond understands this as a prediction of
the desolation coming upon the people of the Jews for their infidelity: the land
should be made plain by the pioneers for the Roman army, and should be laid waste
by it, and there should then be a visible distinction made between the impenitent on
the one side and the receivers of the gospel on the other side. But it seems rather to
be meant of the gospel of Christ, of which that was the introduction. 1. The humble
shall by it be enriched with grace: Every valley that lies low and moist shall be filled
and be exalted. 2. The proud shall by it be humbled; the self-confident that stand
64

65. upon their own bottom, and the self-conceited that lift up their own top, shall have
contempt put upon them: Every mountain and hill shall be brought low. If they
repent, they are brought to the dust; if not, to the lowest hell. 3. Sinners shall be
converted to God: The crooked ways and the crooked spirits shall be made straight;
for, though none can make that straight which God hath made crooked (Ecc_7:13),
yet God by his grace can make that straight which sin hath made crooked. 4.
Difficulties that were hindering and discouraging in the way to heaven shall be
removed: The rough ways shall be made smooth; and they that love God's law shall
have great peace, and nothing shall offend them. The gospel has made the way to
heaven plain and easy to be found, smooth and easy to be walked in.
JAMISON, "Every valley, etc. — leveling and smoothing, obvious figures, the
sense of which is in the first words of the proclamation, “Prepare ye the way of the
Lord.”
BI, "Every valley shall be filled
The King’s highway
I.
VALLEYS MUST DE LEVELLED UP.
1. Inattention.
2. Apathy.
3. Despondency.
II. EMINENCES MUST BE LEVELLED DOWN.
1. The mountain of pride must be reduced.
(1) The pride that will not make full confession of sin.
(2) The pride that will not receive the kingdom of heaven as a little child.
(3) The pride of reason that will not accept salvation until its mysteries are
comprehended.
(4) The pride of worldly professors.
2. The mountain of presumption must be depressed.
(1) Sinners are presumptuous when, without forsaking their sins, they
attempt to believe for salvation.
(2) Professors arc presumptuous when they expect the work of
God to revive in the Church without exerting themselves to promote a revival.
(3) While we work as though everything depended upon working, we must
trust as though everything depended upon trusting.
3. The hills of ingratitude must be brought low.
III. THE CROOKED PLACES MUST BE STRAIGHTENED.
1. Prejudice.
2. Jealousy.
3. Censoriousness.
4. Covetousness.
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66. IV. THE ROUGH PLACES MUST BE SMOOTHED.
1. The ugly rock of Sabbath desecration must be removed.
2. That rut of drunkenness must be filled up.
3. Those sinks of immorality must be filled—lying, cheating, oppression,
uncleanness.
4. The rough places of instability must be smoothed. (Prof. F. W. Macdonald, M.
A.)
Preparing the way of the Lord
Before John, the wilderness preacher, the mountains of Pharisaic pride were levelled,
the valleys of Sadducean unbelief were filled up, the tortuous vices of the courtly
Judean were corrected, and the rude ignorance of the Galilean smoothed and
reformed. (Canon Liddon.)
Road-makers
(To children.) In ancient times, especially in Eastern lands, when an emperor or king
was travelling through his dominions, men were sent before them to prepare the way.
Sometimes they had to make a new road through pathless wildernesses and rocky
passes, hewing down trees, cutting a level way along steep or rugged hill-sides,
clearing away rocks, and making embankments across valleys, and bridges over
streams. Or sometimes the old road was overgrown with bushes and brambles, or
washed away by floods, or covered with rubbish which the winter storms and swollen
torrents had brought down from the mountains. In some Eastern lands, even at this
day, travellers tell us how the roads are often so destroyed in the rainy season, that
before a governor or high officer of state makes a journey, the highways must be
mended and made ready for him to travel speedily and safely. So when the prophet
Isaiah was speaking of the coming of the Lord Jesus, he foretold that some one would
be sent by God to “prepare the way,” &c. Look at the Gospels and you will see that the
messenger whom God sent to prepare the way for His beloved Son was John the
Baptist. Now, how did John prepare the way? There were four things which he taught
the people, in order to make ready their hearts for the Lord Jesus.
I. TO EXPECT HIM.
II. TO FEEL THEIR NEED OF HIM TO SAVE THEM FROM THEIR SINS.
III. TO REPENT OF ALL SIN.
IV. TO HEARKEN TO HIM, AND BELIEVE, LOVE, AND OBEY HIM WHEN HE
CAME. NOW, if the Lord Jesus were coming to the place where you live, would you
not be glad if you were invited to help to prepare the way for Him? Would you not
think it a great honour and happiness to take one stone out of His way? Oh yes! Your
heart would dance for joy, and perhaps your feet too. Who would not like to be a
pioneer for Jesus, the King of kings? Well, but don’t you know that He really wishes
to come; not to pass along the streets, but to come into the homes and hearts of all
the people, not to pay a visit, but to dwell there? Then what hinders His coming?
Only that people arc not ready for Him. Do you know what God calls a heart that
does not love and fear Him? He calls it “ a stony heart” Eze_36:26). Well then, if you
do not love and trust and try to obey the Lord Jesus as your own Saviour and King,
don’t you see that there is one stone to be taken out of His way? How? Just by
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67. coming to Him in prayer to make you truly His. (E. R. Conder, D. D.)
Valley and mountain
Every valley shall be filled; that the people might know what our Lord would do, to
exalt the mercy of God to undone sinners, who, like valleys, lay very low under
despondency of spirit; John bid them repent, which the law did not admit of. This
word repent is a most sweet word, and tends to advance mercy and God’s free grace,
and so to fill up those valleys, I mean despairing and desponding sinners. When God
sends a messenger to rebels, and commands them to repent and believe, a sweet
pardon be sure is comprehended therein; and this tends to fill up or exalt two valleys.
1. The lowly and desponding soul.
2. The mercy of God is exalted, which was one grand design of God in sending
His Son to satisfy Divine justice; for mercy and Divine goodness could not be
raised to run level with justice, until our Saviour had made a complete
satisfaction for our sins.
I. But before I proceed, let it be considered (as I conceive) that the grand
obstructions or obstacles which lie in the way of God’s being reconciled to sinners,
and of sinners’ reconciliation unto Him, are comprehended by these metaphorical
expressions.
1. The haughty Jews and Pharisees, who were swelled with pride; yea, like lifted
up high mountains and hills; how did the Pharisee glory, “God, I thank Thee I am
not as other men, nor as this publican”?
2. They were like mountains, in respect had to their legal privileges, being God’s
covenant people, boasting “They had Abraham to their father, and never were in
bondage” (Joh_8:33). John Baptist in his ministry strove to level these
mountains, when he saw them coming to his baptism, “O generation of vipers,
who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come?”
3. The Jews and Pharisees might be compared to mountains and hills, in that
they boasted they had the key of knowledge, and were the only teachers and
masters of Israel, and that all besides themselves were ignorant and foolish
persons. Do but read what holy Paul speaketh of them, to bring them down level
with the ground.
II. Sin (as Mr. Caryl notes, speaking of this very text) may be also meant by these
mountains.
III. By mountains here also may be meant, or refer unto those great oppositions our
Lord Jesus met withal, in His working out our salvation.
1. From men.
2. From the devil. These stood in His way like mighty mountains, like as
Sanballet stood as a mountain in the way of Zerubbabel (a type of Christ): “And
who art thou, great mountain? Before Zerubbabel, thou shalt become a plain”
(Zec_4:7).
IV. As valleys may refer to despairing sinners, so mountains and hills may refer to
haughty and presumptuous sinners; I speak not here of self-righteous persons.
V. Valleys may refer to the low estate of mankind, or of God’s elect, as considered
dead in the first Adam, or as under the law and curse thereof. (B. Keach.)
67

68. The crooked shall be made straight
1. Crooked may refer to men’s crooked opinions; they speak not right of God;
they do not judge according to the straight and equal glory of all the perfections
of God’s holy nature; nor according to the straight rule of His holy law, but
magnify the glory of His mercy, to the eclipsing the glory of His justice; and of
this crooked opinion are the Socinians, and all that magnify the pardoning grace
of God, without having respect to a plenary satisfaction, made to the justice and
law of God by Jesus Christ.
2. Crooked things may refer to those false and crooked ways of worship which
many walk in; ways which Christ never instituted or appointed: the Word of God
is the only rule for worship, and administration of ordinances. Now all pretended
ordinances and Divine worship, that doth not exactly agree with this rule, but
vary in matter or manner from it, are crooked way.
3. Crooked may refer to the lives and conversations of men; the law of God (as it
is in the hand of Jesus Christ) and the glorious gospel is the only rule of our lives;
and all whose lives and conversations do not agree with that rule, are crooked
ways.
4. Crooked may also refer unto men’s crooked spirits; how cross and uneven are
some men’s hearts and spirits to the word and will of God. “The carnal mind is
enmity against God, it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be”
(Rom_8:7). (B. Keach.)
6 And all people will see God’s salvation.’”[a]
GILL, "And all flesh shall see the salvation of God. "By the salvation of God"
is meant, the Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ, the Saviour of God's appointing and
sending; and who is the author of that salvation which God resolved on, contrived,
and approved of; and is his ordinance for salvation, unto the ends of the earth, for all
his elect; Luk_2:30 whom a great number among the Jews should, and did see, with
their bodily eyes; and whom not only God's elect among them, but also all of them
among the Gentiles, should behold with an eye of faith, for themselves, as their
Saviour and Redeemer. It is matter of question, what passage is here referred to;
whether Isa_40:5 or Isa_3:10 the latter comes nearest to the words, and the former
stands closely connected with the expressions before cited; though it is usual with the
New Testament writers, to join together passages, which stand in different places of
the same prophet, and even which are in different books; Rom_9:33 compared with
Isa_8:14 and Mat_21:5 compared with Isa_62:11 and that agreeably to the method
used by Jewish writers (r).
HENRY, " The great salvation shall be more fully discovered than ever, and the
discovery of it shall spread further (Luk_3:6): All flesh shall see the salvation of God;
not the Jews only, but the Gentiles. All shall see it; they shall have it set before them
and offered to them, and some of all sorts shall see it, enjoy it, and have the benefit of
68

69. it. When way is made for the gospel into the heart, by the captivation of high
thoughts and bringing them into obedience to Christ, by the leveling of the soul and
the removing of all obstructions that stand in the way of Christ and his grace, then
prepare to bid the salvation of God welcome.
JAMISON, "all flesh, etc. — (quoted literally from the Septuagint of Isa_40:5).
The idea is that every obstruction shall be so removed as to reveal to the whole world
the Salvation of God in Him whose name is the “Savior” (compare Psa_98:3; Isa_
11:10; Isa_49:6; Isa_52:10; Luk_2:31, Luk_2:32; Act_13:47).
CALVIN, "Luke 3:6And all flesh shall see the salvation of God That salvation
will not be at all obscure, or experienced by a small number of persons, but will
strike every eye, and will be common to all. Hence it follows that this prediction
was far from being accomplished, when the people returned from Babylon: (250)
for though the Lord gave, at that time, a memorable display of his grace, yet he
did not reveal his salvation to the whole world. On the contrary, the prophet’s
design was, to present the uncommon excellence of the salvation which was to be
manifested, in contrast with God’s former benefits, and thus to inform believers,
that the dispensations of God towards his Church had never been so remarkable,
nor his power so illustriously displayed in their deliverance. Flesh is here put for
men, without being intended to denote their depravity. (251)
COKE, "Luke 3:6. And all flesh shall see the salvation of God— The evangelist
seems to have quoted these words from Isaiah 52:10 though they may very well
agree with Isaiah 40:5 where the prophet says, all flesh shall see it together, that
is to say, the glory of the Lord, amply revealed in the salvation of mankind. See
Ch. Luke 2:30. St. Luke seems to have taken in this part of the prophesy, which
is omitted by St. Matthew, in order to point out its accomplishment, by the
admission of the Gentiles into the church of Christ; for it plainly appeared to
every discerning believer, at the time when he wrote, that all flesh was to see the
salvation of God, and to partake, if faithful, of its inestimable benefits.
BI. "The salvation of God
Salvation all of God
We are to be saved, not by what we are worth ourselves; not by that which we have
attained.
Looking at ourselves in some sense as a piece of art, a picture, a statue, or an
exquisite piece of machinery, we are not worth saving. In and of ourselves, there is
nothing worth preservation. And all the work that we have ever done on our own
character and nature does not amount to any considerable value. If we are saved, it
will not be because of that which we have succeeded in doing; it will be because of
that which has been done upon us and in us by another and higher artist-hand. If we
inherit salvation in the life which is to come, if we enter upon a life of immortality in
blessedness, it will be because we are saved by grace. (H. W. Beecher.)
God’s part and man’s part in salvation
A ship is stuck on a mudbank, and, the tide going out, it careens over, and there it
69

70. lies, like many discouraged Christians. They do not need the anchor. The anchor is
out, though. By and by the tide begins to come in, little by little. The captain calls up
the crew, and orders them to hoist in the anchor. It is hoisted in and stowed away.
“Trim the sails,” is the next command, and that is obeyed. The tide is still coming in,
coming in, coming in; and by and by the vessel floats off; and the crew look up with
admiration, and say, “What a captain we have! It was the hauling in of the anchor
and the trimming of the sails that saved us. The captain gave his orders, they were
obeyed, and then she floated.” No, it was not the captain’s doings. The Lord God,
who swings the stars through the heavens and exerts His power upon the ocean, did
it. The captain merely foresaw the coming of the tide, and adapted the circumstances
of the vessel to influences which existed before. (H. W.Beecher.)
Christ the only way of salvation
Mrs. Bennet, wife of John Bennet, minister of an Independent Church in Cheshire,
the day before she died, raised herself into a very solemn attitude, and with most
striking emphasis delivered, in the following language, her dying testimony to the
truth as it is in Jesus:—“I here declare it before you that I have looked on the right
hand and on the left—I have cast my eyes before and behind—to see if there was any
possible way of salvation but by the Son of God; and I am fully satisfied there is not.
No 1 none on earth, nor all the angels in heaven, could have wrought out salvation for
such a sinner. None but God Himself, taking our nature upon Him, and doing all that
the holy law required, could have procured pardon for me, a sinner. He has wrought
out salvation for me, and I know that I shall enjoy it for ever.” (Clerical Library.)
O that all flesh, that is, all men that believe, may
1. See the glory of God’s wisdom in His contriving the way of our salvation by
Jesus Christ.
2. The glory of His infinite love, mercy, and Divine goodness.
3. The glory of His infinite justice and holiness, in that His justice is as much
exalted in and by Christ, as His love and mercy.
Thus in respect of all the glorious attributes of God, the glory of God is in and by
Jesus Christ revealed. Take the glory of God here, for His glory personally
considered,
1. How doth the glory of God the Father shine forth herein, or what revelation is
there of it in the gospel!
2. How is the glory of God the Son revealed also!
3. How is the glory of God the Holy Ghost likewise revealed and magnified! And
all this is done and displayed in Jesus Christ the Mediator. And all flesh shall see
it; that is, not the Jews only, but also the Gentiles, or all nations; i.e., some in all
nations; nay, the whole world at last.
7 John said to the crowds coming out to be
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71. baptized by him, “You brood of vipers! Who
warned you to flee from the coming wrath?
GILL, "Then said he to the multitude,.... That is, John, as the Ethiopic version
reads; and the multitude to whom he spake the following words, were many of the
Pharisees and Sadducees, as appears from Mat_3:7
That came forth to be baptized of him; who came out of their houses, towns,
and cities, round about, to the place where John was; and hearing and seeing what he
was about, desired to be admitted to his baptism: not that they "were baptised of
him"; as the Arabic version renders it; but they came with a view of being baptized,
were it thought fit and proper they should: but John refused them, saying to them,
O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to
come? See Gill on Mat_3:7.
HENRY, "IV. The general warnings and exhortations which he gave to those who
submitted to his baptism, Luk_3:7-9. In Matthew he is said to have preached these
same things to many of the Pharisees and Sadducees, that came to his baptism
(Mat_3:7-10); but here he is said to have spoken them to the multitude, that came
forth to be baptized of him, Luk_3:7. This was the purport of his preaching to all that
came to him, and he did not alter it in compliment to the Pharisees and Sadducees,
when they came, but dealt as plainly with them as with any other of his hearers. And
as he did not flatter the great, so neither did he compliment the many, or make his
court to them, but gave the same reproofs of sin and warnings of wrath to the
multitude that he did to the Sadducees and Pharisees; for, if they had not the same
faults, they had others as bad. Now observe here,
1. That the guilty corrupted race of mankind is become a generation of vipers; not
only poisoned, but poisonous; hateful to God, hating one another. This magnifies the
patience of God, in continuing the race of mankind upon the earth, and not
destroying that nest of vipers. He did it once by water, and will again by fire.
2. This generation of vipers is fairly warned to flee from the wrath to come, which
is certainly before them if they continue such; and their being a multitude will not be
at all their security, for it will be neither reproach nor loss to God to cut them off. We
are not only warned of this wrath, but are put into a way to escape it, if we look about
us in time.
3. There is no way of fleeing from the wrath to come, but by repentance. They that
submitted to the baptism of repentance thereby evidenced that they were warned to
flee from the wrath to come and took the warning; and we by our baptism profess to
have fled out of Sodom, for fear of what is coming upon it.
CALVIN, "As to the loud and open rebuke, which was administered to them in
presence of all, it was for the sake of others; and that is the reason why Luke
mentions, that it was addressed to multitudes, (Luke 3:7.) Though the persons
whom John reproved were few in number, his design was to strike terror on all;
as Paul enjoins us to regard it as the advantage of public rebukes, “ that others
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72. also may fear,” (1 Timothy 5:20.) He addresses directly the Pharisees and
Sadducees, and at the same time, addresses, through them, a warning to all, not
to hold out a hypocritical appearance of repentance, instead of a true affection of
the heart. Besides, it was of great importance to the whole nation to know (263)
what sort of people the Pharisees and Sadducees were, who had miserably
corrupted the worship of God, wasted the church, and overturned the whole of
religion; — in a word, who had extinguished the light of God by their
corruptions, and infected every thing by their crimes.
It is probable, therefore, that John publicly attacked the Pharisees, for the
benefit of the whole church of God, that they might no longer dazzle the eyes of
simple men by empty show, or hold the body of the people under oppression by
wicked tyranny. In this respect, it was a remarkable display of his firmness, that
those, who were highly esteemed by others, were not spared on account of their
reputation, but sternly reduced, as they deserved, to their proper rank. And thus
ought all godly instructors to be zealous, not to dread any power of man, but
boldly strive to “cast down every high thing that exalteth itself” against Christ,
(2 Corinthians 10:5.)
If John, the organ of the Holy Spirit, employed such severity of language in his
opening address to those who voluntarily came to be baptized, and to make a
public profession of the gospel; how ought we now to act towards the avowed
enemies of Christ, who not only reject obstinately all that belongs to sound
doctrine, but whose efforts to extinguish the name of Christ are violently
maintained by fire and sword? Most certainly, if you compare the Pope, and his
abominable clergy, with the Pharisees and Sadducees, the mildest possible way of
dealing with them will be, to throw them all into one bundle. Those, whose ears
are so delicate, that they cannot endure to have any bitter thing said against the
Pope, must argue, not with us, but with the Spirit of God. Yet let godly teachers
beware, lest, while they are influenced by holy zeal against the tyrants of the
Church, they mingle with it the affections of the flesh. And as no vehemence,
which is not regulated by the wisdom of the Spirit, can obtain the divine
approbation, let them not only restrain their feelings, but surrender themselves
to the Holy Spirit, and implore his guidance, that nothing may escape them
through inadvertency. (264)
Offspring of vipers. He gives them this name, instead of simply calling them
vipers, in order to expose the envenomed malice of the whole class: for he
intended to condemn, not merely those few persons who were present, but the
whole body, and to charge both sects with producing nothing but serpents. They
had vehement disputes, no doubt, with each other: but all were agreed in
despising God, in a wicked desire to rule, in hatred of sound doctrine, and in a
disgusting mass of numerous crimes.
Who warned you? As he had suspicions of their repentance, he puts the question
with doubt and wonder, if it be possible that they repent sincerely. In this way,
he summons them to the inward tribunal of conscience, that they may thoroughly
examine themselves, and, laying aside all flattery, may institute a severe
investigation into their crimes. Wrath is put here, as in many other places, for
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73. the judgment of God: as when Paul says, “The law worketh wrath,” (Romans
4:15,) and “Give place to wraths (265) ”, (Romans 12:19.) He calls it the wrath to
come, which hangs over their heads, that they may not indulge in their wonted
carelessness. For, though the wrath of God overflows, and his chastisements
strike, the whole world, hypocrites always entertain the hope that they will
escape. To flee from the wrath of God, is here taken in a good sense, that is, to
seek the means of appeasing God, that he may no longer be angry with us. For a
good part of men, in order to escape the wrath of God, withdraw themselves
from his guidance and authority. But all that the sinner gains by fleeing from
God, is to provoke more and more the wrath of God against him.
BARCLAY, "JOHN'S SUMMONS TO REPENTANCE (Luke 3:7-18)
3:7-18 To the crowds who came out to be baptized by him, John used to say,
"You spawn of vipers, who put it into your heads to flee from the coming wrath?
Produce fruits to match repentance. Do not begin to say among yourselves, 'We
have Abraham as our father.' I tell you that God is able to raise up children to
Abraham from these stones. Even now the axe is laid at the root of the trees.
Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire."
The crowds asked him, "What are we to do?" He answered them, "Let him who
has two robes give one to one who has none and let him who has food do
likewise." The tax-collectors came to be baptized and said to him, "Teacher,
what are we to do?" He said to them, "Exact no more beyond what your
instructions lay down." The soldiers, too, asked him, "What are we to do?" He
said to them, "Treat no man with violence and do not play the false informer and
be content with your pay."
When the people were in a state of expectancy and when they were all wondering
in their hearts about John, as to whether he could be the Anointed One, John
answered them all, "I baptize you with water, but the One who is stronger than I
is coming, the latchet of whose sandals I am not worthy to unloose. He will
baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire. His winnowing fan is in his hand
to cleanse his threshing floor and he will gather the corn into his store but he will
burn the chaff with unquenchable fire."
Here we have the message of John to the people. Nowhere does the difference
between John and Jesus stand out so clearly because, whatever the message of
John was, it was not a gospel. It was not good news; it was news of terror.
John had lived in the desert. The face of the desert was covered with stubble and
brushwood, as dry as tinder. Sometimes a spark set the face of the desert alight
and out from their crannies came the vipers, scurrying in terror from the
menacing flames. It was to them John likened the people who came to be
baptized.
The Jews had not the slightest doubt that in God's economy there was a favoured
nation clause. They held that God would judge other nations with one standard
but the Jews with another. They, in fact, held that a man was safe from
judgment simply in virtue of the fact that he was a Jew. A son of Abraham was
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74. exempt from judgment. John told them that racial privilege meant nothing; that
life, not lineage, was God's standard of judgment.
There are three outstanding things about John's message.
(i) It began by demanding that men should share with one another. It was a
social gospel which laid it down that God will never absolve the man who is
content to have too much while others have too little.
(ii) It ordered a man, not to leave his job, but to work out his own salvation by
doing that job as it should be done. Let the tax-collector be a good tax-collector;
let the soldier be a good soldier. It was a man's duty to serve God where God had
set him.
A negro spiritual says:
There's a king and captain high,
And he's coming by and by,
And he'll find me hoeing cotton when he comes,
You can hear his legions charging in the regions of the sky,
And he'll find me hoeing cotton when he comes.
There's a man they thrust aside,
Who was tortured till he died,
And he'll find me hoeing cotton when he comes.
He was hated and rejected,
He was scorned and crucified,
And he'll find me hoeing cotton when he comes.
When he comes! when he comes!
He'll be crowned by saints and angels when he comes,
They'll be shouting out Hosanna! to the man that men denied,
And I'll kneel among my cotton when he comes.
It was John's conviction that nowhere can a man serve God better than in his
day's work.
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75. (iii) John was quite sure that he himself was only the forerunner. The King was
still to come and with him would come judgment. The winnowing fan was a great
flat wooden shovel; with it the grain was tossed into the air; the heavy grain fell
to the ground and the chaff was blown away. And just as the chaff was separated
from the grain so the King would separate the good and bad.
So John painted a picture of judgment, but it was a judgment which a man could
meet with confidence if he had discharged his duty to his neighbour and if he
had faithfully done his day's work.
John was one of the world's supremely effective preachers. Once Chalmers was
congratulated on a sermon. "Yes," he said, "but what did it do?" It is clear that
John preached for action and produced it. He did not deal in theological
subtleties but in life.
CONSTABLE, "Luke's introduction of John's message is more general than
Matthew's, but his summary of John's preaching is almost identical to
Matthew's. However, Luke never reported that John said, "Repent, for the
kingdom is at hand" (Matthew 3:2). Luke waited to introduce the kingdom
theme until Jesus began His ministry (Luke 4:43).
As adders try to escape before an approaching brush fire, so the Jews of John's
day were trying to escape God's coming judgment by fleeing to him for baptism.
[Note: Marshall, The Gospel . . ., p. 139.] However, John sensed that their reason
for coming to him was just their safety, not genuine repentance. Righteous
behavior would demonstrate true repentance. Many of the Jews believed that
Abraham's righteousness availed for his descendants. [Note: W. D. Davis, Paul
and Rabbinic Judaism, pp. 270-71.] As God had cut Israel out of Abraham, who
was a rock spiritually, so He could produce children for Himself from the stones
in the wilderness (cf. Luke 19:40). [Note: Plummer, p. 90.] There is a play on
words here in Aramaic involving "stones," abnayya, and "children," benayya.
People commonly cut down and burn fruit trees that do not produce fruit.
Likewise God would judge Israel as a fruitless tree unless the Jews repented and
started bearing the fruits of repentance (cf. Luke 6:43-45; Luke 13:6-9; Isaiah
5:1-7).
"The Greek verb [metanoeo, translated "to repent"] means 'to change one's
mind,' but in its Lucan usage it comes very close to the Hebrew verb for repent
which literally means 'to turn or turn around' (sub).... A change of perspective,
involving the total person's point of view, is called for by this term. In fact, John
called for the Israelites to bring forth fruit worthy of repentance (Luke 3:8). This
passage is significant for it separates repentance from what it produces, and also
expresses a link between repentance and fruit. One leads to the other.
"In summary, Luke saw repentance as a change of perspective that transforms a
person's thinking and approach to life." [Note: Bock, "A Theology . . .," pp.
129-30, 132.]
BURKITT, "Matthew 3:7-8 says, that the Baptist spake these words to the
Pharisees and Sadducees, whom he gives, first, a quick and cutting compellation,
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76. O generation of vipers: then a sharp and severe reprehension, Who hath warned
you to flee from the wrath to come? And, last of all, a seasonable exhortation,
Bring forth therefore fruits meet for repentance.
As if he had said, "O ye Pharisees, and worst of men, I perceive by your coming
hither, somebody has alarmed you with the notice of that dreadful vengeance
that is coming upon this generation; to prevent which you pretend repentance of
your sins: but let me see by your actions that you are not only demure, but
sincere penitents; let me see the fruits of your repentence in the daily course of
your conversation."
Learn here, 1. That the condition of proud Pharisees, pretending and false-
hearted hypocrites, though very dangerous, yet is not hopeless and desperate;
and their salvation, though the worst of men, must not be despaired of. St. John
reproves them for their sins, but yet encourages their repentance.
2. That sincere repentance is not a barren thing, but does constantly bring forth
fruits answerable to its nature: as faith without works, so repentance without
fruits, is dead also. The genuine fruits of repentance are humility of heart and
holiness of life.
Observe, lastly, the cautionary direction which he gives to these hypocrites not to
rest in their external privileges: Think not to say within yourselves, we have
Abraham to our father; glory not in this, that you are the only visible church
that God has upon earth, for God can, out of the obdurate Gentile world, raise
up a people to himself, take them into covenant with himself, and cast you out.
Learn hence, 1. That men are exceeding apt to boast of and glory in their
external privileges, and to place religion most in those things wherein God places
it least. How did the Jews glory in their fleshly descent from Abraham, as if God
was tied to Abraham's line, and could have no people if he had not them for his
people?
2. That it is a vain thing to expect exemption from the judgments of God, because
of outward privileges enjoyed by us. If we be not born again of the Spirit, it will
avail us nothing to be born of Abraham's flesh: if Abraham's faith be not found
in our hearts, it will be of no advantage to us that Abraham's blood is running in
our veins: Think not to say, we have Abraham to our father.
BENSON, "Luke 3:7-9. Then said he to the multitude, O generation of vipers —
See note on Matthew 3:7. Bring forth, therefore, fruits worthy of repentance —
The Baptist did not stop at preaching repentance, and rest satisfied with the
people’s making a profession thereof, but he insisted on the necessity of their
bringing forth fruits suitable to such a profession, or a thorough reformation of
their conduct in all respects. See this explained particularly in the notes on
Matthew 3:8-10. Begin not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to our
father — That is, trust not in your being members of the visible church, or in any
external privileges whatsoever; for God requires a change of heart, and that
now, without delay. For the axe is laid to the root of the trees — That is, the
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77. patience of God is very near come to an end, with respect to you, and his
judgments are at hand and ready to be inflicted; so that if you continue
unfruitful, notwithstanding the extraordinary means now to be tried with you,
destruction will speedily overtake you. The drift of all John’s sermons was to
root out their prejudices, and give them a sense of this important truth, that
acceptance with God does not depend upon flowing garments, broad
phylacteries, frequent ablutions, much fasting, and long prayers; but that good
works, proceeding from faith and love, are necessary thereto.
BI 7-8, "Then said he to the multitude that came forth
John and the populace
It is a matter of some interest, even as a memoir of ancient manners, to conceive the
various and strikingly marked aspect of the multitude that now fled to John in the
desert.
There stood the Pharisee, covered from head to heel with the emblems of his sanctity,
the haughtiest and most scornful of men; but then, for once, divested of his spiritual
influence, and asking, “What shall I dote be saved?” There stood the splendid and
voluptuous scribe—the man of affected philosophy, for once feeling that he had a
soul to be saved. There stood the grasping and the iron hand of the publican, the
common tribute gatherer, laying his accumulated gains before the feet of the
prophet, and bowing down to the dust. There stood the moldier, subdued and
hardened by the barbarous habits of his life, until he became a merciless murderer,
there he stood, flinging down his sword at the feet of the prophet, and imploring to
be purified from blood by the waters of baptism. In the midst of these kneeling and
humble thousands stood the prophet full of the Holy Ghost, in utter defiance of
human power, undaunted by the voice of human authority, and undismayed by the
barbarism of the multitude, tendering to all alike the words of judgment: “Ye men of
sin, ye splendid voluptuaries, who now cry out for mercy, show not by your words
but by your deeds that you have abjured sin; and you, ye haughty despisers of all
men’s virtue, be ye holy. Ye jealous and persecuting Pharisees, cast off your self-
righteous praises, rend the heart and not the garment, be humble, contrite, and
holy.” (G. Croby, M. A.)
Necessity of warning
A man left to himself will go to the devil. If he turns away from his sin, it is because of
some outside pressure. The attraction of gravitation is seen in souls as well as in all
material things. They fall by their own weight. If you see them going upwards, you
may be sure that a strong hand or a strong wind has been under them to start them
in that direction. Sinners need to be warned of their danger. The responsibility is on
us to warn others, and to heed the warnings which come to us. Who has warned you?
Whom have you warned? (H. C.Trumbull.)
Taking warning
Waldus, a rich merchant in Lyons, seeing one drop down dead in the streets, went
home, and repented, changed his fife, and became a preacher, and was the father and
founder of the people called Waldenses. ‘Tis good to take warning by others’ harms,
and by the sight of their death, to look after our own life. (Venning.)
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78. Warnings of God
As the mother bird shrieks when the hawk is in the sky, that her young ones may hide
themselves under her wings, so God, the Father of men, utters His voice of warning
against sinners, that they may rush to His mercy’s protection, before the devouring
lion of hell overtake them in destruction. (John Bate.)
The Baptist’s heraldry
Nor is it difficult to account for this widespread and profound agitation. In the first
place, the people were chafing under the yoke of pagan Rome. Remembering that
they were Jehovah’s covenant-people, their yearning for deliverance naturally took
on a religious form. Again, there was at this time among the Jews, and perhaps
throughout the East, the expectation, more or less distinct, of one who was to be a
heaven-sent deliverer. Hearing of the sanctity of Judea’s hermit, how natural that the
Jews, weary of bondage and shame, should flock to John in the hope that he was the
promised one. Again, there is in asceticism something which is fascinating. It
betokens an exceptional, earnest, character; and men are ever moved by the
exceptional, especially when it takes the form of terrible moral earnestness. And
John was a terribly earnest ascetic. And therefore all Israel flocked to his preaching,
feeling the thrall of his magnetism, even as idolatrous Israel centuries before had
swayed under stormy Elijah, and as voluptuous Italy centuries afterward bowed
before stern Savonarola, and frivolous France centuries still later grew solemn before
saintly Lacordaire. Once more, John’s message was a message of terror. No soothing
words were his, no soporific platitudes. So it was in Assyria when heathen Nineveh
robed herself in sackcloth before the denunciation of Hebrew Jonah. So it was in
France when awakened Europe wept and groaned before the Tartarean oratory of St.
Bernard. So it was in New England when Northampton church-member and and
Stockbridge Indian quailed and wailed before the wrathful eloquence of Edwards.
How, then, came such persons to the Jordan to listen to the wrathful eloquence of the
stern apostle of repentance? Ah, there are times when the proudest, most worldly of
natures are stirred to their very depths. There are times when even the Pharisee finds
that his rubric is too narrow and icy, and that he has been living a hollow life. There
are times when even the Sadducee feels his moral nature asserting itself at cost of
every barrier of unbelief and moral petrifaction. There are times when conscience
speaks louder than will or passion. Thus did the desert-preacher rightly divide the
word of truth, giving to each his appropriate share, not demanding of the publican
repentance for the Pharisee’s self-righteousness, nor of the Sadducee penitence for
the soldier’s crime. In this respect, at least, John of the desert was a model preacher.
Would God, all the ministers of His word were as faithful! (G. D. Boardman.)
Insincere penitents
Fra Rocco, a Dominican, preached a celebrated penitential sermon on one occasion;
when all the audience were in terror and fell on their knees, showing every sign of
contrition. Then he cried,
“All who are truly penitent, hold up your hands!” Every man in the vast multitude
held up his hand. Then he said, “Holy Archangel Michael, thou who standest with
adamantine sword at the judgment-seat of God, cut me off every hand which has
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79. been held up hypocritically.” Every hand dropped. (E. P. Hood.)
Appropriate preaching
It is related of John Wesley that, preaching to an audience of courtiers and
noblemen, he used the “generation of vipers” text, and flung denunciation right and
left. “That sermon should have been preached at Newgate,” said a displeased courtier
to Wesley on passing out.
“No,” said the fearless apostle; “my text there would have been, ‘Behold the Lamb of
God, which taketh away the sin of the world!’”
(Baxendale’s “Anecdotes. ”)
Folly of arguing about instead of escaping from coming wrath
“Many have puzzled themselves,” says John Newton, “ about the origin of evil. I am
content to observe that there is evil, and that there is a way of escape from it; and
with that I begin and end.” One of the most exquisite mechanisms of torture devised,
by the Hohenstaufen family, during the height of their despotic control, was a cell
which gradually shrunk in upon itself, the walls day by day contracting, till the
prisoner was finally crushed in the pressure of their embrace. For a day or so he
would perceive no alteration—at first he would doubt the evidence of his senses; but
at last the fearful truth would burst upon him that day after day the dimensions of his
cell became smaller, and that in its slow but certain contraction he would, if he
remained, be finally destroyed. Suppose that a door opened to him, and a voice said:
“Escape for your life—now is the time. To-morrow will be too late.” Is it likely he
would sit down and say, “I do not understand the principle of this complex piece of
mechanism. I prefer investigating it, and will stay behind for the purpose”? And yet
what does the man around whose heart sin is gradually winding itself closer and
closer do but this when he rejects Christ’s gospel? Human reason alone tells him that
a heart swathed in the bandages of wrath, or pleasure, or passion, can never, until
released, be fit for the peace and love of heaven. Experience tells him that the terrible
thraldom is every day becoming closer and closer, so that soon he must be crushed in
its folds. The gospel tells him, escape for thy life! And why, oh, reader, when thy only
thought should be about such escape, wilt thou sit down and speculate upon the
causes of thy imprisonment?—causes unto which, when thus confined, thou canst
never penetrate. Fly through the open door, and in the omniscience of the next world
thou wilt know why sin was permitted for time. Take heed lest, by remaining where
thou art, thou findest that for the impenitent sin is the portion for eternity.
Earnestness is needed in warning others
The energy of the manner of the late Rowland Hill and the power of his voice are said
to have been at times overwhelming. While once preaching at Wotton-under-Edge,
his country residence, he was carried away by the impetuous rush of his feelings, and
raising himself to his full stature, be exclaimed, “Beware, I am in earnest; men call
me an enthusiast, but I am not: mine are words of truth and soberness. When I first
came into this part of the country, I was walking on yonder hill; I saw a gravel-pit fall
in, and bury three human beings alive. I lifted up my voice for help, so loud, that I
was heard in the town below, a distance of a mile: help came and rescued two of the
poor sufferers. No one called me an enthusiast then—and when I see eternal
destruction ready to fall upon poor sinners, and about to entomb them irrecoverably
in an eternal mass of woe, and call on them to escape by repenting and fleeing to
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80. Christ, shall I be called an enthusiast? No, sinner, I am not an enthusiast in so
doing.”
8 Produce fruit in keeping with repentance. And
do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have
Abraham as our father.’ For I tell you that out
of these stones God can raise up children for
Abraham.
GILL, "Bring forth therefore fruits worthy of repentance,.... Or "meet" for
it, such as will show it to be true and genuine: "and begin not to say within
yourselves": in one of Beza's copies, and in another of Stephens's, it was read, "think
not", as in Mat_3:9. the sense is the same. The Vulgate Latin and Ethiopic versions,
leave out the phrase, "within yourselves": what they are forbid to say follows,
we have Abraham to our father, for I say unto you, God is able of these
stones to raise up children unto Abraham; which need not be thought strange,
when the creation of Adam out of the earth, and the production of such a numerous
offspring, as the Israelites were, from Abraham and Sarah, when past all hope of
children, and are signified by the rock and pit in Isa_51:1 are considered; See Gill on
Mat_3:9.
HENRY, "4. Those that profess repentance are highly concerned to live like
penitents (Luk_3:8): “Bring forth therefore fruits meet for repentance, else,
notwithstanding your professions of repentance, you cannot escape the wrath to
come.” By the fruits of repentance it will be known whether it be sincere or no. By the
change of our way must be evidenced the change of our mind.
5. If we be not really holy, both in heart and life, our profession of religion and
relation to God and his church will stand us in no stead at all: Begin not now to frame
excuses from this great duty of repentance, by saying within yourselves, We have
Abraham to our father. What will it avail us to be the children of godly parents if we
be not godly, to be within the pale of the Church if we be not brought into the bond of
the covenant?
6. We have therefore no reason to depend upon our external privileges and
professions of religion, because God has no need of us or of our services, but can
effectually secure by his own honour and interest without us. If we were cut off and
ruined, he could raise up to himself a church out of the most unlikely, - children to
Abraham even out of stones.
JAMISON, "And now also the axe is laid unto the root of the trees,.... Not
only to Jesse's family, which as a root in a dry ground, and to Jerusalem, the
metropolis of the nation; but to the root of the vain boasting of every Jew; their
descent from Abraham, the covenant made with him, their ecclesiastical state and
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81. civil polity, all which would quickly be at an end: the Romans were now among them,
the axe in God's hand; by means of whom, utter ruin and destruction would be
brought upon their nation, city, and temple:
COFFMAN, "The usual response to any demand that the Israelites of that day
should repent was to the effect that they did not need to repent, since they were
sons of Abraham. The fact that all the promises were not to Abraham's fleshly
descendants, but to his spiritual seed (the people who were of the character and
faith of Abraham), was unknown to the Israel of that generation. Paul spelled it
out in Romans; but here, the nigh impossible task of enlightenment fell on John
the Baptist. He succeeded in such instances as John the apostle, and others who
became followers of Jesus; but the majority of fleshly Israel only scoffed at the
truth.
9 The ax is already at the root of the trees, and
every tree that does not produce good fruit will
be cut down and thrown into the fire.”
GILL, "And now also the axe is laid unto the root of the trees,.... Not only to
Jesse's family, which as a root in a dry ground, and to Jerusalem, the metropolis of
the nation; but to the root of the vain boasting of every Jew; their descent from
Abraham, the covenant made with him, their ecclesiastical state and civil polity, all
which would quickly be at an end: the Romans were now among them, the axe in
God's hand; by means of whom, utter ruin and destruction would be brought upon
their nation, city, and temple:
HENRY, “7. The greater professions we make of repentance, and the greater
assistances and encouragements are given us to repentance, the nearer and the sorer
will our destruction be if we do not bring forth fruits meet for repentance. Now that
the gospel begins to be preached, now that the kingdom of heaven is at hand, now
that the axe is laid to the root of the tree, threatenings to the wicked and impenitent
are now more terrible than before, as encouragements to the penitent are now more
comfortable. “Now that you are upon your behaviour, look to yourselves.”
8. Barren trees will be cast into the fire at length; it is the fittest place for them:
Every tree that doth not bring forth fruit, good fruit, is hewn down, and cast into the
fire. If it serve not for fruit, to the honour of God's grace, let it serve for fuel, to the
honour of his justice.
COFFMAN, "Axe ... at the root ... This was a prophetic vision of the destruction
of the Holy City which would ensue as a result of the rejection of Christ by
Israel. The metaphor is that of a farmer who chops down an unfruitful tree and
burns it. Too long Israel had been barren, as far as any fruits of righteousness
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82. were concerned; and her day of grace at the time John spoke was growing short.
BURKITT, "St. John having preached the doctrine of repentance in the
foregoing verses, he backs it with a powerful argument in this verse, drawn from
the certainty and severity of that judgment which should come upon them, if
they continued their sins: Now is the axe laid to the root of the tree.
Learn, 1. That it is not unsuitable for gospel preachers to press repentance and
holiness of life upon their hearers, from arguments of terror. John does it here,
and Christ elsewhere.
2. That those whose hearts are not pierced with the sword of God's word, shall
certainly be cut down and destroyed by the axe of his judgments.
Observe farther, that forasmuch as the sin here specified is a sin of omission,
every tree which bringeth not forth good fruit, as well as that which bringeth
forth evil fruit, is hewn down, and cast into the fire. We learn that sins of
omission are certainly damning as well as sins of commission. The neglects of
duty are as dangerous and damnable as the acts of sin. Such trees as stand in
God's orchard, the church, and bring forth no good fruit, are marked out as fuel
for the devil's fire.
BI, “The axe is laid unto the root of the trees
Radical and seminal reform
It seems to me a total mistake to apply the words of the Baptist, “And now also the
axe,” &c.
, to any work ordained for man. When the appointed time comes, God does indeed
show forth His justice by sweeping away that which is utterly corrupt. Yet even the
Son of God, in His human manifestation, came not to destroy, but to save. Assuredly
this is the only part of His office which we are called to discharge. As His ministers,
we are to be ministers of salvation, not of destruction. The evil in ourselves, indeed,
we are to pluck up, branch and root; but in our dealings with others, unless we have a
special office committed to us by the laws of family or national life, our task will
mainly be to contend against evil by sowing the seeds of good, not by radical reforms,
but by seminal. The satirist, the rhetorician, the moralist, will indeed try the former,
and will therefore fail. The Christian has a higher power entrusted to him, the power
of God’s goodness and mercy, the gospel of redemption and salvation; not the woes
of the Trojan prophetess, who could gain no credence, but the glad tidings of the
kingdom of heaven. And if he relies on this power, he will succeed where others must
needs fail. (A. W. Hare, in “Guesses at Truth. ”)
The axe lying at the root
We may learn from it, in the first place—
I. THE KIND OF FRUIT WHICH GOD REQUIRES FROM US. In our text it is called
“good fruit”; and, in the eighth verse, “fruits meet for repentance.” With what
propriety, my brethren, are fruits like these denominated “good.” They are the result
of a good principle, even of that “godly sorrow” which worketh repentance to
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83. salvation, not to be repented of; they proceed from a good source, for they are the
fruits which the Holy Spirit Himself produces in the heart and life which He controls;
and they accord with the Divine revelation and with the Divine will, “for He hath
showed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the Lord thy God require of thee,
but to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?”
II. THE MEANS WHICH GOD EMPLOYS TO RENDER US PRODUCTIVE OF THIS
KIND OF FRUIT, AND WHICH SHOW HOW REASONABLE IT IS THAT HE
SHOULD EXPECT IT FROM US. In the first place, God has endowed you with a
capacity to produce this kind of fruit. A stone is not capable of producing the fruits of
a tree, because it is destitute of vegetable life. A tree is not capable of producing the
fruits of instinct and sagacity, because it is destitute of animal life. And the beasts of
the field are not capable of producing the fruits of reason and of conscience, because
they are destitute of intellectual and moral life. Nor are such fruits required from
them. God never requires from His creatures any actions which they are naturally
incapable of performing. “But there is a spirit in man, and the inspiration of the
Almighty hath given him understanding.” He has endowed us with reason and with
affections. You retain the ability, but you have lost the disposition, to exercise the
mind aright. You may destroy the eye by which you behold the surrounding universe;
you may destroy the link that binds your spirit to your mortal flesh: but your
responsibility to God, and your immortality of existence, you cannot destroy, you
cannot touch. Secondly: In order to enable you to bring forth this good fruit, God has
supplied you with the gospel of His Son. The gospel contains also the motives to
fruitfulness; and these motives are the most powerful that can be presented to the
mind. And the gospel contains also the promise of that Divine influence by which
fruitfulness is infallibly secured! for “He giveth His Holy Spirit to them that ask
Him.” Thirdly: God has visited you with various dispensations of providence, and
with various convictions of conscience, all of which have been intended to direct your
attention to the gospel, that thereby you might bring forth fruits meet for repentance.
III. THE CONTINUED UNFRUITFULNESS OF SOME PERSONS,
NOTWITHSTANDING ALL THE MEANS WHICH THE GOD OF MERCY HAS
EMPLOYED.
1. Some of these unfruitful persons are sensual and profane. Their bodies and
their souls are given to sin.
2. Some of these unfruitful persons are intellectual, and moral, and amiable.
3. Some of these unfruitful persons are professors of the gospel. They are
branches in the vine, but they bear no fruit.
IV. THE AXE WINCH IS LYING AT THE ROOT OF SUCH UNFRUITFUL
PERSONS. “And now also the axe is laid unto the root of the trees.” This “axe” may
therefore be considered as emblematical of death, at which period the character and
condition of the fruitless, as well as of others, will be decided and fixed for ever.
1. The axe which is lying at your root reminds you of the patience and long-
suffering of God. If you had had a servant in your family who had cared as little
for you as you have cared for God, would you have continued him in your house
as long as God has continued you? No, my brethren, you would not. You would
have cut down the tree, and you would have dismissed the servant.
2. The axe which is lying at your root reminds you of the critical circumstances in
which you are placed. Remember that, though you have not yet been hewn down,
the axe is actually lying at your root. The axe has not to be prepared; it has been
prepared, and sharpened. The axe has not to be brought to you from a distance; it
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84. has been brought, and is now lying at your root.
3. The axe which is lying at your root has sometimes admonished you of its being
there. You have seen others fall under its influence; but have you never felt it
yourself? Has the cold iron never sent its chilling influence through your frame?
V. THE AWFUL CONDITION TO WHICH SUCH UNFRUITFUL PERSONS ARE
DOOMED. “Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into
the fire.” The nature of this condition is indescribably terrible. There is an awful
peculiarity even in the death of a fruitless sinner. “He is hewn down.” And the
language intimates at once his own unwillingness to die, and the determined and
penal manner in which his death is inflicted. The certainty that this condition will be
incurred by the finally impenitent is another sentiment which our text conveys—a
certainty so sure and perfect, that the event is spoken of as having actually taken
place. “He is hewn down, and cast into the fire.” If you die unfruitful, your
destruction is as certain as your death. (J. Alexander, D. D.)
Little value set on trees in the East
The remarkably broad statement implied in this bold figure of speech must strike a
European as somewhat extraordinary; and yet there is more of literal truth in it than
one would at first thought be disposed to imagine. The fact is, in Western Asia trees,
as trees, are but little valued. The fruit-trees are preserved and nourished with great
care; but nearly all other trees are cut down for fuel, mineral fuel being exceedingly
scarce. An exception is made in favour of poplars. These are permitted to grow to
their full height for the sake of the long beams they supply. (Biblical Things, &c.)
The destructive axe
This is judgment—destruction. The axe is not for planting, or pruning, or dressing, or
propping, or protecting, but for cutting down. The axe against Israel was the Roman
host, and many such axes has God wielded, age after age. Every judgment is an axe:
pestilence is God’s axe; famine God’s axe; adversity God’s axe. There is a great
difference between the axe and the pruning-knife. Yet some of God’s judgments are
both in one—an axe to the ungodly, a pruning-knife to the saint. It is God’s axe, not
man’s; its edge is sharp; it is heavy; it will do its work well. (H. Bonar, D. D.)
The axe laid to the root of the tree
I. THE ROOT. That which bears up the branches, and on which the trees and
branches stand and grow.
1. The root, then, was the covenant God made with Abraham and his natural seed
or offspring, which covenant did, in a mystical sense, as clearly bear up the
national church of Israel and all the trees (i.e., members or branches thereof)
as common natural root doth the tree or trees growing out of it.
2. By the root may also be intended the foundation of all the Jews’ hopes,
confidence, and outward privileges.
3. By root, in a more remote sense, may be meant the state and standing of every
ungodly, unbelieving, and impenitent person.
II. THE TREES. Men and women, but chiefly the seed of the stock of Abraham,
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85. according to the flesh, of whom the national church of the Jews was made up, and
did consist; as also, all wicked and unbelieving persons whatsoever, who embrace not
the offers of grace in the gospel, or believe not in Jesus Christ.
III. THE AXE.
1. The dispensation of God’s providence, or time. Time is pictured with a scythe,
but then man is compared to grass; but it may be pictured with an axe, since men
are compared to trees; a scythe is no fit instrument to cut down trees.
2. The axe also may refer to the gospel: the Word of God is an axe to hew and
square some persons for God’s spiritual building, and to cut down others also, as
trees that are rotten, and bear no good fruit; “Therefore,” saith the Lord, “I have
hewn them by the prophets”; and what follows, mark it, “I have slain them by the
words of My mouth” (Hos_6:5).
3. The axe may refer to men, whom God makes use of, as instruments in His
hand, to cut down and destroy a wicked and God-provoking people; hence wicked
rulers and kings, whom God raises up, as instruments in His hand, to chastise
and cut clown a rebellious people, are called “His sword, and the rod of His wrath
and indignation” (Psa_17:14).
4. By the axe may in general be meant God’s wrath; however it is, or may be
executed, or upon whom, wrath will sooner or later cut down all the ungodly,
both false Churches and tyrannical powers of the earth, and all who continue in
unbelief and in rebellion against God. The laying the axe to the root discovers the
final fall and ruin of sinners, whether considered as a Church or as particular
persons; dig up or cut down the root, and down falls the body and all the
branches of the tree. Or are you self-righteous persons? Do you build on your
own righteousness, like the Jews and hypocritical Pharisees? If so, the axe will cut
you down also. You must bring forth good fruit, every soul of you, or perish; and
this you cannot do till your hearts are changed, and so you become good trees.
Make the tree good, and then the fruit will be good; “an evil tree cannot bring
forth good fruit,” &c. All works of regenerate persons—yea, their religious
duties—are but dead works, not good fruits; nor can they bring forth good fruits
unless they are planted by faith into Jesus Christ. Nay, I must tell you that gospel-
holiness will not save us; it must be the righteousness of God by faith. (Benjamin
Keach.)
The discovery of hypocrisy
1. It cutteth the Sabbath-breaker to hear his profaneness still cried out upon; it
cutteth the adulterer to hear his viciousness continually found fault with; it
cutteth the drunkard to hear his excess so often threatened; it cutteth the rioter
and voluptuous liver, that his course should ever and anon be so eagerly
reproved. And so, in the other particulars, it doth even enrage men’s hearts that
the Word of God cloth so meet with them, as it were, at every turn; and it causeth
many to come to hear it no more than they needs must, because, though they set
a face upon it, and would make themselves and others believe that it is not so; yet
this same sharp axe of the Word, when the edge thereof is turned towards them,
doth strike some wound or other into them almost at every sermon. So that as
Scripture hath avouched it, so common use will not suffer it to be untrue, that the
ministry of the Word is a sharp axe, which hath a biting edge, and cutteth and
pierceth where it goeth. The use of it, in a word, is to justify and to maintain to
the faces of all gainsayers that that very Word which they hear daily, and which
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86. they would fain make themselves and others believe is but an idle word, is indeed
and in truth the very Word of God.
2. Another thing in the axe is, that as it cuts, so it frameth and fashioneth the
hearers to a place in the spiritual building in God’s Church. And as a crooked and
knobby tree must first be hewn and squared, and cut again and again, before it
can sort with the rest of the building, so must we also be even cast, as it were, in a
new mould, and transformed into a new shape, before we can have a place in
God’s spiritual house. There is a great deal of crookedness and corruption must
be pared from us; we must pass under the workman’s tool before we can be an
habitation of God by His Spirit. Now, the means to frame us to become fit for the
Lord’s building is the public ministry of His Word. By it the Lord cloth lop off the
superfluity of our corruption; thereby He doth smooth us and make us plain and
compact, and join us in, as it were, by certain mortices and joints with the rest of
that holy frame, that being once fast coupled unto it, He may preserve us ever
unto Himself. Therefore we find in Scripture that as the Church of God was never
destitute of this workmanship, so likewise those whom His pleasure was to bring
into the society of His chosen—they were framed thereby, and first felt the power
and edge of the Word before they were linked together with God’s people.
3. It followeth, an axe put to the root of the trees; that is (as I have expounded it),
urged and applied to men’s consciences, laid and pressed to the hearts of the
hearers, For look what the root is unto the rest of the tree; the same is the heart
to the whole man. Nathan the prophet laid the axe to the root when he told
David, “Thou art the man.” So did Elias, when he said to Ahab, “It is thou and thy
father’s house that have troubled Israel.” So did Amos, when he preached at
Bethel, the king’s own chapel, the destruction of the king’s own house. So did
Hanani, when he said plainly to the king that he had done foolishly not to rest
upon the Lord. So did Zachariah, when he told Joash he should not prosper if he
forsook the Lord. So did John the Baptist, when he spake directly to the
Pharisees, and called them a viperous generation, and when he told Herod to his
face he might not have his brother’s wife. So did Christ, when He preached woe to
the Scribes and Pharisees, “Woe to Chorazin and Bethsaida.” So did Peter, when
he told the Jews, “You, I say, have crucified and slain the Lord of life.” So did
Paul, when he called them “foolish Galatians.” It is to no purpose, as it were, to
stand hacking at the branches, and to strike here and there upon the outward
rind; but a man must go to the root, and knock at the door of every man’s
conscience, that every soul may tremble, and men at the least may be convinced
against the day of reckoning. “If thou doest not well,” saith God unto Cain, “sin
lieth at the door.” Sin is like a cruel beast, which lieth sleeping at the door of
every man’s heart. It must be awaked and stirred up, that men may see their
danger. (S. Hieron.)
Unfruitful trees cut down.
“The axe is laid unto the root of the trees” in the East with a significance which we
can hardly understand in the West. It is not merely because the tree cumbers the
ground in a physical sense; to even shade-trees-trees of any sort—are greatly to be
desired throughout the Holy Land. But the fruit-trees are all taxed; and if unfruitful,
they are a heavy incumbrance. If a tree bears no fruit, it brings its proprietor in debt,
and that to the most merciless of creditors, a tax-farmer. Some four years ago, when
the taxes were heavy and the olive product light, multitudes of olive-trees were cut
down on the spurs of Lebanon. It was cutting off the owners’ means of support in the
future; but that was still in the future, and uncertain. In the immediate present, all
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87. that the proprietor could see was cruelty, oppression, and taxes. Future starvation
was not a heavier burden than present hunger, with debt as a load above it. It is
probable that this is just the same sort of cumbering the ground which was the
troublesome one in old times. Space could be spared in the ground for a tree whose
only use was ornament; wild trees are still allowed for that purpose; but a fruit-tree
which bore a tax is quite a different matter, and probably was so then. The fruit-trees
paid a religious tithe; and the secular government could scarcely have been less
exacting. The tax on fruit-trees, too, is a heavy one. Read any recent work on the
political condition of Egypt, and see how much every palm must pay. Travellers are
often surprised at the extra charges which they have to pay—more than the natives—
for the use of a horse or a boat; but they forget that the Government is on the look-
out for those who own the boat or the horse, and is apt to get the lion’s share of all
such seeming extortions. (Professor Isaac H. Hall.)
Sternness necessary
When we lay the axe to the root of the tree—when we hew off men’s very members,
when we snatch them like brands out of the fire, when we make them to see their
own faces in the law of liberty, the face of a guilty, and therefore cursed, conscience—
there will be need of much boldness. A surgeon who is to search an inveterate wound,
and to cut off a putrified member, had not need to be faint-hearted, or bring a
trembling hand to so great a work. (Bishop Reynolds.)
10 “What should we do then?” the crowd asked.
BARNES, "What shall we do, then? - John had told them to bring forth fruits
appropriate to repentance, or to lead a life which showed that their repentance was
genuine. They very properly, therefore, asked how it should be done, or what “would
be” such a life.
CLARKE, "What shall we do then? - The preaching of the Baptist had been
accompanied with an uncommon effusion of that Spirit which convinces of sin,
righteousness, and judgment. The people who heard him now earnestly begin to
inquire what they must do to be saved? They are conscious that they are exposed to
the judgments of the Lord, and they wish to escape from the coming wrath.
GILL, "And the people asked him,.... Not the same as in Luk_3:7 the Sadducees
and Pharisees, for they seemed not to be at all affected with, and wrought upon, by
the ministry of John; but rather were displeased with him, and turned their backs on
him, and rejected him and his baptism; but the common people, that stood by; who
hearing John speak of wrath to come, and of repentance, and fruits worthy of it, were
filled with concern about these things, and inquire,
saying, what shall we do? either to escape the wrath and vengeance coming on
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88. the nation, and also eternal ruin and destruction; and Beza says, that in two of his
copies, and one of them his most ancient one it is added, "to be saved", and so in two
of Stephens's; which confirms the above sense, and makes their inquiry to be the
same with the jailor's, Act_16:30 or else their meaning is, what are the things we are
to do, or the fruits we are to bring forth, the duties we are to perform, in order to
testify the truth and genuineness of our repentance? which latter seems most
agreeable.
HENRY, “V. The particular instructions he gave to several sorts of persons, that
enquired of him concerning their duty: the people, the publicans, and the soldiers.
Some of the Pharisees and Sadducees came to his baptism; but we do not find them
asking, What shall we do? They thought they knew what they had to do as well as he
could tell them, or were determined to do what they pleased, whatever he told them.
But the people, the publicans, and the soldiers, who knew that they had done amiss,
and that they ought to do better, and were conscious to themselves of great ignorance
and unacquaintedness with the divine law, were particularly inquisitive: What shall
we do? Note, 1. Those that are baptized must be taught, and those that have baptized
them are concerned, as they have opportunity, to teach them, Mat_28:19, Mat_
28:20. 2. Those that profess and promise repentance in general must evidence it by
particular instances of reformation, according as their place and condition are. 3.
They that would do their duty must desire to know their duty, and enquire
concerning it. The first good word Paul said, when he was converted, was, Lord,
what wilt thou have me to do? These here enquire, not, What shall this man do? but,
What shall we do? What fruits meet for repentance shall we bring forth? Now John
gives answer to each, according to their place and station.
JAMISON, "What shall we do then? — to show the sincerity of our
repentance. (Also see on Mat_3:10.)
CALVIN, "Luke 3:10And the multitudes asked him. A true feeling of repentance
produces in the mind of the poor sinner an eager desire to know what is the will
or command of God. John’s reply explains, in a few words, the fruits worthy of
repentance: for the world is always desirous to acquit itself of its duty to God by
performing ceremonies; and there is nothing to which we are more prone, than
to offer to God pretended worship, whenever he calls us to repentance. But what
fruits does the Baptist here recommend? The duties of charity, and of the second
Table of the Law: (272) not that God disregards the outward profession of
godliness, and of his worship; but that this is a surer mark of distinction, and less
frequently leads to mistakes. (273) For hypocrites labor strenuously to prove
themselves worshippers of God by the performance of ceremonies, — paying no
regard, however, to true righteousness: for they are either cruel to their
neighbors, or addicted to falsehood and dishonesty.
It was therefore necessary to subject them to a more homely examination, (274) if
they are just in their dealings with men, if they relieve the poor, if they are
generous to the wretched, if they give liberally what the Lord has bestowed upon
them. This is the reason why our Lord pronounces “judgment, mercy, and
faith,” to be “the weightier matters of the law, ” (Matthew 23:23,) and Scripture
everywhere recommends “justice and judgment.” We must particularly observe,
that the duties of charity are here mentioned, not because they are of higher
value than the worship of God, but because they testify the piety of men, (275) so
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89. as to detect the hypocrisy of those who boast with the mouth what is far distant
from the heart.
But it is asked, did John lay this injunction, in a literal sense, on all whom he was
preparing to be Christ’s disciples, that they should not have two coats? We must
observe, first, that this is the figure of speech which is called a Synecdoche, for
under one example it comprehends a general rule. Hence it follows, that we must
draw from it a meaning, which corresponds to the law of charity, as it is laid
down by God: and that law is, that each person should give out of his abundance
to supply the wants of the poor. God does not extort a tax, to be paid “grudgingly
or of necessity” by those who, but for that necessity, would have chosen not to
pay it: “for the Lord loveth a” willing and “cheerful giver,” (2 Corinthians 9:7.) I
make this observation, because it is of great consequence for men to be
convinced, that the portion of their wealth which they bestow in this manner is a
sacrifice pleasing and of good savor to God, — that “with such sacrifices God is
well pleased,” (Hebrews 13:16.)
Those who lay it down as a law, that no man must have any property of his own,
not only make consciences to tremble, but overwhelm them with despair. With
fanatics of this sort, who obstinately adhere to the literal meaning, it is not
necessary that we should spend much time in refutation. If we are not allowed to
have two coats, the same rule will apply to dishes, to salt-cellars, to shirts, and, in
short, to all the furniture of a house. But the context makes it evident, that
nothing was farther from John’s intention than to overthrow the order of a state.
Hence we infer, that all that he enjoined on the rich was, that they should bestow
on the poor, according to their own ability, what their necessity required.
“Consider to what extent the necessaries of life, which you enjoy abundantly, are
wanted by your neighbors, that your abundance may be a supply for their
want,” (2 Corinthians 8:14.)
But the more liberty that God allows us, we ought to be the more careful not to
allow ourselves undue liberty. (276) Let the necessity of our brethren affect us
powerfully, and let the bounty of God, which is in our hands, stimulate us to acts
of kindness and generosity.
BURKITT, "The Baptist having pressed his hearers to bring forth fruits meet
for repentance, here they enquire of him what fruits they should bring forth? He
tells first the fruits of charity and mercy: He that hath two coats, let him give to
him that hath none. This is not to be understood strictly, as if the command
required us to give the clothes off our back to every one that wanted them. But it
directs those that have the things of this life in abundance, to distribute and
communicate to those that are in want.
Learn hence, that an extensive liberality, and a diffusive charity in distributing
such things as we can well spare towards the relief of others' necessities, is an
excellent fruit of repentance, and a good proof and evidence of the truth and
sincerity of it. Let him that hath two coats impart to him that hath none.
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90. Note, that the Baptist here doth not make it unlawful for a man to have two
coats, but means only, that he that has one coat which his brother wants, and he
at present doth not, should rather give it him, than suffer him to be in want of it.
Teaching us, that it is not lawful to abound in those things which our brother
wants, when we have sufficient both to relieve his and our necessities.
BENSON, "Luke 3:10-14. And the people asked him, What shall we do then? —
To avoid the judgments of God. He answereth, He that hath two coats, &c. — Be
careful, not only to observe the ceremonies of religion, but to attend to the great
duties of justice, mercy, and charity. The sum of all is: Cease to do evil, learn to
do well: these are the fruits worthy of repentance. Then came also publicans —
A set of men whose office it was to collect the taxes which the Romans had
imposed on the Jews, and to pay them to others, who were called the chief of the
publicans; and these people, being generally persons of an infamous character
for their injustice and oppression, applied themselves to John, under a strong
conviction of their guilt, and said, Master, what shall we do? — Namely, to
testify the sincerity of our repentance. And he said, Exact no more than is
appointed you — As if he had said, I do not require you absolutely to quit your
employment, but take care that, in levying the taxes, you compel no man to pay
you more than his just proportion of the sum which you are allowed by the law
to raise. And the soldiers applied themselves to him on the same occasion, saying,
What shall we do? — The Baptist’s sermons were so affecting, that they
impressed men even of the most abandoned characters, such as the private
soldiers in all countries commonly are. And he said, Do violence to no man —
Commit no violence on any man’s person or property. “The word διασεισητε
properly signifies, to take a man by the collar and shake him; and seems to have
been used proverbially for that violent manner in which persons of this station of
life are often ready to bully those about them, whom they imagine their inferiors
in strength and spirit; though nothing is an argument of a meaner spirit, or more
unworthy that true courage which constitutes so essential a part of a good
military character.” — Doddridge. Neither accuse any falsely — Do not turn
informers, and give false evidence against innocent persons, in order that with
the protection of the law you may oppress them, and enrich yourselves with their
spoils. The word συκοφαντειν, which we render, to accuse falsely, answers to the
Hebrew ‫,עשׂק‬ and signifies also to circumvent and oppress. And be content with
your wages — Live quietly on your pay, and do not mutiny when your officersLive quietly on your pay, and do not mutiny when your officersLive quietly on your pay, and do not mutiny when your officersLive quietly on your pay, and do not mutiny when your officers
happen not to bestow on you donations and largesses to conciliate your favour. It ishappen not to bestow on you donations and largesses to conciliate your favour. It ishappen not to bestow on you donations and largesses to conciliate your favour. It ishappen not to bestow on you donations and largesses to conciliate your favour. It is
well known the wordwell known the wordwell known the wordwell known the word ‫,ןרשםיןיע‬ here rendered wages, signifies provision, or food;
but, when applied to soldiers, it is generally used to signify the pay that was
allotted for their subsistence. It appears that the soldiers who now addressed the
Baptist were not heathen, but Jews; otherwise one part of his advice to them
would certainly have been, that they should relinquish idolatry, and embrace the
worship of the true God. To account for this it must be observed, that it was the
custom of the Romans to recruit their armies in the conquered provinces, and, as
the Jews did not scruple to engage in a military life, many of them may now have
been in the emperor’s service. Or, we may suppose that after Judea was made as service. Or, we may suppose that after Judea was made as service. Or, we may suppose that after Judea was made as service. Or, we may suppose that after Judea was made a
90

91. province, the Romans took into their pay the Jewish troops which Herod and hisprovince, the Romans took into their pay the Jewish troops which Herod and hisprovince, the Romans took into their pay the Jewish troops which Herod and hisprovince, the Romans took into their pay the Jewish troops which Herod and his
son Archelaus had maintained. See Macknight.son Archelaus had maintained. See Macknight.son Archelaus had maintained. See Macknight.son Archelaus had maintained. See Macknight.
CONSTABLE, "Luke's unique inclusion of the specific fruits of repentance
(Luke 3:10-14) demonstrates his concern for social justice. To the sincere in the
crowd John recommended generously sharing their possessions with the needy
(cf. Galatians 5:22-23). The tunic (Gr. chiton) was the short undergarment worn
under a robe. The Jews often wore two of them at once if they had two. These
undergarments were not what we think of as underwear. They were simply an
under layer of clothing.
SIMEON, "LIBERALITY TO THE POOR
Luke 3:10-11. And the people asked him, saying, What shall we do then? 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.
IN order to understand the true meaning of any part of Scripture, the strictest
attention must be paid to the context. If this rule be not observed, there is
scarcely any thing which may not be sanctioned by the inspired volume; and the
most contradictory positions may appear to stand on equal authority. Suppose,
for instance, the question in our text be taken, as other apparently similar
questions must be taken, namely, as an inquiry into the way of salvation; we
shall make John the Baptist return an answer directly contrary to the whole
tenour of the Gospel. When the gaoler asked Paul and Silas, “What he must do toWhat he must do toWhat he must do toWhat he must do to
be saved?be saved?be saved?be saved?” they answered,they answered,they answered,they answered, “Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt beBelieve in the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt beBelieve in the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt beBelieve in the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be
saved [Note: Actssaved [Note: Actssaved [Note: Actssaved [Note: Acts 16:3016:3016:3016:30----31313131.]..]..]..].” This is the only true answer that can be given to thatThis is the only true answer that can be given to thatThis is the only true answer that can be given to thatThis is the only true answer that can be given to that
question; forquestion; forquestion; forquestion; for “there is no other name under heaven given among men whereby wethere is no other name under heaven given among men whereby wethere is no other name under heaven given among men whereby wethere is no other name under heaven given among men whereby we
can be saved,can be saved,can be saved,can be saved,” but the name of Jesus Christ [Note: Actsbut the name of Jesus Christ [Note: Actsbut the name of Jesus Christ [Note: Actsbut the name of Jesus Christ [Note: Acts 4:124:124:124:12.]. But if we look into.]. But if we look into.]. But if we look into.]. But if we look into
the context, we find that John the Baptist had beenthe context, we find that John the Baptist had beenthe context, we find that John the Baptist had beenthe context, we find that John the Baptist had been “preaching the baptism ofpreaching the baptism ofpreaching the baptism ofpreaching the baptism of
repentance for the remission of sins [Note: ver.repentance for the remission of sins [Note: ver.repentance for the remission of sins [Note: ver.repentance for the remission of sins [Note: ver. 3333.];.];.];.];” or, in other words, had beenor, in other words, had beenor, in other words, had beenor, in other words, had been
preaching salvation by Jesus Christ, exactly as the Apostle Peter, and indeed all thepreaching salvation by Jesus Christ, exactly as the Apostle Peter, and indeed all thepreaching salvation by Jesus Christ, exactly as the Apostle Peter, and indeed all thepreaching salvation by Jesus Christ, exactly as the Apostle Peter, and indeed all the
Apostles, did on the day of Pentecost [Note: See the peopleApostles, did on the day of Pentecost [Note: See the peopleApostles, did on the day of Pentecost [Note: See the peopleApostles, did on the day of Pentecost [Note: See the people’s inquiry, and Peters inquiry, and Peters inquiry, and Peters inquiry, and Peter’ssss
answer, Actsanswer, Actsanswer, Actsanswer, Acts 2:372:372:372:37----38383838.]. Then, seeing multitudes coming to him for baptism, and.]. Then, seeing multitudes coming to him for baptism, and.]. Then, seeing multitudes coming to him for baptism, and.]. Then, seeing multitudes coming to him for baptism, and
apprehending that the great majority of them were taking up a profession ofapprehending that the great majority of them were taking up a profession ofapprehending that the great majority of them were taking up a profession ofapprehending that the great majority of them were taking up a profession of
religion upon very light and erroneous grounds, he cautioned them strongly againstreligion upon very light and erroneous grounds, he cautioned them strongly againstreligion upon very light and erroneous grounds, he cautioned them strongly againstreligion upon very light and erroneous grounds, he cautioned them strongly against
a presumptuous confidence on the one hand, or an unproductive and hypocriticala presumptuous confidence on the one hand, or an unproductive and hypocriticala presumptuous confidence on the one hand, or an unproductive and hypocriticala presumptuous confidence on the one hand, or an unproductive and hypocritical
profession on the other; and exhorted them, if they would not experience the fate ofprofession on the other; and exhorted them, if they would not experience the fate ofprofession on the other; and exhorted them, if they would not experience the fate ofprofession on the other; and exhorted them, if they would not experience the fate of
a barren tree, toa barren tree, toa barren tree, toa barren tree, to “bring forth fruits worthy of repentance [Note: ver.bring forth fruits worthy of repentance [Note: ver.bring forth fruits worthy of repentance [Note: ver.bring forth fruits worthy of repentance [Note: ver. 7777– 9999.[..[..[..[. ” In replyIn replyIn replyIn reply
to this, the people ask,to this, the people ask,to this, the people ask,to this, the people ask, “What shall we do?What shall we do?What shall we do?What shall we do?” That is, What fruits shall we bringThat is, What fruits shall we bringThat is, What fruits shall we bringThat is, What fruits shall we bring
91

92. forth, in order to evince our sincerity [Note: See the Greek, ver.forth, in order to evince our sincerity [Note: See the Greek, ver.forth, in order to evince our sincerity [Note: See the Greek, ver.forth, in order to evince our sincerity [Note: See the Greek, ver. 8888–10101010. This will. This will. This will. This will
remove all doubt: for they adopt the very same term as John had used.]? And theremove all doubt: for they adopt the very same term as John had used.]? And theremove all doubt: for they adopt the very same term as John had used.]? And theremove all doubt: for they adopt the very same term as John had used.]? And the
direction which John gives them, is an answer exactly suited to the occasion: it is todirection which John gives them, is an answer exactly suited to the occasion: it is todirection which John gives them, is an answer exactly suited to the occasion: it is todirection which John gives them, is an answer exactly suited to the occasion: it is to
this effect;this effect;this effect;this effect; ‘If you would approve yourselves sincere and upright in your professionIf you would approve yourselves sincere and upright in your professionIf you would approve yourselves sincere and upright in your professionIf you would approve yourselves sincere and upright in your profession
of faith in the promised Messiah, shew forth your faith by your works, and, aboveof faith in the promised Messiah, shew forth your faith by your works, and, aboveof faith in the promised Messiah, shew forth your faith by your works, and, aboveof faith in the promised Messiah, shew forth your faith by your works, and, above
all, by an abounding exercise of love.all, by an abounding exercise of love.all, by an abounding exercise of love.all, by an abounding exercise of love.’
Having thus prepared our way by a view of the context, and having ascertained
what the Baptist’s design was in giving the people the direction in our text, we shalls design was in giving the people the direction in our text, we shalls design was in giving the people the direction in our text, we shalls design was in giving the people the direction in our text, we shall
proceed to the more distinct consideration of his answer, and shall open to you,proceed to the more distinct consideration of his answer, and shall open to you,proceed to the more distinct consideration of his answer, and shall open to you,proceed to the more distinct consideration of his answer, and shall open to you,
I. Its import—
It is manifest that the direction given by him is figurative, and therefore not to be
taken in its strict and literal sense. But we must not therefore imagine, that we
are at liberty to disregard it, as though it had no force at all. There can be no
doubt but that the Baptist intended to inculcate a very tender compassion
towards our indigent fellow-creatures, and a very enlarged exercise of liberality
for their relief. To obtain, with as much precision as the subject is capable of, the
true import of his words, we shall adduce from other parts of Scripture, but
especially from the writings of the same Evangelist,
1. Some other passages of similar tendency—
[First, we shall notice one or two that are also figurative [Note: Luke 12:33-34;
Luke 14:12-14.] — — — There can be no doubt but that these require a very highThere can be no doubt but that these require a very highThere can be no doubt but that these require a very highThere can be no doubt but that these require a very high
degree of liberality to the poor, since they were actually practised in their strictestdegree of liberality to the poor, since they were actually practised in their strictestdegree of liberality to the poor, since they were actually practised in their strictestdegree of liberality to the poor, since they were actually practised in their strictest
sense by the first Christians [Note: Actssense by the first Christians [Note: Actssense by the first Christians [Note: Actssense by the first Christians [Note: Acts 2:442:442:442:44----45454545; Acts; Acts; Acts; Acts 4:324:324:324:32----37373737.].].].] — — — From theseFrom theseFrom theseFrom these
we may turn to others that are more plain [Note: Lukewe may turn to others that are more plain [Note: Lukewe may turn to others that are more plain [Note: Lukewe may turn to others that are more plain [Note: Luke 6:386:386:386:38; Luke; Luke; Luke; Luke 11:4111:4111:4111:41.].].].] — — —
What an accumulation of words is there in the former of these passages toWhat an accumulation of words is there in the former of these passages toWhat an accumulation of words is there in the former of these passages toWhat an accumulation of words is there in the former of these passages to
encourage our compliance with the precept; and what a gracious benediction in theencourage our compliance with the precept; and what a gracious benediction in theencourage our compliance with the precept; and what a gracious benediction in theencourage our compliance with the precept; and what a gracious benediction in the
latter!latter!latter!latter! — — — To the rich there is an especial charge given to be bountiful [Note:To the rich there is an especial charge given to be bountiful [Note:To the rich there is an especial charge given to be bountiful [Note:To the rich there is an especial charge given to be bountiful [Note: 1111
TimothyTimothyTimothyTimothy 6:186:186:186:18----19191919.]; but it is not to them only that this duty belongs; but to those also.]; but it is not to them only that this duty belongs; but to those also.]; but it is not to them only that this duty belongs; but to those also.]; but it is not to them only that this duty belongs; but to those also
who gain a daily subsistence by their manual labour [Note: Ephesianswho gain a daily subsistence by their manual labour [Note: Ephesianswho gain a daily subsistence by their manual labour [Note: Ephesianswho gain a daily subsistence by their manual labour [Note: Ephesians 4:284:284:284:28.]. To all,.]. To all,.]. To all,.]. To all,
according to their ability, it equally appertains; for, on the foresight of a dearth inaccording to their ability, it equally appertains; for, on the foresight of a dearth inaccording to their ability, it equally appertains; for, on the foresight of a dearth inaccording to their ability, it equally appertains; for, on the foresight of a dearth in
JudJudJudJud ‫ז‬a, all the disciples of Antioch, every one according to his ability, contributed
instantly to their relief [Note: Acts 11:28-30.].]
2. Some examples which are set forth for our imitation—
92

93. [That of Zaccheus is particularly to our purpose, because he was just converted to[That of Zaccheus is particularly to our purpose, because he was just converted to[That of Zaccheus is particularly to our purpose, because he was just converted to[That of Zaccheus is particularly to our purpose, because he was just converted to
the faith of Christ, and because our blessed Lord himself acknowledged thisthe faith of Christ, and because our blessed Lord himself acknowledged thisthe faith of Christ, and because our blessed Lord himself acknowledged thisthe faith of Christ, and because our blessed Lord himself acknowledged this
heavenly disposition to be an evidence of his having actually obtained acceptanceheavenly disposition to be an evidence of his having actually obtained acceptanceheavenly disposition to be an evidence of his having actually obtained acceptanceheavenly disposition to be an evidence of his having actually obtained acceptance
with his God [Note: Lukewith his God [Note: Lukewith his God [Note: Lukewith his God [Note: Luke 19:819:819:819:8----9999.].].].] — — — But the example of the MacedonianBut the example of the MacedonianBut the example of the MacedonianBut the example of the Macedonian
Churches is yet more pertinent; because it is an example, not of an individual, but ofChurches is yet more pertinent; because it is an example, not of an individual, but ofChurches is yet more pertinent; because it is an example, not of an individual, but ofChurches is yet more pertinent; because it is an example, not of an individual, but of
whole Churches; and those, not in a state of ease and opulence, but of greatwhole Churches; and those, not in a state of ease and opulence, but of greatwhole Churches; and those, not in a state of ease and opulence, but of greatwhole Churches; and those, not in a state of ease and opulence, but of great
affliction and deep poverty; and because it is expressly set forth for the imitation ofaffliction and deep poverty; and because it is expressly set forth for the imitation ofaffliction and deep poverty; and because it is expressly set forth for the imitation ofaffliction and deep poverty; and because it is expressly set forth for the imitation of
others, who are called upon to imitate it, in order to prove the sincerity of their loveothers, who are called upon to imitate it, in order to prove the sincerity of their loveothers, who are called upon to imitate it, in order to prove the sincerity of their loveothers, who are called upon to imitate it, in order to prove the sincerity of their love
to Christ [Note:to Christ [Note:to Christ [Note:to Christ [Note: 2222 CorinthiansCorinthiansCorinthiansCorinthians 8:18:18:18:1----4444;;;; 2222 CorinthiansCorinthiansCorinthiansCorinthians 8:88:88:88:8----9999.]. By carefully comparing.]. By carefully comparing.]. By carefully comparing.]. By carefully comparing
these several passages, we see clearly what our duty is: we are not required tothese several passages, we see clearly what our duty is: we are not required tothese several passages, we see clearly what our duty is: we are not required tothese several passages, we see clearly what our duty is: we are not required to
burthen ourselves in order to ease others, but so to participate their burthens thatburthen ourselves in order to ease others, but so to participate their burthens thatburthen ourselves in order to ease others, but so to participate their burthens thatburthen ourselves in order to ease others, but so to participate their burthens that
they may partake of our ease [Note:they may partake of our ease [Note:they may partake of our ease [Note:they may partake of our ease [Note: 2222 CorinthiansCorinthiansCorinthiansCorinthians 8:138:138:138:13----14141414.]: thus to.]: thus to.]: thus to.]: thus to “bear onebear onebear onebear one
anotheranotheranotheranother’s burthens is eminently to fulfil the law of Christ [Note: Galatianss burthens is eminently to fulfil the law of Christ [Note: Galatianss burthens is eminently to fulfil the law of Christ [Note: Galatianss burthens is eminently to fulfil the law of Christ [Note: Galatians 6:26:26:26:2.]..]..]..].”[[[[
Having thus marked the import of the injunction in our text, we proceed to shew,
II. Its reasonableness—
The whole of God’ssss “law is good,law is good,law is good,law is good,” and the service it requires is reasonable. But theand the service it requires is reasonable. But theand the service it requires is reasonable. But theand the service it requires is reasonable. But the
duty enjoined in our text, though arduous to a selfish mind, is particularlyduty enjoined in our text, though arduous to a selfish mind, is particularlyduty enjoined in our text, though arduous to a selfish mind, is particularlyduty enjoined in our text, though arduous to a selfish mind, is particularly
reasonable. For consider,reasonable. For consider,reasonable. For consider,reasonable. For consider,
1. What obligations we owe to God for the superior
comforts which we enjoy—
[It is God who assigns to all their lot, not only in respect to the situation in which
they are born [Note: Acts 17:26; Acts 17:28.], but in all the changes, whether
prosperous or adverse, which they experience through life [Note: 1 Samuel
2:6-7.]. Whatever therefore we have above others, “it is God alone who has madeit is God alone who has madeit is God alone who has madeit is God alone who has made
us to differ [Note:us to differ [Note:us to differ [Note:us to differ [Note: 1111 CorinthiansCorinthiansCorinthiansCorinthians 4:74:74:74:7.]..]..]..].” And how eminently is this the case withAnd how eminently is this the case withAnd how eminently is this the case withAnd how eminently is this the case with
respect to the ravages of war which during these last twenty years have desolatedrespect to the ravages of war which during these last twenty years have desolatedrespect to the ravages of war which during these last twenty years have desolatedrespect to the ravages of war which during these last twenty years have desolated
almost the whole of Europe, but have never reached our happy land! Compare ouralmost the whole of Europe, but have never reached our happy land! Compare ouralmost the whole of Europe, but have never reached our happy land! Compare ouralmost the whole of Europe, but have never reached our happy land! Compare our
state with that of a great part of Germany at this present moment [Note: Thisstate with that of a great part of Germany at this present moment [Note: Thisstate with that of a great part of Germany at this present moment [Note: Thisstate with that of a great part of Germany at this present moment [Note: This
Sermon was preached inSermon was preached inSermon was preached inSermon was preached in 1814181418141814, on occasion of a collection for the relief of the most, on occasion of a collection for the relief of the most, on occasion of a collection for the relief of the most, on occasion of a collection for the relief of the most
grievous distresses in Germany.], and then say, whether a compassionate regard forgrievous distresses in Germany.], and then say, whether a compassionate regard forgrievous distresses in Germany.], and then say, whether a compassionate regard forgrievous distresses in Germany.], and then say, whether a compassionate regard for
our suffering fellowour suffering fellowour suffering fellowour suffering fellow----creatures be not called for at our hands, and whether such ancreatures be not called for at our hands, and whether such ancreatures be not called for at our hands, and whether such ancreatures be not called for at our hands, and whether such an
expression of it as our text requires, be at all unreasonable? Methinks, it is notexpression of it as our text requires, be at all unreasonable? Methinks, it is notexpression of it as our text requires, be at all unreasonable? Methinks, it is notexpression of it as our text requires, be at all unreasonable? Methinks, it is not
93

94. possible to have even the most indistinct view of our obligations to God, withoutpossible to have even the most indistinct view of our obligations to God, withoutpossible to have even the most indistinct view of our obligations to God, withoutpossible to have even the most indistinct view of our obligations to God, without
saying from our hearts,saying from our hearts,saying from our hearts,saying from our hearts, “What shall I render unto the Lord for all the benefits thatWhat shall I render unto the Lord for all the benefits thatWhat shall I render unto the Lord for all the benefits thatWhat shall I render unto the Lord for all the benefits that
he hath done unto me?he hath done unto me?he hath done unto me?he hath done unto me?”[[[[
2. What we ourselves should desire, if we were reduced
to the state in which myriads of our fellow-creatures now are—
[It is not easy to place ourselves in the situation of persons of whom we hear only
by report: but yet we may conceive what we ourselves should desire, and what
we should think reasonable, if we were perishing with cold and nakedness and
hunger, whilst others, embarked in the same cause with ourselves, were exempt
from those sufferings, and were enjoying comparative ease and affluence. Should
we not wish them to stand forth for our relief? Should we not think it reasonable,
that their exertions should rise in proportion to our necessities, and that they
should almost literally fulfil the precept in our text, the man who had two coats
imparting to us who had none, and that he who had meat should do likewise? Let
us adopt for our principle the golden rule, and “Do unto others, as we would theyDo unto others, as we would theyDo unto others, as we would theyDo unto others, as we would they
should do unto us.should do unto us.should do unto us.should do unto us.”[[[[
3. What our blessed Lord and Saviour has done for us—
[This is the consideration which St. Paul himself suggests in reference to this very
point [Note: 2 Corinthians 8:9.]. O consider, “how rich he washow rich he washow rich he washow rich he was” in the possessionin the possessionin the possessionin the possession
of his Fatherof his Fatherof his Fatherof his Father’s glory; and hows glory; and hows glory; and hows glory; and how “poor he became,poor he became,poor he became,poor he became,” “not having so much as a placenot having so much as a placenot having so much as a placenot having so much as a place
where to lay his head,where to lay his head,where to lay his head,where to lay his head,” but dying under the curse that was due to our sins. Considerbut dying under the curse that was due to our sins. Considerbut dying under the curse that was due to our sins. Considerbut dying under the curse that was due to our sins. Consider
too what his object was; namely, that we, who deserved to be in hell without a droptoo what his object was; namely, that we, who deserved to be in hell without a droptoo what his object was; namely, that we, who deserved to be in hell without a droptoo what his object was; namely, that we, who deserved to be in hell without a drop
of water to cool our tongues, might through his poverty be rich, and possess all theof water to cool our tongues, might through his poverty be rich, and possess all theof water to cool our tongues, might through his poverty be rich, and possess all theof water to cool our tongues, might through his poverty be rich, and possess all the
glory of heaven. Does such love as this require no return? When this very Saviourglory of heaven. Does such love as this require no return? When this very Saviourglory of heaven. Does such love as this require no return? When this very Saviourglory of heaven. Does such love as this require no return? When this very Saviour
tells us, that what we do unto the least of his brethren, he accepts as done totells us, that what we do unto the least of his brethren, he accepts as done totells us, that what we do unto the least of his brethren, he accepts as done totells us, that what we do unto the least of his brethren, he accepts as done to
himself, shall we think any requisition hard, or any sacrifice too great? Truly, nothimself, shall we think any requisition hard, or any sacrifice too great? Truly, nothimself, shall we think any requisition hard, or any sacrifice too great? Truly, nothimself, shall we think any requisition hard, or any sacrifice too great? Truly, not
only our property, but even our life itself, may well be sacrificed for him [Note:only our property, but even our life itself, may well be sacrificed for him [Note:only our property, but even our life itself, may well be sacrificed for him [Note:only our property, but even our life itself, may well be sacrificed for him [Note: 1111
JohnJohnJohnJohn 3:163:163:163:16. Acts. Acts. Acts. Acts 21:1321:1321:1321:13.]; and we should account ourselves happy in proportion as we.]; and we should account ourselves happy in proportion as we.]; and we should account ourselves happy in proportion as we.]; and we should account ourselves happy in proportion as we
have an opportunity to advance his glory in the world.]have an opportunity to advance his glory in the world.]have an opportunity to advance his glory in the world.]have an opportunity to advance his glory in the world.]
But instead of dwelling any longer on the general reasonableness of this precept,
we will proceed to notice,
III. Its suitableness to the present occasion—
[Rarely, if ever, has greater occasion for charitable exertions existed than at
present [Note: Here the particular occasion should be opened at considerable
94

95. length.] — — — Now therefore we might justly call upon you to comply with ourNow therefore we might justly call upon you to comply with ourNow therefore we might justly call upon you to comply with ourNow therefore we might justly call upon you to comply with our
text almost in the literal sense. But, waving that, we must urge you to adopt thetext almost in the literal sense. But, waving that, we must urge you to adopt thetext almost in the literal sense. But, waving that, we must urge you to adopt thetext almost in the literal sense. But, waving that, we must urge you to adopt the
principle that is there inculcatedprinciple that is there inculcatedprinciple that is there inculcatedprinciple that is there inculcated — — — and to bear in mind, thatand to bear in mind, thatand to bear in mind, thatand to bear in mind, that “he who sowethhe who sowethhe who sowethhe who soweth
sparingly, shall reap also sparingly, and he who soweth bountifully shall reap alsosparingly, shall reap also sparingly, and he who soweth bountifully shall reap alsosparingly, shall reap also sparingly, and he who soweth bountifully shall reap alsosparingly, shall reap also sparingly, and he who soweth bountifully shall reap also
bountifully. Let every man do according as he is disposed in his heart, notbountifully. Let every man do according as he is disposed in his heart, notbountifully. Let every man do according as he is disposed in his heart, notbountifully. Let every man do according as he is disposed in his heart, not
grudgingly or of necessity; for God loveth a cheerful giver [Note:grudgingly or of necessity; for God loveth a cheerful giver [Note:grudgingly or of necessity; for God loveth a cheerful giver [Note:grudgingly or of necessity; for God loveth a cheerful giver [Note: 2222 CorinthiansCorinthiansCorinthiansCorinthians
9:69:69:69:6----7777.]..]..]..].” Do not however forget the important distinctions with which we began theDo not however forget the important distinctions with which we began theDo not however forget the important distinctions with which we began theDo not however forget the important distinctions with which we began the
subject. It is to glorify Christ, and to shew the sincerity of your love to him, that wesubject. It is to glorify Christ, and to shew the sincerity of your love to him, that wesubject. It is to glorify Christ, and to shew the sincerity of your love to him, that wesubject. It is to glorify Christ, and to shew the sincerity of your love to him, that we
invite you;invite you;invite you;invite you;—not to purchase heaven by your alms. Bear that in mind; and God willnot to purchase heaven by your alms. Bear that in mind; and God willnot to purchase heaven by your alms. Bear that in mind; and God willnot to purchase heaven by your alms. Bear that in mind; and God will
not forget it in the day of judgment.]not forget it in the day of judgment.]not forget it in the day of judgment.]not forget it in the day of judgment.]
SIMEON, "PRACTICAL DUTIES ENFORCED
Luke 3:10-14. And the people asked him, saying, What shall we do then? 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. Then came also
publicans to be baptized, and said unto him, Master, what shall we do? And he
said unto them, Exact no more than that which is appointed you. 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.
WHATEVER want of human learning men may feel, they are, for the most part,
well satisfied with their attainments in religious knowledge. If they are conscious
of some faults, they do not suspect any want of just information, but only a defect
in practising what they already know. But when persons begin to see their guilt
and danger, they find that they need to be instructed in the very first principles
of religion; and they are glad to make inquiries, which formerly they would have
utterly disdained. This was the effect produced by the ministry of John the
Baptist. The Scribes and Pharisees, being filled with self-conceit, rejected his
word, and represented him as no better than a demoniac: but multitudes of
others came to him with great solicitude, not to obtain answers to any speculative
questions, but to ask, What they must do, to escape the wrath which he had so
forcibly set before them.
We shall find it profitable to consider,
I. His answers to their inquiries—
Those who successively applied to him, and to whom he gave his answers, were,Those who successively applied to him, and to whom he gave his answers, were,Those who successively applied to him, and to whom he gave his answers, were,Those who successively applied to him, and to whom he gave his answers, were,
1. The people—
[As these must of necessity comprehend a great variety of characters, the Baptist
95

96. gave his answer generally, so as to strike at the characteristic evil of our fallen
nature, selfishness. The natural man lives neither for God nor for his fellow-
creatures, but for himself alone. If he has great superfluities, he may without any
difficulty give something to the poor and indigent: but if he has little more than
bare necessaries, he feels little, if any, responsibility for the use of them, and is
chiefly occupied in making them subservient to his own comfort. From this
selfish disposition innumerable evils proceed: indeed, it lies at the root of almost
all evil. Hence the Baptist set himself in the first place to counteract it; and
recommend in its stead the universal exercise of liberality and compassion.
That the Baptist’s injunction should be taken according to the strict letter, we dos injunction should be taken according to the strict letter, we dos injunction should be taken according to the strict letter, we dos injunction should be taken according to the strict letter, we do
not say: but, to give it any sense at all, it must imply far more then is commonlynot say: but, to give it any sense at all, it must imply far more then is commonlynot say: but, to give it any sense at all, it must imply far more then is commonlynot say: but, to give it any sense at all, it must imply far more then is commonly
practised, or generally supposed to be our duty. The least it can mean is, that wepractised, or generally supposed to be our duty. The least it can mean is, that wepractised, or generally supposed to be our duty. The least it can mean is, that wepractised, or generally supposed to be our duty. The least it can mean is, that we
should consider ourselves as stewards of all that we possess, and dispose of itshould consider ourselves as stewards of all that we possess, and dispose of itshould consider ourselves as stewards of all that we possess, and dispose of itshould consider ourselves as stewards of all that we possess, and dispose of it
conscientiously for the honour of God and the benefit of our fellowconscientiously for the honour of God and the benefit of our fellowconscientiously for the honour of God and the benefit of our fellowconscientiously for the honour of God and the benefit of our fellow----creatures.]creatures.]creatures.]creatures.]
2. The Publicans—
[The publicans were persons appointed under the authority of the Roman
government to collect the taxes; and so odious was the office among the Jews,
that few who had any regard for their own characters, would undertake it.
Hence it was executed very generally in an unjust and oppressive manner;
insomuch that the office, which was at first hated only on account of its evincing
the subjection of the Jews to a foreign yoke, became proverbially infamous on
account of the conduct of those on whom it was conferred.
Among the candidates for baptism were some of these: and they likewise
inquired, what they should do. Now it is worthy of observation, that John did not
recommend them to give up their office, notwithstanding the difficulties and
temptations that attended the execution of it; but only to guard against the evils
that were commonly practised in the discharge of it. The greater the temptations
to which they were exposed, the more desirable it was that the office should be
filled by persons who were truly conscientious; and the more honour such
persons would do to religion, by maintaining an unblemished character in such a
post. His advice therefore to them was, to exact nothing beyond what they were
authorized to demand, but to regulate their whole conduct agreeably to the laws
of justice and equity.
This injunction however need not to be confined to them: it is equally applicable
to all persons possessed of official authority, and indeed to all persons, whose
interest might lead them in a way of trade or business to impose on others for
their own advantage [Note: The duties of Custom-house officers might here be
profitably insisted on, especially in places where several might be supposed to be
present. But when pastoral fidelity leads us to make observations which may be
considered as personal, we whould be careful to make them the utmost delicacy
and tenderness.].]
96

97. 3. The soldiers—
[The grace of God, which nothing can withstand, had reached the hearts of some
of these: and they too made similar inquiries. To them also did the Baptist make
a similar reply. Unfavourable as the life of a soldier is to the cultivation of piety,
he did not tell them to get their discharge, but cautioned them against the evils
incident to their profession. From their very education and mode of life, they are
apt to disregard the feelings of men, and to injure or insult those who do not
immediately comply with their wishes. In that age and country, it was also
common for them to turn informers, that by false accusation they might share
the fines that might be levied, or obtain bribes for exercising a pretended
forbearance. Discontent and mutiny too were evils to which they were in general
prone.
Against all of these practices the Baptist warned them. He testified that all such
things were evil, and that every person must abstain from them, if he would
avoid the wrath which hangs over the head of every impenitent transgressor.
But neither should these cautions be limited to those who made the inquiry, nor
to persons engaged in the military life: for the duties of peacefulness, equity, and
contentment are applicable to every situation, and every age — — —[[[[
That these answers may appear in their proper light, we shall proceed to shew,
II. The suitableness of them to the occasion—
Certainly at first sight they appear defective, not to say, erroneous: for it never
can be admitted for one moment that the correcting of those habits would
procure everlasting salvation: such a reformation could make no atonement for
their past sins, nor could it in any way supersede the necessity of believing in
Christ. To understand the matter aright, we must consider what the import of
their inquiries was, and what was the Baptist’s more immediate office. John hads more immediate office. John hads more immediate office. John hads more immediate office. John had
told them all totold them all totold them all totold them all to “bring forth, (the word means, do,) to do fruits meet forbring forth, (the word means, do,) to do fruits meet forbring forth, (the word means, do,) to do fruits meet forbring forth, (the word means, do,) to do fruits meet for
repentance.repentance.repentance.repentance.” They immediately inquire, each for himself, what are the particularThey immediately inquire, each for himself, what are the particularThey immediately inquire, each for himself, what are the particularThey immediately inquire, each for himself, what are the particular
things which they must do [Note:things which they must do [Note:things which they must do [Note:things which they must do [Note: ‫נןי‬‫ףבפוךבסנן‬ὺ‫—ע‬ ‫פ‬ ‫נןי‬‫;].ףבלום‬ that is, what
they must do to evince the sincerity of their repentance? This is the question to
which all his answers were directed. If it be thought that he should have begun to
“preach Christ unto them,” I answer, This was not his office, at least, not in theI answer, This was not his office, at least, not in theI answer, This was not his office, at least, not in theI answer, This was not his office, at least, not in the
plain specific way in which the Apostles preached Christ on the day of Pentecost: heplain specific way in which the Apostles preached Christ on the day of Pentecost: heplain specific way in which the Apostles preached Christ on the day of Pentecost: heplain specific way in which the Apostles preached Christ on the day of Pentecost: he
was ratherwas ratherwas ratherwas rather “to prepare the way of the Lord;to prepare the way of the Lord;to prepare the way of the Lord;to prepare the way of the Lord;” and therefore heand therefore heand therefore heand therefore he “preached only thepreached only thepreached only thepreached only the
baptism of repentance [Note: Lukebaptism of repentance [Note: Lukebaptism of repentance [Note: Lukebaptism of repentance [Note: Luke 3:33:33:33:3----4444.]..]..]..].” Bearing these things in mind, hisBearing these things in mind, hisBearing these things in mind, hisBearing these things in mind, his
answer will be found precisely suited to the occasion. They were calculated toanswer will be found precisely suited to the occasion. They were calculated toanswer will be found precisely suited to the occasion. They were calculated toanswer will be found precisely suited to the occasion. They were calculated to
impress upon their minds the following truths:impress upon their minds the following truths:impress upon their minds the following truths:impress upon their minds the following truths:
97

98. 1. Evil habits are an obstacle to the reception of the
Gospel—
[Who does not see that the indulgence of their respective sins was calculated to[Who does not see that the indulgence of their respective sins was calculated to[Who does not see that the indulgence of their respective sins was calculated to[Who does not see that the indulgence of their respective sins was calculated to
blind their eyes and harden their hearts? Are persons, at the very time that they areblind their eyes and harden their hearts? Are persons, at the very time that they areblind their eyes and harden their hearts? Are persons, at the very time that they areblind their eyes and harden their hearts? Are persons, at the very time that they are
addicted to the grossest immoralities, in a state fit to receive instructions in theaddicted to the grossest immoralities, in a state fit to receive instructions in theaddicted to the grossest immoralities, in a state fit to receive instructions in theaddicted to the grossest immoralities, in a state fit to receive instructions in the
sublime doctrines of the Gospel? Must not every word of it appearsublime doctrines of the Gospel? Must not every word of it appearsublime doctrines of the Gospel? Must not every word of it appearsublime doctrines of the Gospel? Must not every word of it appear “foolishnessfoolishnessfoolishnessfoolishness
unto them?unto them?unto them?unto them?” What was the effect produced on the worldlyWhat was the effect produced on the worldlyWhat was the effect produced on the worldlyWhat was the effect produced on the worldly----minded Pharisees, whenminded Pharisees, whenminded Pharisees, whenminded Pharisees, when
our Lord spoke ofour Lord spoke ofour Lord spoke ofour Lord spoke of “making to ourselves friends of the unrighteous mammon?making to ourselves friends of the unrighteous mammon?making to ourselves friends of the unrighteous mammon?making to ourselves friends of the unrighteous mammon?” WeWeWeWe
are told,are told,are told,are told, “the Pharisees, who were covetous, heard all these things; and theythe Pharisees, who were covetous, heard all these things; and theythe Pharisees, who were covetous, heard all these things; and theythe Pharisees, who were covetous, heard all these things; and they
derided him [Note: Lukederided him [Note: Lukederided him [Note: Lukederided him [Note: Luke 16:1416:1416:1416:14.]..]..]..].” And does not daily experience shew, that thereAnd does not daily experience shew, that thereAnd does not daily experience shew, that thereAnd does not daily experience shew, that there
must be a certain preparation of mind for the due reception of truth? If you cast themust be a certain preparation of mind for the due reception of truth? If you cast themust be a certain preparation of mind for the due reception of truth? If you cast themust be a certain preparation of mind for the due reception of truth? If you cast the
best seed that can be procured into land not broken up, but overgrown with briersbest seed that can be procured into land not broken up, but overgrown with briersbest seed that can be procured into land not broken up, but overgrown with briersbest seed that can be procured into land not broken up, but overgrown with briers
and thorns, will you expect a harvest? So, if persons be not sufficiently convinced ofand thorns, will you expect a harvest? So, if persons be not sufficiently convinced ofand thorns, will you expect a harvest? So, if persons be not sufficiently convinced ofand thorns, will you expect a harvest? So, if persons be not sufficiently convinced of
the evil of their ways as to be willing to reform them in matters which unenlightenedthe evil of their ways as to be willing to reform them in matters which unenlightenedthe evil of their ways as to be willing to reform them in matters which unenlightenedthe evil of their ways as to be willing to reform them in matters which unenlightened
reason would condemn, there can be no hope that they will improve aright thereason would condemn, there can be no hope that they will improve aright thereason would condemn, there can be no hope that they will improve aright thereason would condemn, there can be no hope that they will improve aright the
sublimer truths of revelation.sublimer truths of revelation.sublimer truths of revelation.sublimer truths of revelation.
The Baptist’s answer then was precisely what you would give to a man who bys answer then was precisely what you would give to a man who bys answer then was precisely what you would give to a man who bys answer then was precisely what you would give to a man who by
continued drunkenness had brought on a fever:continued drunkenness had brought on a fever:continued drunkenness had brought on a fever:continued drunkenness had brought on a fever: ‘I can recommend you to aI can recommend you to aI can recommend you to aI can recommend you to a
physician, whose prescriptions will infallibly cure you; but it is in vain to go to him,physician, whose prescriptions will infallibly cure you; but it is in vain to go to him,physician, whose prescriptions will infallibly cure you; but it is in vain to go to him,physician, whose prescriptions will infallibly cure you; but it is in vain to go to him,
if you do not determine to put away your habits of intoxication.if you do not determine to put away your habits of intoxication.if you do not determine to put away your habits of intoxication.if you do not determine to put away your habits of intoxication.’[[[[
2. The putting away of besetting sins is an indispensable
evidence of our sincerity—
[The people professed to be penitent, and asked what they must do to prove it.
Now can any one imagine that they could be sincere, if they were not willing to
change their lives? What is repentance? It is not a mere sorrow for having
subjected ourselves to God’s displeasure; for then the devils, and those who haves displeasure; for then the devils, and those who haves displeasure; for then the devils, and those who haves displeasure; for then the devils, and those who have
died in their sins, would be as great penitents as any: but repentance implies adied in their sins, would be as great penitents as any: but repentance implies adied in their sins, would be as great penitents as any: but repentance implies adied in their sins, would be as great penitents as any: but repentance implies a
hatred of sin, and a determination to forsake it: and consequently, the Baptisthatred of sin, and a determination to forsake it: and consequently, the Baptisthatred of sin, and a determination to forsake it: and consequently, the Baptisthatred of sin, and a determination to forsake it: and consequently, the Baptist’ssss
injunctions afforded the people a proper test, whereby to ascertain the truth ofinjunctions afforded the people a proper test, whereby to ascertain the truth ofinjunctions afforded the people a proper test, whereby to ascertain the truth ofinjunctions afforded the people a proper test, whereby to ascertain the truth of
their professions. If we at this day heard any one expressing a desire after salvation,their professions. If we at this day heard any one expressing a desire after salvation,their professions. If we at this day heard any one expressing a desire after salvation,their professions. If we at this day heard any one expressing a desire after salvation,
and were informed that, notwithstanding the plainest warnings, he still held fast hisand were informed that, notwithstanding the plainest warnings, he still held fast hisand were informed that, notwithstanding the plainest warnings, he still held fast hisand were informed that, notwithstanding the plainest warnings, he still held fast his
iniquities, and would not part with them; should we give him credit for sincerity?iniquities, and would not part with them; should we give him credit for sincerity?iniquities, and would not part with them; should we give him credit for sincerity?iniquities, and would not part with them; should we give him credit for sincerity?
98

99. No: we should tell him at once, that all his professions were mere hypocrisy, andNo: we should tell him at once, that all his professions were mere hypocrisy, andNo: we should tell him at once, that all his professions were mere hypocrisy, andNo: we should tell him at once, that all his professions were mere hypocrisy, and
that whatever he might pretend respecting a dependence on Christ, he would onlythat whatever he might pretend respecting a dependence on Christ, he would onlythat whatever he might pretend respecting a dependence on Christ, he would onlythat whatever he might pretend respecting a dependence on Christ, he would only
deceive his own soul.]deceive his own soul.]deceive his own soul.]deceive his own soul.]
3. The following of the light we have, is a good
preparative for more light—
[A man brought out of a dungeon cannot bear at once the full blaze of the
meridian sun; he must be brought to it by degrees: so neither can we hear at
once the bright effulgence of Divine truth. Our blessed Lord told his Disciples,
that “he had many things to say unto them, which they were not at that time able tohe had many things to say unto them, which they were not at that time able tohe had many things to say unto them, which they were not at that time able tohe had many things to say unto them, which they were not at that time able to
bear:bear:bear:bear:” andandandand “he spoke the word in parables, as the people were able to hear it.he spoke the word in parables, as the people were able to hear it.he spoke the word in parables, as the people were able to hear it.he spoke the word in parables, as the people were able to hear it.” St.St.St.St.
Paul adopted the same method of apportioning to his people his instructionsPaul adopted the same method of apportioning to his people his instructionsPaul adopted the same method of apportioning to his people his instructionsPaul adopted the same method of apportioning to his people his instructions
according to their respective capacities;according to their respective capacities;according to their respective capacities;according to their respective capacities; “giving milk to babes, and strong meat togiving milk to babes, and strong meat togiving milk to babes, and strong meat togiving milk to babes, and strong meat to
those who were of full age.those who were of full age.those who were of full age.those who were of full age.” Had he not attended to this rule, he would haveHad he not attended to this rule, he would haveHad he not attended to this rule, he would haveHad he not attended to this rule, he would have
produced the same effects as would follow from a wrong administration ofproduced the same effects as would follow from a wrong administration ofproduced the same effects as would follow from a wrong administration ofproduced the same effects as would follow from a wrong administration of
corporeal food; he would have destroyed those whom he designed to nourish:corporeal food; he would have destroyed those whom he designed to nourish:corporeal food; he would have destroyed those whom he designed to nourish:corporeal food; he would have destroyed those whom he designed to nourish:
whereas by a more judicious conduct, he trained up the children for stronger foodwhereas by a more judicious conduct, he trained up the children for stronger foodwhereas by a more judicious conduct, he trained up the children for stronger foodwhereas by a more judicious conduct, he trained up the children for stronger food
and higher attainments. Thus the Baptist directed his hearers to cultivate theand higher attainments. Thus the Baptist directed his hearers to cultivate theand higher attainments. Thus the Baptist directed his hearers to cultivate theand higher attainments. Thus the Baptist directed his hearers to cultivate the
acknowledged duties of humanity, honesty, and contentment: that in the exercise ofacknowledged duties of humanity, honesty, and contentment: that in the exercise ofacknowledged duties of humanity, honesty, and contentment: that in the exercise ofacknowledged duties of humanity, honesty, and contentment: that in the exercise of
these duties, they might gain a deeper insight into the evil of their past ways, and athese duties, they might gain a deeper insight into the evil of their past ways, and athese duties, they might gain a deeper insight into the evil of their past ways, and athese duties, they might gain a deeper insight into the evil of their past ways, and a
fuller preparation of heart for a due reception of the Gospel.]fuller preparation of heart for a due reception of the Gospel.]fuller preparation of heart for a due reception of the Gospel.]fuller preparation of heart for a due reception of the Gospel.]
Let us learn then from hence,
1. The importance of ministerial fidelity—
[People in general love to have a minister who will “prophesy unto them smoothprophesy unto them smoothprophesy unto them smoothprophesy unto them smooth
things and prophesy deceits.things and prophesy deceits.things and prophesy deceits.things and prophesy deceits.” But what will be the end of such things?But what will be the end of such things?But what will be the end of such things?But what will be the end of such things? “If the blindIf the blindIf the blindIf the blind
lead the blind, shall they not both fall into the ditch?lead the blind, shall they not both fall into the ditch?lead the blind, shall they not both fall into the ditch?lead the blind, shall they not both fall into the ditch?” It may be painful to us toIt may be painful to us toIt may be painful to us toIt may be painful to us to
hear the truth, when we are called tohear the truth, when we are called tohear the truth, when we are called tohear the truth, when we are called to “pluck out a right eye, and to cut off a rightpluck out a right eye, and to cut off a rightpluck out a right eye, and to cut off a rightpluck out a right eye, and to cut off a right
hand:hand:hand:hand:” but it is better far that we should be informed of our danger, than that webut it is better far that we should be informed of our danger, than that webut it is better far that we should be informed of our danger, than that webut it is better far that we should be informed of our danger, than that we
should be left to involve ourselves in irremediable ruin We are told that many of theshould be left to involve ourselves in irremediable ruin We are told that many of theshould be left to involve ourselves in irremediable ruin We are told that many of theshould be left to involve ourselves in irremediable ruin We are told that many of the
publicans and harlots actually repented, and became partakers of the kingdom ofpublicans and harlots actually repented, and became partakers of the kingdom ofpublicans and harlots actually repented, and became partakers of the kingdom ofpublicans and harlots actually repented, and became partakers of the kingdom of
heaven. Did not they bless him? And will they not continue to bless God for him toheaven. Did not they bless him? And will they not continue to bless God for him toheaven. Did not they bless him? And will they not continue to bless God for him toheaven. Did not they bless him? And will they not continue to bless God for him to
all eternity? Do not then be grieved, if your minister lay his axe to the root of yourall eternity? Do not then be grieved, if your minister lay his axe to the root of yourall eternity? Do not then be grieved, if your minister lay his axe to the root of yourall eternity? Do not then be grieved, if your minister lay his axe to the root of your
sins, if hesins, if hesins, if hesins, if he “cry aloud, and spare not.cry aloud, and spare not.cry aloud, and spare not.cry aloud, and spare not.” It is his duty to do so; and if he forbear toIt is his duty to do so; and if he forbear toIt is his duty to do so; and if he forbear toIt is his duty to do so; and if he forbear to
99

100. warn you,warn you,warn you,warn you, “your blood will be required at his hands.your blood will be required at his hands.your blood will be required at his hands.your blood will be required at his hands.” He mustHe mustHe mustHe must “not use flatteringnot use flatteringnot use flatteringnot use flattering
words;words;words;words;” but mustbut mustbut mustbut must “commend himself to every mancommend himself to every mancommend himself to every mancommend himself to every man’s conscience in the sight ofs conscience in the sight ofs conscience in the sight ofs conscience in the sight of
God.God.God.God.” It is in that way only that he canIt is in that way only that he canIt is in that way only that he canIt is in that way only that he can “deliver his own soul,deliver his own soul,deliver his own soul,deliver his own soul,” or hope to save theor hope to save theor hope to save theor hope to save the
people committed to his charge.]people committed to his charge.]people committed to his charge.]people committed to his charge.]
2. The need of mortifying our besetting sins—
[Every man has some sins to which he is more particularly addicted, or, at least,
to which he is more exposed. His age, his situation, his employment in life, have
some peculiar snares, against which he ought to guard. Every one therefore
should inquire, what are the dangers to which he is more especially exposed.
Persons advanced in life should examine themselves respecting querulousness:
men of business should maintain a jealousy respecting worldliness and the
frauds of trade: young people should watch over the vanity of their minds, and
the violence of their passions. In short, the inquiry of every one should be, what
have I to guard against? What have I to do? What are the chief obstacles to my
advancement in religious knowledge, and to my attainment of everlasting
happiness? Happy indeed would it be, if we were thus intent, every one on his
own particular case! and happy would it be, if, having found out our besetting
sins, we could say with the Psalmist, “I have kept myself from my iniquity!I have kept myself from my iniquity!I have kept myself from my iniquity!I have kept myself from my iniquity!”
Doubtless there is much beyond this: this is only the threshold of the sanctuary: butDoubtless there is much beyond this: this is only the threshold of the sanctuary: butDoubtless there is much beyond this: this is only the threshold of the sanctuary: butDoubtless there is much beyond this: this is only the threshold of the sanctuary: but
it is a threshold which we must pass over, before we can get within the veil. It is notit is a threshold which we must pass over, before we can get within the veil. It is notit is a threshold which we must pass over, before we can get within the veil. It is notit is a threshold which we must pass over, before we can get within the veil. It is not
our concern at present to expatiate upon the Divine life, as it is experienced by theour concern at present to expatiate upon the Divine life, as it is experienced by theour concern at present to expatiate upon the Divine life, as it is experienced by theour concern at present to expatiate upon the Divine life, as it is experienced by the
advanced Christian: we are now only preaching, like John, the baptism ofadvanced Christian: we are now only preaching, like John, the baptism ofadvanced Christian: we are now only preaching, like John, the baptism ofadvanced Christian: we are now only preaching, like John, the baptism of
repentance; reserving to other occasions the fuller delineation of the Gospelrepentance; reserving to other occasions the fuller delineation of the Gospelrepentance; reserving to other occasions the fuller delineation of the Gospelrepentance; reserving to other occasions the fuller delineation of the Gospel
salvation. But we shall have attained no trifling object, if the drunkard, the swearer,salvation. But we shall have attained no trifling object, if the drunkard, the swearer,salvation. But we shall have attained no trifling object, if the drunkard, the swearer,salvation. But we shall have attained no trifling object, if the drunkard, the swearer,
the whoremonger, or any other person, be led to see, that, till he has put away histhe whoremonger, or any other person, be led to see, that, till he has put away histhe whoremonger, or any other person, be led to see, that, till he has put away histhe whoremonger, or any other person, be led to see, that, till he has put away his
besetting sins, he can no more go to heaven, than Satan himself be brought therebesetting sins, he can no more go to heaven, than Satan himself be brought therebesetting sins, he can no more go to heaven, than Satan himself be brought therebesetting sins, he can no more go to heaven, than Satan himself be brought there
from the depths of hell.]from the depths of hell.]from the depths of hell.]from the depths of hell.]
3. The moral tendency of the Gospel—
[The things insisted on by John, are mere preliminaries: instead of being the
whole Gospel, they are only an introduction to the Gospel. The Gospel itself is
not satisfied with a renunciation of evil habits; it requires also the cultivation of
good ones: not to put away selfishness, dishonesty, and discontent, but to live
altogether above this world, and to be ready even to “lay down our lives for thelay down our lives for thelay down our lives for thelay down our lives for the
brethren.brethren.brethren.brethren.” It does not call us to believe in Christ, in order that we may afterwardsIt does not call us to believe in Christ, in order that we may afterwardsIt does not call us to believe in Christ, in order that we may afterwardsIt does not call us to believe in Christ, in order that we may afterwards
indulge in sin; but that our hearts may be purified by faith, and that we may beindulge in sin; but that our hearts may be purified by faith, and that we may beindulge in sin; but that our hearts may be purified by faith, and that we may beindulge in sin; but that our hearts may be purified by faith, and that we may be
transformed into the very image of our God.transformed into the very image of our God.transformed into the very image of our God.transformed into the very image of our God.
100

101. See then who are the true Antinomians: not they who urge you to come to Christ
for life and salvation, but they who tell you that to be honest and just, and sober
and charitable, is all that is required of you. With such persons it is common to
quote those words of Balaam, “Do justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with thyDo justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with thyDo justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with thyDo justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with thy
God.God.God.God.” But they quite forget the walking humbly with God; and then confine theBut they quite forget the walking humbly with God; and then confine theBut they quite forget the walking humbly with God; and then confine theBut they quite forget the walking humbly with God; and then confine the
doing justice and loving mercy to a few outward acts. Give the full scope to thesedoing justice and loving mercy to a few outward acts. Give the full scope to thesedoing justice and loving mercy to a few outward acts. Give the full scope to thesedoing justice and loving mercy to a few outward acts. Give the full scope to these
words, and they do contain the whole of our duty: but we must omit no part ofwords, and they do contain the whole of our duty: but we must omit no part ofwords, and they do contain the whole of our duty: but we must omit no part ofwords, and they do contain the whole of our duty: but we must omit no part of
them: nor must we reduce any part to the puny standard of Pharisaic morality. Lookthem: nor must we reduce any part to the puny standard of Pharisaic morality. Lookthem: nor must we reduce any part to the puny standard of Pharisaic morality. Lookthem: nor must we reduce any part to the puny standard of Pharisaic morality. Look
at Christ and his Apostles, and there we see the morality which we are to aspireat Christ and his Apostles, and there we see the morality which we are to aspireat Christ and his Apostles, and there we see the morality which we are to aspireat Christ and his Apostles, and there we see the morality which we are to aspire
after. Those who are inquiring after Christ, do well to ask, What shall I do? butafter. Those who are inquiring after Christ, do well to ask, What shall I do? butafter. Those who are inquiring after Christ, do well to ask, What shall I do? butafter. Those who are inquiring after Christ, do well to ask, What shall I do? but
those who profess to have believed in Christ, must rather ask,those who profess to have believed in Christ, must rather ask,those who profess to have believed in Christ, must rather ask,those who profess to have believed in Christ, must rather ask, “What do I moreWhat do I moreWhat do I moreWhat do I more
than others [Note: Matthewthan others [Note: Matthewthan others [Note: Matthewthan others [Note: Matthew 5:475:475:475:47.]?].]?].]?].]?]
NISBET, "NISBET, "NISBET, "NISBET, "‘WHAT SHALL WE DO?WHAT SHALL WE DO?WHAT SHALL WE DO?WHAT SHALL WE DO?’
‘And the people asked Him, saying, What shall we do then?And the people asked Him, saying, What shall we do then?And the people asked Him, saying, What shall we do then?And the people asked Him, saying, What shall we do then?’
LukeLukeLukeLuke 3:103:103:103:10
The final stage of religion is duty. Everything else, however comforting, however
holy, however true, is only its cradle. It is doing what is right towards God, or
what is right towards man, for God’s sake. Never think of duty as a cold word. It iss sake. Never think of duty as a cold word. It iss sake. Never think of duty as a cold word. It iss sake. Never think of duty as a cold word. It is
something better than love, for it is love in action. Let us think of the replies of thesomething better than love, for it is love in action. Let us think of the replies of thesomething better than love, for it is love in action. Let us think of the replies of thesomething better than love, for it is love in action. Let us think of the replies of the
Baptist to those who asked him of their duty.Baptist to those who asked him of their duty.Baptist to those who asked him of their duty.Baptist to those who asked him of their duty.
I. Do justly.—To the publicans he said,To the publicans he said,To the publicans he said,To the publicans he said, ‘Exact no more than that which isExact no more than that which isExact no more than that which isExact no more than that which is
appointed you.appointed you.appointed you.appointed you.’ The publicans, or taxThe publicans, or taxThe publicans, or taxThe publicans, or tax----gatherers, were men of business; they maygatherers, were men of business; they maygatherers, were men of business; they maygatherers, were men of business; they may
fairly be taken as representing trade, and the duty inculcated upon trade wasfairly be taken as representing trade, and the duty inculcated upon trade wasfairly be taken as representing trade, and the duty inculcated upon trade wasfairly be taken as representing trade, and the duty inculcated upon trade was
accurate justice. We all have our commercial transactionsaccurate justice. We all have our commercial transactionsaccurate justice. We all have our commercial transactionsaccurate justice. We all have our commercial transactions—some more, somesome more, somesome more, somesome more, some
lesslesslessless—but every one, almost every day, does business.but every one, almost every day, does business.but every one, almost every day, does business.but every one, almost every day, does business.
II. Be gentle.—To the soldiers he said,To the soldiers he said,To the soldiers he said,To the soldiers he said, ‘Do violence to no man, neither accuse anyDo violence to no man, neither accuse anyDo violence to no man, neither accuse anyDo violence to no man, neither accuse any
falsely; and be content with your wages.falsely; and be content with your wages.falsely; and be content with your wages.falsely; and be content with your wages.’ Gentleness, truth, moderationGentleness, truth, moderationGentleness, truth, moderationGentleness, truth, moderation—the menthe menthe menthe men
of force, the men of powerof force, the men of powerof force, the men of powerof force, the men of power—the injunction running just in the line of dangerthe injunction running just in the line of dangerthe injunction running just in the line of dangerthe injunction running just in the line of danger—thethethethe
duty curbing and neutralising and sanctifying the besetting sin; for duty is almostduty curbing and neutralising and sanctifying the besetting sin; for duty is almostduty curbing and neutralising and sanctifying the besetting sin; for duty is almostduty curbing and neutralising and sanctifying the besetting sin; for duty is almost
always throwing into a good direction a part of the character which otherwise wouldalways throwing into a good direction a part of the character which otherwise wouldalways throwing into a good direction a part of the character which otherwise wouldalways throwing into a good direction a part of the character which otherwise would
have gone into a bad one.have gone into a bad one.have gone into a bad one.have gone into a bad one.
101

102. III. Be loving.—To the people he said,To the people he said,To the people he said,To the people he said, ‘He that hath two coats, let him impart toHe that hath two coats, let him impart toHe that hath two coats, let him impart toHe that hath two coats, let him impart to
him that hath none, and he that hath meat, let him do likewise.him that hath none, and he that hath meat, let him do likewise.him that hath none, and he that hath meat, let him do likewise.him that hath none, and he that hath meat, let him do likewise.’ Love; love inLove; love inLove; love inLove; love in
familiar exercise, love in common places, love in sympathy, love in giving. It is dutyfamiliar exercise, love in common places, love in sympathy, love in giving. It is dutyfamiliar exercise, love in common places, love in sympathy, love in giving. It is dutyfamiliar exercise, love in common places, love in sympathy, love in giving. It is duty
to take take care that your neighbourto take take care that your neighbourto take take care that your neighbourto take take care that your neighbour’s want never rises up in judgment against yours want never rises up in judgment against yours want never rises up in judgment against yours want never rises up in judgment against your
superabundance. It is duty to endeavour never to let a day pass without your takingsuperabundance. It is duty to endeavour never to let a day pass without your takingsuperabundance. It is duty to endeavour never to let a day pass without your takingsuperabundance. It is duty to endeavour never to let a day pass without your taking
awayawayawayaway—if it be only a grainif it be only a grainif it be only a grainif it be only a grain—from the heap of suffering, and addingfrom the heap of suffering, and addingfrom the heap of suffering, and addingfrom the heap of suffering, and adding—if it be only aif it be only aif it be only aif it be only a
graingraingraingrain—to the heap of happiness which there is in this world.to the heap of happiness which there is in this world.to the heap of happiness which there is in this world.to the heap of happiness which there is in this world.
BIBIBIBI 10101010----14141414,,,, ““““What shall we do then?
Common sense applied to everyday duties
I. JOHN DISCRIMINATES BETWEEN THE EASE-HARDENED, SELFISH, AND
SCARCELY REACHABLE PHARISEES AND HIGH-PLACED REPRESENTATIVES
OF OFFICIAL JUDAISM, AND “THE MULTITUDES” (Mat_3:7).
II. HE RISES ABOVE THE PREJUDICES AND ANTIPATHIES OF THE PUBLIC
OPINION OF HIS COUNTRYMEN IN A REMARKABLE WAY. Publicans. Soldiers.
III. HE IS EMINENTLY REASONABLE IN HIS REQUIREMENTS. Whilst he
counsels the owner of “two coats” to show the reality of his avowed “change of
character” and new-born life, of which repentance is the sign, he still leaves him
“one”; and the man having food he would not have starve whilst he relieves, or that
he may relieve the starving, but share only. There was no communism, no sinking of
the individual in the mass, or rights of property in the properties of right. Simply a
proof of unselfishness, of caring for others, is set before the first inquirers. He puts
his finger unerringly on the besetting sin. When I was in Palestine and Syria, and
Asia Minor, and the dominions of Turkey generally, I felt that if to-day a John the
Baptist were to have the old question asked him by the pashas and other tax-farmers,
his answer would go to the root of the evils that are bleeding to death the entire
dominions of the sultan. One gets a glimpse herein of how far-reaching really, though
local and personal seemingly, was the Baptist’s answer and counsel, “Extort no
more,” etc. I can well conceive that some of those who had asked, “What shall we
do?” must have winced under the plain-spoken answer. The answer must have darted
like a lightning bolt across the inquirers’ lives, at once illumining specific acts, and by
the immediate encompassing darkness and silence, as John passed to his next group
of inquirers, shutting them up to self-examination and self-abasement. The same
observation applies to the counsel addressed to the soldiers. They, too, had a
“besetting sin.” The teacher warns them that he knows all about them, and their
violent, outrageous, evil ways, when set free from discipline, and on semi-marauding
expeditions. And so he sends home to their consciences the brave and needed
counsel, “Do violence,” dec. The last thing demanded all John’s high-hearted courage
and fidelity to the truth, to put it so unqualifiedly. Here again, in all probability, if not
certainty, he spoke to men’s “businesses and bosoms.” There were secret or more
audible complaints, murmurs, accusations. John has heard these, has inquired into
them, has come to a conclusion on the matter: and so they get it articulately, and
without touch of currying favour: “Your wages are sufficient—you are well paid for all
that you do—be content.” Your mere enthusiast, your mystic, your man preoccupied
about his functions and dignities, never would have been thus solid-sensed, thus
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103. practical, thus reasonable.
IV. HE IS CONVINCING IN HIS COUNSELS. AS with our Lord (generally) “the
people,” and “the publicans,” and “the soldiers,” gave assent and consent by silence.
To us, on the first blush of it, John’s advice has the look of a come-down from the
molten warnings and accusations that immediately preceded, and out of which the
inquiries were born. But their silence showed that to them the counsels were
adequate, not trivial; wen to the root of their necessities. They recognized—and we
shall do well to follow in their steps—that Christian life is not made up of so-called
great things, or evidenced by ecstasies, and high and higher emotion, but is
constituted of habitual putting into our “walk and conversation,” in DEEDS which we
profess to know and believe. The most evangelical preacher and teacher may
fearlessly answer, as John the Baptist did, every-day and ordinary inquirers, with no
fear of not thereby “preaching” or “teaching” the gospel. For it was of these very
exhortations that it is written, “With many other exhortations, therefore, preached he
good tidings unto the people.” These answers enshrine living principles for all time.
To-day, with so much giving out of what we can spare and never feel it, when the very
thing is to feel it, we need to be recalled to the first answer, to the gospel fact that our
generosity must be after this type, of taking the coat off our back (if need be) to let
our brother-man have “one,” as we still have; and that we are to feed others, not with
food different from our own, by paltry gradation of inferior, inferiorer, inferiorest,
and a mocking thought, “It’s quite good enough for the like of them,” but with our
very own food. It would again overturn tables, ay, in God’s own house, and all
through the commercial world and the learned professions, if John’s second answer
were but vitalized by present-day acceptance and influence, “Extort no more,” &c. In
different ways and degrees extortion—taking advantage of opportunity and
circumstance—is a still wide-reaching sin. You that call yourselves Christians, and
haste to be rich, beware! Then, in conclusion, how burning and high-hearted was the
third answer—to the soldiers. As Dr. Reynolds put it: “There is room to suppose that
the answer previously given to the publicans might be regarded by the soldiers as
some kind of justification for their own high-handed acts. John tore off the cloak
which their professional position was drawing over their selfishness, and he bade
them terrorize no one, and bring no vamped-up worthless accusation. The
professional soldier of modern times might be offended by such plain speaking.
Armed authority is always open to the temptation of working on the emotion of
physical fear.” (Dr. A. B. Grosart.)
The questions of conscience and the answers of truth
The voice crying in the wilderness had awakened an answering echo in the breasts of
the multitudes. The axe which God was already laying at the root of the tree was the
Roman Conqueror of the land, and the tree fell when, with great slaughter, Jerusalem
was taken, and of her goodly temple not one stone was left upon another. Well might
the people tremble as their consciences, quickened from their long lethargy by the
stern and powerful preaching of this Elijah of later days, awoke to the sense of their
moral and spiritual degradation. For the moment, as often before in their history,
this greatly-sinning, though highly-favoured people seemed ready to repent. They
listened to John’s burning words, and cried out to him, “What shall we do then?” It
was the right question to ask, if only they had been possessed of the abiding spiritual
conviction and the strength of purpose which would have enabled them to turn
John’s answers to good account. It was the question of Saul of Tarsus, of the
Philippian jailor, of the multitude on the day of Pentecost. And it is the question
which every awakened soul must ask, cannot help asking. Three classes came to John
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104. with this question. The answers which he returned to them were one and all directed
against the vices and temptations peculiar to his questioners as respective classes.
Doubtless from our Christian standpoint there is something defective in these
utterances. To fulfil all these behests would not, it will be said, make any man a
Christian. But it must be remembered that John himself was not a Christian. Great
though he was, the least in the kingdom of heaven was greater than he. He was a
preacher of righteousness. Upon him, last among men, the mantle of the old
prophets had fallen. And his words are the echoes of those which had been spoken so
long before: “Is not this the fast that I have chosen,” &c. (Isa_58:6-7). John’s
preaching of repentance was intended to pave the way for the Christian doctrine of
the righteousness which comes by faith. And when at length Christianity did come
and preach to men, it had something more to say than either John or any of his
predecessors, but not one word of that Old Testament inculcation did it unsay, for it
had not come to destroy, but to fulfil. John’s words were true, though they were not
the whole truth. And the world has not yet grown so wise, or generous, or honest, as
to have risen above the need for such moral teaching as this. The answers of John to
these conscience-stricken inquirers contain underlying principles suitable to men of
all callings, and in all ages, who desire to lead sober, righteous, and godly lives.
I. THE PURSUIT OF ONE’S SECULAR CALLING AND DAILY OCCUPATION IS
NOT INCOMPATIBLE WITH THE DESIRE TO LEAD A RELIGIOUS LIFE. John
does not say to these questioners, “Quit your callings for others in which you will be
less exposed to difficulty and danger”; but “Do the right thing in the situation in
which you find yourselves.” Even as Paul wrote to the Corinthians (1Co_7:24),
“Brethren, let every man, wherein he is called, therein abide with God.” While there
are some perhaps among the many employments which obtain amongst men, in
which no Christian man can consistently engage, for most of us, and for ordinary
circumstances, the advice is good and sound, “ Do not quit your occupation or grow
restless and uneasy in it, as if you could not serve God honestly in it as in another.
But see to it that you serve God in it, and that meanest duties are done from highest
motives.”
II. OUR RELIGION OUGHT TO ENTER INTO AND FIND ONE OF ITS GREAT
SPHERES OF ACTION IN OUR DAILY LIFE AND BUSINESS. If business is not
incompatible with religion, it is only because it is possible for us, and demanded of
us, that we infuse the spirit of religion into our businesses. The difference between
our Sundays and our week-days to be done away, or at all events lessened, not by
degrading Sunday to the level of other days, but by elevating them to its level, in
regard to the spirit we breathe, and the principles that govern us, and the
consciousness of God’s presence with us.
III. WE MUST BRING THE SPIRITUAL STRENGTH WHICH GOD GIVES US TO
BEAR CHIEFLY AGAINST THE TEMPTATIONS TO WHICH WE ARE
PECULIARLY EXPOSED. Some of our temptations arise out of our own evil hearts.
Others are incidental to existence in a world like this. Against these general
onslaughts we have all in common to strive. But there are temptations peculiar to us
as individuals, or as members of a certain class—arising from the circumstances in
which we are placed, and the positions we hold. It was so with the publicans and
soldiers who came to John, and his advice to them was, “Oppose yourselves with all
your might to the besetments which assail you in your respective callings.” And what
is true of the peculiar dangers arising from position and circumstance is true also of
those which have their origin in personal disposition and temperament. Let us all
strive so to live that men shall not be able to point to glaring inconsistencies in our
lives—that they may see that our religion is no mere profession, but a living power,
which has all our life and thought and conduct under its sway, which can sanctify the
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105. trivial round and common task, and transmute the base metal of our ordinary acts
and occasions and duties into the gold of the cheerful obedience of loving hearts and
consecrated lives. (J. R. Bailey.)
Preaching producing discomfort
I remember one of my parishioners at Halesworth telling me that he thought “a
person should not go to church to be made uncomfortable.” I replied that I thought
so too; but whether it should be the sermon or the man’s life that should be altered so
as to avoid the discomfort, must depend on whether the doctrine was right or wrong.
(Archbishop Whately.)
The proof of effectual preaching
Do you not know that a man may be preached to liturgically and doctrinally, and
never be touched by the truth, or understand that to which he listens? Suppose I
were to preach to you in Hebrew, how much would you understand? Now, when I
preach so that a banker, who has all along been sitting under the doctrinal preaching,
but has never felt its application to his particular business, feels the next day, when
counting his coin, a twinge of conscience, and says, “I wish I could either practise
that sermon or forget it,” I have preached the gospel to him in such a way that he has
understood it. I have applied it to the sphere of life in which he lives. When the
gospel is preached so that a man feels that it is applied to his own life, he has it
translated to him. And it needs to be translated to merchants and lawyers, and
mechanics, and every other class in society, in order that all may receive their portion
in due season. (H. W.Beecher.)
Powerful preaching
When Massillon preached at Versailles, Louis
XIV. paid the following most expressive tribute to the power of hiseloquence.
“Father, when I hear others preach, I am very well pleased with them; when I hear
you, I am dissatisfied with myself.” The first time he preached his sermon on the
small number of the elect, the whole audience were, at a certain part of it, seized with
such violent emotion, that almost every person half rose from his seat, as if to shake
off the horror of being one of the cast-out into everlasting darkness. (Percy.)
Effect of true preaching
It was a beautiful criticism made by Longinus, upon the effect of the speaking of
Cicero and Demosthenes. He says the people would go from one of Cicero’s orations,
exclaiming, “What a beautiful speaker! What a rich fine voice! What an eloquent man
Cicero is!” They talked of Cicero; but when they left Demosthenes, they said, “Let us
fight Philip!” Losing sight of the speaker, they were all absorbed in the subject; they
thought not of Demosthenes, but of their country. So, my brethren, let us endeavour
to send away from our ministrations the Christian, with his month full of the praise—
not of “our preacher,” but of God; and the sinner, not descanting upon the beautiful
figures and well-turned periods of the discourse, but inquiring, with the brokenness
of a penitent, “What shall I do to be saved?”
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106. Giving to the needy
A man doesn’t need to be rich before he shows whether he is generous or not. Nor is
a man’s generosity to be limited to one-tenth of his income. Dividing one’s scantiest
store with others is a duty, quite as clearly as giving out of one’s abundance. A great
many wish that they were rich, in order that they might be generous; but unless one
gives freely while he has little, he could not give freely if he had much. Generosity
often diminishes with one’s growing wealth; it never, never, never increases with
one’s worldly accumulations. And mark you, the giving which tells in God’s ears is
giving to the destitute; not giving to friends and relatives who already have
something. Most of the holiday giving, and the birthday giving, and the free-hearted
and open-handed giving, in this world, is to those who are already well-to-do in life.
That is all very well in its way—as a means of pure personal enjoyment; but it is not
charity, not any sign of a love toward God. If you would show that you are God’s
children, and would do your duty as in God’s sight, let him that hath two coats give to
him that hath none, and let him that hath meat do likewise. (H. C. Trumbull.)
Two coats
The Jews of the first century always wore the tunic and mantle or robe. These were
the two indispensable garments. As a rule the Jew had at least two complete suits in
his possession that he might be able to change often. A man must be very poor to
have only one cloak; and yet this is what Christ enjoined on His disciples. According
to Luke’s Gospel He said one day: “If any man would go to law with thee and take
away thy cloak, let him have thy coat also.” This precept can be understood; a robber
would naturally lay hold first of the outer garment. But Matthew puts it the other
way: “If any man will take thy coat, let him have thy cloak also.” Under this form it is
harder to understand, and we may well suppose that in transcribing the copyists have
misplaced the two words coat and cloak. (E. Stapler, D. D.)
A self-denying gift
People wondered why George Briggs, Governor of Massachusetts, wore a cravat but
no collar. “Oh,” they said, “it is an absurd eccentricity,” and they said, “he does that
just to show himself off.” Ah! no. That was not the character of George Briggs,
Governor of Massachusetts, as I might intimate by a little incident which occurred at
Pittsfield, Mass., just after a meeting of the American Board of Foreign Missions. My
brother was walking on one side of the Governor, and on the other side of the
Governor was a missionary who had just returned from India. The day was cold, and
the Governor looked at the missionary and said, “Why, my friend, you don’t seem to
have an overcoat.” “No,” said the missionary, “I haven’t been able to purchase an
overcoat since I came to the country.” Then the Governor took off his great cloak and
threw it around the missionary and said, “I can stand this climate better than you
can.” Governor Briggs did not do anything just to show off. This was the history of
the cravat without any collar. For many years before he had been talking with an
inebriate, trying to persuade him to give up the habit of drinking, and he said to the
inebriate, “Your habit is entirely unnecessary.” “Ah!” replied the inebriate, “we do a
great many things that are not necessary. It isn’t necessary that you should have that
collar.” “Well,” said Briggs, “I will never wear a collar again if you will stop drinking.”
“Agreed,” said the other. They joined hands in a pledge that they kept for twenty
years, kept until death. That is magnificent. That is gospel, practical gospel, worthy of
George Briggs, worthy of you. Self-denial for others. Subtraction from our advantage
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107. that there may be an addition to somebody else’s advantage. (Dr. Talmage.)
Duty of helping the poor
When a Christian lady once came to Carlyle and asked what she should do to make
her life more useful, he replied,” Seek out some poor friendless lassie and be kind to
her.”
The blessedness of giving
One of the best things said by the late George Peabody is this, spoken at a reunion at
his native town:—“It is sometimes hard for one who has devoted the best part of his
life to the accumulation of money to spend it for others; but practise it, and keep on
practising it, and I assure you it becomes a pleasure.”
The pulpit in politics
“What shall we do?” each asks in turn. Observe the Baptist’s method in reply. He was
able to answer that question because he had a firm hold of a few fundamental
principles—righteousness, equity, love. That was his charm, his power, his resource.
He was not political, but he dealt with politicians; nor military, but he dealt with
soldiers; nor mercantile, but he dealt with finance; hence we may learn, by the way,
the relation of the pulpit to politics. Unless the preacher can raise politics out of the
sphere of party spirit, let him keep silence; but when a Government policy infringes
on the moral plane, when and where it can be tested by common principles of
righteousness, equity, and love, then its policy is as much the preacher’s sphere of
comment as murder, theft, or selfishness. If any Government, e.g., is culpably
indifferent for years to the state of Ireland, and can only be roused to activity by
Parnellism: when I observe that the Indian budget, upon which hangs the well-being
of distant millions, is proverbially discussed by an apathetic group in an empty
House: when I see the men of Parliamentary authority combine to crush out the
risings of freedom in Egypt with brute force, simply because influential speculators
want a high rate of interest for their money on an iniquitous loan—why, it is time to
ask, “ought the pulpit to keep silence?” Certainly not. The policy infringes on the
moral sphere, and has to be judged by the same Divine principles to which the
Baptist invariably appealed. Aye, and I will go further and say that the temper of
political debate is also a matter for pulpit comment. When public time is wasted,
crises at home and abroad neglected, and the whole tone of the House lowered
because two political gladiators want to have a stand-up fight, and the honourable
members are content to form a ring, is such wanton fooling as that in high places not
to be arraigned by those who profess to view party conduct by the light of a morality
which seems unknown to party politics? (H. R. Haweis, M. A.)
John’s counsels to inquirers
John’s touch was throughout light but firm, and quite infallible in particulars, just
because he appealed to simple and universally intelligible principles of right and
wrong. Listen to his answer to the people generally. “You want to know what to do?
Do the right thing now. There’s a man without a cloak, the sun’s going down, he’s
over-heated, he’ll catch fever—you’ve got an extra wrap, give it him. That woman
yonder is fainting for a little food, she was so eager to be baptized she forgot her
provision basket—you have more than you want, give her some. To the publican, or
portitor, who paid so much to the Government for the right of collecting the taxes,
and then got as much more as he could by squeezing the people: “You tyrants, you
107

108. extortioners, every one knows your trade, and is willing to give you your margin of
profit; well, don’t exact more.” To the soldiers: “You Jacks-in-office, don’t levy
blackmail by threatening to accuse innocent persons. Don’t use the prestige of the
Roman arms to oppress the civilian in the provinces, and don’t mutiny and keep
striking for higher pay; respect the people whom you ought to protect, and the
master whom you profess to serve.” This was pretty smart and practical teaching.
The man of the crowd could not go home and say that the man of the desert knew
nothing about him. He could go home and “repent”! (H. R. Haweis, M. A. )
Do what you can
The Baptist’s answer to the question of the people, “What shall we do?” is exceedingly
remarkable if we consider that John’s mission was to prepare the way for Christ. If
this question were put to many amongst ourselves, who profess to lead men to
Christ, they would answer—“You can do nothing. All works of men in your
unreconciled state are displeasing to God. You can in no way, by any works of your
own, further your own salvation. It is the worst of errors to think so.” But the Baptist,
filled with the Holy Ghost from his mother’s womb, gives an answer implying the
very reverse. It is—“You must do something. You must do what is in your power. You
can, at least, give food and raiment to the poor starving creatures around you. Begin
with this. If you begin thus with denying your selfishness, God will soon show you a
more excellent way—the way of grace in His Son. But till that Son comes and reveals
Himself to you, do what your hand finds to do. Do some good to your fellow-
creatures. The way for you to obtain mercy is to be merciful.” Now, in saying this, did
St. John in the least degree swerve from his mission of preparing the way for Christ
by preaching of repentance? No, not for a moment. When the people asked him what
they were to do to avoid the wrath to come, it was a plain sign that God had touched
their hearts with some degree of repentance, and this repentance was no repentance
at all unless it cut at the root of their selfishness, and every unselfish, self-denying act
would deepen it. Notice, also, that St. John said this to the masses. Instead of saying
to them, “You have little to give, and so God will excuse you from contributing,” he
says to them, “Whatever you have that you do not absolutely need, give it.” Looked at
in this light, the words are very strong, very searching. If they make such a demand
on the crowds, what do they make on the few who have abundance of this world’s
goods? Of course such words as these of the Baptist are to be understood in the light
of common sense: men are not to give, to enable others to be idle. The best
commentary on the passage, according to Jerome, is 2Co_8:13-14. (M. F. Sadler, M.
A.)
11111111 John answered,John answered,John answered,John answered, “Anyone who has two shirtsAnyone who has two shirtsAnyone who has two shirtsAnyone who has two shirts
should share with the one who has none, andshould share with the one who has none, andshould share with the one who has none, andshould share with the one who has none, and
anyone who has food should do the same.anyone who has food should do the same.anyone who has food should do the same.anyone who has food should do the same.”
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109. BARNES, "BARNES, "BARNES, "BARNES, "He that hath two coats ... - Or, in other words, aid the poor
according to your ability; be benevolent, and you will thus show that your repentance
is genuine. It is remarkable that one of the “first” demands of religion is to do good,
and it is in this way that it may be shown that the repentance is not feigned. For.
1. The “nature” of religion is to do good.
2. This requires self-denial, and none will deny themselves who are not attached
to God. And,
3. This is to imitate Jesus Christ, who, though he was rich, yet for our sakes
became poor.
Coats - See the notes at Mat_5:40.
Meat - Provision of any kind.
CLARKE, "He that hath two coats, etc. - He first teaches the great mass of
the people their duty to each other. They were uncharitable and oppressive, and he
taught them not to expect any mercy from the hand of God, while they acted towards
others in opposition to its dictates. If men be unkind and uncharitable towards each
other, how can they expect the mercy of the Lord to be extended towards themselves?
GILL, "He answereth and saith unto them,.... By telling them what they
should do; and he does not put them upon ceremonial observances, nor severe
exercises of religion, nor even the duties of the first table of the law, and others of the
second, though necessary to be done; but upon acts of beneficence and kindness, to
fellow creatures in distress; and are what may be called love of our neighbour, and
which involves the love of God, and so the whole law; for the one cannot be rightly
exercised without the other:
he that hath two coats, let him impart to him that hath none; not both of
them, but one of them: a man is not obliged to go naked himself, in order to clothe
another; and so the Persic and Ethiopic versions read, "let him give one to him that
has not"; that has not a garment to wear. This is not to be understood strictly and
literally, that a man is obliged to give one of his coats, if he has more than one, to a
person in want of clothing; it will be sufficient to answer the intent of this
exhortation, if he supplies his want another way, by furnishing him with money to
buy one: the meaning is, that persons according to their abilities, and of what they
can spare, should communicate to those that are in distress: much less is it to be
concluded from hence, that it is not lawful for a man to have more coats than one:
and he that hath meat, or meats,
let him do likewise; that is, he that has a sufficiency of food, and more than
enough for himself and family, let him give it freely and cheerfully to the poor and
needy, for with such sacrifices God is well pleased: and when such acts of kindness
are done in faith, from a principle of love, and with a view to the glory of God, they
are the fruits of grace, and such as are meet for repentance, and show it to be
genuine. John instances in these two articles, food and raiment, as containing the
necessaries of human life, and including every thing, by which one may be
serviceable to another.
HENRY, “(1.) He tells the people their duty, and that is to be charitable (Luk_
109

110. 3:11): He that has two coats, and, consequently, one to spare, let him give, or lend at
least, to him that has none, to keep him warm. Perhaps he saw among his hearers
some that were overloaded with clothes, while others were ready to perish in rags,
and he puts those who had superfluities upon contributing to the relief of those that
had not necessaries. The gospel requires mercy, and not sacrifice; and the design of it
is to engage us to do all the good we can. Food and raiment are the two supports of
life; he that hath meat to spare, let him give to him that is destitute of daily food, as
well as he that hath clothes to spare: what we have we are but stewards of, and must
use it, accordingly, as our Master directs.
JAMISON, "two coats — directed against the reigning avarice. (Also see on
Mat_3:10.)
12 Even tax collectors came to be baptized.
“Teacher,Teacher,Teacher,Teacher,” they asked,they asked,they asked,they asked, “what should we do?what should we do?what should we do?what should we do?”
BARNES, "BARNES, "BARNES, "BARNES, "The publicans - See the notes at Mat_5:47. There is reason to think
that the “publicans” or “tax-gatherers” were especially oppressive and hard in their
dealings with the people; and that, as they had every opportunity of exacting more
than they ought, so they often did it, and thus enriched themselves. The evidence of
repentance in them would be to break off their sins in this respect, and to deal justly.
CLARKE, "Then came also publicans - He next instructs the tax-gatherers in
the proper discharge of their duty: though it was an office detested by the Jews at
large, yet the Baptist does not condemn it. It is only the abuse of it that he speaks
against. If taxes be necessary for the support of a state, there must be collectors of
them; and the collector, if he properly discharge his duty, is not only a useful, but
also a respectable officer. But it seems the Jewish tax-gatherers exacted much more
from the people than government authorized them to do, Luk_3:13, and the surplus
they pocketed. See the conduct of many of our surveyors and assessors. They are
oppressors of the people, and enrich themselves by unjust surcharges. This, I am
inclined to think, is too common an evil; and the executive government is often the
people’s scape-goat, to bear the crimes of its officers, crimes in which it has no
concern. For an account of the publicans, see the note on Mat_5:46.
GILL, "Then came also publicans to be baptized,.... Being convinced under
John's ministry of the evils of their past life, and desirous of being admitted to
baptism, to which they understood repentance, and fruits meet for the same, were
pre-requisite: these came nearer to John,
and said unto him, master, what shall we do? we have been very wicked
persons, what shall we do to escape divine vengeance? or what are the particular
duties we are to perform? or the fruits meet for repentance, we are to bring forth;
that so we may be admitted to the ordinance of baptism, which requires, as previous
110

111. to it, a true and hearty repentance? of these men,
CALVIN, "Luke 3:12.And the publicans (277) also came. The publicans are not
only exhorted, in general terms, to repent, but the duties peculiar to their calling
are demanded: for we know that, besides the general rule of the law, each person
ought to consider what is required by the nature of the employment to which he
has been called. All Christians, without distinction, “are taught of God to loveare taught of God to loveare taught of God to loveare taught of God to love
one another,one another,one another,one another,” ((((1111 ThessaloniansThessaloniansThessaloniansThessalonians 4:94:94:94:9 :) but then there follow particular duties, which:) but then there follow particular duties, which:) but then there follow particular duties, which:) but then there follow particular duties, which
a teacher, for example, is bound to perform towards the Church,a teacher, for example, is bound to perform towards the Church,a teacher, for example, is bound to perform towards the Church,a teacher, for example, is bound to perform towards the Church, — a magistrate ora magistrate ora magistrate ora magistrate or
prince towards the people, and the people, on the other hand, towards theprince towards the people, and the people, on the other hand, towards theprince towards the people, and the people, on the other hand, towards theprince towards the people, and the people, on the other hand, towards the
magistrate,magistrate,magistrate,magistrate, — a husband towards his wife, and a wife towards her husband,a husband towards his wife, and a wife towards her husband,a husband towards his wife, and a wife towards her husband,a husband towards his wife, and a wife towards her husband, — andandandand
finally, children and parents toward each other. The Publicans, viewed as a class,finally, children and parents toward each other. The Publicans, viewed as a class,finally, children and parents toward each other. The Publicans, viewed as a class,finally, children and parents toward each other. The Publicans, viewed as a class,
were covetous, rapacious, and cruel, and often oppressed the people by unjustwere covetous, rapacious, and cruel, and often oppressed the people by unjustwere covetous, rapacious, and cruel, and often oppressed the people by unjustwere covetous, rapacious, and cruel, and often oppressed the people by unjust
exactions. In consequence of this, the Baptist reproves them for those offenses, withexactions. In consequence of this, the Baptist reproves them for those offenses, withexactions. In consequence of this, the Baptist reproves them for those offenses, withexactions. In consequence of this, the Baptist reproves them for those offenses, with
which that class was, for the most part, chargeable, when he commands them not towhich that class was, for the most part, chargeable, when he commands them not towhich that class was, for the most part, chargeable, when he commands them not towhich that class was, for the most part, chargeable, when he commands them not to
go beyond moderation in exacting tribute. At the same time, we draw this inference,go beyond moderation in exacting tribute. At the same time, we draw this inference,go beyond moderation in exacting tribute. At the same time, we draw this inference,go beyond moderation in exacting tribute. At the same time, we draw this inference,
that it is quite as lawful for a Christian man to receive or levy taxes, as for athat it is quite as lawful for a Christian man to receive or levy taxes, as for athat it is quite as lawful for a Christian man to receive or levy taxes, as for athat it is quite as lawful for a Christian man to receive or levy taxes, as for a
magistrate to impose them.magistrate to impose them.magistrate to impose them.magistrate to impose them.
In the same way we must judge about war. John does not order the soldiers to
throw away their arms, and to relinquish their oath; but he forbids them to
pillage the wretched people under the pretense of their duty as soldiers, to bring
false accusations against the innocent, and to be guilty of extortions, — all ofall ofall ofall of
which crimes the greater part of them were accustomed to practice. These wordswhich crimes the greater part of them were accustomed to practice. These wordswhich crimes the greater part of them were accustomed to practice. These wordswhich crimes the greater part of them were accustomed to practice. These words
obviously contain an approbation of civil government. It is a piece of idle sophistryobviously contain an approbation of civil government. It is a piece of idle sophistryobviously contain an approbation of civil government. It is a piece of idle sophistryobviously contain an approbation of civil government. It is a piece of idle sophistry
to say, that Johnto say, that Johnto say, that Johnto say, that John’s hearers were ignorant people, and that he gave them nothings hearers were ignorant people, and that he gave them nothings hearers were ignorant people, and that he gave them nothings hearers were ignorant people, and that he gave them nothing
more than elementary instructions, which fell very far short of Christian perfection.more than elementary instructions, which fell very far short of Christian perfection.more than elementary instructions, which fell very far short of Christian perfection.more than elementary instructions, which fell very far short of Christian perfection.
JohnJohnJohnJohn’s office was, to make ready a people prepared for the Lord, (Lukes office was, to make ready a people prepared for the Lord, (Lukes office was, to make ready a people prepared for the Lord, (Lukes office was, to make ready a people prepared for the Lord, (Luke 1:171:171:171:17) and) and) and) and
there is no doubt that it was entirely and faithfully performed. Those men are guiltythere is no doubt that it was entirely and faithfully performed. Those men are guiltythere is no doubt that it was entirely and faithfully performed. Those men are guiltythere is no doubt that it was entirely and faithfully performed. Those men are guilty
of calumny and sacrilege, who slander the Gospel, by declaring it to be opposed toof calumny and sacrilege, who slander the Gospel, by declaring it to be opposed toof calumny and sacrilege, who slander the Gospel, by declaring it to be opposed toof calumny and sacrilege, who slander the Gospel, by declaring it to be opposed to
human governments; (human governments; (human governments; (human governments; (278278278278) as if Christ destroyed what his heavenly Father) as if Christ destroyed what his heavenly Father) as if Christ destroyed what his heavenly Father) as if Christ destroyed what his heavenly Father
sanctioned. But, without the sword, laws are dead, and legal judgments have nosanctioned. But, without the sword, laws are dead, and legal judgments have nosanctioned. But, without the sword, laws are dead, and legal judgments have nosanctioned. But, without the sword, laws are dead, and legal judgments have no
force or authority. Magistrates require not only an executioner, (force or authority. Magistrates require not only an executioner, (force or authority. Magistrates require not only an executioner, (force or authority. Magistrates require not only an executioner, (279279279279) but other) but other) but other) but other
attendants, among whom are the military, (attendants, among whom are the military, (attendants, among whom are the military, (attendants, among whom are the military, (280280280280) without whose assistance and) without whose assistance and) without whose assistance and) without whose assistance and
agency it is impossible to maintain peace. Still, the object must be considered.agency it is impossible to maintain peace. Still, the object must be considered.agency it is impossible to maintain peace. Still, the object must be considered.agency it is impossible to maintain peace. Still, the object must be considered.
Princes must not allow themselves to sport with human blood, nor must soldiersPrinces must not allow themselves to sport with human blood, nor must soldiersPrinces must not allow themselves to sport with human blood, nor must soldiersPrinces must not allow themselves to sport with human blood, nor must soldiers
111

112. give themselves up to cruelty, from a desire of gain, as if slaughter were their chiefgive themselves up to cruelty, from a desire of gain, as if slaughter were their chiefgive themselves up to cruelty, from a desire of gain, as if slaughter were their chiefgive themselves up to cruelty, from a desire of gain, as if slaughter were their chief
business: but both must be drawn to it by necessity, and by a regard to publicbusiness: but both must be drawn to it by necessity, and by a regard to publicbusiness: but both must be drawn to it by necessity, and by a regard to publicbusiness: but both must be drawn to it by necessity, and by a regard to public
advantage.advantage.advantage.advantage.
COFFMAN,"The significance here is that a class of persons utterly despised by
the Israelites because of their work as tax collectors for the hated Romans,
accepted John's baptism, conforming their lives as he directed; but there was an
additional affront to Israel in the very theory that such persons could please God
while still in the employ of the Romans. Significantly, John did not suggest that
they resign their jobs.
COKE, "Luke 3:12. Then came also publicans— The publicans, or taxThe publicans, or taxThe publicans, or taxThe publicans, or tax----gatherers,gatherers,gatherers,gatherers,
wishing by all means to keep their places under the Messiah, might be anxious towishing by all means to keep their places under the Messiah, might be anxious towishing by all means to keep their places under the Messiah, might be anxious towishing by all means to keep their places under the Messiah, might be anxious to
know what qualifications were necessary for that purpose: or rather, since our Lordknow what qualifications were necessary for that purpose: or rather, since our Lordknow what qualifications were necessary for that purpose: or rather, since our Lordknow what qualifications were necessary for that purpose: or rather, since our Lord
hath elsewhere declared, that the taxhath elsewhere declared, that the taxhath elsewhere declared, that the taxhath elsewhere declared, that the tax----gatherers, with the rest of the people, weregatherers, with the rest of the people, weregatherers, with the rest of the people, weregatherers, with the rest of the people, were
sincere in their professions of repentance, Matthewsincere in their professions of repentance, Matthewsincere in their professions of repentance, Matthewsincere in their professions of repentance, Matthew 21:3221:3221:3221:32 we may believe that thewe may believe that thewe may believe that thewe may believe that the
gravity of theBaptist'sexhortation,thevehemencewithwhich he delivered hisgravity of theBaptist'sexhortation,thevehemencewithwhich he delivered hisgravity of theBaptist'sexhortation,thevehemencewithwhich he delivered hisgravity of theBaptist'sexhortation,thevehemencewithwhich he delivered his
threatenings, and his character for sanctity, accompanied with the power of divinethreatenings, and his character for sanctity, accompanied with the power of divinethreatenings, and his character for sanctity, accompanied with the power of divinethreatenings, and his character for sanctity, accompanied with the power of divine
grace, affected them to such a degree, that many, who till then had looked ongrace, affected them to such a degree, that many, who till then had looked ongrace, affected them to such a degree, that many, who till then had looked ongrace, affected them to such a degree, that many, who till then had looked on
ceremonial righteousness as a principal requisite to salvation, sensible of theirceremonial righteousness as a principal requisite to salvation, sensible of theirceremonial righteousness as a principal requisite to salvation, sensible of theirceremonial righteousness as a principal requisite to salvation, sensible of their
error, came to him, and said, "If matters be so, what must we do?" Indeed the taxerror, came to him, and said, "If matters be so, what must we do?" Indeed the taxerror, came to him, and said, "If matters be so, what must we do?" Indeed the taxerror, came to him, and said, "If matters be so, what must we do?" Indeed the tax----
gatherers and others, who thus addressed the Baptist, were, in general, people ofgatherers and others, who thus addressed the Baptist, were, in general, people ofgatherers and others, who thus addressed the Baptist, were, in general, people ofgatherers and others, who thus addressed the Baptist, were, in general, people of
infamous characters; yet he did not, like the Pharisees, shun their company for thatinfamous characters; yet he did not, like the Pharisees, shun their company for thatinfamous characters; yet he did not, like the Pharisees, shun their company for thatinfamous characters; yet he did not, like the Pharisees, shun their company for that
reason: on the contrary, he received them with great humanity, and recommendedreason: on the contrary, he received them with great humanity, and recommendedreason: on the contrary, he received them with great humanity, and recommendedreason: on the contrary, he received them with great humanity, and recommended
to them equity in the discharge of their office, Exact no more, &c. that is to say, "Into them equity in the discharge of their office, Exact no more, &c. that is to say, "Into them equity in the discharge of their office, Exact no more, &c. that is to say, "Into them equity in the discharge of their office, Exact no more, &c. that is to say, "In
levying the taxes, compel no man to pay you more than his just proportion of thelevying the taxes, compel no man to pay you more than his just proportion of thelevying the taxes, compel no man to pay you more than his just proportion of thelevying the taxes, compel no man to pay you more than his just proportion of the
sum which you are allowed by the law to raise."sum which you are allowed by the law to raise."sum which you are allowed by the law to raise."sum which you are allowed by the law to raise."
BURKITT, "The publicans were persons employed by the Romans to gather the taxBURKITT, "The publicans were persons employed by the Romans to gather the taxBURKITT, "The publicans were persons employed by the Romans to gather the taxBURKITT, "The publicans were persons employed by the Romans to gather the tax
of tribute among the Jews, who were now tributaries to the Romans, and paid themof tribute among the Jews, who were now tributaries to the Romans, and paid themof tribute among the Jews, who were now tributaries to the Romans, and paid themof tribute among the Jews, who were now tributaries to the Romans, and paid them
a public revenue. These publicans were great oppressors, exacting more than wasa public revenue. These publicans were great oppressors, exacting more than wasa public revenue. These publicans were great oppressors, exacting more than wasa public revenue. These publicans were great oppressors, exacting more than was
the emperor's due. Therefore we find the publicans and sinners so often joinedthe emperor's due. Therefore we find the publicans and sinners so often joinedthe emperor's due. Therefore we find the publicans and sinners so often joinedthe emperor's due. Therefore we find the publicans and sinners so often joined
together in the gospel. These men enquiring what fruits of repentance they shouldtogether in the gospel. These men enquiring what fruits of repentance they shouldtogether in the gospel. These men enquiring what fruits of repentance they shouldtogether in the gospel. These men enquiring what fruits of repentance they should
bring forth, St. John directs them to acts of justice: Exact not.bring forth, St. John directs them to acts of justice: Exact not.bring forth, St. John directs them to acts of justice: Exact not.bring forth, St. John directs them to acts of justice: Exact not.
112

113. Where note, 1. That acts of justice and righteousness, as well as of charity and
mercy, are real fruits of sincere repentance.
Observe, 2. John doth not condemn the office, but cautions the officer. If
magistrates may impose taxes, they may doubtless appoint officers to collect
those taxes. Christian charity then must always teach us to distinguish betwixt
the calling and the crime. We must not censure any office, either in church or
state, for the sake of their mal-administration who are employed in that office.
13 “Don’t collect any more than you are requiredt collect any more than you are requiredt collect any more than you are requiredt collect any more than you are required
to,to,to,to,” he told them.he told them.he told them.he told them.
BARNES, "Exact - Demand, or take, no more.
Than that which is appointed - That is, by the government. John does not
condemn the office, or say that the employment should be forsaken. Though it was
hated by the people - though often abused and therefore unpopular - yet “the office
itself” was not dishonorable. If there is a government, it must be supported; and of
course there must be people whose duty it is to collect taxes, as the means of the
proper support of the government; and as such a support of the government is
necessary, so the people should pay cheerfully the just apportionment of their rulers,
and regard favorably those who are authorized to collect it. See Rom_13:1-6.
GILL, "And he said unto them,.... Not by advising them to quit their
employments, as if it was a thing unlawful to impose pay, and collect taxes, but by
directing them to perform their office aright:
exact no more than that which is appointed you; by the government: there
were two sorts of publicans; there were some that exacted more than what they were
ordered, and settled the tax at their own pleasure, and collected what they would
themselves; and these were very odious to the people, and were reckoned with the
worst of sinners, as thieves and robbers; but there were others, who behaved
according to the orders of the government, and these were submitted to, as appears
from the Jewish canons:
"says (s) Samuel, the judgment a kingdom, is judgment (i.e. the orders of a
government ought to be regarded); R. Chanina bar Cahana says, that Samuel says it
of a publican, ‫קיצבה‬ ‫לו‬ ‫שאין‬ "who has nothing appointed for him": the house of R.
Jannai say, of a publican that stands of himself.''
The gloss is,
113

114. ""the judgment of a kingdom is judgment"; this is he that receives from a king, a tax
(to gather) in a thing, ‫,קצוב‬ "that is fixed", so and so for the year, and he is no robber:
"who has nothing appointed for him", but takes according to his whole will and
pleasure.''
Maimonides expresses this in plainer language (t).
"in what things is it said that a publican is as thieves? when a Gentile publican, or a
Gentile that stands of himself, or a publican that stands for the king, and hath
nothing fixed for him, but he takes what he pleases, and leaves what he pleases: but a
publican with whom the king agrees, and orders that he should take a third or a
fourth, or, ‫קצוב‬ ‫דבר‬ "any thing that is appointed"; and he constitutes an Israelitish
publican to collect that part for the king, and it is known that the man is faithful, and
does not add any thing to what the king has decreed; he is not in the class of robbers,
for the judgment of a king is judgment.--And so a king that lays a tax upon citizens,
or upon every man and man, "a thing fixed"; or decrees, that whoever transgresses
this thing, they shall take all his goods into the king's house; or that whatever shall be
found in the field in the time of the barn (i.e. when it should be there) should pay
tribute for it, whether he is the owner of the field or not: and so with respect to any
thing else of this kind, it is not a robbery; and an Israelite that collects them for the
king, is not in the number of robbers; for lo! he is right, and he does not add nor
alter, nor take any thing to himself.''
Now such publicans as these, were received and submitted to, but others were
rejected; so Moses Kotsensis says (u), that
"publicans that take, ‫להן‬ ‫הקצוב‬ ‫מדבר‬ ‫יותר‬ "more than what is appointed for them", are
rejected.''
From all which we may learn what publicans these were that came to John's baptism,
and put the above question to him; that they were Jewish publicans, and not
Gentiles; and therefore John says nothing to them, but what concerned their
employment, which he doubtless would have done, if they had been ignorant
Gentiles: and also we see the reason of his expressing himself in this manner, since
publicans were very apt to go beyond their orders, and require more than was fixed
for them to collect; and likewise that John, in this advice, spoke the sense of the Jews
themselves; who did not refuse to pay tribute, excepting some few, provided no more
was exacted, than the government appointed; and as temptations to such evils were
very great, and it lay in the power of these men to impose on the people, and extort
from them, to abstain from such practices was an argument of the fear of God, of the
truth of grace, and of the sincerity of repentance.
HENRY, "(2.) He tells the publicans their duty, the collectors of the emperor's
revenue (Luk_3:13): Exact no more than that which is appointed you. They must do
justice between the government and the merchant, and not oppress the people in
levying the taxes, nor any way make them heavier or more burdensome than the law
had made them. They must not think that because it was their office to take care that
the people did not defraud the prince they might therefore, by the power they had,
bear hard upon the people; as those that have ever so little a branch of power are apt
to abuse it: “No, keep to your book of rates, and reckon it enough that you collect for
Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and do not enrich yourselves by taking more.”
114

115. The public revenues must be applied to the public service, and not to gratify the
avarice of private persons. Observe, He does not direct the publicans to quit their
places, and to go no more to the receipt of custom; the employment is in itself lawful
and necessary, but let them be just and honest in it.
JAMISON, "Exact no more, etc. — directed against that extortion which made
the publicans a byword. (See on Luk_19:2; see on Luk_19:8). (Also see on Mat_
3:10.)
14 Then some soldiers asked him, “And whatAnd whatAnd whatAnd what
should we do?should we do?should we do?should we do?”
He replied,He replied,He replied,He replied, “DonDonDonDon’t extort money and dont extort money and dont extort money and dont extort money and don’t accuset accuset accuset accuse
people falselypeople falselypeople falselypeople falsely—be content with your pay.be content with your pay.be content with your pay.be content with your pay.”
BARNES, "BARNES, "BARNES, "BARNES, "The soldiers likewise - It seems that “they,” also came to his
baptism. Whether these were Jews or Romans cannot be ascertained. It is not
improbable that, as Judea was a Roman province, they were Jews or Jewish
proselytes in the service of Herod Antipas or Philip, and so were really in the Roman
service.
Do violence ... - Do not take the property of any by unlawful force, or do not use
unjust force against the person or property of any individual. it is probable that many
of them were oppressive, or prone to violence, rapine, or theft, and burdensome even
in times of peace to the inhabitants.
Neither accuse any falsely - It is probable that when they wished the property
of others and could not obtain it by violence, or when there was no pretext for
violence, they often attempted the same thing in another way, and falsely accused the
persons of crime. The word rendered “falsely accused” is the one from which our
word “sycophant” is derived. The proper meaning of the word “sycophant” was this:
There was a law in Athens which prohibited the importation of “figs.” The
“sycophant” (literally “the man who made figs to appear,” or who showed them) was
one who made complaint to the magistrate of persons who had imported figs
contrary to law, or who was an “informer;” and then the word came to be used in a
general sense to denote “any” complainer - a calumniator - an accuser - an informer.
As such persons were usually cringing and fawning, and looked for a reward, the
word came to be used also to denote a fawner or flatterer. It is always used in a bad
sense. It is correctly rendered here, “do not accuse any falsely.”
Be content ... - Do not murmur or complain, or take unlawful means to increase
115

116. your wages.
Wages - This word means not only the “money” which was paid them, but also
their “rations” or daily allowance of food. By this they were to show that their
repentance was genuine; that it had a practical influence; that it produced a real
reformation of life; and it is clear that “no other” repentance would be genuine. Every
profession of repentance which is not attended with a change of life is mere
hypocrisy. It may farther be remarked that John did not condemn their profession,
or say that it was unlawful to be a soldier, or that they must abandon the business in
order to be true penitents. It was possible to be a good man and yet a soldier. What
was required was that in their profession they should show that they were really
upright, and did not commit the crimes which were often practiced in that calling. It
is lawful to defend oneself, one’s family, or one’s country, and hence, it is lawful to be
a soldier. Man everywhere, in all professions, should be a Christian, and then he will
do honor to his profession, and his profession, if it is not a direct violation of the law
of God, will be honorable.
CLARKE, "The soldiers likewise demanded of him - He, thirdly, instructs
those among the military. They were either Roman soldiers, or the soldiers of Herod
or Philip. Use no violence to any, µηδενα διασεισητε, do not extort money or goods by
force or violence from any. This is the import of the words neminein concutite, used
here by the Vulgate, and points out a crime of which the Roman soldiers were
notoriously guilty, their own writers being witnesses. Concussio has the above
meaning in the Roman law. See Raphelius in loco.
Neither accuse any falsely - Or, on a frivolous pretense - µηδε συκοφαντησητε,
be not sycophants, like those who are base flatterers of their masters, who to
ingratiate themselves into their esteem, malign, accuse, and impeach the innocent.
Bishop Pearce observes that, when the concussio above referred to did not produce
the effect they wished, they often falsely accused the persons, which is the reason
why this advice is added. See the note on Luk_19:7.
Be content with your wages - Οψωνιοις. The word signifies not only the money
which was allotted to a Roman soldier, which was two oboli, about three halfpence
per day, but also the necessary supply of wheat, barley, etc. See Raphelius.
GILL, "And the soldiers likewise demanded of him,.... Or "asked him": why
our translators have rendered it, "demanded of him", I know not, unless they thought
that such language best suited persons of a military character. Some think these were
Gentile soldiers, since it does not look so likely that the Romans would employ Jews
as soldiers in their own country; though it is more probable that they were Jews, in
the pay of the Romans, who belonged to Herod, tetrarch of Galilee, or to Philip of
Ituraea, whose dominions lay near the place where John was: since it is certain, that
there were many of the Jews that betook themselves to a military life; and seeing
John instructed them in no part of natural or revealed religion, but what was suitable
to their character and employment: for upon these men saying,
what shall we do? to avoid the threatened ruin, and to prove the truth of our
repentance, that so we may be admitted to the holy ordinance of baptism; John
replied,
do violence to no man; or "shake" him, or put him, into bodily fear, by
threatening, hectoring, and bullying him, and drawing the sword upon him, which is
116

117. usual, upon the least offence, for such persons to do;
neither accuse any falsely, or play the sycophant; who, in order to flatter some,
bring malicious accusations against others; and which was a vice that too much
prevailed among the Jewish soldiery; who either to curry favour with the Roman
officers and governors, would wrongfully accuse their fellow soldiers, or country
men, to them; or in order to extort sums of money from them, that they might live in
a more luxurious manner than their common pay would admit of: wherefore, it
follows,
and be content with your wages; allowed by the government, and do not seek to
increase them by any unlawful methods, as by mutiny and sedition, by rebelling
against your officers, or by ill usage of the people. The Jewish Rabbins have adopted
this word, ‫,אפסניא‬ into their language in the Misnic and Talmudic writings (w): and
their gloss explains it by the money, for the soldiers, and the hire of soldiers, as here;
and it includes every thing which by the Romans were given to their soldiers for pay,
and which was food as well as money.
HENRY, “(3.) He tells the soldiers their duty, Luk_3:14. Some think that these
soldiers were of the Jewish nation and religion: others think that they were Romans;
for it was not likely either that the Jews would serve the Romans or that the Romans
would trust the Jews in their garrisons in their own nation; and then it is an early
instance of Gentiles embracing the gospel and submitting to it. Military men seldom
seem inclined to religion; yet these submitted even to the Baptist's strict profession,
and desired to receive the word of command from him: What must we do? Those
who more than other men have their lives in their hands, and are in deaths often, are
concerned to enquire what they shall do that they may be found in peace. In answer
to this enquiry, John does not bid them lay down their arms, and desert the service,
but cautions them against the sins that soldiers were commonly guilty of; for this is
fruit meet for repentance, to keep ourselves from our iniquity. [1.] They must not be
injurious to the people among whom they were quartered, and over whom indeed
they were set: “Do violence to no man. Your business is to keep the peace, and
prevent men's doing violence to one another; but do not you do violence to any.
Shake no man” ( so the word signifies); “do not put people into fear; for the sword of
war, as well as that of justice, is to be a terror only to evil doers, but a protection to
those that do well. Be not rude in your quarters; force not money from people by
frightening them. Shed not the blood of war in peace; offer no incivility either to man
or woman, nor have any hand in the barbarous devastations that armies sometimes
make.” Nor must they accuse any falsely to the government, thereby to make
themselves formidable, and get bribes. [2.] They must not be injurious to their
fellow-soldiers; for some think that caution, not to accuse falsely, has special
reference to them: “Be not forward to complain one of another to your superior
officers, that you may be revenged on those whom you have a pique against, or
undermine those above you, and get into their places.” Do not oppress any; so some
think the word here signifies as used by the Septuagint in several passages of the Old
Testament. [3.] They must not be given to mutiny, or contend with their generals
about their pay: “Be content with your wages. While you have what you agreed for,
do not murmur that it is not more.” It is discontent with what they have that makes
men oppressive and injurious; they that never think they have enough themselves
will not scruple at any the most irregular practices to make it more, by defrauding
others. It is a rule to all servants that they be content with their wages; for they that
indulge themselves in discontents expose themselves to many temptations, and it is
wisdom to make the best of that which is.
117

118. JAMISON, "soldiers ... Do violence to none — The word signifies to “shake
thoroughly,” and so to “intimidate,” probably in order to extort money or other
property. (Also see on Mat_3:10.)
accuse ... falsely — acting as informers vexatiously, on frivolous or false grounds.
content with your wages — “rations.” We may take this as a warning against
mutiny, which the officers attempted to suppress by largesses and donations
[Webster and Wilkinson]. And thus the “fruits” which would evidence their
repentance were just resistance to the reigning sins, particularly of the class to which
the penitent belonged, and the manifestation of an opposite spirit.
COFFMAN, "Even soldiers, just whose soldiers is not clear, were not considered
beyond the bounds of redemption. They were not commanded to leave the army
but to exhibit attitudes of restraint, truthfulness, and contentment. If these were
Roman soldiers, the implications of these words from John must have been
extremely distasteful to Israel.
COKE, "Luke 3:14. And the soldiers likewise— It was the custom of the RomansIt was the custom of the RomansIt was the custom of the RomansIt was the custom of the Romans
to recruit their armies in the conquered provinces; wherefore, as the Jews did notto recruit their armies in the conquered provinces; wherefore, as the Jews did notto recruit their armies in the conquered provinces; wherefore, as the Jews did notto recruit their armies in the conquered provinces; wherefore, as the Jews did not
scruple to engage in a military life, many of them might nowhave been in thescruple to engage in a military life, many of them might nowhave been in thescruple to engage in a military life, many of them might nowhave been in thescruple to engage in a military life, many of them might nowhave been in the
emperor's service. Or we may suppose, that after Judea was made a province, theemperor's service. Or we may suppose, that after Judea was made a province, theemperor's service. Or we may suppose, that after Judea was made a province, theemperor's service. Or we may suppose, that after Judea was made a province, the
Romans took into their pay the Jewish troops which Herod and his son ArchelausRomans took into their pay the Jewish troops which Herod and his son ArchelausRomans took into their pay the Jewish troops which Herod and his son ArchelausRomans took into their pay the Jewish troops which Herod and his son Archelaus
had maintained; for it is certain that the soldiers who now addressed the Baptisthad maintained; for it is certain that the soldiers who now addressed the Baptisthad maintained; for it is certain that the soldiers who now addressed the Baptisthad maintained; for it is certain that the soldiers who now addressed the Baptist
were not heathens, otherwise his advice to them would have been, that they shouldwere not heathens, otherwise his advice to them would have been, that they shouldwere not heathens, otherwise his advice to them would have been, that they shouldwere not heathens, otherwise his advice to them would have been, that they should
relinquish idolatry, and embrace the worship of the true God. The word renderedrelinquish idolatry, and embrace the worship of the true God. The word renderedrelinquish idolatry, and embrace the worship of the true God. The word renderedrelinquish idolatry, and embrace the worship of the true God. The word rendered
do violence,do violence,do violence,do violence, ‫,היבףויףחפו‬ properly signifies to shake, and sometimes "to take a man
by the collar and shake him:" and it seems to have been used proverbially for
that violent manner, in which persons in this station of life are often ready to
bully those about them, whom they imagine their inferiors in strength and spirit;
though nothing is an argument of a meaner spirit, or more unworthy that true
courage which constitutes so essential a part of a good military character. The
word ‫,׃ץךןצבםפוים‬ which we render to accuse falsely, answers to the Hebrew ֶ‫ך‬‫,עשׁ‬
oshek, and signifies not only to accuse falsely, but to circumvent and oppress.
"Do not turn informers and give false evidence against innocent persons, in
order that, with the protection of law, you may oppress them, and enrich
yourselves with their spoils." He adds, and be content with your wages: "Live
quietly on your pay, and do not mutiny, when your officers happen not to bestow
on you donations and largesses to conciliate your favour." It seems the Baptist,
in his exhortations to penitents who asked his advice, did not follow the example
of the Jewish teachers; for he was far from recommending the observation of
ceremonies, and the little precepts of man's invention. He attended to the
character of the persons; he considered the vices to which they were most
addicted; and he strenuouslyenjoined the great duties of justice, charity,
moderation, and contentment, according as he found those who applied to him
had failed in them; and so by giving Pharisees, Sadducees, publicans, soldiers,
118

119. and all sorts of persons, instructions adapted to their circumstances and
capacities, he prepared them for receiving the Messiah, who he was sure would
soon appear, although he did not know the person particularly who was to
sustain that high character.
BURKITT, "Observe here, what a general resort there was of all sorts of persons
to John's ministry; Pharisees, Sadducees, publicans, soldiers; these last here
enquire of him what they should do to gain acceptance with God? He answers,
Do no violence, defraud no man of his own by false accusation, but be content
with the allowance assigned you for your maintenance.
Where it is, 1. Strongly supposed that soldiers are insolent oppressors, making
no conscience or injustice, false accusation, and violent oppression.
Yet, 2. The office and employment of a soldier is not condemned, but regulated;
he does not bid them cast away their arms, abandon war, appear no more as
military men in the field; but manage their employment inoffensively.
Whence we learn, that in some cases, and under some circumstances, for
Christians to make war is both lawful and necessary. To make a war lawful,
there is required a lawful authority, a righteous cause, an honourable aim and
intention, and a just and righteous manner of prosecution, without vanity and
ostentation, without cruelty and oppression. Courage and compassion on the one
hand, and cowardice and cruelty on the other hand, do frequently accompany
one another.
CONSTABLE, "Soldiers were able because of their position to threaten people
with reprisal to extort money from them. Exactly who these soldiers were is
unclear, but it is also unimportant. Greed appears to have been a special
temptation for them since the wages of soldiers were low. Therefore John called
on them to demonstrate contentment.
Luke 3:12-14 help us see that certain temptations are more prominent in certain
occupations than others. However material possessions were a source of
temptation to all these people, as they still are today.
15 The people were waiting expectantly and
were all wondering in their hearts if John might
possibly be the Messiah.
BARNES, "In expectation - Expecting the Messiah. Margin, “suspense.” That
is, they were not certain whether John was not himself the Messiah. They confidently
“expected” his appearing, and there minds were in “suspense,” or they were in a state
119

120. of doubt whether he had not already come, and whether John was not the Messiah.
Mused in their hearts of John - Thought of his character, his preaching, and
his success, and anxiously inquired whether he did not do the things which were
expected of the Messiah.
CLARKE, "Whether he were the Christ - So general was the reformation
which was produced by the Baptist’s preaching that the people were ready to
consider him as the promised Messiah. Thus John came in the spirit and power of
Elijah, and reformed all things; showed the people, the tax-gatherers, and the
soldiers, their respective duties, and persuaded them to put away the evil of their
doings. See the note on Mat_17:11.
GILL, "And as the people were in expectation, of the coming of the
Messiah; Daniel's seventy weeks being now accomplished, the sceptre being
departed from Judah, and the Romans having the government in their hands, from
whom they hoped for a deliverance by Christ;
and all men mused in their hearts of John; whether he were the Christ,
or no; about which they had many reasonings and debates: some doubting of it,
others ready to believe it, from his extraordinary birth, the singular holiness of his
life, the power and efficacy of his doctrine, the new ordinance he administered, the
restoration of religion by him, the freedom he took in reproving the vices of men, and
the apt answers he gave to the questions now put to him. And that the Messiah was
born, though he was not, as yet, made manifest, they might conclude, not only from
the fulfilment of several prophecies, but from the song of Zacharias, the declaration
of Simeon and Anna in the temple, and of the wise men that came from the east; and
John appearing in such an unusual manner, they were ready to hope that he was the
person; though they did not consider that he was of the tribe of Levi, and not of
Judah; from which latter the Messiah was to spring; but this might be unattended to
by them, and Satan might have an hand in it to hide the true Messiah from them.
HENRY, “We are now drawing near to the appearance of our Lord Jesus publicly;
the Sun will not be long after the morning-star. We are here told,
I. How the people took occasion, from the ministry and baptism of John, to think
of the Messiah, and to think of him as at the door, as now come. Thus the way of the
Lord was prepared, and people were prepared to bid Christ welcome; for, when
men's expectations are raised, that which they are in expectation of becomes doubly
acceptable. Now when they observed what an excellent doctrine John Baptist
preached, what a divine power went along with it, and what a tendency it had to
reform the world, 1. They began presently to consider that now was the time for the
Messiah to appear. The sceptre was departed from Judah, for they had no king but
Caesar; nay, and the law-giver too was gone from between his feet, for Herod had
lately slain the sanhedrim. Daniel's seventy weeks were now expiring; and therefore it
was but three or four years after this that they looked that the kingdom of heaven
should appear immediately, Luk_19:11. Never did the corrupt state of the Jews more
need a reformation, nor their distressed state more need a deliverance, than now. 2.
Their next thought was, “Is not his he that should come?” All thinking men mused, or
reasoned, in their hearts, concerning John, whether he were the Christ or not. He
had indeed none of the external pomp and grandeur in which they generally expected
the Messiah to appear; but his life was holy and strict, his preaching powerful and
with authority, and therefore “why may we not think that he is the Messiah, and that
he will shortly throw off this disguise, and appear in more glory?” Note, That which
120

121. puts people upon considering, reasoning with themselves, prepares the way for
Christ.
JAMISON, "whether he were the Christ — showing both how successful he
had been in awakening the expectation of Messiah’s immediate appearing, and the
high estimation, and even reverence, which his own character commanded. (Also see
on Mat_3:10.)
COKE, "Luke 3:15. And as the people were in expectation,— John had now
acquired an extraordinary reputation by the austerity of his life, the subject of
his sermons, the fervencyofhisexhortations,and the freedom, impartiality, and
courage with which he rebuked his hearers: yet his fame received no small
addition from the various rumours current in the country at that time; for the
vision which his father Zacharias had seen in the temple, the coming of the
Eastern philosophers to Jerusalem, the prophesies of Simeon, the discourses of
Anna, the perplexities of Jerusalem, and Herod's cruelty, though they had
happened full thirty years before this, must still have been fresh in the memories
of the people, who, no doubt, applied them all to John. Their expectations
therefore being raised to a very high pitch, they began to think he might be the
Christ, and were ready to acknowledge him as such: so that had he aspired after
grandeur, he might, at least for a while, have possessed honours greater than any
of the sons of men could justly claim. But the Baptist was too strictly virtuous
and holy, to assume what he had no title to;and therefore he declared plainly,
that he was not the Messiah, but the lowest of his servants; one sent to prepare
the way before him. See the next verse.
BURKITT, "Observe here, 1. How the extraordinariness of John the Baptist's
person, the earnestness of his preaching, the acceptableness of his doctrine, and
the exemplariness of his conversation, drew all persons to an admiration of him;
insomuch that they began to think within themselves, whether here were not the
Messiah himself. He plainly tells them he was not, but only his servant, his
harbinger and forerunner.
Observe 2. The high opinion which John had of Christ, He is mightier than I that
is, a person of greater authority, dignity, and excellency, than myself.
From whence may be gathered, that though Christ was man, he was more than
man, even very God, equal with the Father: for John himself was the greatest of
them that were born of women. Matthew 11:11 Yet, says John, Christ is mightier
than I. How so? In regard of the dignity of his person, being both God and man?
He that cometh after me is mightier than I.
Observe, 3. The humble and low estimation that the holy Baptist had of himself:
His shoe-latchet I am not worthy to unloose: a proverbial speech, implying that
he was unworthy to do the lowest offices, and meanest services for Christ.
Lord, how well does humility of mind, an humble apprehension, and a low
opinion of themselves, become the messengers and ministers of Christ! John was
a man of eminent abilities, yet of exemplary humility; he thought himself
121

122. unworthy to unloose Christ's shoe.
Observe, 4. John does not only declare the dignity of Christ's person, but the
excellency of his office; He shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire.
As if he had said, "I only wash the body with water, but Christ cleanses the soul
by the operation of his Holy Spirit, which is as fire in the effects of it, purifying
the hearts of his people from sin, and consuming their lusts and corruptions; yet
at the same time having fiery indignation, and flaming judgments, to destroy and
burn up impenitent sinners like dry stubble."
Observable it is in scripture, that Christ is represented by one and the same
metaphor of fire, in a way of comfort to his children, and in a way of terror to his
enemies; he is fire unto both. He sits in the hearts of his people as a refiner's fire;
he is amongst his enemies as a consuming fire: a fire for his church to take
comfort in, a fire for his enemies to perish by.
Observe, lastly, how the holy Baptist compares our Saviour to an husbandman,
and the Jewish church to a barn floor; the office of an husbandman is to thresh,
fan, and winnow, his corn, separating it from the chaff, preserving the one, and
consuming the other.
Observe, 1. That the church is Christ's floor.
2. That this floor Christ will purge, and that thoroughly.
3. That the word of Christ is the fan in his hand, by and with which he will
thoroughly purge his floor.
The church is compared to a floor, upon the account of that mixture which is in
the church. In a floor there is straw as well as grain, chaff as well as corn, tares
as well as wheat, cockle and darnel as well as good seed. Thus in the church there
has been, there is, and ever will be, a mixture of good and bad, saints and
sinners, hypocrites and sincere Christians: but this floor Christ will purge; purge
it, but not break it up; purge out its corruptions, but not destroy its essence and
existence: and the fan in Christ's hand, with which he will purge his floor, is his
holy word, accompanied with the wing of discipline. The fan detects and
discovers the chaff, and the wing dissipates and scatters it; and by the help of
both the floor is purged: His fan is in his hand, and he will thoroughly purge.
BENSON, "Luke 3:15-17. And as all the people were in expectation, &c. — The
austerity of John’s life, the important subjects of his sermons, the fervency of his
exhortations, and the freedom, impartiality, and courage with which he rebuked
all classes of sinners, raised him very high in the esteem of the generality of
people; insomuch that many began to be of opinion he might be the Messiah.
And possibly the extraordinary events which had occurred thirty years before,
namely, the vision which his father Zacharias had seen in the temple, the coming
of the eastern sages to Jerusalem, the prophecies of Simeon, and the testimony of
Anna, which doubtless would be fresh in the memories of many of them, and
would all be applied to John, might strengthen that opinion. And, if John had
122

123. aspired after grandeur, he might for a while have possessed honours greater
than any of mankind could justly claim. But he was too upright and pious to
assume a character which he had no right to, and therefore he declared plainly
that he was not the Messiah, but one of the lowest of his servants; one sent to
prepare his way before him. At the same time, to give his hearers a just idea of
his Master’s dignity, he described the authority and efficacy of his ministry.
John answered, saying, I indeed baptize you with water, &c. I am sent from God,
and the message I bring is, that all ranks and orders of persons must repent.
Withal, to impress this doctrine more deeply on their minds, I address their
senses by baptizing all my disciples with water. But one mightier than I
cometh — There is an infinitely greater prophet than I am, ready to appear,
namely, the Messiah; the latchet of whose shoes I am not worthy to unloose —
For whom I am not worthy to perform the meanest servile office. He shall
baptize with the Holy Ghost and with fire — His baptism shall be unspeakably
more efficacious than mine, for he will bestow on you the gifts and graces of his
Holy Spirit. Whose fan is in his hand — See this and the preceding verse
explained at large, in the notes on Matthew 3:11-12.
CONSTABLE, "Luke's account of John's preaching about Jesus is the longest in
the three Synoptic Gospels (cf. John 1:19-25). John distinguished between his
baptism and Messiah's to show that he was not the Messiah.
Matthew's account of these words stressed the importance of Jesus' Jewish
hearers repenting personally and nationally. Luke tailored his account to
Gentiles and stressed the judgment that Jesus would bring (cf. Isaiah 4:4). The
presence of only one article before "Holy Spirit" and "fire" in the Greek text
suggests that John was referring to one baptism. It is probably the baptism that
Jesus will initiate when He returns to earth as the messianic King but which He
initiated from heaven as a foreview of that event on the day of Pentecost (Acts
1:5; Acts 2:3-4; cf. Isaiah 44:3; Joel 2:28-32). John's water baptism prefigured
Jesus' baptism. John's reference to unquenchable fire implies eternal judgment.
Jesus will be the stronger One who judges, not just God (cf. John 5:22).
NISBET, "A MIGHTIER THAN JOHN
‘And as the people were in expectation … John answered … one mightier than I
cometh.…’
Luke 3:15-16
From these verses several practical truths emerge.
I. One effect of a faithful ministry is to set men thinking.—‘The people … mused
in their hearts.’ The cause of true religion has gained a great step in a parish, or
congregation, or family, when people begin to think.
II. A faithful minister will always exalt Christ.—The Baptist refused the honour
which he saw the people ready to give him, and referred them to Him who had
‘the fan in His hand,’ the Lamb of God, the Messiah. Conduct like this will
always be the characteristic of a true man of God. He will never allow anything
to be credited to him, or his office, which belongs to his Divine Master.
123

124. III. There is an essential difference between the Lord Jesus and even the best and
holiest of His ministers.—We have it in the solemn words of John the Baptist: ‘I
indeed baptize you with water; He shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost.’ A Paul
may sow, an Apollos may water, but it is God Who giveth the increase.
IV. The change that Christ will work in His visible Church at His second
appearing.—We read in the figurative words of His forerunner, ‘that He will
thoroughly purge His floor, and gather the wheat into His garner; but the chaff
He will burn with fire unquenchable.’ The visible Church is now a mixed body;
but there will be an awful separation at the last day.
MACLAREN, “JOHN'S WITNESS TO JESUS, AND GOD'S
This passage falls into three parts: John’s witness to the coming Messiah (Luk_
3:15-17); John’s undaunted rebuke of sin in high places, and its penalty (Luk_
3:18-20); and God’s witness to Jesus (Luk_3:21-22).
I. Luke sharply parts off the Baptist’s work as a preacher of repentance
and plain morality from his work as the herald who preceded the king.
The former is delineated in Luk_3:7-14, and its effect was to set light to the always
smouldering expectation of the Messiah. The people were ready to rally round him if
he would say that he was the coming deliverer. It was a real temptation, but his
unmoved humility, which lay side by side with his boldness, brushed it aside, and
poured an effectual stream of cold water on the excitement. ‘John answered’ the
popular questionings, of which he was fully aware, and his answer crushed them.
In less acute fashion, the same temptation comes to all who move the general
conscience. Disciples always seek to hoist their teacher higher than is fitting.
Adherence to him takes the place of obedience to his message, and, if he is a true
man, he has to damp down misdirected enthusiasm.
Mark John’s clear apprehension of the limitations of his work. He baptized with
water, the symbol and means of outward cleansing. He does not depreciate his
position or the importance of his baptism, but his whole soul bows in reverence
before the coming Messiah, whose great office was to transcend his, as the wide
Mediterranean surpassed the little lake of Galilee. His outline of that work is grand,
though incomplete. It is largely based upon Malachi’s closing prophecy, and the
connection witnesses to John’s consciousness that he was the Elijah foretold there.
He saw that the Messiah would surpass him in his special endowment. Strong as he
was, that other was to be stronger. Probably he did not dream that that other was to
wield the divine might, nor that His perfect strength was to be manifested in
weakness, and to work its wonders by the might of gentle, self-sacrificing love. But,
though he dimly saw, he perfectly adored. He felt himself unworthy (literally,
insufficient) to be the slave who untied (or, according to Matthew, ‘bore’) his lord’s
sandals. How beautiful is the lowliness of that strong nature! He stood erect in the
face of priests and tetrarchs, and furious women, and the headsman with his sword,
but he lay prostrate before his King.
Strength and royal authority were not all that he had to proclaim of Messiah. ‘He
shall baptize you in the Holy Ghost and fire.’ We observe that the construction here is
different from that in Luk_3:16 (‘with water’), inasmuch as the preposition ‘in’ is
inserted, which, though it is often used ‘instrumentaly,’ is here, therefore, more
probably to be taken as meaning simply ‘in.’ The two nouns are coupled under one
preposition, which suggests that they are fused together in the speaker’s mind as
124

125. reality and symbol.
Fire is a frequently recurrent emblem of the Holy Spirit, both in the Old and New
Testament. It is not the destructive, but the vitalising, glowing, transforming, energy
of fire, which is expressed. The fervour of holy enthusiasm, the warmth of ardent
love, the melting of hard hearts, the change of cold, damp material into its own ruddy
likeness, are all set forth in this great symbol. John’s water baptism was poor beside
Messiah’s immersion into that cleansing fire. Fire turns what it touches into kindred
flame. The refiner’s fire melts metal, and the scum carries away impurities. Water
washes the surface, fire pierces to the centre.
But while that cleansing by the Spirit’s fire was to be Messiah’s primary office, man’s
freedom to accept or reject such blessing necessarily made His work selective, even
while its destination was universal. So John saw that His coming would part men
into two classes, according as they submitted to His baptism of fire or not. The
homely image of the threshing-floor, on some exposed, windy height, carries a
solemn truth. The Lord of the harvest has an instrument in His hand, which sets up a
current of air, and the wheat falls in one heap, while the husks are blown farther, and
lie at the edge of the floor. Mark the majestic emphasis on the Christ’s ownership in
the two phrases, ‘His floor’ and ‘His garner.’
Notice, too, the fact which determines whether a man is chaff or wheat-namely, his
yielding to or rejecting the fiery baptism which Christ offers. Ponder that awful
emblem of an empty, rootless, fruitless, worthless life, which John caught up from
Psa_1:1-6 Thankfully think of the care and safe keeping and calm repose shadowed in
that picture of the wheat stored in the garner after the separating act. And let us lay
on awed hearts the terrible doom of the chaff. There are two fires, to one or other of
which we must be delivered. Either we shall gladly accept the purging fire of the
Spirit which burns sin out of us, or we shall have to meet the punitive fire which
burns up us and our sins together. To be cleansed by the one or to be consumed by
the other is the choice before each of us.
II. Luk_3:18 - Luk_3:20 show John as the preacher and martyr of
righteousness.
Luke tells his fate out of its proper place, in order to finish with him, and, as it were,
clear the stage for Jesus. Similarly the Baptist’s desert life is told by anticipation in
Luk_1:80. That treatment of his story marks his subordination. His martyrdom is
not narrated by Luke, though he knew of it (Luk_9:7-9), and this brief summary is all
that is said of his heroic vehemence of rebuke to sin in high places, and of his
suffering for righteousness’ sake. John’s message had two sides to it, as every gospel
of God’s has. To the people he spoke good tidings and exhortations; to lordly sinners
he pealed out stern rebukes.
It needs some courage to tell a prince to his face that he is foul with corruption, and,
still more, to put a finger on his actual sins. But he is no prophet who does not lift up
his voice like a trumpet, and speak to hardened consciences. King Demos is quite as
impatient of close dealing with his immorality as Herod was. London and New York
get as angry with the Christian men who fight against their lust and drunkenness as
ever he did, and would not be sorry if they could silence these persistent ‘fanatics’ as
conveniently as he could. The need for courage like John’s, and plain speech like his,
is not past yet. The ‘good tidings’ has rebuke as part of its substance. The sword is
two-edged.
III. The narrative now turns to Jesus, and does not even name John as
having baptized Him.
The peculiarities of Luke’s account of the baptism are instructive. He omits the
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126. conversation between Jesus and John, and the fact of John’s seeing the dove and
hearing the voice. Like Mark, he makes the divine voice speak directly to Jesus,
whereas Matthew represents it as spoken concerning Him. The baptism itself is
disposed of in an incidental clause (having been baptized). The general result of
these characteristics is that this account lays emphasis on the bearing of the divine
witness as borne to Jesus Himself. It does not deny, but simply ignores, its aspect as
a witness borne to John.
Another striking point is Luke’s mention of Christ’s prayer, which is thus represented
as answered by the opened heavens, the descending dove, and the attesting voice. We
owe most of our knowledge of Christ’s prayers to this Evangelist, whose mission was
to tell of the Son of man. Mysteries beyond our plummets are contained in this story;
but however unique it is, it has this which may be reproduced, that prayer unveiled
heaven, and brought down the dove to abide on the bowed head, and the divine
attestation of sonship to fill the waiting heart.
We need not dwell on the beautiful significance of the emblem of the dove. It
symbolised both the nature of that gracious, gentle Spirit, and the perpetuity and
completeness of its abode on Jesus. Others receive portions of that celestial fullness,
but itself, as if embodied in visible form, settled down on Him, and, with meekly
folded wings, tarried there unscared. ‘God giveth not the Spirit by measure unto
Him.’
Our Evangelist does not venture into the deep waters, nor attempt to tell what was
the relation between the Incarnate Word, as it dwelt in Jesus before that descent, and
the Spirit which came upon Him. We shall be wise if we refrain from speculating on
such points, and content ourselves with knowing that there has been one manhood
capable of receiving and retaining uninterruptedly the whole Spirit of God; and that
He will fill us with the Spirit which dwelt in Him, in measure and manner
corresponding to our need and our faith.
The heavenly voice spoke to the heart of the man Jesus. What was His need of it, and
what were its effects on Him, we do not presume to affirm. But probably it originated
an increased certitude of the consciousness which dawned, in His answer to Mary, of
His unique divine sonship. To us it declares that He stands in an altogether
unexampled relation of kindred to the Father, and that His whole nature and acts are
the objects of God’s complacency. But He has nothing for Himself alone, and in Him
we may become God’s beloved sons, well pleasing to the Father.
BI, “Whether he were the Christ or not
The Baptist’s attitude towards Christ
Observe here—
1. How the extraordinariness of the Baptist’s person, the earnestness of his
preaching, the acceptableness of his doctrine, and the exemplariness of his
conversation, drew all persons to an admiration of him; insomuch that they
began to think within themselves, whether he were not the Messiah Himself. He
plainly tells them he was not, but only His servant, His harbinger, and
forerunner.
2. The high opinion which John had of Christ. “He is mightier than I”; i.e., a
person of greater authority, dignity, and excellency, than myself.
3. The humble and low estimation that the Baptist had of himself. “The latchet of
whose shoes I am not worthy to unloose”: a proverbial speech, implying that he
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127. was unworthy to do the lowest offices, and meanest services for Christ. How well
does humility of mind, a humble estimate and low opinion of themselves, become
the messengers and ministers of Christ.
4. John does not only declare the dignity of Christ’s person, but the excellency of
His office. “He shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire.” As if he had
said, I only wash the body with water, but Christ cleanses the soul by the
operation of His Holy Spirit, which is as fire in its effects, purifying the hearts of
His people from sin, and consuming their lusts and corruptions; yet at the same
time having fiery indignation, and flaming judgments, to destroy and burn up
impenitent sinners like dry stubble. It is observable in Scripture, that Christ is
represented by one and the same metaphor of fire, in a way of comfort to His
children, and in a way of terror to His enemies; He is fire unto both. He sits in the
hearts of His people as a refiner’s fire; He is amongst His enemies as a consuming
fire: a fire for His Church to take comfort in, a fire for His enemies to perish by.
5. The Baptist compares Christ to a husbandman, and the Jewish Church to a
barn-floor; the office of a husbandman is to thresh, fan, and winnow His corn,
separating it from the chaff, preserving the one and consuming the other.
(1) The Church is Christ’s floor.
(2) This floor Christ will purge, and that thoroughly.
(3) The Word of Christ is the fan in His hand, by and with which He will
thoroughly purge His floor.
The Church is compared to a floor, because of the mixture of good and bad in it,
saints and sinners, hypocrites and sincere Christians, just as in a threshing-floor
there is straw as well as grain, chaff as well as corn, tares as well as wheat, cockle and
darnel as well as good seed. But Christ will purge His Church; purge it of its
corruptions, without destroying its essence or existence, by the fan of His Holy Word,
accompanied by the wing of discipline. (W. Burkitt, M. A.)
No true teacher can suffer himself to live upon mistaken impressions
The people mused whether John were the Christ or not. An unreal and self-seeking
man would have turned this doubtfulness to his own account. This was John’s
temptation. Jesus was tempted in one direction and John in another; but in each case
the temptation was direct and real. Every ministry must be tempted, as must every
Christian. Have you ever been tempted to regard yourself as some great one? Have
you not covered up your poor and withering name with the reputation of strong and
brilliant men? Have you not received applause for originalities which you have but
quoted from others? John’s declaration concerning Christ is most remarkable. He
says nothing about preaching the gospel or dying for the sins of the world, nor about
the great evangelical mission; the declaration relates solely to baptism, and to the
discrimination of character. But what a baptism! and what a discrimination! There
can be no mistake about any man who has received the baptism of fire; the fire will
either illuminate or consume him, so that he will be either a light shining afar, or a
scorched and barren soul that has quenched the Spirit. Baptism by water can only be
initial or symbolical; baptism by fire is the great testimony of God to the soul’s
purification and acceptance. John points to two distinct uses of fire: Jesus will
baptize with fire, and with fire unquenchable will He burn the chaff.
This is precisely what the gospel does. It is a savour of life unto life, or of death unto
death. (J. Parker, D. D.)
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128. 16 John answered them all, “I baptize you
with[b] water. But one who is more powerful
than I will come, the straps of whose sandals I
am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you
with[c] the Holy Spirit and fire.
CLARKE, "On these verses see Mat_3:11, Mat_3:12, and Mar_1:7, Mar_1:8, and
particularly the note on Joh_3:5 (note).
GILL, "John answered, saying unto them all,.... For some of them might not
only so think in their hearts, but express with their mouths the apprehension they
had of him; and might put the question to him, as the priests and Levites from
Jerusalem afterwards did; or he might know the secret thoughts of their hearts by
divine revelation; or be apprized by his disciples of the private sentiments of the
people concerning him: and therefore, to put them out of doubt, and that he might
not have an honour conferred on him, which did not belong to him, he addressed
himself, in a very public manner, to the whole multitude, in the hearing of them all:
though the word "all" is left out in the Syriac and Persic versions, but rightly retained
in others, being in all copies, and having a considerable emphasis on it: and said the
following words.
I indeed baptize you with water; Matthew adds "unto repentance"; upon the
profession of repentance:
but one mightier than I cometh; that is,
after me; as Matthew records it:
the latchet of whose shoes I am not worthy to unloose; neither to bear his
shoes after him, as Matthew says, nor to untie his shoe string, or unbuckle his shoe,
both which were menial actions with the Jews: he shall baptize you with the Holy
Ghost, and with fire; as he did some of their nation, his own disciples, on the day of
pentecost; See Gill on Mat_3:11
HENRY, “II. How John disowned all pretensions to the honour of being himself
the Messiah, but confirmed them in their expectations of him that really was the
Messiah, Luk_3:16, Luk_3:17. John's office, as a crier or herald, was to give notice
that the kingdom of God and the King of that kingdom were at hand; and therefore,
when he had told all manner of people severally what they must do (“You must do
this, and you must do that”), he tells them one thing more which they must all do:
they must expect the Messiah now shortly to appear. And this serves as an answer to
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129. their musings and debates concerning himself. Though he knew not their thoughts,
yet, in declaring this, he answered them.
1. He declares that the utmost he could do was to baptize them with water. He had
no access to the Spirit, nor could command that or work upon that; he could only
exhort them to repent, and assure them of forgiveness, upon repentance; he could
not work repentance in them, nor confer remission on them.
2. He consigns them, and turns them over, as it were, to Jesus Christ, for whom he
was sent to prepare the way, and to whom he was ready to transfer all the interest he
had in the affections of the people, and would have them no longer to debate whether
John was the Messiah or no, but to look for him that was really so.
(1.) John owns the Messiah to have a greater excellency than he had, and that he
was in all things preferable to him; he is one the latchet of whose shoe he does not
think himself worthy to loose; he does not think himself worthy to be the meanest of
his servants, to help him on and off with his shoes. John was a prophet, yea more
than a prophet, more so than any of the Old Testament prophets; but Christ was a
prophet more than John, for it was both by the Spirit of Christ, and of the grace of
Christ, that all the prophets prophesied, and John among the rest, 1Pe_1:10, 1Pe_
1:11. This was a great truth which John came to preach; but the manner of his
expressing it bespeaks his humility, and in it he not only does justice to the Lord
Jesus, but does him honour too: “He is one whom I am not worthy to approach, or
draw nigh to, no not as a servant.” Thus highly does it become us to speak of Christ,
and thus humbly of ourselves.
(2.) He owns him to have a greater energy than he had: “He is mightier than I, and
does that which I cannot do, both for the comfort of the faithful and for the terror of
hypocrites and dissemblers.” They thought that a wonderful power went along with
John; but what was that compared with the power which Jesus would come clothed
with? [1.] John can do no more than baptize with water, in token of this, that they
ought to purify and cleanse themselves; but Christ can, and will, baptize with the
Holy Ghost; he can give the Spirit to cleanse and purify the heart, not only as water
washes off the dirt on the outside, but as fire purges out the dross that is within, and
melts down the metal, that it may be cast into a new mould. [2.] John can only
preach a distinguishing doctrine, and by word and sign separate between the
precious and the vile; but Christ hath his fan in his hand, with which he can, and
will, perfectly separate between the wheat and the chaff. He will thoroughly purge
his floor; it is his own, and therefore he will purge it, and will cast out of his church
the unbelieving impenitent Jews, and confirm in his church all that faithfully follow
him. [3.] John can only speak comfort to those that receive the gospel, and, like other
prophets, say to the righteous that it shall be well with them; but Jesus Christ will
give them comfort. John can only promise them that they shall be safe; but Christ
will make them so: he will gather the wheat into his garner; good, serious, solid
people he will gather now into his church on earth, which shall be made up of such,
and he will shortly gather them into his church in heaven, where they shall be for
ever sheltered. [4.] John can only threaten hypocrites, and tell the barren trees that
they shall be hewn down and cast into the fire; but Christ can execute that
threatening; those that are as chaff, light, and vain, and worthless, he will burn with
fire unquenchable. John refers here to Mal_3:18; Mal_4:1, Mal_4:2. Then, when the
floor is purged, ye shall return, and discern between the righteous and the wicked,
for the day comes that shall burn as an oven.
JAMISON, "John answered — either to the deputation from Jerusalem (see
Joh_1:19, etc.), or on some other occasion, simply to remove impressions derogatory
to his blessed Master which he knew to be taking hold of the popular mind. (Also see
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130. on Mat_3:10.)
saying unto them all — in solemn protestation. So far from entertaining such a
thought as laying claim to the honors of Messiahship, the meanest services I can
render to that “Mightier than I that is coming after me,” are too high an honor for
me. Beautiful spirit, distinguishing this servant of Christ throughout!
one mightier than I — “the Mighter than I.”
SBC, “Expectation.
Have you never observed that everyone’s character is determined by what he is living
up to? Why is the Mohammedan an idle and self-indulgent man? Because he lives up
to a corporeal and indolent and sensuous heaven. Why is the Brahmin a man of
apathy? Because, after all his transmigrations, he has nothing to expect, according to
his creed, but annihilation, absolute annihilation. Why does the believer grow holy
and loving, but because he is always realising in his mind the heaven of holiness and
love to which he is going? Certainly expectation is a duty.
I. But God has done with this faculty of expectation what He has done with all the
natural powers and habits of the human mind—He has sanctified it and elevated it.
And this is the way God has done it. He has thrown into it first truth, then affection,
and then great delight, so He has made it hope. What is it? Expectation with desire
from the beginning, hope has been the great principle of God’s moral government of
the world. The moment that man fell, and the present became unhappy, the antidote
was hope: "I will put enmity;" "the seed of the woman shall bruise the serpent’s
head." Observe, at once, the mind was sent off into the future for its comfort. It was
the same with Abraham; he had nothing, he was to have everything. The Jews lived
by their prophecies. All sacrifice speaks the same language. And now what is the aim,
the consolation, the theme, the life of the whole Church, but the coming back of her
dear Lord? And when He comes, there may be another future to look forward to still,
and probably another and another and another.
II. Notice in this long line of expectation that the next thing in the succession is
always greater and better than that which preceded it. The series is always rising—
every prophecy has its range of fulfilment; first an early and historical one, then an
inward and spiritual one, then an evangelical one in the life and death of Jesus
Christ, then an ultimate one in yet future glories. If you could read it so, whenever
anything happy comes to you—an answered prayer, a gift of God—you may always
hear it saying, "I am only a pledge of something else; there is something better than I
am behind." All along, at every stage, the principle is the same, and the words of the
Baptist have their echo and their counterpart everywhere: "One mightier than I
cometh."
J. Vaughan, Sermons, 1871, p. 170.
BI, “I indeed baptize you with water
Significance of John’s baptism
1. John’s baptism was a carrying on of the office of the law. Neither repentance
avails without grace, nor grace without repentance; for repentance must first
condemn sin, that grace may blot it out. So then John, becoming a type of the
law, baptized to repentance, Christ to grace.
2. John’s baptism was higher than Jewish rites, but imperfect. Moses baptized,
but with water, and before this, in the cloud and in the sea; but this was typically,
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131. as St. Paul also pronounces the sea a type of the water, the cloud a type of the
Spirit, the manna a type of the bread of life, the drink a type-of the heavenly
draught. John also baptized, and he no longer Judaically, for he baptized not with
water only, but to repentance; but not as yet altogether spiritually, for it is not
added “with the Spirit.” The perfection of Christ’s Baptism, which John’s lacked,
is that it is with the Spirit.
3. John’s baptism was preparatory and initiatory to the gospel. He baptized not
with the Spirit, but with water; because, unable to remit sins, he washed the
bodies of the baptized with water, but not their hearts with forgiveness. Why then
did he baptize, since by baptism he did not free from sin, except that maintaining
the order of his precursorial office, he, who by his birth had gone before His
birth, should by baptizing also go before the Baptism of the Lord? And he who by
preaching had been made the precursor of Christ, should by baptizing also be His
precursor through the image of His Sacrament. (E. B. Pusey, D. D.)
I indeed baptize you with water
The symbol must be interpreted by the circle of ideas in which John moved, and
which he variously expressed. Its suggestive cause is as hard to determine as it is
unimportant. The rite may have formal affinities with the lustrations of the Essenes
or the ablutions of proselytes; but it has a material significance of its own. John
placed it in a relation with confession of sin and repentance, that made it the symbol
of certain spiritual realities—evil recognized and repudiated; good perceived and
chosen. In this connection its use may have been suggested by such words as, “Wash
you, make you clean,” or, “In that day there shall be a fountain opened,” &c. (Zec_
13:1). But his baptism was the symbol of another and no less significant fact; the
baptized were not simply the penitent, but the expectant, men consecrated to a great
hope. And so John was but true to the best genius of his people when he made his
baptism represent, not simply an individual change, but a social fact—entrance into a
society prepared for the kingdom which was at hand. The “ baptism unto repentance
“ was also a baptism unto hope: as the first, it was the sign of a renounced past; as the
second, it was the symbol of a new future. The Baptist’s idea of this new future was
embodied in the phrase, “the kingdom of heaven.” He could indifferently say, “ The
kingdom of heaven is at hand,” and, “After me cometh One mightier than I.” He
loved indeed to contrast his own meanness and the King’s greatness. He was not
worthy to bear His sandals, to loose His shoe’s latchet. He was but the friend of the
Bridegroom; the Bridegroom was to come. He only baptized with water, the mighty
One who was coming would “baptize with the Holy Ghost and with fire.” (A. M.
Fairbairn, D. D.)
Humility the test of a great man
I believe the first test of a truly great man is his humility. I do not mean by humility
doubt of his own power, or hesitation of speaking his opinions; but a right
understanding of the relation between what he can do and say, and the rest of the
world’s sayings and doings. All great men act only know their business, but usually
know that they know it; and are not only right in their main opinions, but they
usually know that they are right in them, only they do not think much of themselves
on that account. Arnolfo knows he can build a good dome at Florence; Albert Durer
writes calmly to one who has found fault with his work, “It cannot be better done”;
Sir Isaac Newton knows that he has worked out a problem or two that would have
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132. puzzled anybody else; only they do not expect their fellow-men, therefore, to fall
down and worship them. They have a curious under-sense of powerlessness, feeling
that the greatness is not in them, but through them; that they could not do or be
anything else than God made them—and they see something Divine and God-made in
every other man they meet, and are endlessly, foolishly, incredibly merciful. (John
Ruskin.)
Humility beautifies
A just and reasonable modesty does not only recommend eloquence, but sets off
every great talent which a man can be possessed of. It heightens all the virtues which
it accompanies. Like the shades in paintings it raises and rounds every figure, and
makes the colours more beautiful, though not so glaring as they would be without.
(Addison.)
Adult and infant baptism
A river of baptism ought to be a river of death. You are baptized in the Jordan. How?
Need we then care how? As antiquarians we would like to know how John the
baptizer dealt with those who came to him: we would like to know whether they were
dipped in the stream, or whether water was poured upon them from the stream. But
now, ask your own conscientious affections whether the answer to this question,
spiritually, is worth one sixpence to us, or, at any rate, of special importance? It is
not. As antiquarians, it is very interesting to us, and we feel sure that if we knew the
outward literal truth, we should get some suggestion from it. But we know at least
this: the people that John baptized, and that disciples of Jesus baptized, were adults.
That is clear enough. Well, then, if at that time adults were baptized, surely
circumstances may occur again in which any rational person will allow that adults
may again be baptized. The truth is, that it was not man that invented infant-
baptism, but through the Lord God’s providence at, as we think, the suggestion of
His Spirit, that it arose. When people had been baptized, and children were born to
them, that they never would let grow up into the heathen state in which they
themselves had been when they were baptized, how natural that they should, by a
water-rite, adapted from the rite with which they were familiar, hallow these children
to the Lord God! What are we baptized for, by the Holy Spirit, into a new life, but
that our old life may perish? “I wish my old life,” a man may say,” to be taken from
me by the Jordan and carried down to the Dead Sea as soon as possible. Oh, let me
be utterly rid of it; let my God save me by the death of the old man and the
resurrection of the new.” All that is outward is of value only for its significance and
its suggestiveness. (T. T. Lynch.)
One mightier than I cometh
Expectation
And what is the man who, having no expectations, is always casting back his
thoughts into a retrospect? Almost universally a melancholy man. And what is the
man who sees nothing but the present? A drudge in his work, and a sensualist in his
pleasures. But what is the man who throws himself into that which is beyond him? At
least, an energetic man, and, if he be a Christian, a happy one. Have you never
observed that every one’s character is determined by what he is living up to? Why is
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133. the Mahommedan an idle and self-indulgent man? Because he lives up to a corporeal,
and indolent, and sensuous heaven. Why is the Brahmin a man of apathy? Because,
after all his transmigrations, he has nothing to expect—according to his creed—but
annihilation, absolute annihilation. Whydoes the believer grow holy and loving, but
because he is always realizing in his mind the heaven of holiness and love to which he
is going? Certainly, expectation is a duty. But God has done with this faculty of
expectation, what He has done with all the natural powers and habits of the human
mind—He has sanctified it, and elevated it. And this is the way God has done it—He
has thrown into it first, truth, then affection, and then great delight,so He has made
it hope. What is it? Expectation with desire. It is quite certain that God intended that
man should be ruled by hope. “The seed of the woman shall bruise the serpent’s
head.” Observe, at once, the mind was sent off into the future for its comfort. It was
the same with Abraham—he had nothing, he was to have everything. The Jews lived
by their prophecies. Nor less, but rather more, it is the key of the New Testament.
What the Messiah of Bethlehem was under the former dispensation, Christ made the
Holy Ghost to His disciples. Wait, wait till you receive the promises. And now what is
the aim, the consolation, the theme, the life of the whole Church, but the coming
back of her dear Lord? But what I wish you to notice in this long line of expectation
is, that the next thing in the succession is always greater and better than that which
preceded it. David’s reign was one appointed in the prospective; but David’s reign
was only the shadow of the higher empire of Christ. Zion’s power and beauty were
predicted; but chiefly as the type of the Church of the gospel. The gospel itself was
infinitely greater than all its foreshowing; Jesus was a greater prophet than Moses.
And we have Christ’s own warrant to say that the Holy Ghost was a larger gift to the
Church than even His own personal presence—more pervasive, more effective. And
then higher and higher still, in ranges where the mind loses itself in floods of glory,
the swelling tide rolls on and never stops. If you could read it so, brethren, whenever
anything happy comes to you—an answered prayer, a gift of God—you may always
hear it—saying, “I am only a pledge of something else; there is something better than
I am behind.” “One mightier than I cometh.” Why it should have pleased God to
place everything in such a scale of ever-ascending grandeur and goodness, we can
only faintly glimpse. But, assuredly, it is always exalting Him in His unapproachable
height, while it is always humbling us in our sense of ignorance and preparation. (J.
Vaughan, M. A.)
The latchet of whose shoes
Loosing the shoe-latchet
I. NO FORM OF HOLY SERVICE IS TO BE LIGHTLY SET BY.
1. Little works for Christ, little shoe-bearings and latchet-loosings, often have
more of the child’s spirit in them than greater works. Outside, in the streets, a
man’s companion will do him a kindness, and the action performed is friendly;
but for filial acts you must look inside the house. There the child does not lend
money to its father, or negotiate business, yet in his little acts there is more
sonship. Who is it that comes to meet father when the day is over? and what is
the action which often indicates childhood’s love? See the little child come
tottering forward with father’s slippers, and run away with his boots as he puts
them off. The service is little, but it is loving and filial, and has more of filial
affection in it than the servants bringing in the meal, or preparing the bed, or any
other more essential service. It gives the little one great pleasure, and expresses
his love. So also in little acts for Jesus.
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134. 2. In little acts for Christ it is always to be remembered that the little things are as
necessary to be done as the greater acts. If Christ’s feet be not washed, if His
sandals be not unloosed, He may suffer and His feet may be lamed, so that a
journey may be shortened, and many villages may miss the blessing of His
presence. So with other minor things. We remember the old story of the losing of
the battle through the missing of a single nail in a horse-shoe, and peradventure
up to this moment the Church may have lost her battle for Christ, because some
minor work which ought to have been done for Jesus has been neglected. Many a
cart comes to grief through inattention to the linch-pin. A very small matter turns
an arrow aside from the target. Human destiny often turns upon a hinge so small
as to be invisible. Never say within yourself, “ This is trivial.” Nothing is trivial for
the Lord. Never say, “ But this surely might be omitted without much loss.” How
knowest thou? If it be thy duty, He who allotted thee thy task knew what He did.
Do not thou in any measure neglect any portion of His orders, for in all His
commands there is consummate wisdom, and on thy part it will be wisdom to
obey them, even to the jots and tittles.
3. Little things for Christ are often the best tests of the truth of our religion.
Obedience in little things has much to do with the character of a servant. In small
things lie the crucibles and the touchstones. The Goldsmiths’ Hall mark is a small
affair, but you know true silver by 2:4. Mark also with regard to little works, that
very often there is about them a degree of personal fellowship with Christ which
is not seen in greater work. The smallest act of service done for Christ has an
importance all its own.
5. God accepts our worship in little things. He cares no less for the turtledove
offering than for the sacrifice of bullocks and rams.
II. OUR OWN UNWORTHINESS. We are sure to feel this when we come practically
into contact with any real Christian service. Let a man begin earnestly to work for the
Lord Jesus, and he will soon find out that he is unworthy of the meanest place in the
employ of one so gracious.
1. When we recollect what we used to be.
2. When we recollect what we are.
3. Have we not to confess, in looking upon what we have done for Christ, that we
have far too much eye to self in our conduct?
4. Because, when we have gone to the lowest, Jesus always goes lower down than
we have done.
III. THIS OUGHT TO STIMULATE, NOT DISCOURAGE US. Since I do so badly
when I do my best, I will always do my utmost. Since it comes to so little when the
most is done, I will at least do the most. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
Latchet
The sandals were of hard leather, and were fastened on with straps; the leather of
which was doubtless then, as now, the skin of the camel or hyena. (E. Stapfer, D. D.)
He shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire
The promise of a baptism of fire
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135. When John the Baptist was going round Judaea, shaking the hearts of the people
with a call to repent, they said, “Surely this must be the Messiah for whom we have
waited so long.” “No,” said the strong-spoken man, “I am not; the Christ but One
mightier than I cometh; He shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire.” This
last expression might have conveyed some idea of material burning to any people but
Jews; but in their minds it would awaken other thoughts. It would recall the scene
when their father Abraham asked Him who promised that he should inherit the land,
“Lord, whereby shall I know that I shall inherit it?” The answer came thus: he was
standing under the open sky at night, watching by chosen sacrifices, when, “Behold a
smoking furnace,” &c. (Gen_15:17). It would recall the fire which Moses saw in the
bush; the fire which came in the day of Israel’s deliverance, as a light on their way;
the fire which descended on the Tabernacle; which shone in the Shekinah; which
touched the lips of Isaiah; which flamed in the visions of Ezekiel; and which was
again promised to Zion, not only in her public, but in her family, shrines, when “the
Lord will create upon every dwelling-place of Mount Zion, and upon all her
assemblies, a cloud and smoke by day, and the shining of a flaming fire by night.” In
the promise of a baptism of fire they would at once recognize the approach of new
manifestations of the power and presence of God; for that was ever the purport of
this appearance in “the days of the right hand of the Most High.” (W. Arthur, M. A.)
The baptism of the Spirit
I. NATURE OF THE BAPTISM PROMISED. John’s baptism was introductory and
transitional; Christ’s was to be spiritual, quickening, and searching. Apparent
mixture of metaphors. “Baptism means cleansing, and fire means warmth. How can
warmth cleanse? No heart is pure that is not passionate, no virtue safe that is not
enthusiastic. And such an enthusiastic virtue (and much more) Christ came to
introduce.” The baptism of the Holy Ghost and of fire comes upon all—either for
sanctification or destruction, according to the way in which it is received.
II. THE NEED OF SUCH A BAPTISM.
1. It was needed in the time of John. What was wanted was a moral power that
should at once
(1) Enlighten;
(2) Convince;
(3) Convert;
(4) Inspire with well-founded hope.
2. Such a baptism is needed now.
(1) In the Church;
(2) In the world.
III. THE ONLY SOURCE WHENCE SUCH A BAPTISM COULD COME.
1. From heaven.
2. Through Christ.
IV. THE BAPTISM BESTOWED. On the day of Pentecost there was the baptism of
the Holy Ghost. The world received a new life. There was also the baptism of fire in
the destruction of Jerusalem, and the overthrow of Rome. Every genuine revival a
baptism of the Holy Ghost. Every time of sore national distress or humiliation a
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136. baptism of fire.
V. A PERSONAL QUESTION. Have we been baptized by the Spirit? Such a baptism
is—
1. Needful.
2. Possible. Test: Are we bringing forth the fruits of the Spirit? Gal_5:22-23.)
VI. A PRESSING DUTY. To pray for the baptism of the Spirit, on ourselves, on the
whole Church of God, and on the world.
VII. A WORD OF WARNING. There will be a baptism of fire for individuals and
nations that despise the warnings of the Spirit. (E. W. Wilson.)
The Spirit’s Baptism
Baptism of the Spirit.
(1) Of truth, to enlighten us;
(2) of power, to renew;
(3) of grace, to comfort;
(4) of love, to unite. (W. H. Van Doren, D. D.)
Inward fire
For us to be baptized with the Holy Ghost is to be baptized with fire. The existence
within us of false tendency and proclivity makes it a flame. Once let it fall on us, and
straightway there is turmoil; straightway some hot work begins. Here is a man wholly
at ease and quiet in a pleasant paradise—though it be a fool’s paradise of self-content
and free self-gratification; but a breath from on high stirs in him at last, a breath of
higher impulse and inspiration; and now a struggle sets in, in which the soul sways to
and fro, and burnings of remorse and repentance are suffered, with daily self-
reprovings and self-crucifixions. The man is no longer at peace with himself, but in a
great heat of controversy; no longer a tranquil universe, but a troubled conjunction of
antagonisms. His life becomes, as the Scripture represents it, “a battle,” “a warfare.”
A fire of discontent is kindled within him; there rages in him the flame of a conflict
between the Spirit and the flesh. When Christ began of old to baptize with the Holy
Ghost, it was a baptism of fire. And even so is it still. The stirring within man of the
better self, of the Spirit from above, is invariably more or less with “confused noise
and garments rolled in blood.” Our God, when He touches us, is a “consuming fire.”
Not out of Christ, as we have it explained sometimes, but in Christ; for from the God
in Christ proceeds the Spirit; and where the Spirit breathes in human breasts there is
burning. (S. A. Tipple.)
Fire purifies everything
Louis XIV. had granted a pardon to a nobleman who had committed some very great
crime. M. Voisin, the Chancellor, ran to him in his closet, and exclaimed, “Sire, you
cannot pardon a person in the situation of M—.” “I have promised him,” replied” the
King, who was ever impatient of contradiction; “go and fetch the great seal.” “But,
sire—.” “Pray, sir, do as I order you.” The Chancellor returns with the seals; Louis
136

137. applies them himself to the instrument containing the pardon, and gives them again
to the Chancellor. “They are polluted now, sire,” exclaims the intrepid and excellent
magistrate, pushing them from him on the table; “I cannot take them again.” “What
an impracticable man!” cries the monarch, and throws the pardon into the fire. “I will
now, sire, take them again,” said the Chancellor; “ the fire, you know, purifies
everything.” (Baxendale’s Anecdotes.)
John’s baptism inferior to Christ’s
The inferiority of the baptism of John to Christian baptism is declared by the holy
Baptist himself. This difference (water … Holy Ghost) he alleges as the proof of his
own inferiority to his Lord, and as resulting from it. This difference our Lord also
inculcated (Act_1:11), when He instituted His own baptism. The baptism of John was
preparatory, the Baptism of Christ perfective; the baptism of John invited to
repentance, the Baptism of Christ gave grace upon repentance; the baptism of John
stood on the confines of the promised land, was allowed to see it, led men to the
borders of it, guided them to it, but itself brought them not into it; higher than the
law, as he whose baptism it was, was greater than any born of the sons of men, yet
less also than the least in the kingdom of heaven; greater than the baptisms of the
law, as being nearer to the Redeemer, but yet restrained within the precursorial
office, still a shadow of the good things to come, not the reality itself, though brought
so near to the Sun of Righteousness as all but to be kindled with His beams, as all but
to convey that which could only be conveyed by Him in whom alone, as being God as
well as man, we could be reborn as sons of God; who alone shed His precious blood
for the sins of the whole world, and in baptism washes and cleanser His Church with
it. (E. B.Pusey, D. D.)
17 His winnowing fork is in his hand to clear his
threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his
barn, but he will burn up the chaff with
unquenchable fire.”
SBC, “Judaism and Christianity.
Christ came and hewed out for the waters of the old Judaism a new and fitting
channel. He led it away from the political groove where it would have been destroyed
by uniting it with a spiritual kingdom. He added to it other and deeper thoughts.
Instead of saying that Christ caused a revolution which put back the progress of the
world, we should say that He saved the revolution which was necessary from the
violence which would have brought about its ruin; that He saved it from having to be
done all over again; as, to give a political illustration, has been the case with the
French Revolution. What now were the characteristics of the revolution?
I. It was destructive. Christ saw that the time had come, that the whole world of Jews
and heathens was so choked up with chaff that a slow process would be ruin. He
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138. seized the moment, He accepted its dangers, and He sent forth ideas which flew
along like flame, consuming, destroying, but also assimilating. "The chaff He burned
up with unquenchable fire."
II. But if Christianity was destructive as a revolution it was also preservative. If Christ
sent forth ideas which consumed the chaff, He sent them forth also to gather the
wheat into His garner. No noble feelings or true thought, either in Judaism or in
heathenism, perished. They were taken up and woven into the new fabric.
III. Its third element was a civilising power. Neither Greek science nor Roman
culture had power to spread beyond themselves. Rome did not try to civilise in the
right way. Instead of drawing forth the native energies of conquered nations, it
imposed on them from without the Roman education. It tried to turn them into
Romans. The Christian teachers reversed the Roman mode of proceeding. Hence the
peculiar character of any nation was not lost in Christianity, but so far as it was good
developed and intensified. The people grew naturally into their distinctive place in
the world.
S. A. Brooke, Christ in Modern Life, p. 47.
COFFMAN, "Israel was the Lord's threshing-floor; the wheat to be gathered
into the granary was the true spiritual seed who would accept Christ and be
saved. The chaff represented the unbelievers who would reject and crucify the
Lord. The unquenchable fire is a metaphor for the everlasting punishment which
shall be meted out to the wicked. Although, in this first context, Israel is the
portion of humanity in focus, the teaching here is actually to all men of all ages,
regardless of race or any other human distinction.
18 And with many other words John exhorted
the people and proclaimed the good news to
them.
GILL, "And many other thing's,.... Relating to the person and office of the
Messiah, to the nature of his kingdom, the Gospel dispensation, and to faith in him;
for he pointed him out to the people, and exhorted them to believe in him, and
expressed much joy and pleasure on the hearing of his success and increase; and
these, with others beside, in his "exhortation", or whilst he was
exhorting, or "comforting",
preached he unto the people: publishing the Gospel, the good news, and glad
tidings of the Messiah's being come, and of life, righteousness, and salvation by him.
HENRY, “The evangelist concludes his account of John's preaching with an et
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139. caetera (Luk_3:18): Many other things in his exhortation preached he unto the
people, which are not recorded. First, John was an affectionate preacher. He was
parakalōn - exhorting, beseeching; he pressed things home upon his hearers, followed
his doctrine close, as one in earnest. Secondly, He was a practical preacher. Much of
his preaching was exhortation, quickening them to their duty, directing them in it,
and not amusing them with matters of nice speculation. Thirdly, He was a popular
preacher. Though he had scribes and Pharisees, men of polite learning, attending his
ministry, and Sadducees, men of free thought, as they pretended, yet he addressed
himself to the people, pros ton laon - to the laity, and accommodated himself to their
capacity, as promising himself best success among them. Fourthly, He was an
evangelical preacher, for so the word here used signifies, euēngelizeto - he preached
the gospel to the people; in all his exhortations, he directed people to Christ, and
excited and encouraged their expectations of him. When we press duty upon people,
we must direct them to Christ, both for righteousness and strength. Fifthly, He was a
copious preacher: Many other things he preached, polla men kai hetera - many things,
and different. He preached a great deal, shunned not to declare the whole counsel of
God; and he varied in his preaching, that those who were not reached, and touched,
and wrought upon, by one truth, might be by another.
JAMISON, "many other things, etc. — such as we read in Joh_1:29, Joh_
1:33, Joh_1:34; Joh_3:27-36. (Also see on Mat_3:12.)
COFFMAN, "THE CONCLUSION OF JOHN'S MINISTRY
This concluded John's ministry, Luke not pausing to recount the story of John's
death; but there is a suggestion in this account which reveals Herod's treatment
of John as the worst of all his crimes.
With many other exhortations ... Luke gave only a brief summary of John's
message, but it is sufficient.
Characteristic of Luke's writings is his pursuit of the narrative about John to its
conclusion and then returning to relate a significant event which took place
somewhat earlier.
COKE, "Luke 3:18. Preached he— ‫ֵץחדדוכיזופן‬, He evangelized, or preached as
an evangelist. See Luke 2:10. It is observable, that in the parallel place; Matthew
3:1 the word ‫ךחסץףףשם‬ is used, which implies the notice given by Christ's herald,
who is sent before to make preparation for his prince, and to announce his
approach. Dr. Doddridge renders and paraphrases the present verse thus: and
offering many other exhortations to them, to the same effect, he published to the
people these glad tidings of the Messiah's approach, and endeavoured to prepare
them to receive him in a proper manner. Dr. Heylin renders it, And with many
other exhortations, he preached the gospel to the people: for, says he, the
doctrine of a second baptism, or purification, &c. is purely evangelical.
BURKITT, "Observe here, 1. In John the Baptist the character of a zealous and
faithful minister of the gospel: he is one that deals plainly, and durst tell the
139

140. greatest persons of their faults. Herod, though a king, is reproved by him for his
adultery and incest. The crown and sceptre of Herod could not daunt the faithful
messenger of God. There ought to meet in the ministers of Christ both courage,
and impartiality; courage in fearing no faces, and impartiality in sparing no sins.
Observe, 2. Who it was that imprisoned and beheaded the holy Baptist: Herod a
king. How sad is it when kings, who should be nursing-fathers to the church, do
prove the bloody butchers of the prophets of God. Many of the severest
persecutions which the ministers of God have fallen under, have been occasioned
by their telling great men of their crimes. Men in power are impatient of reproof,
and imagine that their authority gives them a license to transgress.
Observe, 3. The heinous aggravations of this sin in Herod: He added this to all
his other sins, that he shut up John in prison. This evidenced him incorrigible
and irreclaimable. John had preached before Herod, and Herod had heard John
with some delight; but he had a darling lust, which occasioned his destruction.
Learn hence, that hypocrites may hear the word with some pleasure, and do
many things with some delight, but they have always some beloved lust that must
be spared; they will neither part with it, nor bear reproof for it. Herod sticks not
to cut off that head, whose tongue was so bold as to reprove him for his lusts.
BENSON, "Luke 3:18-20. And many other things preached he unto the
people — In this manner did John inculcate the doctrine of repentance, and
declare his Master’s greatness. But his sermons were not confined to these
matters. He discoursed also on many other important subjects, according as he
knew they would be profitable to his hearers. But Herod the tetrarch, being
reproved by him, &c. — In the whole course of John’s ministry he showed great
integrity and courage, but especially in his intercourse with Herod the tetrarch,
who, it seems, had heard him, and admitted him into conversation; for he was so
bold as to address the tetrarch on the subject of his favourite sins, particularly
his adultery with Herodias. This he represented to him in its true colours, and
reproved him for it. But the effect of his exhortation was not what it ought to
have been. It did not bring Herod to repentance. On the contrary, it so provoked
him, that he cast the Baptist into prison, and thereby put an end to his ministry,
after it had lasted a considerable time. This circumstance, though it happened
after, is here mentioned before our Lord’s baptism, that his history (that of John
being concluded) might then follow without any interruption.
CONSTABLE, "John's preaching was also positive. He preached good news to
the people (Gr. laos, a potentially responsive group) as well as warning them of
coming judgment.
"John illustrates how the proclaimer of the Word should perform his task. The
preacher must bear good news as well as news that exposes sin. Some preachers
in the past tended to emphasize sin so much that one wondered where grace
might be found. Today our problem is the opposite: being able to confront
people with their accountability and culpability before God." [Note: Ibid., Luke,
p. 117.]
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141. BI, “He shut up John in prison
Herod Antipas
The view here given of the character, conduct, and history of Herod Antipas is full of
matter for awful reflection and serious admonition.
1. The mysteriousness of the ways of Providence. That a man so worthless should
be permitted to cut short the labours and the life of so holy and useful a
character, and that, too, in order to gratify the revenge of an abandoned
adulteress, and to reward the vain exhibition of a giddy damsel, must, no doubt,
at first appear strange. Yet the anger of God overtook: he persecutors before they
left this world; and as for the holy sufferer, his work was done; and it was easy for
his Lord to recompense to him his temporal sorrows a hundredfold in the world
of glory.
2. The danger of power without grace. It is common to wish for power, and to
envy those in whose hands it is; but when it is held without principle, it is fraught
with peril, not only to those over whom it is exercised, but to those by whom it is
possessed. They are generally borne away by the temptations which it presents to
the gratification of caprice, luxury, covetousness, oppression, revenge, and every
evil passion; and however prosperous their career may seem for a season, their
end is generally destruction, and their memory is abhorred.
3. What is sin in the meanest is also sin in the highest. The judgment of God is
impartial, and in every case He will render to each according to his deeds.
4. An awful commentary on human depravity.
5. The dreadful consequences which often result from the violation of the seventh
commandment, and from intemperance.
6. We should learn to take reproof in good part. Well had it been for Herod if he
had submitted to John’s rebuke and acted on it.
7. Sin, when pointed out, must be renounced. This man reverenced John, and yet
lived and died in sin. Let us not do as he did. (James Foote, M. A.)
John’s rebuke of Herod
The life of John the Baptist divides itself into three distinct periods. Of the first, we
are told that he was in the deserts until his showing unto Israel. This period lasted
thirty years. The second is a shorter one. It comprises the few months of his public
ministry. In the third we are to consider him as the tenant of a compelled solitude, in
the dungeon of a capricious tyrant. A rare man, one of God’s heroic ones, a true
conqueror; one whose life and motives it is hard to understand without feeling
warmly and enthusiastically about them. One of the very highest characters, rightly
understood, of all the Bible. In the verse which is to serve us for our guidance on this
subject there are two branches which will afford us fruit of contemplation.
I. THE TRUTHFULNESS OF CHRISTIAN CHARACTER. “Herod being reproved by
John for Herodias.” There are three things we remark in this truthfulness of John.
1. Its straightforwardness.
141

142. 2. Its unconsciousness.
3. Its unselfishness.
II. THE APPARENT FAILURE OF CHRISTIAN LIFE. “Shut up John in prison.” The
first thought which suggests itself is that a magnificent career is cut short too soon.
At the very outset of ripe and experienced manhood the whole thing ends in failure.
John’s day of active usefulness is over. The crowds that listened to his voice, we hear
of them no more. Herod heard John gladly, did much good by reason of his
influence. What was all that worth? The prophet comes to himself in a dungeon, and
wakes to the conviction, that his influence had told much in the way of commanding
attention, and even winning reverence, but very little in the way of gaining souls-the
bitterest, the most crushing discovery in the whole circle of ministerial experience.
All this was seeming failure. And this, brethren, is the picture of almost all human
life. In the isolation of John’s dying hour there appears failure again. The martyr of
truth dies privately in Herod’s dungeon. We have no record of his last words. There
were no crowds to look on. We cannot describe how he received his sentence. Was he
calm? Was he agitated? Did he bless his murderer? Did he give utterance to any deep
reflections on human life? All that is shrouded in silence. He bowed his head, and the
sharp stroke fell flashing down. We know that, we know no more—apparently a noble
life abortive. And now—
III. Let us ask the question—WAS ALL THIS INDEED FAILURE? NO, it was
sublimest victory. John’s work was no failure. He left behind him no sect to which he
had given his name, but his disciples passed into the service of Christ, and were
absorbed in the Christian Church. Words from John had made impressions, and men
forgot in after years where the impressions first came from, but the day of judgment
will not forget. John laid the foundations of a temple, and others built upon it. He
laid it in struggle, in martyrdom. It was covered up like the rough masonry below
ground, but when we look round on the vast Christian Church, we are looking at the
superstructure of John’s toil. There is a lesson for us all in that, if we will learn it.
Work, true work, done honestly and manfully for Christ, never can be a failure. We
are treading upon a bridge of martyrs. The suffering was theirs—the victory is ours.
IV. In conclusion, we make three remarks.
1. Let young and ardent minds, under the first impressions of religion, beware
how they pledge themselves by any open profession to more than they can
perform.
2. We get from this subject the doctrine of a resurrection. John’s life was
hardness, his end was agony. Be content to feel that this world is not your home.
Homeless upon earth; try more and more to make your home in heaven, above
with Christ.
3. Devotedness to Christ is our only blessedness. (F. W. Robertson, M. A.)
John Baptist’s imprisonment
Josephus gives some interesting particulars respecting the imprisonment and
murder of the Baptist, which are not supplied in the gospel history. Herod Antipas,
son of Herod the Great, was at that time tetrarch of Galilee and Peraea, and had
married the daughter of Aretas, an Arabian king, whose territories abutted on his
own. When he was at Rome, however, he stayed at the house of his half-brother
Philip, whose wife Herodias he conceived a passion for. Antipas made known his
passion, and Herodias readily enough consented to leave Philip and go with him. The
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143. daughter of Aretas was divorced, and Herodias duly installed in her place. John the
Baptist had the courage to denounce this infamous marriage; and by and by Herod
Antipas, under pretence that he feared John’s popularity with the multitude might
lead to disturbances, apprehended and imprisoned him. John was sent to
Machaerus, or M’Khaur, on the eastern side of the Dead Sea, where Herod had both a
city and fortress. The site and ruins of Machaerus were identified by Canon Tristram
in his visit to the Land of Moab in 1872. It was from this spot, then, that John sent
two of his disciples to Christ to ask, “Art Thou He that should come?” And it was here
that Salome, the daughter of Herodias, danced before Antipas, and won for her
infamous mother the head of John the Baptist. (Biblical Things Not Generally
Known.)
John like Elijah
As the first Elijah reproved King Ahab for the murder of Naboth and the seizure of
his vineyard, so the second Elijah rebuked King Herod for his lust. (W. Bull.)
Reproving a king
Dr. Hickington, chaplain to Charles II., used to preach at the king’s vices. This the
king took to himself; and so, one day, he said, “Doctor, you and I ought to be better
friends; give up being so sharp on me, and see if I don’t mend on your hand.” “Well,
well,” quoth the doctor, “I’ll make it up with your Majesty on these terms: as you
mend, I’ll mend.”
The king reproved
It is said that Henry the Great of France took much pleasure in conversing with an
honest and religious man of low situation in life, who used great freedom with his
Majesty. One day he said to the king, “Sire, I always take your part when I hear any
man speaking evil of you; I know that you excel in justice and generosity, and that
many worthy things have been done by you. But you have one vice for which God will
condemn you, if you do not repent—I mean the unlawful love of women.” The king, it
is said, was too magnanimous to resent this reproof, but he long felt it like an arrow
in his bosom; and sometimes said that the most eloquent discourses of the doctors of
the Sorbonne had never made such an impression on his soul as this honest reproof
from his humble friend.
Excommunicating a prince
William IX., Duke of Aquitaine and Earl of Polctiers, was a violent and dissolute
prince, and often indulged himself in improper behaviour at the expense of religion.
Though he had contracted a very suitable marriage, and one with which he was
satisfied for some time, he parted from his wife without reason, to marry another
who pleased him better. The Bishop of Polctiers, by name Peter, could not brook so
great a scandal; and having employed all other means in vain, he thought it his duty
to excommunicate the duke. As he began to pronounce the anathema, William
furiously advanced, sword in hand, saying, “Thou art dead if thou proceedest.” The
bishop, as if afraid, required a few moments to consider what was most expedient.
The duke granted it, and the bishop courageously finished the rest of the formula of
excommunication. After which, extending his neck, “Now, strike,” said he, “I am
quite ready.” The astonishment which this intrepid conduct produced in the duke
disarmed his fury, and saying, ironically, “I don’t like you well enough to send you to
143

144. heaven,” he contented himself with banishing him.
Moral courage
Dr. Harris, the minister of Hanwell, during the Civil Wars, frequently had military
officers quartered at his house. A party of them, being unmindful of the reverence
due to the holy name of God, indulged themselves in swearing. The doctor noticed
this, and on the following Sunday preached from these words—“Above all things, my
brethren, swear not.” This so enraged the soldiers, who judged the sermon was
intended for them, that they swore they would shoot him if he preached on the
subject again. He was not, however, to be intimidated; and, on the following Sunday,
he not only preached from the same text, but inveighed in still stronger terms against
the vice of swearing. As he was preaching a soldier levelled his carabine at him; but
he went on to the conclusion of his sermon, without the slightest fear or hesitation.
19 But when John rebuked Herod the tetrarch
because of his marriage to Herodias, his
brother’s wife, and all the other evil things he
had done,
BARNES, "See the notes at Mat_14:1-13. “Added this above all.” To all his former
crimes he added this; not implying that this was the “worst” of his acts, but that this
was “one” of his deeds, of like character as the others. The event here mentioned did
not take place until some time after this, but it is mentioned here to show what was
the end of John’s preaching, or to “fill out” the account concerning him.
CLARKE, "Herod the tetrarch - See this subject explained at large, Mat_14:1
(note), etc., and Mar_6:21, Mar_6:23 (note).
GILL, "But Herod the tetrarch being reproved by him,.... By John, as the
Syriac, Arabic, and Persic versions add:
for Herodias his brother Philip's wife; for taking her to wife, whilst his brother
Philip was living. The account, which the Jewish chronologer (x) gives, of this Herod,
and of this fact of his, and John's reproving him for it, and the consequence of it,
perfectly agrees with this of the evangelist.
"Herod Antipater, and there are some that call him, ‫טיטרקי‬ "the tetrarch", was a son
of Herod the first, and brother of Archelaus'; and he was the third king of the family
of Herod; and he was very wicked, and a destroying man: many of the wise men of
Israel he slew with the sword; and he took the wife of his brother Philip, whilst he
was alive, to himself for wife; and John, the high priest, because ‫,הוכיחו‬ "he reproved
him" for this, he slew him with the sword, with many of the wise men of Israel.''
144

145. And John reproved him not only for this sin, but others:
and for all the evils which Herod had done; his revellings, debaucheries,
murders, &c. all which John, in great faithfulness, and with much freedom, told him
and rebuked him for: for Herod had had a particular respect for him, and often had
him with him, and heard him gladly, when John had an opportunity of speaking
personally to him.
HENRY, “III. How full a stop was put to John's preaching. When he was in the
midst of his usefulness, going on thus successfully, he was imprisoned by the malice
of Herod (Luk_3:19, Luk_3:20): Herod the tetrarch being reproved by him, not only
for living in incest with his brother Philip's wife, but for the many other evils which
Herod had done (for those that are wicked in one instance are commonly so in many
others), he could not bear it, but contracted an antipathy to him for his plain dealing,
and added this wickedness to all the rest, which was indeed above all, that he shut up
John in prison, put that burning and shining light under a bushel. Because he could
not bear his reproofs, others should be deprived of the benefit of his instructions and
counsels. Some little good he might do to those who had access to him, when he was
in prison; but nothing to what he might have done if he had had liberty to go about
all the country, as he had done. We cannot think of Herod's doing this without the
greatest compassion and lamentation, nor of God's permitting it without admiring
the depth of the divine counsels, which we cannot account for. Must he be silenced
who is the voice of one crying in the wilderness? Must such a preacher be shut up in
prison who ought to have been set up in the courts of the temple? But thus the faith
of his disciples must be tried; thus the unbelief of those who rejected him must be
punished; thus he must be Christ's forerunner in suffering as well as preaching; and
thus, having been for about a year and a half preparing people for Christ, he must
now give way to him, and, the Sun being risen, the morning-star must of course
disappear.
JAMISON, "But Herod, etc. — See on Mar_6:14, etc. (Also see on Mat_3:12.)
and for all the evils which Herod had done — important fact here only
mentioned, showing how thoroughgoing was the fidelity of the Baptist to his royal
hearer, and how strong must have been the workings of conscience in that slave of
passion when, notwithstanding such plainness, he “did many things and heard John
gladly” (Mar_6:20, Mar_6:26).
CALVIN, "Luke 3:19.Now Herod the tetrarch. Luke alone explains the reason
why Herod threw John into prison: though we shall afterwards find it mentioned
by Matthew 14:3, and Mark 6:17. Josephus says, (Ant. 18, v. 2,) that Herod,
dreading a popular insurrection and a change of the government, shut up John
in the castle of Macherus, (because he dreaded the man’s influence;) (318) and
that Herodias was married, not to Philip, who was Salome’s husband, but to
another Herod. But as his recollection appears to have failed him in this matter,
and as he mentions also Philip’s death out of its proper place, the truth of the
history will be obtained, with greater certainty, from the Evangelists, and we
must abide by their testimony. (319) It is well known, that Herod, though he had
been married to a daughter of Aretas, King of Arabia, fell in love with Herodias,
his niece, and carried her off by fraud. This injury might possibly enough
remain unrevenged by his brother Philip, to whom the same Josephus bears
testimony, that he was a person of a mild and gentle disposition, (18:4:6.)
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146. This history shows clearly, what sort of reward awaits the faithful and honest
ministers of the truth, particularly when they reprove vices: for scarcely one in a
hundred bears reproof, and if it is at all severe, they break out into fury. If pride
of this sort displays itself in some of the common people, we have no reason to
wonder, that cruelty to reprovers assumes a more hideous form in tyrants, (320)
who brook nothing worse than to be classed with other men. We behold in John
an illustrious example of that moral courage, which all pious teachers ought to
possess, not to hesitate to incur the wrath of the great and powerful, as often as it
may be found necessary: for he, with whom there is acceptance of persons, does
not honestly serve God. When Luke says, he added this to all the evil actions
which he did, he means, that Herod’s malice is become desperate, and has
reached its utmost height, when the sinner is enraged by remedies, and not only
refuses correction, but takes vengeance on his adviser, as if he had been his
enemy.
BARCLAY, "THE ARREST OF JOHN (Luke 3:19-20)
3:19-20 So then, urging the people with many other pleas, John preached the
gospel to them. But, when Herod the tetrarch was rebuked by him concerning
the matter of Herodias, his brother's wife, and concerning all the other wicked
things he had done, he added this also to them all--he shut up John in prison.
John was so plain and blunt a preacher of righteousness that he was bound to
run into trouble. In the end Herod arrested him. Josephus says that the reason
for the arrest was that Herod "feared lest the great influence John had over the
people might put it in his power and inclination to raise a rebellion; for they
seemed ready to do anything he should advise." That is no doubt true but the
New Testament writers give a much more personal and immediate cause. Herod
Antipas had married Herodias and John rebuked him for it.
The relationships involved in this marriage are extremely complicated. Herod
the Great was a much-married man. Herod Antipas, who married Herodias and
who arrested John, was the son of Herod the Great by a woman called Malthake.
Herodias herself was the daughter of Aristobulus, who was the son of Herod the
Great by Mariamne, commonly called the Hasmonean. As we have seen, Herod
had divided up his realm between Archelaus, Herod Antipas and Herod Philip.
He had another son, also called Herod, who was his son by another Mariamne,
the daughter of a high priest. This Herod had no share in his father's realms and
lived as a private citizen in Rome; he married Herodias. He was in fact her half-
uncle, because her father (Aristobulus) and he were both sons of Herod by
different wives. Herod Antipas, on a visit to Rome, seduced her from his half-
brother and married her. She was at one and the same time his sister-in-law,
because she was married to his half-brother, and his niece because she was the
daughter of Aristobulus, another half-brother.
The whole proceeding was utterly revolting to Jewish opinion and quite contrary
to Jewish law, and indeed improper by any standard. It was a dangerous thing to
rebuke an eastern tyrant, but John did so. The result was that he was arrested
and imprisoned in the dungeon castle of Machaerus on the shores of the Dead
146

147. Sea. There could be no greater cruelty than to take this child of the desert and
shut him up in a dungeon cell. Ultimately he was beheaded to gratify the
resentment of Herodias (Matthew 14:5-12; Mark 6:17-29).
It is always dangerous to speak the truth; and yet although the man who allies
himself with the truth may end in jail or on the scaffold, in the final count he is
the victor. Once the Earl of Morton, who was regent of Scotland, threatened
Andrew Melville, the reformer. "There will never," he slid menacingly. "be
quietness in this country till half a dozen of you be hanged or banished." Melville
answered him, "Tush! sir. Threaten not your courtiers in that fashion. It is the
same to me whether I rot in the air or in the ground ... God be glorified, it will
not lie in your power to hang nor exile his truth." Plato once said that the wise
man will always choose to suffer wrong rather than to do wrong. We need only
ask ourselves whether in the last analysis and at the final assize we would prefer
to be Herod Antipas or John the Baptist.
CONSTABLE, "3. The end of John's ministry 3:19-20
Luke concluded his account of John's ministry before he began to narrate Jesus'
ministry. This arrangement of material allowed Luke to continue comparing and
contrasting the ministries of the two men. [Note: C. Talbert, "The Lukan
Presentation of Jesus' Ministry in Galilee," Review and Expositor 64 (1967):490.]
One writer argued that Luke took John out of the scene before introducing Jesus
to minimize John's importance for the baptist sectarians of Luke's day (cf. Acts
19:1-7). [Note: Richard J. Erickson, "The Jailing of John and the Baptism of
Jesus: Luke 3:19-21," Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society 36:4
(December 1993):455-66.]
"John's prophetic call, his ministry in fulfillment of Scripture, his preaching to
all classes in society, his falling foul of Herod, and his ultimate fate all have their
counterparts in the career of Jesus." [Note: Marshall, The Gospel . . ., pp.
148-49. Cf. H. Flender, St Luke: Theologian of Redemptive History, p. 22.]
John's stern words about sin led to his arrest and imprisonment by Herod
Antipas. Matthew and Mark recorded a longer account of what happened
(Matthew 14:4-12; Mark 6:17-29). Luke recorded references to John's death
later (Luke 9:7-9; Luke 9:19-20). Here he stressed John's boldness and the
sickness of the society that he confronted. John probably began his ministry in
A.D. 29 and remained free for one year. The next two years he was in prison, and
he died in A.D. 32. [Note: Martin, p. 212.]
SIMEON, "THE IMPRISONMENT OF JOHN
Luke 3:19-20. Herod the tetrarch, being reproved by him for Herodias, his
brother Philip’s wife, and for all the evils which Herod had done, added yet this
above all, that he shut up John in prison.
THE inspired volume, when considered only as containing a history of other ages
and other nations, is read rather for the purpose of informing the mind, than of
benefiting the heart; and hence it produces comparatively little effect even on
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148. those who are most conversant with its contents. But the true light in which it
should be regarded is, as a history of man, to whatever age or nation he may
belong. It is a mirror, that reflects the human heart in all its dispositions, and in
all its actings: and, when viewed in this light, it acquires a ten-fold greater
importance, because it exhibits us to ourselves, and makes us the actors in all
that is done.
In reading an account of John the Baptist, and of his imprisonment by Herod, we
feel but little interest, except as we condemn the licentiousness of Herod, and
commiserate the fate of his faithful monitor. But if we would divest ourselves of
the idea that it passed many centuries ago, and consider the transaction as
having recently occurred in our own neighbourhood, we should almost of
necessity be led to contemplate it in a more general view, and to notice in it the
power and malignity of sin. It is in that view that I propose to call your attention
to it at this time.
Let us take occasion then to remark from it,
I. The power of sin—
Wonderful indeed is its power to blind, to enslave, to harden all in whom it
dwells—
1. It blinds—
[Herod could not but know, that it was wrong for him to take his brother
Philip’s wife. Yet doubtless he contrived by some vain excuses to justify it to
himself. And thus it is that every sinner deludes himself. In some cases, he denies
the criminality of his actions altogether, “calling evil good, and good evil, and
putting darkness for light, and light for darkness [Note: Isaiah 5:20.].” Where
they cannot altogether hide from themselves the evil of their ways, they find
some excuse, either from their constitutional propensities, or the habits of all
around them, or some peculiarity in their situation at the time. “They feed on
ashes; and yet to such a degree hath a deceived heart turned them aside, that
they cannot deliver their souls, nor say, Is there not a lie in my right hand [Note:
Isaiah 44:20.]?” Whatever be the particular lust of which they are
enamoured — — — it is “Satan that hath blinded their eyes [Note: 2 Corinthians
4:4.];” they walk in the vanity of their mind, “having their understanding
darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in
them, because of the blindness of their hearts [Note: Ephesians 4:18.]:” and
“they know not whither they go, because that darkness hath blinded their eyes
[Note: 1 John 2:11.].”]
2. It enslaves—
[Though Herod was willing to “do many things,” and forbear many things
respecting which he was admonished by John, he could in no wise be prevailed
on to part with his incestuous consort. And thus it is with sinners of every
description: there are some sins to which they have but little inclination, and
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149. which therefore they may be induced to renounce: but their besetting sin they
cannot find it in their hearts to mortify, so addicted are they to the commission of
it, and, as it were, “tied and bound with it as with a chain,” which they cannot
break [Note: See this in the drunkard, the whoremonger, &c. &c.] — — —
Whilst they see, and cannot but acknowledge the sinfulness of their habits, they
have a “law in their members warring against the law in their minds, and
bringing them into captivity to the law of sin which is in their members [Note:
Romans 7:23.];” or rather, they are “taken in the snare of the devil, and led
captive by him at his will [Note: 2 Timothy 2:26.].”]
3. It hardens—
[One would have supposed that when Herod, “knowing that John was a holy and
just man, feared” him, he would never have been induced to persecute him for
his fidelity. Yet of his own mind he had imprisoned John, and would have put
him to death, had he not been restrained by his fear of the people; and, when
solicited by his daughter to give her John’s head in a charger, he sent an
executioner to behead him, and presented it to her according to her desire. This
he did for hs oath’s sake. But how could any oath bind him to the commission of
murder? He would have found ample means of inducing her to alter her request,
if sin had not “seared his conscience,” and “made his heart as adamant.” But sin
is of its own nature progressive: and to such a degree do men become “hardened
through the deceitfulness of sin,” that evils, which once they could not have
contemplated as possible ever to be committed by them, are committed easily and
without remorse. Hazael, when warned of the enormities which he would one
day commit, exclaimed, “Is thy servant a dog that he should do such things?” Yet
he afterwards executed these things to the full extent of the predictions
concerning him. And if the future conduct of many, who are now but just
beginning their career of sin, were opened to their view, they would not believe
that they should ever attain to such impiety. But, what is said of strife, may be
said of every other sin; namely, that “the beginning of it is like the letting out of
water:” the breach at first is small; but it soon widens, till the inundation
becomes irresistibly powerful, and irremediably destructive.]
Such is the power of sin; of which in the history we may yet further see,
II. The malignity—
It tends to inflict misery,
1. On all who indulge it—
[Look at Herod in the midst of all his indulgences: was he happy? Which of the
two, I would ask, was the happier; Herod, in the midst of his excesses, or John,
when bound with chains in prison for righteousness’ sake? No one, I think, can
entertain a doubt. The truth is, that sin and misery are indissolubly connected
even in this life; according as the Apostle, speaking of the ungodly, has said,
“Destruction and misery are in their ways, and the way of peace have they not
known [Note: Romans 3:16-17.].” Take the adulterer, for instance: You may
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150. suppose him as happy as his heart can wish. But what is Job’s account of him?
“The eye of the adulterer waiteth for the twilight, saying, No eye shall see me;
and he disguiseth his face. In the dark they dig through houses which they had
marked for themselves in the-day time. They know not the light: for the morning
is to them even as the shadow of death: if one know them, they are in the terrors
of the shadow of death [Note: Job 24:15-17.].” And of the wicked generally,
Eliphaz says, “The wicked man travaileth with pain all his days: a dreadful
sound is in his ears: he believeth not that he shall return out of darkness, and he
is waited for of the sword [Note: Job 15:20-22.].” Yes, an evil conscience will so
haunt a man, that he shall be afraid to go out into the dark, or almost even to
look under his bed: so truly is it said, “The way of transgressors is hard [Note:
Proverbs 13:15.].” There are indeed those who will profess to feel no
apprehensions: but we are assured by the heart-searching God, that their
boastings are vain: for “the wicked are like the troubled sea, when it cannot rest,
whose waters cast up mire and dirt: there is no peace, saith my God, to the
wicked [Note: Isaiah 57:20-21.].”]
2. On the world at large—
[See what misery the gratification of Herod’s lusts produced; on Philip, whose
wife he took; on Herodias, whose mind and conscience he so defiled; on John,
whom for his fidelity he murdered; and on all the Church of God, whom he thus
deprived of a faithful counsellor and instructor. But he cared not what evils he
inflicted, if only he might have his own licentious passions gratified. And who
can tell what miseries the seducer inflicts upon his hapless victim; and the
adulterer, on the object of his unlawful desires? — — — The same may be
spoken of the ambitious man, who wades through seas of blood to the attainment
of fame and power — — — May I not mention the scoffer too, who hates and
derides all serious piety, and cares not how many souls he ruins, provided he
may but indulge his enmity against God and his Christ? — — — But what is it
that has turned the whole world into one vast theatre of contention and sorrow?
It is sin, which has established its empire on the ruins of peace and love. Nor is
there to be found a nation, or family, or individual, whose happiness has not
suffered from this malignant evil.]
From this subject we may yet further learn,
1. The danger of indulging sin—
[Who shall say whither one sinful thought shall carry us? Little did Herod
imagine to what the first desire which he formed after Philip’s wife would lead
him. And little did David anticipate the results of the first glance which he
caught of Bathsheba. Say not then, of a sinful thought or desire, that it is little:
but learn to flee from it as from the face of a serpent; and let every declension
from the path of duty be viewed by you as a step towards hell itself — — —]
2. The duty of reproving it—
[We are not all called to act like John, and to obtrude our remarks on the ears of
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151. kings and princes. But a holy fidelity becomes us all in our respective spheres.
We must take care indeed that we do not reprove others in a wrong spirit. There
are many circumstances wherein silence may be the most effectual reproof. But a
holy fortitude becomes us all. We must all be witnesses for God in the place
where we live, and shine as lights in a dark world. And if for our fidelity we be
called to suffer, as John suffered, we must rejoice that we are so honoured of our
God, and be willing to lay down our own lives, if only we may save the souls of
others.]
NISBET, "A SHARP CONTRAST
‘Herod the tetrarch … John in prison.’
Luke 3:19-20
There could hardly be a sharper contrast than that presented in the careers of
Herod Antipas and John the Baptist.
I. Herod a lofty and John a lowly position.—Yet John was loved, and Herod was
hated. In the heart of Herod, bitterness; in the heart of John, peace. Not outward
position, but good conscience which makes life worth living.
II. The life-history of the two provides a contrast. Keynote to the character of
Herod, cowardly cunning; to that of John, courageous frankness. Herod’s
cowardice was (a) physical, ‘he feared the multitude’; (b) moral, ‘for his oath’s
sake.’ John’s courage shown in that he had no soft words for multitude and
attacked Herod on his unholy marriage. Herod was false to his conscience; John
obeyed his to the letter.
III. In great crises of life men are what their previous history has made them.
If Herod a warning to all not on the Lord’s side, what encouragement true
Christian may gather from career of John.
Rev. Canon Sutton.
20 Herod added this to them all: He locked John
up in prison.
GILL, "Added yet this above all,.... This sin to all other sins, and which was of a
more flagitious nature; and attended with more aggravating circumstances,
especially in the issue of it:
that he shut up John in prison; in the castle of Machaerus, by the instigation of
151

152. Herodias; See Gill on Mat_14:3.
HENRY, “Must he be silenced who is the voice of one crying in the wilderness?
Must such a preacher be shut up in prison who ought to have been set up in the
courts of the temple? But thus the faith of his disciples must be tried; thus the
unbelief of those who rejected him must be punished; thus he must be Christ's
forerunner in suffering as well as preaching; and thus, having been for about a year
and a half preparing people for Christ, he must now give way to him, and, the Sun
being risen, the morning-star must of course disappear.
JAMISON, "Added yet, etc. — (Also see on Mat_3:12).
BI, “He shut up John in prison
Herod Antipas
The view here given of the character, conduct, and history of Herod Antipas is full of
matter for awful reflection and serious admonition.
1. The mysteriousness of the ways of Providence. That a man so worthless should
be permitted to cut short the labours and the life of so holy and useful a
character, and that, too, in order to gratify the revenge of an abandoned
adulteress, and to reward the vain exhibition of a giddy damsel, must, no doubt,
at first appear strange. Yet the anger of God overtook: he persecutors before they
left this world; and as for the holy sufferer, his work was done; and it was easy for
his Lord to recompense to him his temporal sorrows a hundredfold in the world
of glory.
2. The danger of power without grace. It is common to wish for power, and to
envy those in whose hands it is; but when it is held without principle, it is fraught
with peril, not only to those over whom it is exercised, but to those by whom it is
possessed. They are generally borne away by the temptations which it presents to
the gratification of caprice, luxury, covetousness, oppression, revenge, and every
evil passion; and however prosperous their career may seem for a season, their
end is generally destruction, and their memory is abhorred.
3. What is sin in the meanest is also sin in the highest. The judgment of God is
impartial, and in every case He will render to each according to his deeds.
4. An awful commentary on human depravity.
5. The dreadful consequences which often result from the violation of the seventh
commandment, and from intemperance.
6. We should learn to take reproof in good part. Well had it been for Herod if he
had submitted to John’s rebuke and acted on it.
7. Sin, when pointed out, must be renounced. This man reverenced John, and yet
lived and died in sin. Let us not do as he did. (James Foote, M. A.)
John’s rebuke of Herod
The life of John the Baptist divides itself into three distinct periods. Of the first, we
are told that he was in the deserts until his showing unto Israel. This period lasted
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153. thirty years. The second is a shorter one. It comprises the few months of his public
ministry. In the third we are to consider him as the tenant of a compelled solitude, in
the dungeon of a capricious tyrant. A rare man, one of God’s heroic ones, a true
conqueror; one whose life and motives it is hard to understand without feeling
warmly and enthusiastically about them. One of the very highest characters, rightly
understood, of all the Bible. In the verse which is to serve us for our guidance on this
subject there are two branches which will afford us fruit of contemplation.
I. THE TRUTHFULNESS OF CHRISTIAN CHARACTER. “Herod being reproved by
John for Herodias.” There are three things we remark in this truthfulness of John.
1. Its straightforwardness.
2. Its unconsciousness.
3. Its unselfishness.
II. THE APPARENT FAILURE OF CHRISTIAN LIFE. “Shut up John in prison.” The
first thought which suggests itself is that a magnificent career is cut short too soon.
At the very outset of ripe and experienced manhood the whole thing ends in failure.
John’s day of active usefulness is over. The crowds that listened to his voice, we hear
of them no more. Herod heard John gladly, did much good by reason of his
influence. What was all that worth? The prophet comes to himself in a dungeon, and
wakes to the conviction, that his influence had told much in the way of commanding
attention, and even winning reverence, but very little in the way of gaining souls-the
bitterest, the most crushing discovery in the whole circle of ministerial experience.
All this was seeming failure. And this, brethren, is the picture of almost all human
life. In the isolation of John’s dying hour there appears failure again. The martyr of
truth dies privately in Herod’s dungeon. We have no record of his last words. There
were no crowds to look on. We cannot describe how he received his sentence. Was he
calm? Was he agitated? Did he bless his murderer? Did he give utterance to any deep
reflections on human life? All that is shrouded in silence. He bowed his head, and the
sharp stroke fell flashing down. We know that, we know no more—apparently a noble
life abortive. And now—
III. Let us ask the question—WAS ALL THIS INDEED FAILURE? NO, it was
sublimest victory. John’s work was no failure. He left behind him no sect to which he
had given his name, but his disciples passed into the service of Christ, and were
absorbed in the Christian Church. Words from John had made impressions, and men
forgot in after years where the impressions first came from, but the day of judgment
will not forget. John laid the foundations of a temple, and others built upon it. He
laid it in struggle, in martyrdom. It was covered up like the rough masonry below
ground, but when we look round on the vast Christian Church, we are looking at the
superstructure of John’s toil. There is a lesson for us all in that, if we will learn it.
Work, true work, done honestly and manfully for Christ, never can be a failure. We
are treading upon a bridge of martyrs. The suffering was theirs—the victory is ours.
IV. In conclusion, we make three remarks.
1. Let young and ardent minds, under the first impressions of religion, beware
how they pledge themselves by any open profession to more than they can
perform.
2. We get from this subject the doctrine of a resurrection. John’s life was
hardness, his end was agony. Be content to feel that this world is not your home.
Homeless upon earth; try more and more to make your home in heaven, above
with Christ.
3. Devotedness to Christ is our only blessedness. (F. W. Robertson, M. A.)
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154. John Baptist’s imprisonment
Josephus gives some interesting particulars respecting the imprisonment and
murder of the Baptist, which are not supplied in the gospel history. Herod Antipas,
son of Herod the Great, was at that time tetrarch of Galilee and Peraea, and had
married the daughter of Aretas, an Arabian king, whose territories abutted on his
own. When he was at Rome, however, he stayed at the house of his half-brother
Philip, whose wife Herodias he conceived a passion for. Antipas made known his
passion, and Herodias readily enough consented to leave Philip and go with him. The
daughter of Aretas was divorced, and Herodias duly installed in her place. John the
Baptist had the courage to denounce this infamous marriage; and by and by Herod
Antipas, under pretence that he feared John’s popularity with the multitude might
lead to disturbances, apprehended and imprisoned him. John was sent to
Machaerus, or M’Khaur, on the eastern side of the Dead Sea, where Herod had both a
city and fortress. The site and ruins of Machaerus were identified by Canon Tristram
in his visit to the Land of Moab in 1872. It was from this spot, then, that John sent
two of his disciples to Christ to ask, “Art Thou He that should come?” And it was here
that Salome, the daughter of Herodias, danced before Antipas, and won for her
infamous mother the head of John the Baptist. (Biblical Things Not Generally
Known.)
John like Elijah
As the first Elijah reproved King Ahab for the murder of Naboth and the seizure of
his vineyard, so the second Elijah rebuked King Herod for his lust. (W. Bull.)
Reproving a king
Dr. Hickington, chaplain to Charles II., used to preach at the king’s vices. This the
king took to himself; and so, one day, he said, “Doctor, you and I ought to be better
friends; give up being so sharp on me, and see if I don’t mend on your hand.” “Well,
well,” quoth the doctor, “I’ll make it up with your Majesty on these terms: as you
mend, I’ll mend.”
The king reproved
It is said that Henry the Great of France took much pleasure in conversing with an
honest and religious man of low situation in life, who used great freedom with his
Majesty. One day he said to the king, “Sire, I always take your part when I hear any
man speaking evil of you; I know that you excel in justice and generosity, and that
many worthy things have been done by you. But you have one vice for which God will
condemn you, if you do not repent—I mean the unlawful love of women.” The king, it
is said, was too magnanimous to resent this reproof, but he long felt it like an arrow
in his bosom; and sometimes said that the most eloquent discourses of the doctors of
the Sorbonne had never made such an impression on his soul as this honest reproof
from his humble friend.
Excommunicating a prince
William IX., Duke of Aquitaine and Earl of Polctiers, was a violent and dissolute
prince, and often indulged himself in improper behaviour at the expense of religion.
Though he had contracted a very suitable marriage, and one with which he was
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155. satisfied for some time, he parted from his wife without reason, to marry another
who pleased him better. The Bishop of Polctiers, by name Peter, could not brook so
great a scandal; and having employed all other means in vain, he thought it his duty
to excommunicate the duke. As he began to pronounce the anathema, William
furiously advanced, sword in hand, saying, “Thou art dead if thou proceedest.” The
bishop, as if afraid, required a few moments to consider what was most expedient.
The duke granted it, and the bishop courageously finished the rest of the formula of
excommunication. After which, extending his neck, “Now, strike,” said he, “I am
quite ready.” The astonishment which this intrepid conduct produced in the duke
disarmed his fury, and saying, ironically, “I don’t like you well enough to send you to
heaven,” he contented himself with banishing him.
Moral courage
Dr. Harris, the minister of Hanwell, during the Civil Wars, frequently had military
officers quartered at his house. A party of them, being unmindful of the reverence
due to the holy name of God, indulged themselves in swearing. The doctor noticed
this, and on the following Sunday preached from these words—“Above all things, my
brethren, swear not.” This so enraged the soldiers, who judged the sermon was
intended for them, that they swore they would shoot him if he preached on the
subject again. He was not, however, to be intimidated; and, on the following Sunday,
he not only preached from the same text, but inveighed in still stronger terms against
the vice of swearing. As he was preaching a soldier levelled his carabine at him; but
he went on to the conclusion of his sermon, without the slightest fear or hesitation.
The Baptism and Genealogy of Jesus
21 When all the people were being baptized,
Jesus was baptized too. And as he was praying,
heaven was opened
BARNES, "See the notes at Mat_3:13-17. “Jesus being baptized;” or, Jesus
“having been” baptized. This took place after the baptism, and not “during” its
administration, Mat_3:16.
Praying - This circumstance is omitted by the other evangelists; and it shows,
1. That Jesus was in the habit of prayer.
2. That it is proper to offer up special prayer at the administration of the
ordinances of religion.
3. That it is possible to pray in the midst of a great multitude, yet in secret. The
prayer consisted, doubtless, in lifting up the heart silently to God. So “we” may
do it anywhere - about our daily toil - in the midst of multitudes, and thus may
pray “always.”
Luk_3:22
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156. In a bodily shape - This was a real visible appearance, and was doubtless seen by
the people. The dove is an emblem of purity and harmlessness, and the form of the
dove was assumed on this occasion to signify, probably, that the spirit with which
Jesus would be endowed would be one of purity and innocence. The “Holy Spirit,”
when he assumes a visible form, assumes that which will be emblematic of the thing
to be represented. Thus he assumed the form of “tongues,” to signify the miraculous
powers of language with which the apostles would be endowed; the appearance of
fire, to denote their power, etc., Act_2:3.
CLARKE, "Jesus - being baptized - See on Mat_3:16, Mat_3:17 (note).
GILL, "Now when all the people were baptized,.... That came from several
parts to John for this purpose, even as many as he judged to be proper subjects of
that ordinance, as many of the common people, publicans, soldiers, &c.
it came to pass that Jesus also being baptized; of John in Jordan, he coming
from Galilee thither on that account:
and praying; after he was baptized, for the coming down of the Spirit upon him, as
man, to anoint, and qualify him for his office he was now about to enter on publicly:
and for success in it, and for a testimony from heaven, that he was the Son of God,
and true Messiah:
the heaven was opened; See Gill on Mat_3:16.
HENRY, “The evangelist mentioned John's imprisonment before Christ's being
baptized, though it was nearly a year after it, because he would finish the story of
John's ministry, and then introduce that of Christ. Now here we have,
I. A short account of Christ's baptism, which had been more fully related by St.
Matthew. Jesus came, to be baptized of John, and he was so, Luk_3:21, Luk_3:22.
1. It is here said that, when all the people were baptized, then Jesus was baptized:
all that were then present. Christ would be baptized last, among the common people,
and in the rear of them; thus he humbled himself, and made himself of no
reputation, as one of the least, nay, as less than the least. He saw what multitudes
were hereby prepared to receive him, and then he appeared.
2. Notice is here taken of Christ's praying when he was baptized, which was not in
Matthew: being baptized, and praying. He did not confess sin, as others did, for he
had none to confess; but he prayed, as others did, for he would thus keep up
communion with his Father. Note, The inward and spiritual grace of which
sacraments are the outward and visible signs must be fetched in by prayer; and
therefore prayer must always accompany them. We have reason to think that Christ
now prayed for this manifestation of God's favour to him which immediately
followed; he prayed for the discovery of his Father's favour to him, and the descent of
the Spirit. What was promised to Christ, he must obtain by prayer: Ask of me and I
will give thee, etc. Thus he would put an honour upon prayer, would tie us to it, and
encourage us in it.
3. When he prayed, the heaven was opened. He that by his power parted the
waters, to make a way through them to Canaan, now by his power parted the air,
another fluid element, to open a correspondence with the heavenly Canaan. Thus was
there opened to Christ, and by him to us, a new and living way into the holiest; sin
had shut up heaven, but Christ's prayer opened it again. Prayer is an ordinance that
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157. opens heaven: Knock, and it shall be opened unto you.
4. The Holy Ghost descended in a bodily shape like a dove upon him; our Lord
Jesus was now to receive greater measures of the Spirit than before, to qualify him
for his prophetical office, Isa_61:1. When he begins to preach, the Spirit of the Lord
is upon him. Now this is here expressed by a sensible evidence for his encouragement
in his work, and for the satisfaction of John the Baptist; for he was told before that by
this sign it should be notified to him which was the Christ. Dr. Lightfoot suggests
that the Holy Ghost descended in a bodily shape, that he might be revealed to be a
personal substance, and not merely an operation of the Godhead: and thus (saith he)
was made a full, clear, and sensible demonstration of the Trinity, at the beginning of
the gospel; and very fitly is this done at Christ's baptism, who was to make the
ordinance of baptism a badge of the profession of that faith in the doctrine of the
Trinity, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.
5. There came a voice from heaven, from God the Father, from the excellent glory
(so it is expressed, 2Pe_1:17), Thou art my beloved Son. Here, and in Mark, it is
expressed as spoken to Christ; in Matthew as spoken of him: This is my beloved Son.
It comes all to one; it was intended to be a notification to John, and as such was
properly expressed by, This is my beloved Son; and likewise an answer to his prayer,
and so it is most fitly expressed by. Thou art. It was foretold concerning the Messiah,
I will be his Father, and he shall be my Son, 2Sa_7:14. I will make him my First-
born, Psa_89:27. It was also foretold that he should be God's elect, in whom his soul
delighted (Isa_42:1); and, accordingly, it is here declared, Thou art my beloved Son,
in whom I am well pleased.
II. A long account of Christ's pedigree, which had been more briefly related by St.
Matthew. Here is,
1. His age: He now began to be about thirty years of age. So old Joseph was when
he stood before Pharaoh (Gen_41:46), David when he began to reign (2Sa_5:4), and
at this age the priests were to enter upon the full execution of their office, Num_4:3.
Dr. Lightfoot thinks that it is plain, by the manner of expression here, that he was
just twenty-nine years old complete, and entering upon his thirtieth year, in the
month Tisri; that, after this, he lived three years and a half, and died when he was
thirty-two years and a half old. Three years and a half, the time of Christ's ministry,
is a period of time very remarkable in scripture. Three years and six months the
heavens were shut up in Elijah's time, Luk_4:25; Jam_5:17. This was the half week in
which the Messiah was to confirm the covenant, Dan_9:27. This period is expressed
in the prophetical writings by a time, times, and half a time (Dan_12:7; Rev_12:14);
and by forty-two months, and a thousand two hundred and threescore days, Rev_
11:2, Rev_11:3. It is the time fixed for the witnesses' prophesying in sackcloth, in
conformity to Christ's preaching in his humiliation just so long.
JAMISON, "Luk_3:21, Luk_3:22. Baptism of and descent of the Spirit upon
Jesus.
(See on Mat_3:13-17.)
when all the people were baptized — that He might not seem to be merely
one of the crowd. Thus, as He rode into Jerusalem upon an ass, “whereon yet never
man sat” (Luk_19:30), and lay in a sepulchre “wherein was never man yet laid”
(Joh_19:41), so in His baptism He would be “separate from sinners.”
SBC, “Christ’s Baptism, a Token of Pentecost.
Without all question, there is a deep and mysterious connection between the baptism
of our Saviour and the coming of the Holy Ghost upon the Apostles. They are, if we
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158. may so speak, parts of the same wonderful work of God, the saving Christian people
by the kingdom of heaven. Christ’s baptism was the beginning, the coming down of
the Holy Ghost on the day of Pentecost was the middle, the baptism of each Christian
is, in a certain sense, part of the end.
I. Our Saviour was praying after His baptism when the Holy Ghost came upon Him;
so the Apostles, when they returned from witnessing His ascension, continued with
one accord in prayer and supplication, until He sent the Comforter, according to His
promise. As it was the same heavenly Person who came down first upon the Head
and afterwards upon the members, so there was, by God’s providence, a great
resemblance between the outward tokens given in the one case and in the other.
II. These outward tokens of the Holy Comforter’s presence do not only make us sure
of that presence, but also instruct us not a little in the manner and in the greatness of
the change He works in us. (1) Water, for example, pure water, springing out of the
earth, or dropping from heaven by the immediate gift of God, who sees not that it
represents the refreshing and cleansing power of that Divine grace which, coming
direct from God, purifies the stain of our hearts, and makes us strong and active to
keep the commandments? Who is not reminded by it of the living water which the
Lord has promised to give us, not only to quench our thirst for the time, but to be in
us "a well of water springing up to everlasting life"? (2) Again, what signified the fiery
tongues? Surely they had the substance of of fire, because of the searching power of
Christ’s Spirit, which in a wonderful manner tries every man’s heart of what sort it is,
penetrating into all the dark corners of our souls, and where it is not resisted,
enlightening, warming, melting all. (3) What are we to learn from the appearance of
the Holy Ghost as a dove? The voice of the Holy Ghost in prayer, inwardly uttered in
a Christian’s heart, is like the unwearied melancholy tones of the dove. This reason is
given us by a great and holy bishop, St. Augustine; and he adds another—the simple,
harmless innocence of the dove; and yet another—its gentle, peaceful, loving nature,
whereby it becomes the token both of truth and charity.
Plain Sermons by Contributors to "Tracts for the Times," vol. vii., p. 136; see also J.
Keble, Sermons from Ascension Day to Trinity, p. 176.
BARCLAY, "THE HOUR STRIKES FOR JESUS (Luke 3:21-22)
3:21-22 When all the people had been baptized and when Jesus too had been
baptized, as he was praying, the heaven was opened and the Holy Spirit in bodily
form like a dove came down upon him and there was a voice from heaven. "You
are my beloved son; in you I am well pleased."
The thinkers of the church have always sought an answer to the problem, "Why
did Jesus go to John to be baptized?" The baptism of John was a baptism of
repentance and it is our conviction that Jesus was without sin. Why then did he
offer himself for this baptism? In the early church it was sometimes suggested,
with a homely touch, that he did it to please Mary, his mother, and in answer to
her entreaties; but we need a better reason than that.
In the life of every man there are certain definite stages, certain hinges on which
his whole life turns. It was so with Jesus and every now and again we must stop
and try to see his life as a whole. The first great hinge was the visit to the Temple
when he was twelve, when he discovered his unique relationship to God. By the
time of the emergence of John, Jesus was about thirty (Luke 3:23). That is to say
at least eighteen years had passed. All through these years he must have been
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159. realizing more and more his own uniqueness. But still he remained the village
carpenter of Nazareth. He must have known that a day must come when he must
say good-bye to Nazareth and go out upon his larger task. He must have waited
for some sign.
When John emerged the people flocked out to hear him and to be baptized.
Throughout the whole country there was an unprecedented movement towards
God. And Jesus knew that his hour had struck. It was not that he was conscious
of sin and of the need of repentance. It was that he knew that he too must
identify himself with this movement towards God. For Jesus the emergence of
John was God's call to action; and his first step was to identify himself with the
people in their search for God.
But in Jesus' baptism something happened. Before he could take this tremendous
step he had to be sure that he was right; and in the moment of baptism God
spoke to him. Make no mistake, what happened in the baptism was an
experience personal to Jesus. The voice of God came to him and told him that he
had taken the right decision. But more--far more--that very same voice mapped
out all his course for him.
God said to him, "You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased." That
saying is composed of two texts. You are my beloved Son--that is from Psalms 2:7
and was always accepted as a description of the Messianic King. In whom I am
well pleased--that is part of Isaiah 42:1 and is from a description of the servant
of the Lord whose portrait culminates in the sufferings of Isaiah 53:1-12 .
Therefore in his baptism Jesus realized, first, that he was the Messiah, God's
Anointed King; and, second, that this involved not power and glory, but
suffering and a cross. The cross did not come on Jesus unawares; from the first
moment of realization he saw it ahead. The baptism shows us Jesus asking for
God's approval and receiving the destiny of the cross.
COFFMAN, "THE BAPTISM OF JESUS
Jesus being baptized, and praying ... Many have pondered the reasons why Jesus
was baptized; and among reasons that might have entered into his submission to
that rite are the following: (1) The reason that he himself gave, "thus it becometh
us to fulfill all righteousness" (Matthew 3:15), indicates that it would have been
unbecoming, even of the sinless Christ, to have withheld obedience to God's
commandment. The message for all men in this is plain.
(2) By so doing, he indicated the adoption of the rite of baptism to be the
initiatory ceremony by which men are inducted into Christianity. (3) Through
this obedience he "fulfilled" God's command. (4) His baptism, as revealed in the
Scriptures, prefigured the importance of the ceremony in the true religion under
the new covenant. Jesus' baptism announced the importance of it for all men. (5)
His baptism symbolized the true meaning of the ordinance in Christianity: (a)
one is not a child of God until he is baptized, just as God recognized Christ as his
beloved Son immediately AFTER his baptism; (b) prayer, though not denied to
anyone, is in many special ways the peculiar privilege of Christians, a privilege
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160. contingent upon their baptism; hence Luke indicated Christ's praying,
immediately AFTER his baptism; (c) the Holy Spirit is a gift to Christians,
contingent upon their being (among other things) baptized (Acts 2:38); and
significantly, the Holy Spirit in the form of a dove descended and remained upon
Jesus AFTER his baptism. Therefore, it cannot be denied that the baptism
commanded in the great commission (following faith, repentance, and
confession) is PRIOR to the convert's becoming a child of God, receiving the
Holy Spirit, and entering into the more exalted prayer-privileges pertaining only
to Christians; and we do not hesitate to add that baptism is a precondition to his
ever being so endowed.
In this connection, one of the reasons that may not be assigned to Christ's
baptism is this, that he was baptized to set us an example how we might follow
him in baptism, since it is impossible for believer's baptism to correspond to
Christ's. It was not necessary for him but it is necessary for men. He was
baptized at about the age of thirty, and that is far longer than any mortal's
baptism should be delayed. Believer's baptism is "for the remission of sins"; but
Christ's was to fulfill all righteousness.
Holy Spirit descended in a bodily form, as a dove ... This was the heavenly
portent by which John the Baptist recognized the Messiah (John 1:33).
Appropriately, the dove was a clean creature under the Mosaic law, acceptable
in the holy sacrifices as an offering to God, an emblem in all ages of peace,
gentleness, and innocence, a monogamous creature, possessing no gall, and used
as a messenger.[12]
Voice out of heaven ... Thou art my beloved Son ... It should be noted that John
the Baptist is not the subject of the paragraph, and where his conversation is
recorded, it was necessary for Matthew to record it as addressed in the third
person in order to avoid misunderstanding. See more under Mark 1:11 in my
Commentary on Mark. Three persons of the Godhead are in evidence here:
Christ coming up out of the water, the Spirit as a dove descending upon him, and
the voice of the Father out of heaven.
ENDNOTE:
[12] G. Gordon Brownville, Symbols of the Holy Spirit (Old Tappan, New
Jersey: Fleming H. Revell Company, 1945), p. 19.
BURKITT, "Observe, 1. The great condescension of Christ in seeking and
submitting to the baptism of John. Christ, though John's Lord and Master, yet
yields to be baptized of his servant and messenger.
Observe, 2. The reasons why Christ would be baptized.
1. That by this rite he might enter himself into the society of Christians, as he
had before by circumcision entered into the society of the Jews.
2. That he might by his own baptism sanctify the ordinance of baptism unto us.
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161. 3. That thereby he might fulfil the righteousness of the ceremonial law, which
required the washing of the priests in water, before they entered upon their
office, as appears, Exodus 29:4
Observe, 3. How the duty of prayer accompanieth the ordinance of baptism:
Jesus being baptized, and praying. Teaching us by his example to sanctify every
ordinance and every action, with prayer.
Christ, when he was baptized, he prayed. When he was tempted, he prayed.
When he brake bread, he prayed. When he wrought miracles, he prayed. In his
agony in the garden, he prayed. When he suffered on the cross, he prayed.
What was the subject-matter of our Lord's prayer at this time is not expressed;
but by what followed, namely, the heavens opening and the Holy Ghost
descending, it is probably conjectured, that he prayed for some testimony to be
given from heaven concerning himself, for it immediately follows.
BENSON, "Luke 3:21-22. When all the people were baptized — If we reflect on
the number of the people who followed John, and were baptized by him, and the
regard they expressed for him before and after his death, and yet that no sect
was produced in consequence of such belief and baptism, it will afford a very
good argument in favour of the superior power, dignity, character, and office of
Jesus. Jesus, praying, the heaven was opened — It is observable, that the three
voices from heaven (see Luke 9:29; Luke 9:35; John 12:28) by which the Father
bore witness to Christ, were pronounced, either while he was praying, or quickly
after it. Thou art my beloved Son, &c. — See note on Matthew 3:16-17.
CONSTABLE, "Evidently John baptized Jesus after he had baptized many
other people. Luke may have wanted to imply by this that Jesus' baptism was the
climax of John's ministry. [Note: Marshall, The Gospel . . ., p. 150.] According to
Luke this is the first of many important events that happened while Jesus was
praying (cf. Luke 5:16; Luke 6:12; Luke 9:18; Luke 9:28-29; Luke 11:1; Luke
22:32; Luke 22:40-44; Luke 23:46). Only Luke recorded that the heavens opened
while Jesus was praying, that is, a revelation from God followed. Luke had a
special interest in Jesus' prayer life. It showed His conscious dependence on His
Father as a human being.
"Jesus' baptism, like that of the people, was a single event in time; but his
praying continued for his lifetime." [Note: Liefeld, p. 859.]
Perhaps this explanation accounts for the different tenses of the verb and the
participle in this verse. Luke also may have mentioned Jesus' praying to
encourage his readers to do the same. The opening of the heavens indicated
divine intervention into human history with revelation. God Himself had not
intervened this way for many centuries. Luke's original readers, with their
background in Greek mythology, would have had a special interest in this
intervention. The Greek gods supposedly intervened in human affairs
occasionally. Moreover Luke's frequent references to Jesus praying would have
helped his original readers realize that Jesus was truly human and not just a god
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162. who had visited humans.
"In Luke-Acts times of prayer and worship are frequently the occasions for
divine revelations to characters in the story. This is true of Zechariah (Luke
1:9-11), Anna (Luke 2:37-38), Cornelius (Acts 10:2-6), Peter (Acts 10:9-16), Paul
(Acts 9:11-12; Acts 22:17-21), and the prophets and teachers of the church in
Antioch (Acts 13:2). This is true also of Jesus. Jesus' choice of the twelve is
preceded by prayer, indeed, prayer through the whole night (dif. Matthew,
Mark), in which Jesus is evidently seeking divine guidance for the choice (Acts
6:12). The transfiguration also takes place while Jesus is praying (dif. Matthew,
Mark).... In Luke 22:40-46 also, if Luke 22:43-44 are an original part of the text,
Jesus prays concerning his mission and receives a response through a vision of a
strengthening angel." [Note: Tannehill, 1:56-57.]
BI, “Jesus also being baptized—
Meeting of Jesus with John
The people, I read, “mused,” wondering if John were the expected Messiah.
John, too, mused, we may be sure. “Words! words! words!” at the end of each long
sultry day, as he laid him down in some rocky cave what time the sun sank suddenly
and the stars hung like balls of fire in the purple sky, and the cry of the wild beast was
heard as he stole forth to drink at the fords of the Jordan. ‘ I can baptize them with
water. I can tell them to repent. Poor forlorn sheep upon the mountains—where shall
they find their shepherd? I am the voice crying in the wilderness—where is the Divine
Prophet? I baptize with water—who will give them the fiery baptism of the soul? Who
will help them to seek, and nerve them to act? “And then came One on a certain still
morn, early, it may be, before the heat of the day, with only a few zealous stragglers
about, waiting for baptism, and John met Him by the Jordan river. Needless to
explain. Soul met soul. John knew his Master as surely as did frail Peter when he
cried out, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man”; or doubting Thomas when, heart-
struck, he murmered, “My Lord, and my God!” “I have need,” were John’s first
words—yea, we all have need face to face with Jesus—“I have need to be baptized of
Thee.” And then came the first words of Christ’s ministry, they struck the keynote of
the gospel, “Suffer it to be so now, for thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness.”
The heart of Christianity lies there; Christ the Companion of man, the Example of
man. The Saviour, because the revelator of a Divine union between God and man, a
spiritual life in man. And on the morrow the Baptist saw Him walking by the river,
and pointing Him out, exclaimed, “Behold the Lamb of God!” &c. Message to the
Ages! Call to every Pilgrim of the night! Be of good cheer, thy help is nigh. God in
Christ is your Saviour, because Christ in human nature means Christ in you, the
Divine power revealed in every man, as he is able to receive and use it. Let that vision
remain with us. Blessed gleam of the morning light I Behold Jesus going down into
the Jordan to be baptized, one with us, never more to be separated from us—Great
Elder Brother, dear Friend! Close to us in the waters of purification, close to us in the
burden and heat of the day, close to us in the shadow of our Gethsemane, close to us
in the Calvary of our pain, the Lamb of God that taketh away the sins of the world.
(H. R. Haweis, M. A.)
Christ and John
The relation between Jesus and John resembles two stars following each other at a
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163. short distance, both passing through similar circumstances. The announcement of
the appearing of the one follows close upon that of the appearing of the other, it is
the same with their two births. This relation repeats itself in the commencement of
their respective ministries; and lastly, in the catastrophes which terminate their lives.
And yet, in the whole course of the career of these two, there was but one personal
meeting—at the baptism of Jesus. After this moment, when one of these stars rapidly
crossed the orbit of the ether, they separated, each to follow the path that was
marked out for him. (F. Godet, D. D.)
Jesus baptized
I. 1. The preaching of John the Baptist was the sign that the active ministry of the
Messiah was now to begin. The Incarnate Word had been hidden among men. His
presence must now be manifested and His kingdom set up.
2. His first act in passing from His hidden to His active life, is to identify Himself
with that sinning race in whose likeness He had come.
3. This humiliation was temporary and voluntary—“Suffer it to be so now,” i.e.,
“for the present time”; “for thus it becometh us”—not “it is necessary”—“to fulfil
all righteousness.”
4. Notice how He who in His boyhood “must be about His Father’s business,” in
His manhood must “fulfil all righteousness.”
II. 1. There is a deep sense in which this undergoing the baptism of John was a
fulfilling all righteousness. It was a revelation that man’s nature needs not merely
improvement but renewal. Baptism represents the death of the old man and the
resurrection of the new.
2. It is that He who thus humiliated Himself for us may fulfil all righteousness in
us that we pray, “By Thy baptism,… good Lord, deliver us.” (Canon Vernon
Hutton, M. A.)
The significance of Christ’s baptism
One purpose of His baptism our Lord Himself mentions, in order to satisfy the
scruples of the reluctant Baptist; “Suffer now, for thus it becometh us to fulfil all
righteousness.” The first and obvious sense of this is, that since the baptism of John
was of God, it became Him, as being born in the people to whom God had given it, to
submit Himself to it as the ordinance of God. But then, other grounds might be
included in this, as involved in the character and person of Him who thus submitted
Himself. The words may have been left, on purpose, undefined, in order to
comprehend the more. “He added not,” says St. Jerome, “the righteousness of the
law, or of nature, that we might understand both.” The righteousness fulfilled was in
Him humility surpassing all thought, in that while God He received the baptism of
the sinners whose nature He had taken; in Him it was love, which is the fulfilling of
the law, in that He received that which He needed not, that they who need it might
the more gladly receive it; and so it may be also that He was baptized, not only to give
an example of obedience, or healthfully to shame those who to their destruction
would have disdained it, but in it to fulfil all righteousness by cleansing the sinful
nature in the likeness whereof He had come, and to impart to it as a whole the
righteousness which He should afterwards communicate, one by one, to those who
came to the baptism which He had thus consecrated. And again, all righteousness
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164. may thereby have been fulfilled in it, in that an everlasting righteousness was thereby
brought in, and the element consecrated whereby the justifying efficacy of His
meritorious Cross and Passion were to be conveyed to all believers. The one sense
will not exclude the other; as of all our blessed Saviour’s actions and words, it is to be
believed that they have a manifold depth and meaning, of which each application
brings out but one portion; these gifts are a “precious stone,” “whithersoever it
turneth, it prospereth.” (E. B.Pusey, D. D.)
Christ submitting to baptism
In presenting Himself for baptism, Jesus had to make, as others did (Mat_3:6; Mar_
1:7), His confession of sins. Of what sins, if not of those of His people and of the
world in general? He placed before John a striking picture of them, not with that
pride and scorn with which the Jews spoke of the sins of the heathen, and the
Pharisees of the sins of the publicans, but with the humble and compassionate tones
of an Isaiah (chap. 63.), a Daniel (chap. 9.), or a Nehemiah (chap. 9.), when they
confessed the miseries of their people, as it the burden were their own. He could not
have gone down into the water after such an act of communion with our misery,
unless resolved to give Himself up entirely to the work of putting an end to the reign
of sin. He did not content Himself with making a vow. He prayed, the text tells us; He
besought God for all that He needed for the accomplishment of this great task, to
take away the sin of the world. He asked for wisdom, for spiritual strength, and
particularly for the solution of the mystery which family records, the Scriptures, and
His own holiness had created about His person. We can understand how John, after
hearing Him confess and pray thus, should say, “Behold the Lamb of God, which
taketh away the sin of the world!” (F. Godet, D. D.)
Christ’s baptism gives virtue to ours
His last action, or rather passion, was His baptizing with blood; His first was His
baptization with water: both of them wash the world from their sins. Yea, this latter
did not only wash the souls of men, but washeth that very water by which we are
washed; from hence is that made both clean and holy, and can both cleanse and
hallow us. (Bishop Hall.)
The scene of Christ’s baptism
A river that had never been navigable, flowing into a sea that had never known a
port? A river almost equal in length to our own Thames, but with no great city
gathered upon its banks, and winding through no grand or picturesque scenery Such
was the river of God, of which the Hebrew psalmist sung; the sacred river of Old
Testament story, upon which Lot, the wandering emigrant, once lifted up his eyes;
which Jacob, returning from exile, crossed with his staff, and over which had passed
the descendants of the patriarch’s twelve sons—a mighty nation, emancipated, and
brought from afar, to inherit the land. Since then, along its shores, the tide of many a
momentous battle had rolled; its waters had washed the leper clean; and among its
pink oleanders and yellow marigolds, prophets had lingered in meditation, or
listened at midnight to messages from heaven that made their skin creep. It was
while standing on its brink that Elijah, the chief of an illustrious line, had been swept
up in the chariot of the whirlwind; and by the sound of its waves, David, the prince of
kings, had both thundered in victorious fight, and wept in misery. But now, at last,
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165. there is a new thing—a surprising thing. At one of the upper fords of this ancient
river, the Redeemer of the world appears: not working marvellous works, or drawing
crowds around Him by the magic of His gracious words, but meekly applying to
receive at the hands of the reforming preacher of the day, who had been pronouncing
the nation morally unclean, and calling it to repentance—a most humiliating rite; a
rite which was understood to express the recipient’s conviction of sin, and his need of
purification. (N. R. Wood.)
The baptism of Christ
There is one thing for us to remember, in conclusion: namely, that the baptism which
St. John preached, but which he hesitated to administer to the spotless and holy
Jesus, had its meaning most fully expressed only when it became administered to
Him; for what was it intended to set forth? The nation’s conscious burthen of sin!
And who, of all the multitudes that flocked to be baptized, felt that burthen as Christ
did? Some there were, doubt less, among the throng, who mourned truly and deeply
their transgressions and the transgressions of the time; devout men, like the
greyhaired Simeon, who had long been dissatisfied with themselves and with the
existing state of things; but not one, even of the most profoundly stirred and
quickened of these, felt the ugliness and horror of their sins, and of Israel’s
corruption, as He felt it. He not only confessed and repented with the people, but for
them; suffering in His righteous soul what they ought to have suffered, and did not,
nay, could not; offering to God what they ought to have offered, and failed to offer,
nay, were unable to offer—an adequate feeling of sin, an adequate sorrow and
atonement for it. They truly confessed and repented only in Him; in Him was
presented the perfect confession and repentance, of which, at their very best, they fell
far short. (N. R. Wood.)
John’s baptism reached its fullest expression in Christ’s submission to it
See the mother, in the midst of a group of little ones, mingling her tearswith theirs, at
the father’s grave. They feel that they have lost something precious; but it is she alone
who feels, as she stands bowed among them, how much they have lost. They all kneel
together on the sod, and the eyes of all are alike swimming with grief: but what is
their impression of the bereavement they have sustained, in comparison with hers?
What is their anguish for themselves, compared with her anguish for the fatherless
ones? Weep as the children may, the full bitterness of their loss is borne, not by the
children, but by the mother who weeps with them. So when Christ joined with the
multitude in their baptism of contrition, to none of them were their sins half so
burdensome and oppressive as they were to Him; none of them endured, under their
deepest convictions, the half of that which He endured for them. The meaning of St.
John’s baptism reached its fullest expression in His submission to it, upon whom
there was laid the iniquity of all; who, being at once the sinless one and the loving
one, saw sins and sinners with God’s eyes, and felt, in reference to them, with God’s
heart. (N. R. Wood.)
The baptism of Jesus
The cry of John the Baptist was: Repent; and his baptism was that of repentance.
What, then, was the meaning of our Lord’s baptism? It could not signify that He
repented. It was a symbolical act followed by that of which it was the symbol—the
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166. baptism of the Holy Ghost. Learn—
I. THE IMPORTANCE OF THE ORDINANCE OF BAPTISM. That to which our Lord
submitted cannot be considered indifferent by any of His disciples.
II. ORDINANCES OF GOD’S APPOINTING, REVERENTLY AND INTELLIGENTLY
SUBMITTED TO, ARE OFTEN THE CHANNELS OF BLESSING. “Being baptized
and praying, the heaven was opened,” &c. Rites unintelligently or superstitiously
performed often hide the truth and lead into dangerous error; but when understood
as symbolizing or declaring a living truth they are often important aids in teaching
truth, and in stimulating to the acquiring of spiritual blessing. (D. Longwill.)
The baptism of Christ
It was—
I. THE PROCLAMATION OF HIS HUMAN RELATIONSHIP TO MAN AND TO
GOD.
II. By this act tie bound together in submission to His Father’s WILL THE OLD AND
NEW DISPENSATIONS, AND RECOGNIZED HIMSELF AS THE CENTRAL POINT
OF HISTORY.
III. IT CONSECRATED HIM KING OF THE THEOCRATIC KINGDOM, AND
PROCLAIMED TO ALL MEN THAT HIS ORGANIZATION OF THAT KINGDOM
HAD BEGUN.
IV. HOW DOES CHRIST’S BAPTISM SPEAK TO US? We have rites of consecration,
but these are not the parallels in our lives to this moment in the life of Jesus. There
are hours of consecration in our lives of which none know but God and ourselves.
(Stopford A. Brooke, M. A.)
The inauguration
Christ’s example shows that obedience to the Divine Spirit of the time ever brings
fuller disclosures and attestations of the Divine blessing. The heavens are opened to
every obedient man, and the Spirit of God descends on the last as on the first. John’s
baptism had gone no further than repentance; but Christ, standing with the dove
resting upon Him, showed that there was a baptism unto holiness. By John’s baptism
men were put into a right relation to the past: but as they followed Christ they were
put into a right relation to the future; from the negative condition of repentance they
passed to the affirmative attitude of holiness. This is the culmination of human
history. We have come through man, servant, prophet, messenger, up to Son. The
very nomenclature is pregnant with sublime moral significance. We pass from
“made,” to “begotten,” from “upright” to “beloved,” from the “us” of the creating
Trinity to the “my” of the benignant Father, from the “very good” of the first Adam to
the “well-pleased” of the second. (J. Parker, D. D.)
The inauguration of Christ
The baptism of Christ was, first of all, the public announcement and inauguration of
Christ to His work. John the Baptist had conic “to bear witness of the Light,” and
now his work was nearly done. One last act remained to be done, the solemn setting
apart of the Christ to His redeeming work. The baptism closed our Lord’s private life
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167. and began His public ministry. He who had gone down into the water known to men
as “the Son of Mary,” came up thence declared to be “the Son of God,”
The baptism, with the opened heavens, and the Spirit descending like a dove, and
abiding on Jesus, and the witness borne by the voice of God Himself, was the sublime
inauguration of the Saviour of the world to His great mission. From that hour John’s
prophetic work was done. It expired, to use Davison’s beautiful image, as Old
Testament prophecy had expired, with “the gospel upon its tongue.” (G. S. Barrett, B.
A.)
The people were baptized
There are many of every sort of people—as we may read—saved in the gospel, but of
Pharisees we find none but one, namely, Nicodemus; no sort of men are further from
the kingdom of God than proud justiciars. For as a vessel full of one liquor is not
capable of another, so the soul which is filled with a vain conceit of her own
righteousness, is not capable of the grace of Christ. Grace entereth not into such a
soul, because it is full, neither doth grace find any place to dwell therein. There is no
place for grace to enter in, where merit hath possession: what thou attributest to
merits, is wanting to grace. I will none of that merit which excludes grace. (Bishop
Cowper.)
The Baptism of Christ
1. He would hereby honour the ministry of man, in that He submits Himself unto
it, and seeketh to it with much pains and labour.
2. As He was baptized, not by an angel or prince, but by a homely man that lived
like an hermit in an austere manner of life for diet and clothing; so must not we
account baser of the sacraments for the meanness of the man, if a lawful minister,
seeing Christ refused not the sacrament at John’s hands; neither must we from
the meanest minister, seeing the least in the kingdom of God is greater than
John.
3. Christ was content to wash in a common water, in the flood Jordan; He feared
no infection from it, though Naaman the leper were washed there; though the
Pharisees and hypocrites washed there: yet He takes no exception, contracts no
uncleanness; so the wickedness of another communicant doth not prejudice him
that is rightly prepared, though he communicate with him in the sacrament, yet
not in his sin. Although He undertook not the sacrament as a sacrament of
regeneration, or as a symbol of new life, yet He did—
(1) As it was a sacrament of Christian society (1Co_12:13), for as by it the
faithful are set into His body, so would He by it be set into the body of the
saints, and take on Him the common mark and privilege of His members;
even as we see kings and princes, by whom all hold their freedom, will
sometimes be made free, and so receive a public testimony of association
from their people; and lo, here our Prince in the colours of a common soldier.
(2) As baptism is a symbol of affliction, so He would undertake it; so Mar_
10:38) Christ calls His cross and death by the name of baptism.
(3) Christ would be baptized, not to wash Himself, but us; not to
put off sin as we, but to put on our sin, that so our sin in Him might
be washed away, that He might sanctify this sacrament. Again, this
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168. is for our instruction, to note the excellency and dignity of this
sacrament, and what esteem we ought to have it in; the Lord comes
to the servant a tedious journey to seek it; yet many of us, when it
is brought to us, turn our backs upon it. What price set they upon
it who flee forth of the Church when this sacrament is to be
administered? Shall Christ that needed it not, come to it, and shall
we that need it run from it? This I will add to what I have elsewhere largely
delivered, that whosoever do not present themselves with due reverence and
meditation, but run out carelessly and profanely when baptism is
administered, they be far from Christ’s example, and little comfort can they
have of their baptism, but may well fear, lest those mysteries and benefits
offered and sealed to a member of the congregation belong not to them; for if
they did they would own them, and not run contemptuously from them; as
good never baptized, as never meditate on it. But, were thyself to take no good
by the sacrament, in calling to mind thine own covenant made in baptism,
with the fruit in thyself, yet good order requires thy presence.
1. Because the ordinance belongs not only to the infants’ parents and sureties, but
to the whole congregation, as the entering of a free man into a corporation is by
the whole.
2. God looks it should be graced, and not scorned by turning thy back upon it.
Were it not a most irreverent contempt to run out from the Word? and is it not
also to run from the seal? especially the blessed Trinity being met to such a
purpose, to seal such benefits to a member of that congregation?
3. Thy presence is requisite to help the infant by prayer, to join with the
congregation in prayer and in praise for the ingrafting of a member into Christ’s
body. But what law or ordinance was there for baptism, to which Christ must be
subjected?
It was decreed by the whole Trinity.
1. That Christ should be initiated by this ceremony, wherein also He must
manifest Himself the Author of all purity and cleanness.
2. John had preached it, and showed the necessity of it by Divine authority.
3. He would not only subject Himself to His Father’s ordination, but also for our
sakes, the virtue of whose baptism depends upon His, as also give us help by His
example, and therefore would Himself do that which He commanded others to
do.
4. Christ as Mediator, and in our stead, was to be made our righteousness 1Co_
1:30); three ways:
(1) In being made an offering for us, by which He was to abolish our sin and
curse, and by His most perfect obedience satisfy the whole law for us.
(2) By applying that righteousness purchased by His blood, which else we
could never have had benefit by.
(3) By appointing and sanctifying means and instruments for that
application, called the ministry of the Spirit, whereof one branch is the laver
of water in the Word. And thus, as in our stead, He stood in the general,
bound by the will and ordinance of God, in Himself to sanctify baptism for us.
(T. Taylor, D. D.)
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169. The baptism of Christ
I. St. Matthew gives us THE REASON WHY THIS BAPTISM TOOK PLACE. “Suffer
it to be so now,” He said to John, “for thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness.”
He was anxious to obey every Divine law, to conform to every Divine institution, to
work out and complete a righteousness extensive as the Divine commands. And this
answer exhibits the Saviour to us in two characters, each illustrating the propriety of
His baptism.
1. He stands here as the Representative of His people. Now they are an unclean
people. We argue from His appearing in their form, that He was the
Representative of His sinful people; and then we argue from His being their
Representative, that it became Him to be baptized.
2. He was also their Head; standing in the relation to them of a Leader or Chief.
The Captain of our salvation puts on Himself the garb in which He arrays His
soldiers. The Commander submits first to the oath that He enjoins on His
followers.
II. Let us look now at His BAPTISM ITSELF.
1. The first circumstance that strikes us in it, is His simple obedience to the
Divine law. It bids you obey the Divine law, not scan it. It bids you do the will of
God, not criticise it. The will of God must be done, and every command of God
obeyed.
2. And notice the humility manifested here, the amazing condescension of Christ.
He was now coming forth among men to make known His high pretensions. And
how does He appear? Working miracles and doing wonders? Bursting forth like
the sun in his brightness, “glorious in his apparel, travelling in the greatness of
his strength”? No; “He cometh from Galilee to Jordan unto John to be baptized
of him.” We can hardly form one faint idea of the extent of this degradation. Not
indeed a sinner, but appearing as one, assuming a character He had bidden
angels and archangels loathe. The manger, the stable, the carpenter’s hut and the
carpenter’s toil—they were all as nothing; no word of His had poured contempt
on any one of them: but to be the thing He had branded; to come forth into sight
as though He were the character He abhorred; verily, brethren, this was the
infinite abasement of an infinite God.
3. And mark also the devotion the Saviour manifested on this occasion.
III. We come now to our third subject—THE WONDERFUL EVENT WHICH
ATTENDED THE SCENE OF HUMILIATION WE HAVE BEEN CONTEMPLATING.
“It came to pass,” says the evangelist, “that Jesus also being baptized and praying,
the heaven was opened, and the Holy Ghost descended in a bodily shape like a dove
upon Him, and a voice came from heaven, which said, Thou art My beloved Son; in
Thee I am well pleased.”
1. Observe here the greatness of Christ; His dignity. And it is a remarkable fact
that throughout His life, whenever we see Him signally abased, we generally see
His Father putting on Him signal honour. He is born in a manger, but a star in
the heavens proclaims His advent, and over Him are ringing the songs of angels.
2. We see here also the Messiahship of Christ. First comes the voice of prophecy,
marking out the future Messiah as one on whom the Spirit of the Lord was to
descend and rest; one who, at His entrance on His office, was to be anointed with
the spirit, just as earthly monarchs and priests were anointed with the holy oil.
Besides, in all this there was a special reference to John himself.
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170. 3. But this event establishes another point. While it proves the reality of our
Lord’s Messiahship, it declares His qualifications for the discharge of this office.
The Spirit descended on Him in Jordan to qualify Him for what we may call the
moral part of His great work; to enable Him to reach the mind of man, and
influence and rule it. He Himself tells us so. Led by the Spirit He had received, He
first goes into the wilderness to have His own faith and obedience put to the test;
and when He had been taught there by His own experience, what this Spirit could
do for the suffering and tempted, He begins His public ministry at Nazareth by
declaring the qualifications bestowed on Him for the discharge of His office. “The
Spirit of the Lord,” He says, “is upon Me, because He hath anointed Me to preach
the gospel to the poor; He hath sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach
deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind; to set at liberty
them that are bruised.” And this Spirit abode on Him. St.
Matthew informs us that the dove “rested,” as well as descended on Him; and St.
Luke speaks of Him as going up from the river into the wilderness, “full of the Holy
Ghost.” His blessed gifts are made over to Him, placed at His disposal; and for this
purpose, that He may communicate them to whomsoever He will.
4. We are taught also here the high estimation in which the anointed Saviour is
held by His Father; the complacency and delight with which He regards Him.
From a review of this history we learn, first, the importance which God attaches
to His own ordinances, the honour He puts on them. “We see here also the
insufficiency of ordinances. Baptism, though administered by a prophet and
received by Christ, was powerless; or if it had any efficacy, that efficacy was
limited; it evidently left much undone. It could not touch the soul of Jesus; it did
not qualify Him for His mediatorial work. To accomplish these ends, the Holy
Ghost comes down from on high, rests and abides on Him. (C. Bradley, M. A.)
And praying.
Christ praying
To most, if not to all of us, the fact that our Saviour prayed is in itself a wonder. This
does not, however, seem to have struck the gospel-writers. Prayers of Christ precious,
as showing how completely human He became, living like ourselves, a life of
dependence, of communion, and of submission.
I. THE OCCASION ON WHICH THE SAVIOUR IS HAS SAID TO HAVE PRAYED.
AS undergone by Christ, the rite of baptism would seem to have had a twofold
meaning.
1. It was intended to be symbolic of His entire oneness with the race He came to
save.
2. It was intended to be emblematic of His complete consecration to the salvation
of the race to which He came.
II. THE REASONS WHICH LED HIM TO PRAY.
1. We are not to suppose that Christ’s praying on this occasion
(a) arose from any doubt in His mind as to the propriety of the work on
which He was entering;
(b) sprang out of any misgiving as to His own appointment to it;
(c) was due to any uncertainty as to His personal fitness for it. No, but—
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171. 2. Bearing in mind the meaning of the baptism with which His prayer was
associated, we may imagine that His prayer on this occasion would spring—
(a) from His pure passion for the glorification of the Father;
(b) from His intense longing for the salvation of the world;
(c) from His vivid anticipation of the difficulties which lay before Him;
(d) from His keen prevision of the sorrows that awaited Him.
III. THE RESPONSE WHICH CAME TO OUR SAVIOUR’S PRAYER.
1. There was a special communication of the Divine Spirit.
2. There was a special assurance of the Divine complacency. Practical lesson:
PRAYER A PREPARATION FOR SERVICE. (B. Wilkinson, F. G. S.)
For the first, He was now baptized, and in regard of that He prayed, and teacheth
us—
1. In that He first was baptized, and then prayed, that we must be first cleansed
and sanctified, and then pray: men must lift pure hands with pure hearts in every
place (Isa_1:16). In receiving the sacrament a holy heart knows that he hath to do
with God, and lifteth itself above sensible elements; it labours to approve itself to
God, and looks not at men, but at God and His covenant, and renews itself with
faith, repentance, and invocation.
2. In that Christ goeth to God for a blessing upon the sacrament received, we
learn that all the grace, holiness, and efficacy of any sacrament is to be obtained,
continued and increased by the means of prayer.
For the second, Christ prayed in respect of that He was to do.
1. He was now to be declared that great Prophet of His Church Deu_18:18). And
the whole ministry of the New Testament was now to be delivered and
consecrated in Him, and therefore undertaking this great work, He goeth to His
Father for blessing and success in it.
2. He was now in a solemn manner by sundry testimonies from heaven to be set
apart for the work of redemption, and the salvation of man being lost: a ministry
which men and angels were all too weak for; and no marvel, if He pray to His
Father for sufficient strength and grace to undergo the same.
3. He knew that the heavens were to be opened, and therefore He will be in
prayer, to show the power of prayer, that it pierceth the heavens, and entereth the
presence of God, and prevaileth for a blessing.
4. The Spirit was to descend upon Him, and therefore He would be in prayer to
teach us that the prayers of God’s children are of that force that they bring down
the Holy Ghost with all graces upon earth.
5. That faithful prayer doth cause God to give some evident testimony upon those
with whom He is well pleased.
6. That whatever we take in hand, we must reverently undertake it with prayer,
but especially two things above others.
(1) The part of God’s holy worship.
(2) The duties of our callings.
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172. 2. Such is our weakness, as when we do anything the best we can, we had need to
pray to do it better, and for pardon that we have done it no better: which if it be
true in external things and duties, wherein we are better acquainted; much more
in spiritual, wherein our ability is much less.
3. We never receive so much favour from God, but we still stand in need to crave
more; nor never so little, but that we have much to be thankful for. This doctrine
serves to reprove such as content themselves with the work of God’s worship;
that come to the word and sacraments, but beg not a blessing of God beforehand;
whereas Christ Himself contented not Himself with the outward means, but
prayed for a blessing. And this is the very cause why men find so little taste,
strength, and power in these ordinances, because God’s blessing goes not with
the means; and therefore it is sundered from His own ordinances, because it is
not asked. Is it any marvel, that when men come carelessly, carnally, and
profanely, without reverence and religion to the exercises of religion, that they go
away as brutishly as they come; and the longer they thus profane God’s holy
things, the more senseless and incurable they grow by them, more hardened and
hopeless. What good hath many a man gotten by customable coming to the word
and sacraments many years together? for their knowledge, babes may pose them
in principles; for their conscience, we may as soon prevail with children of three
years old, to sit reverently and attentively, as some of three or fourscore, who in
the morning are so sleepy, as it were fitter they were at home in their beds, or
take order to bring their beds with them: and for their profitableness in their
places, or reformation of anything in public, or in their private families, or their
own person, God nor man can see no such thing. Now would I ask these men as
old as they be, how often they can remember they have humbled themselves
before God, that He would bless the Word unto them, and them to understand it,
and make conscience of it, to reform their ways, to comfort their consciences?
Alas, dead men! this is a strange motion to them; and now we conclude, no
blessing asked, none obtained, but a curse accompanied them further to harden
them: whereas humble and feeling prayer would have opened the heavens and
fetched down the Spirit to have accompanied the ordinance; and so some
testimony would have been seen, that God had been better pleased with them and
their work.
3. It is a notable fence against sin: for, as the more sin prevails, the less can a man
pray; for the more he prays, the less is he overtaken with sin. When the true man
is assaulted, if he cry for help, the thief runs away; and so doth sin (a thief which
ever doggeth and besetteth us to rob us and steal away grace) if we can cry
mightily to God.
4. Acquaint thyself with God; for the times come when nothing will stand by thee
but His help; and therefore use prayer, to be familiarly acquainted with Him:
know Him now in the time of thy prayer, that He may know thee in the day of thy
distress. (T. Taylor, D. D.)
Conduct without prayer
He knoweth truly how to live well, who knoweth how to pray well. But best actions
without prayer, which obtain grace to them, are like bodies without spirits: yea, as
the body without breathing cannot live to do any work competent to a natural life: so
the soul, without prayer, can do no work that truly is spiritual. (Bishop Cowper.)
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173. The heaven was opened.
No wit followeth, that we speak of those three admirable events, which followed the
prayer of Christ.
1. The sensible opening of the heavens.
2. The visible descending of the Holy Ghost.
3. The audible voice of God the Father, witnessing to many both eye and ear-
witnesses the solemn instalment and induction of Christ into His office and work
of mediation and ministry. Wherein we must know, that as there never was in all
the world so high and excellent an office as Christ’s was (for the greatest of kings,
and the high priest, who yet were with great state and observation anointed and
deputed to their offices, were but shadows of this), even so God would have
Christ entered into it with such magnificence and glory as never man was, nor
creature is capable of. At the coronation of a prince, with what glory, pomp, and
sumptuousness, even to admiration, is he brought forth with his nobles and
subjects! But all this is but earthly glory, from earthly men to an earthly king. But
now at the coronation of the Prince of Peace, God sets Himself from heaven to
honour it; and for this purpose He doth more familiarly, and yet more gloriously
reveal Himself unto all mankind, than He had ever before done from the creation
of the world; and never was any ceremony in all the world so honoured as this
baptism of Christ was. The ancient sacrifices of God’s institution were honoured
by- manifest signs of His gracious presence, as by the fire which came from
heaven continually to consume them: the Ark was honoured with special signs of
His glorious presence, sitting between the cherubims, answering by oracle and
voice unto cases propounded: the Temple itself at Jerusalem, at Solomon’s prayer
and dedication, was filled with the glory of God, manifested in that cloud that
filled the House of the Lord (1Ki_8:10), and this cloud still watched over the
Tabernacle (Exo_40:34). But these were all but shadows to this, wherein the
Lord did not cloud and vail His presence, or reveal His presence in some sign; but
the Divine Majesty manifested itself distinctly, as we may say, in person, yea, in
the distinction of all the three Persons, the Father testifying His delight in His
dear Son, the Son standing in Jordan, and receiving His Father’s testimony; and
the Holy Ghost descending in the visible shape of a dove. It seemeth therefore to
be true, that the heaven was sensibly divided and rent in twain, even as the earth
was when Korah and his company were swallowed up.
Now the reasons why the heavens were opened were sundry.
1. To manifest the truth and certainty of the other signs which followed, that
seeing the heavens opened, they might not conceive that either the dove or the
voice came from any other place.
2. To show that howsoever Christ stood there as a weak man, and in similitude of
sinful flesh, yet He was the Lord from heaven heavenly, of whom was verified
(Joh_3:31) “ He that is come from heaven is above all.”
3. That as His person, so likewise His doctrine was Divine and heavenly (Luk_
3:34). He whom God hath sent, speaketh the words of God: and this was the
special work of His doctoral office, to reveal the will of His Father. “No man hath
seen God at any time, the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father,
hath declared Him” (Joh_1:18). The power also and grace, whereby He wrought
miracles, was not from Beelzebub, but from heaven.
4. To show that His office, into which He was now entered, was and is to open
heaven again for us, who by sin had shut it against ourselves; He hath made our
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174. way unto the throne of grace. And thus this second Adam standeth in opposition
with the first; He shut us out of paradise, a token that we were shut out of
heaven: but this lets us into the paradise of God again. The heavens are opened
by His passion, not by His baptism Heb_10:19). They are opened by His death as
by a common cause, which must be specially and singularly applied, and that is
by baptism: therefore it is said, “We are baptised into His death “ (Rom_6:3-4),
that is, to have benefit by His death. Note hence, that Christ by fulfilling all
righteousness, hath set heaven open unto us, and consequently the justification
of a sinner is not only by the obedience of His passion, but also by His active
obedience in fulfilling the law. (T. Taylor, D. D.)
Like a dove upon Him
The dove-like descent of the Spirit on Christ
Hence then, we may observe, that the religion of Jesus consists in a dove-like temper.
This observation we will endeavour to illustrate. That we may proceed with safety, we
will give no indulgence to imagination, but will strictly follow the allusions which we
find in Scripture.
1. The dove is an emblem of purity. In the law of Moses this was reckoned a clean
bird, and it was selected for an offering in the ceremony of purification. His
precepts, His doctrines, His example teach us to be holy, undefiled, and separate
from sinners.
2. Christ directs His disciples to be harmless as doves. The same meek and
inoffensive spirit which was in Him must also be in us.
3. The dove, in the book of Canticles, is an emblem of cheerfulness and joy. “Lo,
the winter is past and gone, the flowers appear on the earth; the time of the
singing of birds is come: the voice of the turtle is heard in our land.” The dove-
like temper of the gospel is sweet, serene, and pleasant.
4. Doves are distinguished by their mutual fidelity and love. To this social and
affectionate property there are frequent allusions in Scripture. The bridegroom,
in the book of Canticles, calls the bride by this, among other endearing names: “O
my dove, let me see thy face, and hear thy voice, for thy voice is sweet, and thy
face is comely.” People in affliction are described as “mourning like doves” who
have lost their companions. Mutual love is the temper of the gospel.
5. The dove is a defenceless bird. Hence she is described as “dwelling in the clefts
of the rocks, and in the secret places of the stairs”; and as “flying to her windows”
in times of danger. In this view she is an emblem of Christian faith and humility.
True believers, sensible of their weakness, and of the dangers which attend them,
trust not in themselves, but in the power and grace of their Saviour.
6. The excellent glory, which descended like a dove and rested on Jesus, might be
intended to represent the beauties of His Church, adorned and dignified by the
graces of His Spirit. The dove, which is a beautiful bird, is a natural emblem of
the virtuous and good works which distinguish the Christian character. “Though
ye have lien among the pots, yet ye shall be as the wings of a dove, covered with
silver, and her feathers with yellow gold.”
7. The dove, which is a fruitful bird, is, by Isaiah, made an emblem of the increase
of the Church in her happy and prosperous periods. Then converts shall fly unto
God’s altar, “ as doves to their windows.” (J. Lathrop. D. D.)
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175. The Spirit likened to a dove
1. Our subject suggests to us that the Spirit of Christ usually comes to the soul in
a mild and gentle manner. His operations are as His fruits, dovelike, sweet, and
kind. The benevolent and friendly nature of the dispensation which Christ was
about to introduce, was intimated in the manner of the Spirit’s descent. The law,
which was a ministration of death and condemnation, was delivered to the people
with circumstances of terror and amazement. As His manner of teaching, so the
doctrines which He taught were kind and gracious.
2. Our subject farther teaches us, that they only are led by the Spirit of God, who
are of a dove-like temper. It is absurd then to impute to an uncommon influence
of the Spirit any error of conduct, excess of passion, extravagance of zeal, or
bitterness of censure; for the Spirit comes like the dove.
3. Our subject reminds us of our obligation to adorn with good works our
Christian character, and to recommend to the choice of others the religion which
we profess. We should resemble the dove, whose wings are covered with silver,
and her feathers with yellow gold. The beauty of religion much depends on our
maintaining the more amiable and engaging virtues; such as charity,
peaceableness, humility, and meekness.
4. Our subject teaches us our obligation to labor for the increase of Christ’s
Church—not only to enter into it ourselves, but also to encourage others to come
and join themselves to it. (J. Lathrop. D. D. )
In semblance of a dove
I. The Holy Ghost descended in a bodily shape LIKE A bow.
1. The dove was a bird of purity. You know it was used by the poor in sacrifices,
and therefore was considered clean.
2. The Holy Spirit is like a dove because it is a harmless creature. The dove never
hurts the tiniest bird with which it comes into contact. The Holy Spirit is not
compared to the eagle, nor to the hawk, nor to the vulture—birds of prey; but to
the dove—a harmless creature.
3. The Holy Ghost is like a dove because the dove is such a gentle creature. His
influences are most benign.
4. The Holy Spirit is like the dove, too, because the dove has very keen eyesight.
In the Book of Canticles we read, “Thou hast dove’s eyes.” Doves are remarkable
for great keenness of vision. The Holy Spirit “searcheth all things.”
5. The Holy Spirit is like the dove because the dove was an emblem of peace and
of spring. The dove brought the olive leaf back in her mouth, indicating to Noah
that the waters had subsided, and that the deluge of wrath would soon be gone.
The dove, too, is mentioned in the Canticles as being a herald of spring: “The time
of the singing of birds is come, and the voice of the turtle is heard in the land.”
And whenever the Holy Spirit comes to a man’s heart, there is a sign that that
heart will be at peace with God.
6. The Holy Ghost, lastly, is like a dove because the dove was given to mourning.
“I did mourn as a dove,” says Isaiah. “The Spirit also helpeth our infirmities”—
takes our infirmities upon Himself. His work is of a loving nature.
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176. II. Secondly, we have THE CHARACTERISTICS OF CHRIST. Much is taught in the
connection of the text concerning the mission of Christ, while our text itself gives the
chief elements of His character. First of all, we have something concerning His
mission. It was divinely ordained, for God sent the Holy Spirit to testify to the world
that He was commissioned by Him to undertake man’s redemption. We have here
the purpose of His mission. Heaven was opened, and the Holy Ghost descended. It
was the purpose of Christ to open heaven. The first Adam closed heaven against us.
But the character of Christ was developed by the influence of the Holy Ghost. Jesus
did not achieve His work by virtue of the divinity that was in Him only, but by virtue
of the Spirit’s graces upon Him. The dove was harmless. Christ said, “I am meek and
lowly in heart.” The dove was given to mourning. Jesus was “a Man of sorrows and
acquainted with grief.” The dove wag innocent. Jesus Christ was purity personified.
“Which of you convinceth Me of sin?” said He. He was holy, harmless, undefiled, and
in an emphatic sense, the dove was emblematic of Him.
III. IT is so ALSO WITH A CHRISTIAN. There is no true character which is not built
up by the influence of the Holy Spirit. The dove is defenceless. It has nothing to
protect it except the rocks, and when pursued its only refuge is to fly thither. The
Christian has nothing to protect himself against the wiles of the devil and the
allurements of the world, except “the Rock of Ages.” The dove keeps to its own
company. It is delighted when it is with its fellows. So the Christian feels at home
when he gets among characters of like nature. The dove mourns in the absence of its
mate; and the character which the Holy Spirit gives to us is such as to make us
mourn when our Lord Jesus is away, so that we have no rest if we be separated from
Him. You cannot have this character except by the personal application of the Holy
Spirit to your heart. (T. Gamble.)
The Holy Spirit descending like a dove
I. First, as the brooding of the Spirit of God upon the face of the deep produced order
and life in the beginning, so does He impart new life to the soul, and open the eyes of
the understanding, that we may behold the wonders of God’s law.
II. Again: In the fact that the Holy Ghost descended upon the Lord Jesus in the form
of a dove, we are reminded that quietness is often essential to many of the operations
of grace. “A very restless person Will never be very godly, and a very godly one will
never be very restless. ‘Be still, and know that I am God.’”
III. Another point suggested by the text is, that as the dove is an appropriate emblem
of love, so the soul which is influenced by the blessed Spirit will abound in love to
God, and love to His people. The steeple of an old village church was to be pulled
down, in order to prepare the way for some modern improvements, and a long rope
was fastened near the top of it, that it might be kept from crushing the building in its
fall. Soon everything was ready, and the master-carpenter shouted aloud to the men
to pull. As the old steeple began to tremble, and sway from side to side, a beautiful
white dove was observed to fly round and round, not daring to go in at its
accustomed place, and yet evidently unwilling to depart. She seemed to be aware that
a great calamity was about to happen, while a hundred voices shouted, “See that
dove!” “Poor thing!” the head carpenter observed, “she must have young ones up in
the steeple.” Again the workmen gave a vigorous tug at the rope, and the old steeple
reeled and tottered. The distress of the poor dove became so great, that every one felt
sorry for her, and not a word was spoken. The bird hovered a moment on her wings,
and at the instant that the creaking timbers began to topple over, she darted into the
steeple and was hid from view. When the rubbish was cleared away, she was found
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177. lying between her two young ones—all three crushed to death I The devoted bird was
willing to die with and for them, but she could not save them. There was a spectacle
of devoted love—love even unto death!
IV.
I remark, in the fourth place, that the descent of the Holy Spirit, in the
form of a dove, should remind us that gentleness is a distinguishing mark
of Christian character in which most of us have very much to learn.
Audubon, the ornithologist, relates this incident in his autobiography: “A
man, who was once a pirate, assured me that several times, while at
certain wells dug in the burning, shelly sands, the soft and melancholy
notes of the doves awoke in his heart feelings which had long
slumberbed, melting his heart to repentance.
So deeply was he moved by them—the only soothing sounds he had ever
heard during his life of horrors—that through them he was induced to
escape from his vessel, abandon his turbulent companions, and return to
a family deploring his absence, and he now lives in peace in the midst of
his friends.
” “I beseech you by the gentleness of Christ,” was St. Paul’s exhortation
to the Christians of Corinth (2Co_10:1); and, “Gentleness,” he assures the
Galatians (v. 22), is one of the prominent fruits of the Spirit. Henry Martyn, whose
temper was naturally not the gentlest, wrote in his journal, “I walked into the village
where the boat stopped for the night, and found the worshippers of Call by the Sound
of their drums and cymbals. I did not speak to them on account of their being
Bangalees; but being invited to walk in by the Brahmins, I went within the railings,
and asked a few questions about the idol. The Brahmin, who spoke bad Hindostanee,
disputed with great heat, and his tongue ran faster than I could follow, and the
people shouted applause. I continued to ask my questions, without making any
remarks upon the answers … The man grew quite mild, and said it was “good words,”
and asked me seriously, at last, was idol-worship true or false? I felt it a matter of
thankfulness that I could make known the truth of God, though but a stammerer;
and this I also learned, that the power of gentleness is irresistible. Once more: the
dove has always been the type of purity, and the Holy Spirit is the purifier of the
heart. When He gains an entrance into it, sin and uncleanness must depart. (J. N.
Norton, D. D.)
The Holy Spirit like a dove
So here the Spirit would appear in the shape of a dove, to note—
1. What kind of Spirit Christ’s was.
2. What kind of gifts they were which were collated and bestowed upon Him:
and—
3. What was the fruit of those gifts. (J. Taylor, D. D.)
The Divine Spirit in the ministry
Note, as Christ was set apart both by the ministry of man, and by the Spirit, by the
visible appearance of which God would manifest that He was fitted thereunto; so in
all those that are set apart by man to the ministry, must be an apparent descending of
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178. the Spirit though not in visible shape, yet in evident gifts and graces. (J. Taylor, D.
D.)
The Spirit of God like unto Himself
The Spirit of God is everywhere like to Himself, both in the head and members, as
the same juice is in the root and branches, in the tree and fruits. Look what were the
fruits of the Spirit in Christ, the same also are in the members (Gal_5:23). (J. Taylor,
D. D.)
The Divine Trinity engaged in redemption
Here, then, for our further comfort, we have to consider how the three Persons of the
Blessed Trinity concur together to work the great work of our redemption; for here is
the Father designing, ordaining, proclaiming; here is the Son accepting, and the Holy
Ghost anointing. (Bishop Cowper.)
The Holy Ghost as dove
The Spirit that descended on Jesus like a dove was to become, and became, when
breathed abroad by Him, a consuming fire (Luk_3:16). Why, in its descent upon
Him, was it the gentle brooding of a dove? May we not answer with a word, that in
Him it encountered no sinful force, no mass of evil passion or unworthy disposition,
to contend with; but only beautiful germs to develope, only rights, sympathies, and
aspirations to encourage, and direct, and intensify? Yes; it found in Him only that
which was accordant and congenial; the Holy Child to be expanded into the Holy
Man; nothing contrary to it, the withstanding of which would have struck out a
flame; nothing to burn against and burn up, in order to His perfecting; no false will
of affections to be resisted by and to resist, until it was conquered. The Spirit from
above just lighted and spread its wings, and sat brooding upon the Divine simplicity
of the wholehearted Nazarene. True, He had to endure in Himself a fiery baptism, as
the result of the descent upon Him from above. But it was through His contact, thus
Spirit-charged, with the bad element surrounding Him, that He suffered what He
suffered; not through the contact of the Spirit with any bad element in Him. It met
with nothing in Him to cause a painful flame; touching which it had to become a
purging devouring fire. It abode upon Him like a dove brooding over its nest. (S. A.
Tipple.)
Thou art My beloved Son, in Thee I am well pleased
The voice from heaven
I. THE PERSON WHOSE VOICE IT WAS IS GOD THE FATHER; for He saith,
“Thou art My beloved Son.” Every testimony receives validity and authority from the
testator, therefore this must needs be sound and good. God had given testimony to
Christ by many famous men, even all the prophets, and now lately by John Baptist,
who was greater than a prophet, that Christ was greater than he; yea, more, had
given testimony of Him by a multitude of heavenly angels (Luk_1:30; Luk 13:1-35).
But not content with all this, He gives from heaven His own testimony of Him.
1. To strike us with reverence in receiving this testimony, which hath this
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179. privilege above other parts of Scripture, that it was uttered by God’s own mouth,
not by men or angels.
2. To confirm us in the truth of the testimony, proceeding from Him who is
prima veritas, truth itself (not only true) in His essence, and much more in His
words and works, who cannot be deceived, nor deceive us.
3. To show the necessity of believing this testimony, being the first and only
principle in Christian religion, without which foundation laid can be no religion
nor salvation, as we see in the Jews and Turks. That we might more firmly believe
in the Son of God for life, God’s own mouth testifieth so honourably of Him.
4. That such a glorious commendation of this testimony might stir up our best
attention and affections in the unfolding of it, we have here the word of a King
which was never stained, and that not uttered by any herald or a lord chancellor,
but from His own mouth, which carrieth more weight with it. If God speak, woe
to him that hears not.
II. THE PLACE WHENCE—FROM HEAVEN. For these reasons:
1. For more authority to the person of Christ, whom God from heaven doth
honour. And if God thus honour Him, how ought we to honour Him? 2Pe_1:17.)
He received of God the Father honour and glory, when there came such a voice to
Him from the excellent glory, “This is My beloved Son”; which was verified not
only in the time of His Transfiguration, but here also.
2. Because the testimony contains the sum of the whole gospel, to declare that
the doctrine of the gospel, which Christ delivered to the world, was from heaven,
because God from heaven so testifieth it to be. Wherein it differs from the
doctrine of the Law, which, although God renewed from heaven in the tables of
stone, yet was it written in the heart of man by nature. So was not the gospel. But
as after the Fall it was immediately delivered by God to Adam in the promise, so
here by the same voice from heaven confirmed to be Divine and heavenly.
3. In respect of us, that we should more carefully attend to the testimony itself
proceeding from the excellent glory, and that from the mouth of the God of glory
sitting in His chair of estate, seeing the word of a King in that place is more
regarded. The contempt of the Law given upon Mount Sinai, in the hand of
angels, was required at their hands; how shall they then escape that despise Him
that speaketh from heaven? (Heb_2:2-3.) The Law being transgressed, the gospel
from heaven moderateth and pardoneth a man; but the gospel from heaven being
despised, what can plead for him?
4. To show the extent of the gospel, that it is to be preached, and binds to the
faith of it all the people under heaven. And herein it was not to be inferior to the
Law, which God would have acknowledged His own by uttering it from heaven,
and that not before He had sent Moses down, lest it should have been thought to
be His, although it was so loud and piercing, as it could not possibly be but
Divine, not human.
III. THE MANNER OF THE TESTIMONY—BY AN AUDIBLE AND SENSIBLE
VOICE. HOW the Father uttereth this voice it is needless to inquire, seeing we know
that He who made the tongue can either speak without a tongue or by secret
inspiration and revelation, as to Isaiah (2Ki_20:4). or frame a tongue and organs of
voice at His pleasure, to utter and make known His will and good pleasure to His
creatures, or speak by creatures, as angels in human shape, or other creatures—
sensible, as Balaam’s ass; or insensible, as the bush of fire. It is much more material
to inquire into the end and use of it, which was to make the Son of God known unto
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180. the world, that the faith of men might be fixed on Him for salvation.
1. Hence, note, in that the Lord from heaven teacheth by voice His wonderful
care, that will not suffer us to want any means to help us in the knowledge of the
means of salvation. He had taught them and us before, by the sense of sight,
seeing the heavens opened, and the Spirit visibly descending; and now He
teacheth the ear by a voice, for He knows our dulness, security, slow ness of heart
to believe, and applies Himself every way to help us. He setteth out His glory by
His works and creatures; He addeth His Word confirmed by many powerful
miracles; to his audible Word He hath annexed His visible Word, the sacraments;
He hath set up a constant ministry in His Church, and every way fitted it to the
edification of His people, as so He may now say, What could I do more for thee, O
Israel? Is God thus careful of our profiting every way? Then how damnable and
excuseless shall the carelessness of the most be in the matter of their salvation I
In which regard it had been good for many a man that God had never made His
will known to him, that he never had heard the Word, or received the sacraments,
for all but tend to his deeper condemnation, because of his neglect and formal
use. When our Saviour said of Judas, “It had been good for him he had never
been born,” did not He in effect say the same, It bad been good for him he had
never been a disciple of Christ, never had heard Christ, or preached Christ,
because the more excellent means he had, the greater was his sin and judgment.
Again, hereby God cleareth His righteous judgment in the just damnation of the
wicked and unbelievers. O Israel, thy destruction is of thyself. Say not, What can I
remedy it, if God will not save me? Nay, what can God do more than He hath
done? He hath given thee strong and excellent means, and preached the gospel
from heaven by His own mouth, and sent it to all nations under heaven in their
own language in an audible and intelligible voice. If thou wilt now wilfully refuse
the means, thy blood be upon thy own head; that which will die, let it die. Thou
art in the sea of thy sins, ready to be drowned, good help is offered, but thou
refusest it, and must die in thy sin. Thy case is that of Jerusalem: “How often
would I have gathered thee, and thou wouldst not!”
2. Note, that it is God’s pleasure that we should be taught the matter of salvation
by voice, and attend to that. Here was a visible opening of the heavens, a glorious
presence of the Spirit in the shape of a dove resting on Christ; but when the Lord
will have Christ published and proclaimed the Messiah, this must be done by
voice.
“Thou heardest a voice, but sawest no image, therefore take heed to thyself, and
corrupt not thyself by any image” (Deu_4:12; Deu 4:14).
1. Herein His mercy hath appointed a familiar and fit instruction, meet for our
weakness, not coming to His Church in His own Majesty.
2. Herein He advanced our nature, teaching us great mysteries by such as
ourselves, sanctifying the tongues of men, and not angels.
3. Herein He magnifies His power, who by so weak means worketh salvation.
Earthen vessels are used, that the power may be seen to be of 2Co_4:7). The voice
of men by God’s power conquers the world.
4. Hereby He tries our obedience, whether we will yield to a weak voice, whereas
He might force us by power. Reasons: If God look on us in our selves, and in the
common mass, we are so covered over with sin, as He must needs pronounce of
us as once He did of mankind, “It repenteth Me that I have made man.” He must
needs bring the curse of the Law on our necks. But looking on us through Christ,
He changeth His voice, that as when we behold a thing through a red, or green, or
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181. coloured glass, everything looks as the colour of the glass. So God beholding us
through Christ, we receive the dye and tincture of His blood and obedience, and
so are justified and accounted innocent and pure. And thus, as it is said of the
Church (Eze_16:14),we recover our former beauty, which is made perfect
through His beauty. (T. Taylor, D. D.)
Thirty years of age
Years of silence and preparation
In the humble home at Nazareth Jesus spent thirty years; most marvellous in this,
that nothing marvellous is recorded of them. Goodness was so perfect, duty so evenly
performed, the lustre of holiness so mild and steady, that brothers and sisters and
rude Nazarene neighbours came to take all this as a matter of course, saw in it
nothing superhuman; and when at last the disguise was laid aside, and the prophet-
king of Israel, the promised Messiah, stood unveiled, they could still only stupidly
ask, “Is not this Jesus, the carpenter?” Imagination may strive to withdraw the veil
which inspiration has left drawn over these thirty years—the precious episode of the
visit to Jerusalem. For some minds the attempt will have an irresistible fascination,
to others it will be utterly distasteful; and neither may judge the other. But faith and
love should never lose sight of the lessons which speak in the very silence of those
years. Ten times as much of life as our Lord Jesus occupied in public ministry He
spent in private life, preaching no sermon, initiating no public movement, working
no miracle. The Divine ideal of perfect holiness in childhood, youth, and manhood
was realized during thirty years in a life of obscure privacy, mechanical toil, and
home affection and duty. (E. R.Conder, D. D.)
Thirty years of preparation, and about three years of work I how contrary to our
notions of a wise economy of the working powers of a human life! There may possibly
be a reference to the age at which, according to the law, the Levites were to enter
upon their ministrations; but when we consider the short time during which the
actual ministry lasted, we may certainly draw the conclusion that in order to do a
great work in a short time long and patient preparation is necessary; and that they
who would be useful ministers of the Church of Christ should grudge no time and no
amount of labour to fit themselves for the great work committed to them. (Bishop
Harvey Goodwin.)
The author of the “New Phoedo” considers thirty years of age the epoch for the
departure of youth; by which he does not, of course, intend to signify incipient decay,
our frames being as young as they were five years before, while the mind has been
ripening; by youth he means the growing and progressive season, the departure of it
being visible only inasmuch as we have become, as it were, fixed and stationary. The
qualities that peculiarly belong to youth, its quick, throbbing fancies, its exuberance
of energy and feeling, cease, by his reckoning, to be our distinctions at thirty.
Maynard, in the play, speaks of himself as almost thirty—“warning thirty.” “Warning
thirty?” repeats his companion, half-mockingly, half-inquiringly. The other explains,
“‘Tis half the journey, Tom. Depend on it, after thirty, ‘tis time to count the
milestones.” At the age of thirty, according to Lord Lytton, the characters of most
men pass through a revolution; we have reduced to the sober test of reality the
visions of youth; we no longer chase frivolities or hope for chimeras; and we may
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182. now come with better success than Rasselas to the Choice of Life. Ever to be noted is
the pregnant fact that when our Lord began to be about thirty years of age, then
began His work in earnest, His ministry in public. To many that age is the signal for
selfish indulgence in regrets. To Him it struck the hour of hard work—work that
should cease but in death. (F. Jacox.)
The achievements of youth
Almost everything that is great has been done by youth. For life in general there is
but one decree. Youth is a blunder; manhood a struggle; old age a regret. Do not
suppose that I hold that youth is genius; all that is genius, when young, is Divine.
Why, the greatest captains of ancient and modern times both conquered Italy at five-
and-twenty! Youth, extreme youth, overthrew the Persian empire. Don John of
Austria won Lepanto at twenty-five—the greatest battle of modern times. Had it not
been for the jealousy of Philip, the next year he would have been Emperor of
Mauritania. Gaston de Foix was only twenty-two when he stood a victor on the plain
of Ravenna. Every one remembers Conde and Rocroy at the same age. Gustavus
Adolphus died at thirty-eight. Look at his captains: that wonderful Duke of Weimar,
only thirty-six when he died; Banter himself, after all his miracles, died at forty-five.
Cortes was little more than thirty when he gazed upon the golden cupolas of Mexico.
When Maurice of Saxony died at thirty-two all Europe acknowledged the loss of the
greatest captain and the profoundest statesman of the age. Then there is Nelson,
Clive—but these are warriors, and perhaps you may think there are greater things
than war. I do not; I worship the Lord of hosts. But take the most illustrious
achievements of civil prudence. Innocent III., the greatest of the Popes, was the
despot of Christendom at thirty-seven. John de Medici was a cardinal at fifteen, and,
Guicciardini tells us, baffled with his statecraft Ferdinand of Arragon himself; he was
Pope as Leo X. at thirty-seven. Luther robbed even him of his richest province at
thirty-five. Take Ignatius Loyola and John Wesley; they worked with young brains.
Ignatius was only thirty when he made his pilgrimage and wrote the “Spiritual
Exercises.” Pascal wrote a great work at sixteen, the greatest of Frenchmen, and died
at thirty-seven. Ah, that fatal thirty-seven! Was it experience that guided the pencil of
Raphael when he painted the palaces of Rome? He died at thirty-seven. Richelieu
was Secretary of State at thirty-one. Then there were Bolingbroke and Pitt, both
Ministers before other men leave cricket. Grotius was in great practice at seventeen,
and Attorney-General at twenty-four. And Acquaviva—Acquaviva was general of the
Jesuits, ruled every Cabinet in Europe, and colonized America before he was thirty-
seven. What a career I It is needless to multiply instances. The history of heroes is the
history of youth. (Lord Beaconsfield.)
GREAT TEXTS OF THE BIBLE, "The Baptism of Jesus
Now it came to pass, when all the people were baptized, that, Jesus also having
been baptized, and praying, the heaven was opened, and the Holy Ghost
descended in a bodily form, as a dove, upon him, and a voice came out of heaven,
Thou art my beloved Son; in thee I am well pleased.—Luk_3:21-22.
1. The Baptism of our Lord was the first event of His public life as the Christ;
and on this account alone it would have a peculiar significance and importance.
Previously to this time He had lain hid in Galilee, in silent and secret preparation
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183. for His public work, dwelling beneath the roof of His earthly parents, and
subject to them, growing year by year in wisdom and in stature, and in favour
with God and man. What were His occupations and pursuits; how His soul
within Him was exercised and disciplined in the prospect of the public duties
assigned to Him as Mediator; in what way the one thought of glorifying His
Father by “obedience unto death” for His people was ever before His mind,
waxing in greatness and awfulness as it was longer and more fully contemplated;
how the coming events of His temptation and agony and Cross filled His holy
human heart with longing and wonder and fear as the time drew on and they
looked the nearer, we have not anywhere in Scripture been clearly informed. The
thirty years that elapsed between His birth and His “showing unto Israel” are for
us little else than a mysterious blank. We can do no more than conjecture how
His human understanding, by the aid of the Old Testament Scriptures, which
spoke of Him in type and prophecy and promise, grew in the knowledge of the
great work given Him to do; and how His human feelings of faith and love, and
submission to His Father, by acts of converse with God in private, were
disciplined and strengthened to enter upon it. It is but a glimpse that we get of
the extent to which the Child Jesus had, during His early years, perfected
Himself in the Word of His God, when we see Him, at twelve years of age, sitting
among the Jewish Doctors in the Temple, the Teacher rather than the taught;
and we can only guess by way of inference how large a portion of His private
hours in youth was spent in secret communion with His Father, when we read of
how the habit had grown in mature age into the spending of whole nights alone
in prayer to God.
But although comparative darkness has been allowed to settle down upon the
history of the earthly life of Christ before He grew to manhood, yet we can
hardly err in believing that by means of these two things—namely, God speaking
to His human soul in the written Word, and His human soul holding converse
with God in prayer—He was educated for the work in public which lay before
Him; and that, although we may know but little of the character or the
successive steps of it, yet there was a great work of preparation going on in those
early years, of which no record is found in Scripture. And when this mysterious
preparation was at an end—when the hidden discipline of His early years had
made perfect the Son of God for His destined enterprise—what was the event
which terminated His secret and inaugurated His public career; which closed up
the history of Jesus as a private man, and proclaimed the opening of His official
life as the Messiah, the sent of God? We have the narrative of that event in the
passage before us.
2. The first meeting of Jesus and John is a unique scene. They were of nearly the
same age; they were related according to the flesh; they were both men of
prophetic endowment, sent to produce in their native country a religious
reformation. Yet, in spite of these and other points of resemblance, there could
not have been two characters more absolutely contrasted. Jesus marked the
contrast in the broadest way when He subsequently said, “John the Baptist came
neither eating bread nor drinking wine; and ye say, He hath a devil. The Son of
man is come eating and drinking; and ye say, Behold, a gluttonous man, and a
winebibber, a friend of publicans and sinners!” John was the child of the desert,
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184. courting solitude and avoiding human society; Jesus followed a homely trade,
appeared at marriages and feasts, was a friend of women and children, and was
as much at home in the busy city as on the mountain top. John called the
multitude out to the desert to hear him and did not condescend to visit the
haunts of men; Jesus went to sinners where He could find them, considering it
His duty to seek as well as to save that which was lost. John had a seared look; he
was a man who, after severe struggles, had obtained the mastery of himself and
was holding down a coarse nature by main force; Jesus, on the contrary, was
always innocent and spontaneous, genial and serene. John, in short, was the Old
Testament personified, Jesus the embodiment of the New; and in John’s
shrinking from baptizing Jesus, the spirit of the Old Testament—the spirit of
law, wrath and austerity—was doing homage to the spirit of the New
Testament—the spirit of freedom and of love.
A voice by Jordan’s shore!
A summons stern and clear;—
Reform! be just! and sin no more!
God’s judgment draweth near!
A voice by Galilee,
A holier voice I hear;—
Love God! thy neighbour love! for see,
God’s mercy draweth near!
O voice of Duty! still
Speak forth; I hear with awe;
In thee I own the sovereign will,
Obey the sovereign law.
Thou higher voice of Love,
Yet speak Thy word in me;
Through duty let me upward move
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185. To Thy pure liberty!1 [Note: Samuel Longfellow.]
3. The application by Jesus for baptism perplexed John; and it is a perplexity
even to this day. It is not, indeed, entirely without parallel in the life of Christ;
for His circumcision, which took place when He was eight days old, raises the
same difficulty. The difficulty is that He should have participated in an
ordinance which symbolized the removal of sin. But in this case it is more urgent,
because He made the application Himself.
Only two explanations seem really to touch the quick. The one is that John’s
baptism had a positive as well as a negative side. It was not only the baptism of
repentance, but a rite of dedication. It was a renewal of the national covenant,
the inauguration of a new era, the gateway of the Kingdom of God. Now,
although Jesus had no part in the sin from which baptism cleansed, He had part
in this positive enthusiasm; He was the very Person to lead the way into the new
era. The other explanation, which may very easily be combined with this one, is
that He received baptism as a representative Person. Although sinless Himself,
He was a member of a sinful nation, of whose sin He was keenly conscious—
more so than any other whom John baptized—and He went along with the rest
of the nation in making confession. In short, He was in this act rehearsing
beforehand the great act of His death, when He bore in His own body on the tree
the sins of the world.
Tintoret has thrown into his picture of the Baptism of Christ his utmost
strength; and it becomes noble in his hands by his most singularly imaginative
expression, not only of the immediate fact, but of the whole train of thought of
which it is suggestive; and by his considering the Baptism not only as the
submission of Christ to the fulfilment of all righteousness, but as the opening of
the earthly struggle with the prince of the powers of the air, which instantly
beginning in the temptation, ended only on the Cross. The river flows fiercely
under the shadow of a great rock. From its opposite shore, thickets of close
gloomy foliage rise against the rolling chasm of heaven, through which breaks
the brightness of the descending Spirit. Across these, dividing them asunder, is
stretched a horizontal floor of flaky cloud, on which stand the hosts of heaven,
Christ kneels upon the water, and does not sink; the figure of St. John is
indistinct, but close beside his raised right arm there is a spectre in the black
shade; the Fiend, harpy-shaped, hardly seen, glares down upon Christ with eyes
of fire, waiting his time. Beneath this figure there comes out of the mist a dark
hand, the arm unseen, extended to a net in the river, the spars of which are in the
shape of a cross. Behind this the roots and under stems of the trees are cut away
by the cloud, and beneath it, and through them, is seen a vision of wild,
melancholy, boundless light, the sweep of the desert; and the figure of Christ is
seen therein alone, with His arms lifted as in supplication or ecstasy, borne of the
Spirit into the Wilderness to be tempted of the Devil.1 [Note: Ruskin, Modern
Painters (Works, iv. 268).]
I
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186. The Circumstances of the Baptism
Before we attempt to enter into the meaning of the Baptism of Jesus, whether for
Himself or for us, it will be well to bring before our minds the events that took
place on the occasion of it, as they are reported by St. Luke. These events are: (1)
the Prayer, (2) the Opening of the Heavens, (3) the Descent of the Spirit, and (4)
the Voice.
i. The Prayer
There is one peculiarity about the life of our Lord Jesus Christ which everybody
must have noticed who has carefully read the four Gospels, namely, that He was
a man of much prayer. He was mighty as a preacher; for even the officers who
were sent to arrest Him said, “Never man spake like this man.” But He appears
to have been even mightier in prayer, if such a thing could be possible. We do not
read that His disciples ever asked Him to teach them to preach, but we are told
that, “as he was praying in a certain place, when he ceased, one of his disciples
said unto him, Lord, teach us to pray.” He had no doubt been praying with such
wonderful fervour that His disciples realized that He was a master of the holy art
of prayer, and they therefore desired to learn the secret for themselves. The
whole life of our Lord Jesus Christ was one of prayer. Though we are often told
about His praying, we feel that we scarcely need to be informed of it, for we
know that He must have been a man of prayer. His acts are the acts of a
prayerful man; His words speak to us like the words of one whose heart was
constantly lifted up in prayer to His Father. You could not imagine that He
would have breathed out such blessings upon men if He had not first breathed in
the atmosphere of heaven. He must have been much in prayer or He could not
have been so abundant in service and so gracious in sympathy.
1. St. Luke informs us that Jesus rose out of the waters praying. This is a solemn
hint as to the spirit in which all Divine ordinances ought to be received. When we
come to the font seeking baptism either for ourselves or for others, when we sit at
the Lord’s Table, when we are on our way to church, when we open God’s holy
Word—as we take part in every such ordinance—we may learn from Jesus how
to conduct; ourselves: the best state of mind is, to be engaged in prayer.
2. What may we suppose He was praying for? If we remember the nature of the
ordinance in which He was participating and the stage of His own development
which He had reached, can we doubt that He was praying for the coming of the
Kingdom of God and for strength to play His own part in its inauguration? That
generally.
But now, more particularly, what should He have been praying about? Clearly,
if He came to St. John as claiming to be no exception to the multitude, He would
fashion His prayer after the likeness of that of the multitude. And of what kind
were their feelings and utterances as they descended into the waters of Jordan?
They were “confessing their sins.” They had been moved to do something outside
the Law, because they felt a burden which no law could remove—“the weary
weight of all their unintelligible” selves. When every commandment had been
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187. kept, there still remained the consciousness of not having realized their own
capacities, of having fallen below the level of what they might have been, what
they were intended to be. This is the guilt born of our very dignity; it haunts the
worthiest, most; it is felt even by the meanest of us in hours of self-scrutiny.
What could the carpenter’s Son know of it? Little or nothing, if He were playing
a part—pretending to heroism; much, it He were a genuine man; much also, if
He were genuinely Divine; very much, therefore, if He were genuinely both—
God and Man in one Person. Then He could have intense perceptions, would
enter into the minds of others, and understand through sympathy what He did
not learn by experience; then, knowing no sin, He could be “made sin for us, that
we might become the righteousness of God in him.”
ii. The Opening of the Heavens
The answer to His prayer came suddenly and impressively. While He was yet
speaking, His Father in heaven heard, and three wonders happened: first the
heavens were opened; secondly the Holy Spirit, in the form of a dove, descended
on Him; and, thirdly, a voice came from heaven, saying: “Thou art my beloved
Son; in thee I am well pleased.”
1. What is meant by the opening? The language used by the Evangelists is very
graphic, suggesting that there was the appearance of a rent being made in the
blue vault, by which the invisible things which lie within were disclosed. But
what does this mean to us, who are well aware that the visible heaven is not what
it was thought to be by the infant mind of the race—the floor of a celestial
palace, the occupants and furnishings of which might be seen if an opening were
made in the ceiling of our earthly abode?
The opening of the heavens was a magnificent emblem: it gave, at the very
beginning of the Saviour’s ministry, a vision, and, as it were, an epitome, of the
whole work He came to do. He saw, it may be, for a brief moment, the glorious
realm from which He had come to earth, and to which, through sorrow and toil,
He was to make His way again. The heavens were opened to Him, as our
Representative and Forerunner, thus giving us the assurance that every obstacle
opposing our return to God would be overcome, and a way made for us into the
very home of His dearest children.
2. This opening of the heavens is one of the most beautiful and significant
circumstances connected with our Lord’s visible ministry. Alas! that it should be
with so many a poor and almost forgotten thing, like the gleam of the lightning,
or the shining of the summer-day of a hundred years ago. With too many men
the question is not, “Is heaven open above us, that we may have commerce
there?”—but, “Is the earth open around us, that we may gather thence our
comforts and our gains? Is the season good? Are the fields fruitful? Will the
times soon mend? Will the click of machinery be heard ere long in full work in
our mills, and the hum of revived trade in our towns?” These questions are good
and right. A man is not worthy of his place in this great complex growing world
if he does not feel an interest in such questions as these. But there are other
questions of wider scope which ought to arise in men’s hearts, and for answer to
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188. which they ought to listen as for life.
There are not a few who have tried hard to make this world, out of what seemed
to them its abundant riches, supply all their need without Jesus Christ: but who
have been baffled—beaten at every turn. They have gained only to lose. They
have rejoiced, only to feel more acutely the pang of the after vexation. They have
striven and suffered and sorrowed, only to get for inheritance that old bequest,
which Solomon, so long dead, is bequeathing still—“all is vanity.” In their
desolation they begin to think, and to ask, “Is it God who tells us that ‘all is
vanity’? Is He the King of an empty Universe? Is there with Him, in His gift,
nothing better than the things we have won and lost?” And the answer comes—
that there is a way opened to Himself; that He disappoints only that He may
fulfil; He takes away the less that He may give the more; He darkens earth that
He may show us heaven; He has reserved Himself and His fulness for our eternal
portion. Lo! the heavens are opened to them and, wise at last, they find their
inheritance there.
iii. The Descent of the Spirit
1. The New Testament like the Old begins with the Spirit. Yet there is a
difference in their beginnings. The Spirit of the Old Testament comes out from
the darkness; it has to form the light by which we are to see it. But the Spirit of
the New comes from light already created; it descends from the opened heavens.
The Spirit of the Old Testament moves on the face of troubled waters; the Spirit
of the New alights and reposes on the calm bosom of the Son of Man. No wonder
the Spirit of the New Testament is like a dove; it has itself found peace in the
heart of its own creation; it has reached in the soul of Jesus its Sabbath of rest.
2. The Holy Spirit, says St. Luke, “descended in a bodily form, as a dove, upon
him.” What, asks Stalker, was the dove which descended on Jesus? Was there a
real dove, which, attracted by His gentleness, alighted on Him, as such creatures
when domesticated will sometimes do on persons to whom they are drawn by
kindness and amiability? Or was the dove a form of light which glided, with
dove-like motion, down on His head to point Him out, as at Saul’s conversion a
light above the brightness of the sun shone round about him? An ancient legend
says that the whole valley of the Jordan was illuminated.
These questions are not easily answered now. At an earlier time Keble could say
“It is probable that the appearance of fire, or of a bright cloud, which had taken
in former times the shape of a pillar guiding the Israelites, and which afterwards
took that of fiery tongues lighting on the Apostles, now hovered over the Blessed
Jesus in somewhat of the form of a dove, with wings spreading over Him; and we
may be certain that it came down with the gentle steady motion of a dove.”
Alford is quite explicit: “The Holy Spirit descended not only in the manner of a
dove, but in bodily form (Luke): which I cannot understand in any but the literal
sense, as the bodily shape of a dove, seen by the Baptist. There can be no
objection to this, the straightforward interpretation of the narrative, which does
not equally apply to the Holy Spirit being visible at all, which John himself
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189. asserts Him to have been (Joh_1:32-34), even more expressly than is asserted
here. Why the Creator Spirit may not have assumed an organized body bearing
symbolical meaning, as well as any other material form, does not seem clear. This
was the ancient, and is the only honest, interpretation. The express assertion of
Luke, and the fact that all four Evangelists have used the same expression, which
they would not have done if it were a mere tertium comparationis, are surely a
sufficient refutation of this rationalizing (and, I may add, blundering)
interpretation.”1 [Note: H. Alford, The Greek Testament, i. 25.]
iv. The Voice
A “voice from heaven” was a familiar method of communicating the will of God.
For examples of such voices in the Old Testament see Gen_21:17; Gen_22:11;
Gen_22:15; Exo_19:19; Exo_20:22; 1Ki_19:12-13. In the Gospels the Father’s
Voice is heard thrice—at the Baptism and the Transfiguration (cf. 2Pe_1:17) and
before the Passion (Joh_12:28). The Voice was audible or articulate only to those
who had “ears to hear” (Joh_5:37; Joh_12:29).
The voice does not proclaim Jesus as the Messiah, as a legend would probably
have represented. No such proclamation was needed either by Jesus or by the
Baptist. The descent of the Spirit had told John that Jesus was the Christ (Joh_
1:33). This voice from heaven, as afterwards at the Transfiguration (Luk_9:35),
and again shortly before the Passion (Joh_12:28), followed closely upon Christ’s
prayer, and may be regarded as the answer to it. His humanity was capable of
needing the strength which the heavenly assurance gave. To call this voice from
heaven the Bath-Kol of the Rabbis, or to treat it as analogous to it, is misleading.
The Rabbinic Bath-Kol, or “Daughter-voice,” is regarded as an echo of the voice
of God; and the Jews liked to believe that it had been granted to them after the
gift of prophecy had ceased. The utterances attributed to it are in some cases so
frivolous or profane that the more intelligent Rabbis denounced it as a
superstition.
II
The Meaning of the Baptism
i. Its Meaning to Christ Himself
For Jesus Himself the Baptism was a transfiguring moment—one of the cardinal
points in the development of His humanity, marking His transition from the life
of a private man to the career of a public teacher. Some suppose that it was at
this point that He became fully conscious of His unique relationship to God and
grasped in all its majesty the plan of His subsequent career. There is more
unanimity in the belief that it was now that He was endowed with the miraculous
powers of which He was to make use in His ministry. In the Gospels His miracles
are ascribed to the Holy Spirit. This does not mean that His own Divine power
was not at work in them; it means that His human nature required to be
potentiated by special gifts of the Holy Spirit, in order to be a fit organ through
which His Divinity might act. And perhaps it was at this time that these gifts
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190. were conferred.
1. The Baptism was the Father’s witness to His Sonship.—“A voice came out of
heaven, Thou art my beloved Son.” That voice was to assure not Himself indeed
but others of His Sonship. In all probability the consciousness of His Sonship had
flashed upon Him in His childhood, perhaps at His first visit to the Temple, when
He uttered the memorable words, “Wist ye not that I must be about my Father’s
business?” (Luk_2:49).
Even though He may have needed no assurance of His Sonship, there are many
of God’s children who do. There are many ways in which the assurance may be
given. I know we are not to wait for any gracious illapse of the Holy Ghost before
we claim our place in the family of God through faith in Jesus Christ. I know,
too, that there are various degrees of assurance, and various ways in which that
assurance is borne in upon the newborn soul. There is an assurance which may
be gained by looking first at the Cross, and being convinced by the Spirit as I
gaze upon Him who hangs there that judgment will not be twice demanded.
First at my bleeding Surety’s hands,
And then again at mine.
And this assurance is deepened when I see the empty tomb, and hear the
triumphant cry, “He is not here, but is risen.” “Who is he that condemneth? It is
Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of
God, who also maketh intercession for us” (Rom_8:34). All this is true, and most
reassuring truth it is; and yet there is another way in which assurance is borne in
upon the soul; it is that of which the Apostle speaks in Rom_8:16—“The Spirit
himself beareth witness with our spirit”—the direct witness of the Holy Ghost to
the soul that we are born again, and that we are no more servants but sons, and
“if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we
suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together” (Rom_8:17). And this is
the witness that the baptism of the Holy Ghost bestows.1 [Note: E. W. Moore,
The Spirit’s Seal, 32.]
Our Master all the work hath done
He asks of us to-day;
Sharing His service, every one
Share too His sonship may.
Lord, I would serve and be a son;
Dismiss me not, I pray.2 [Note: T. T. Lynch, The Rivulet, 2.]
(1) As a witness to His Sonship it had both a retrospective and a prospective
reference. Jesus had left behind all the doings of those quiet, peaceful years, and
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191. was at the dividing line between private and public life. He was leaving behind
Him the years of His obscurity, and coming out into the fierce light that ever
beats upon a public teacher. And there, at the parting of the ways, God lit up all
the years that had gone, with the sweet words of approval, “Thou art my beloved
Son; in thee I am well pleased.” It could not have been a pronouncement upon
the temptation in the wilderness; that was as yet an untried pathway. It could not
have been a declaration of the Divine pleasure with Gethsemane’s garden and
Calvary’s Cross; they were still to be reached. No, it must have been a reference
to the past, so that whatever else we know, or do not know, about the hidden
years of the life of Jesus, this one thing is certain, that through them all He
pleased God; for God put His seal upon them when they were closing behind
Him, and the new years were opening before Him, saying, “I am well pleased.”
(2) But it was also a prophecy of the future. Our Lord’s public ministry lay
between two Calvarys: it not only culminated in Calvary, it started from it. The
baptism in Jordan was nothing less than an anticipation, a prophecy, of the
Cross itself; it was the deepest act of self-abasement of which our blessed Lord
was capable. As the sinner’s representative, He felt bound to take the sinner’s
place, to be treated, in short, as the sinner needed to be treated. Therefore when
the Baptist, instinctively recoiling from administering an ordinance emblematic
of the washing away of sin to Him who “knew no sin,” exclaimed, “I have need to
be baptized of thee, and comest thou to me?” the answer he received was, “Suffer
it to be so now; for thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness.” As if He would
say, “I am in the sinner’s place to-day; I must accept to the full all that that
position involves, or I shall fail in that uttermost obedience to the Father’s will,
apart from which my work of redemption cannot be achieved.” We cannot
fathom the depth of self-abasement which this descent into Jordan involved to
Him who was none other than the brightness of His Father’s glory and the
express image of His Person; but we see how God estimated it when we read that,
as Jesus came up out of the water, “the heavens were opened unto him, and he
saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him.”
2. The Baptism was His consecration for His work.—The rite of baptism had two
significations. In the case of a Gentile it signified the putting away of idolatry,
and the acceptance of the worship of Jehovah. In the case of the Jew it signified
the removal of his uncleanness. In both these instances the meaning was the
washing away of sin. Then the second significance was consecration to office. In
our Saviour’s case this is at least the chief meaning. We have only to look at His
life to see how far this was realized. For righteousness’ sake, or fulfilment of a
rite which was observed by the nation, the Saviour stood before the multitude
and received the ordinance, repeating the prayer usual on such occasions. This
was the commencement of a series of acts of consecration which terminated in
Gethsemane and on the Cross.
(1) It was a consecration for the conflict that lay before Him. Was it not
significant that immediately after the reception of the Holy Spirit He should be
brought into a personal encounter with the evil spirit? that immediately after
such a manifestation of Divine favour there should be such a manifestation of
Satanic power? that face to face and foot to foot in the solitudes of the wilderness
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192. the Second Adam should have to grapple with our Adversary, to fight our battle
and win our cause?
(2) It was a consecration for the service He had to accomplish. This was the
opening of Christ’s missionary career. Up to this time He had lived a life of
obscurity in Nazareth. He was content for thirty out of the thirty-three years He
spent on earth to be unknown outside the little circle of His own immediate
friends and acquaintances, so unknown that Nathanael said “Can there any good
thing come out of Nazareth?” (Joh_1:46). Thirty years’ preparation for three
years’ service! His hour had come, and the Divine voice bade Him enter on His
ministry of toil.
(3) It was a consecration to the suffering that He had to undergo. His life
henceforth was to be a living martyrdom. Suffering was to be His lot. As has
been truly said, “God had one Son without sin, but not one without suffering.”
The sufferings of Christ were altogether distinct from ours. We suffer, knowing
that we have deserved more than we can ever bear. He suffered, knowing that He
had deserved nothing. We suffer for others’ sin, knowing that even in our purest
experience we have some sympathy with sin. He suffered, conscious of no such
sympathy. Many a martyr, following his Lord’s example, has gone to as bitter a
physical death as his Lord, singing as he went. Jesus went to His death, shrinking
and sore amazed, and in a horror of fear before it. It was the burden He bore
there that broke Him down. It was your sins and mine that bowed Him as they
never bowed, never can bow, us down. He was “made sin for us.” “This is my
body broken for you.” “The Son of man giveth his life instead of many.” “By his
stripes we are healed.” “The chastisement of our peace was laid upon him.” “We
all like sheep had gone astray; we had turned every one to his own way,” and
“the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.” That is what takes the sting
and curse out of life for me. That uproots the weed; that repairs the breach; that
sweetens the sour. The fact that there are thistles in this world of God’s, and that
they have to be taken out of it, is not so difficult to understand when a pierced
hand has been pulling up thistles in the heart’s acre.1 [Note: R. W. Barbour,
Thoughts, 52.]
ii. Its Meaning to us
1. In the narrative of the Baptism, as has often been observed, we have the
participation of the three Persons of the Trinity. There flows from it therefore a
threefold blessing to men.
(1) Divine reconciliation is assured to us in this manifestation of the Son of God.
To the personal “Jesus” is now to be added the title of the Christ—the Messiah,
the Anointed One. In the inn at Bethlehem, in the workshop at Nazareth, we see
Jesus. In this baptism at Jordan, in His ministry in Galilee and Jud‫ז‬a, we behold
the Christ. In His Person He assures us of reconciliation between God and man.
Without Him sin would for ever bar our admission into the presence of the Most
High. But He is the Righteous One, who not only has done no sin, but has
fulfilled all righteousness.
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193. (2) Divine renewal is assured to us in the manifestation of the Spirit of God. Thus
did the Father anoint the Son with the Holy Ghost and with power (Act_10:38);
and though the sight of this heavenly effluence in dove-like form appears to have
been seen only by Christ Himself and the Baptist, yet the witness is for us. The
very emblem of the dove is full of teaching as to the character of the Christian
renewal. We sing to the Holy Spirit:
Come as the dove, and spread Thy wings,
The wings of peace and love.
But this emblem is never used in Scripture except in connexion with the Son of
God. It is only in Him that the Spirit of Holiness can dwell with sinners. Yet even
so the dove tells us of the perfect purity in Christ for us; and likewise the effects
of this bestowal of the Spirit upon Jesus reveal the same truth. By that Spirit He
wrought His miracles and spoke His words of grace, and after His resurrection
that Spirit was sent in His name, bringing to the world life and power and
holiness. Sin is, so to speak, the hiatus of human nature, and the Spirit ministers
that holiness which is lacking.
(3) Lastly, Divine restoration is assured to us by the testimony of the Father:
“Thou art my beloved Son; in thee I am well pleased.” The self-same words are
repeated towards the close of our Lord’s ministry, on the Mount of
Transfiguration. St. Peter, writing many years afterwards, doubly assures us
thereof, saying, “He received from God the Father honour and glory, when there
came such a voice to him from the excellent glory, This is my beloved Son, in
whom I am well pleased. And this voice which came from heaven, we heard when
we were with him in the holy mount” (2Pe_1:17-18). And, in addition to this
testimony of words, we have the still more substantial testimony given by the
Father to the Son when He raised Him from the dead (1Pe_1:21), and set Him at
His own right hand in the heavenly places (Eph_1:20). So we sing in the Te
Deum, “When Thou hadst overcome the sharpness of Death, Thou didst open the
kingdom of heaven to all believers.” For the Father, to use the inspired words of
the Apostle Paul, “hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places
in Christ.”
“All alone, so Heaven has willed, we die”; but, as travellers are cheered on a
solitary road when they see the footprints that they know belonged to loved and
trusted ones who have trodden it before, that desolate loneliness is less lonely
when we think that He became dead. He will come to the shrinking single soul, as
He joined Himself to the sad travellers on the road to Emmaus, and “our hearts”
may burn within us even in that last hour of their beating if we can remember
who has become dead and trodden the road before us.1 [Note: Alexander
Maclaren.]
Christ is made the law of the law, the sin of sin, the death of death, that He might
redeem from the curse of the law, justify me and quicken me. While He is the
law, He is also liberty; while He is sin, He is righteousness; while He is death, He
193

194. is life. For in that He suffered the law to accuse Him, sin to condemn Him, and
death to devour Him, He abolished the law, He condemned sin, He destroyed
death, He justified and saved me.2 [Note: Luther, Commentary on Galatians,
204.]
2. But there is value in the Baptism for us in this also, that He is our example.
(1) He is our example of Faith. “What things soever ye desire, when ye pray,
believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them” (Mar_11:24). The Saviour
left it all with God. It was believing prayer. Was His faith disappointed? It could
not be. Heaven opened upon Him. The Holy Dove descended. The mighty deed
was done. This is our pattern. Christ fulfilled the conditions, and according to
His faith it was unto Him. Surely from that open heaven a voice speaks to us,
“The promise is to you and to your children”: “Go and do thou likewise.”
To as many of us as by His grace to us are true believers on Him and in His
blood, our Lord’s own faith in His Father and in His Father’s word to Him is a
subject of the intensest interest, the most edifying meditation, and the most
transporting reflection. To as many of us as believe there is no subject in heaven
or on earth like our Lord Jesus Christ. This is the true learning. This is the true
knowledge. This is the true science and philosophy; and not falsely so called.
This is the wisdom that cometh from above. This is the wisdom of God in a
mystery. This, O Father, is life eternal, to know Thee, the only true God, and
Jesus Christ, whom Thou hast sent.3 [Note: A. Whyte, The Walk, Conversation,
and Character of Jesus Christ our Lord, 181.]
It was in Gethsemane and on Calvary that the faith of our Substitute came to its
absolute perfection. Loaded down to death and hell with the sin of the world, our
Saviour’s faith in His Father’s sure word of promise was such that His burdened
heart rose victorious above all the tremendous load that was laid upon Him. Our
Saviour had the fullest assurance of faith, the fullest assurance that His Father
who had begun such a good work in Him and by Him would not leave it till He
had perfected it in the day of Christ. And thus it was that, as Bengel says,” the
most fragrant part of Christ’s sin-atoning sacrifice was His unshaken trust in
His Father’s faithfulness and love.”1 [Note: A. Whyte.]
Mr. Erskine had a strong conviction that in Rom_3:22 “the faith of Christ”
meant “the faith of Christ in His Father.” I mentioned that this was identically
the view entertained by Mr. Dunbar Heath, who was deprived of his benefice for
holding this amongst other doctrines. Mr. Erskine had never heard of him.2
[Note: Dean Stanley, in Letters of Thomas Erskine of Linlathen, ii. 291.]
(2) Of Obedience.—Jesus received the Holy Spirit at a time of uttermost
obedience. Do not imagine that it is such a simple thing to receive the Spirit in
His fulness. It is simple when the conditions are fulfilled, but not otherwise. And
the first condition is obedience. See Act_5:32—“the Holy Ghost, whom God hath
given” (not to every one) “to them that obey him.” So in Mat_3:15, “Suffer it to
be so now: for thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness.” It was quite
unnecessary, from the human standpoint, for Christ to be baptized by John, but
194

195. the Lord yielded to it.
Christ is not a teacher of the law, like Moses, but a disciple who would be
obedient to the law, that through such subjection and obedience He might
redeem those who were under the law.3 [Note: Luther, Table-talk (ed. by
F‫צ‬rstemann), i. 352.]
“Compassed with infirmity,” appointed to suffering, our Lord entered into the
deepest experience of humanity, and attained the secret of perfect obedience to
the will of God. We may see in our suffering Lord how through sanctified
suffering we attain harmony with the eternal will. One of the greatest of modern
artists reminds his young brethren that artistic perfection is reached, not
through easy and pleasant exercises, but through battles and agonies. How much
more the immortal perfection of the spirit! Let me not resent the discipline of
trial. A famous traveller tells us that it is a principle thoroughly believed in by all
Asiatics, that the bitterer the remedy the more efficacious it is. This may not be
true in physic, but it is certainly true in morals, when our sorrows are ordained
by God and accompanied by His grace. Let me not, then, wear the fool’s cap in
the school of suffering, but fully learn the great lessons of submission, patience,
trust.1 [Note: W. L. Watkinson, The Gates of Dawn, 288.]
(3) Of Prayer.—It was at a time of prayer that Christ received the Spirit. Prayer
is the condition of receiving the Spirit. “Yet for all this will I be inquired of by
them, to do it for them” (Eze_36:37). We shall never know what this baptism
means unless we obey, believe, and pray.
I rejoice to know of your interest in the great theme—the indwelling of the Holy
Spirit. I am now more and more persuaded that the greatest things are possible if
only we have His power resting upon us. I have seen such a demonstration in my
church last year as I never witnessed before. We met morning after morning in
the early year simply to pray for the power of the Holy Ghost. We were looking
for a revival. When I made my plea for foreign missions, I astonished my
conservative brethren by asking ten thousand dollars this year for our
contribution. Only a few wealthy men among us, and they not likely to do
largely. But when the collection was gathered twenty thousand dollars came,
nobody asked, no solicitation made. It was simply a great impulse of the Spirit,
and the astonishment of all still continues. Now is coming a gracious ingathering
of souls.2 [Note: A. J. Gordon: A Biography, 258.]
COKE, "Luke 3:21. Now when all the people were baptized,— Now while all the
people were receiving baptism. Heylin. If we reflect on the number of the people
who followed John, and were baptized by him, and the regard which they
expressed for him before and after his death, and yet that no sect was produced
in consequence of such a belief and baptism, it will afford a very good argument
in favour of the superior power, dignity, character, and office of Jesus. It is
observable, that all the three voices from heaven, by which the Father bore
witness to Christ, were pronounced while he was praying, or very quickly after
it. Compare Ch. Luke 9:29-35 and John 12:38
195

196. SIMEON, "THE DESCENT OF THE SPIRIT UPON CHRIST
Luke 3:21-22. Now when all the people were baptized, it came to pass, that Jesus
also being baptized, and praying, the heaven was opened; and the Holy Ghost
descended in a bodily shape like a dove upon him, and a voice came from heaven,
which said, Thou art my beloved Son; in thee I am well pleased.
IN every part of our Lord’s history, from his first entrance into the world to his
dissolution upon the cross, we observe an astonishing combination of the most
opposite events: we see the majesty of heaven degraded to the lowest depths of
humiliation; and the meanest of mankind, who was “a worm, and no man, the
very scorn of men, and the outcast of the people,” exalted to the highest honours
that Heaven itself could confer upon him. Observe the circumstance of his birth:
what can we conceive more degrading than for the Saviour of the world to be
born in a stable, and to be laid in a manger? Yet, to counterbalance this, angels
were sent to announce his advent, and a star to point out to the inquiring Magi
the place of his nativity. Thus it was also at his baptism. The ordinance of
baptism was intended to intimate the need which we have to be washed from our
sins: Jesus, therefore, could not submit to baptism without acknowledging, in
appearance, that he was a sinner, like unto us: nevertheless, for wise and
gracious reasons, he insisted that that rite should be administered to him. But
whatever ignominy might attach to him on this account, the offence was
completely rolled away by the interposition of his God and Father, who on that
occasion bore testimony to him by an audible voice from heaven, and by a visible
descent of the Holy Ghost upon him. These are the two subjects for our present
consideration. We notice,
I. The visible descent of the Holy Ghost upon him—
There are many things relative to the descent of the Spirit upon Jesus, which are
worthy of observation—
1. The time of it was remarkable—
[Jesus had just conformed to God’s ordinance of baptism. Though he had no
need of baptism, (not having any sin to wash away,) yet, as it was a rite instituted
by God for the introducing of men into the Messiah’s kingdom, he judged it
expedient to comply with it himself, that he might “fulfill all righteousness” in
his own person, and be in all things a pattern to his followers. This was well
pleasing to God, who cannot but be interested in the observance of his own
ordinances. And the conferring of so distinguished an honour upon Jesus on that
occasion clearly shews, that “God will honour those who honour him;” and that
in a reverential attendance on the instituted means of grace, we may expect
blessings which we shall in vain hope for in the neglect of them [Note: Those who
absent themselves from the House of God under the idea that they can spend
their time more profitably at home, and those who stay away from the Lord’s
table under an apprehension of their unworthiness to go to it, would do well to
consider this.].
196

197. He was, moreover, actually engaged in prayer. On three different occasions did
the Father bear testimony to Jesus by an audible voice from heaven; and every
time was either in, or immediately after, prayer [Note: At his baptism (see the
text), at his transfiguration (Luke 9:29; Luke 9:35.), and just before his death
(John 12:28.).]. What an evidence does this afford us of the importance and
efficacy of prayer! And who that lives nigh to God in the exercise of that duty,
has not found that promise realized, “Thou shalt call, and the Lord shall answer;
thou shalt cry, and he shall say, Here I am [Note: Isaiah 58:9; Isaiah 65:24.]?”
Audible voices, indeed, we are not to expect; but we are sure that “God has never
said to any, Seek ye my face in vain.”]
There was something peculiar also in the manner of it—
[It was of great importance that the attestation thus publicly given to the
character of Jesus should be such as could admit of no doubt. Accordingly “the
heavens were opened,” just as they afterwards were at the time of Stephen’s
death [Note: Acts 7:55-56.], so that the very throne of God, as it were, became
visible to mortal eyes; and the Holy Ghost descended visibly, in a bodily
appearance, and abode upon him. Whether the Holy Ghost assumed the shape of
a dove, or only appeared in a luminous body with a hovering motion, like that of
a dove, we do not take upon us to determine [Note: We rather think the latter.
See Doddridge on the place.]: but the appearance was such as could leave no
doubt in the minds of the spectators that there was a special communication to
Jesus from heaven, even such a communication as had never before been
vouchsafed to mortal man.]
But the ends of the Spirit’s descent are most worthy of our attention—
[We are sure that it was designed to confirm the Baptist’s mind. The providence
of God had so ordered events, that John and Jesus, though related to each other,
had lived thirty years in the world without forming any acquaintance with each
other. Had they been intimate with each other, it might have been thought that
an agreement had been formed between them to deceive the world: but John had
no knowledge of the person of Jesus, till he was inspired to point him out as “the
Lamb of God, that was to take away the sin of the world:” and this very sign was
promised to John, as the means whereby his mind should be satisfied that the
testimony which be had borne was true: and John himself declares, that his own
conviction of Christ’s Messiahship was grounded on this very thing [Note: John
1:32-34.].
But there was another end, even the inauguration of the Messiah himself to his
high office. The Jewish kings and priests, and in some instances the prophets
also, were anointed with oil at the time of their consecration to their work: and
therefore it behoved Jesus, in whom all these offices were to be combined, to be
set apart for them by a nobler unction. Accordingly he was “anointed with the oil
of joy and gladness above his fellows [Note: Psalms 45:7.].” It had been expressly
foretold that he should be so anointed [Note: Isaiah 61:1.], and that “the Holy
Spirit should rest upon him [Note: Isaiah 11:2.]; and he himself mentioned, in his
very first sermon, that these prophecies were then accomplished; and that he was
197

198. then executing the very office for which he had been commissioned and qualified
by that peculiar unction [Note: Luke 4:17-21.].]
Besides this visible attestation to his character, we are called to notice also,
II. The audible testimony of the Father to him—
In many different ways did the Father bear witness to his Son: every miracle that
was wrought by Jesus was a seal whereby the Father attested the truth of his
divine mission. But on this occasion he addressed his Son by an audible voice;
and therein bore witness to,
1. His person as the promised Messiah—
[The Messiah had been long foretold under the character of “the Son of Man
[Note: Daniel 7:13.];” and that term was understood by the Jews as equivalent to
the Son of God [Note: Luke 22:69-70.]. That Jesus did indeed sustain this
character, and that he was the very person of whom all the prophets spake, was a
point to be proved; and God determined that it should be proved by every
species of evidence that could be adduced. Hence, besides the foregoing proof
which was offered to the eyes of men, another was added which appealed to their
ears. And in the very words which are used, there seems a reference to the
prophecies which were accomplished in him. “Thou art that my beloved Son,”
that Son, whose advent has been so long foretold, and so long expected [Note:
There is a force in the repetition of the article, which, though lost in the
Translation, should not be overlooked.]. In this view the expression of the text
precisely corresponds with that which had been long before used by the Prophet
Isaiah: “Behold my servant whom I uphold, mine elect in whom my soul
delighteth: I have put my Spirit upon him; he shall bring forth judgment to the
Gentiles [Note: Isaiah 42:1.].” Whatever pretensions, therefore, false Christs may
urge, or whatever objections infidel professors of Christianity may raise against
Jesus, we have the infallible testimony of God himself that Jesus is the Christ.]
2. His acceptableness in that office—
[In every view the Father could not but feel complacency and delight in him. As
voluntarily undertaking the mediatorial work, as richly qualified for the
discharge of it, and as persevering in it notwithstanding all the difficulties that he
should have to encounter, he must be highly acceptable to the Father. But God
foresaw the perfect accomplishment of all his designs through the ministration of
his dear Son: he saw, as it were, all his elect delivered from their guilt and
misery, and made partakers of everlasting glory and felicity: he saw all his own
perfections also honoured and exalted in the mystery of redemption: and he
cordially approved of it as the most stupendous effort of wisdom and of love.
None can henceforth entertain a doubt whether he will accept those who come to
him by Christ, since it was on account of the suitableness and sufficiency of his
atonement that the Father was so “well pleased in him.”]
We may learn from hence,
198

199. 1. How we should think of God—
[We know nothing of God except from revelation. It is presumptuous, therefore,
either to form notions about him from our own vague conjectures, or to refuse
our assent to the representations which he has given us of himself. That there is a
Trinity of the persons in the Godhead is doubtless an incomprehensible mystery:
but it is plainly revealed in numberless passages of Scripture. It is indeed from
other passages that we know each of the persons in the Trinity to be God: but
that the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, are Three distinct persons, is as clear as
any truth can be: and so clearly is it intimated in the very words of our text, that
the ancients were wont to say, “Go to Jordan, and there learn the doctrine of the
Trinity.”]
2. How we should act towards him—
[All that is required of us is, to be like-minded with God. Did God point him out
as his beloved Son? let us believe in him as the Messiah, the Saviour of the world.
Did the Father profess himself well pleased in him? let us delight ourselves in
him: let it be the joy of our, hearts to contemplate his fulness and sufficiency, and
to be receiving out of his fulness grace for grace. Let us, in short, “count all
things but dung for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ,” and glory in him
as all our salvation, and all our desire.]
NISBET, "Verse 21-22
THE FIRST CALVARY
‘How when all the people were baptized, it came to pass, that Jesus also being
baptized, and praying, the heaven was opened, and the Holy Ghost descended in
a bodily shape like a dove upon Him, and a voice came from heaven, which said,
Thou art My beloved Son; in Thee I am well pleased.’
Luke 3:21-22
The Baptism of our Lord in the River Jordan is one of the most significant events
in the Gospel history.
I. The Baptism of Jesus was a prophecy.—It is not always remembered that our
Lord’s public ministry lay between two Calvarys: it not only culminated in
Calvary, it started from it. The baptism in Jordan was nothing less than an
anticipation, a prophecy, of the Cross itself; it was the deepest act of self-
abasement of which our blessed Lord was capable. As the sinner’s representative
He felt bound to take the sinner’s place, to be treated, in short, as the sinner
needed to be treated. It was in the supreme hour of Christ’s humiliation that the
most signal manifestation of Divine favour was revealed.
II. The baptism of Jesus was a pattern.—In this great humiliation we have a
mirror in which the eye of faith may see reflected the conditions and the effects
of the reception of the Spirit still. These conditions are:—
(a) Faith. It is unnecessary to refer to this in the case of our Lord, but it is very
necessary for us. We must believe the blessing is for us, or we shall never seek it.
199

200. (b) Obedience unto death. Upon our obedience without a question our reception
of the Holy Ghost depends. ‘We are His witnesses of these things,’ said St. Peter,
‘and so is also the Holy Ghost, Whom God hath given’ (not to every one, but) ‘to
them that obey Him’ (Acts 5:32). Truly there must be an absolute consecration of
ourselves to God.
III. The effects of the reception of the Spirit.—They are so manifold that it is
impossible to exhaust them, but the three indicated by the narrative before us
are: (a) peace, the peace of an assured sonship; (b) purity, exemplified by the
Holy dove and the mystic voice, ‘In Thee I am well pleased’; and (c) power—
power with God and with man, for ‘Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit into
Galilee’ (Luke 4:14).
Rev. E. W. Moore.
22 and the Holy Spirit descended on him in
bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from
heaven: “You are my Son, whom I love; with
you I am well pleased.”
GILL, "And the Holy Ghost descended in a bodily shape,.... In a corporeal
form, in a visible manner, and was seen with bodily eyes, at least by John the
administrator; to whom this was a signal of his being the Messiah, and a fresh
confirmation of it:
like a dove upon him; either in the form of a dove, or this corporeal form,
whatever it was, descended and hovered on him as a dove does:
and a voice came from heaven; at the same time the Holy Ghost came down
upon him; which said,
thou art my beloved Son, in thee I am well pleased: and was the voice of the
Father; and the whole of this was an answer of Christ's prayer; See Gill on Mat_3:16,
Mat_3:17, Mar_1:11.
COKE, "Luke 3:22. Thou art my beloved Son;— See on Matthew 3:17. The
epithet beloved given to the Son on this occasion, marks the greatness of the
Father's affection for him, and distinguishes him from all others to whom the
title of God's Son had been given. Accordingly we find our Lord alluding to it
with peculiar pleasure, in his intercessory prayer, John 17:26. It was therefore
the voice of God the Father which was heard at Christ's baptism; probably loud
like thunder, as in the instance recorded by John 12:29 making a sound which no
200

201. human organ of speech was able to form, and consequently it could not be
mistaken for the whispering voice of any of the multitude present, see Proverbs
8:30 to which it is thought the voices allude. The Son of God was one of the
Messiah's known titles, founded on Psalms 2:7. Isaiah 7:14 where it is expressly
attributed to him; and therefore, according to the received language of the Jews,
Jesus was on this occasion declared from heaven to be their long expected
Deliverer, and his mission received a most illustrious confirmation from the
Father Almighty; a confirmation, on which Jesus laid great stress, as absolutely
decisive, John 5:37. For, lest the people might have applied the words of the voice
to the Baptist, the Holy Spirit alighted upon Jesus, and remained visible for some
time in that singular symbol, see John 1:33 which probably surrounded his head
in the form of a large glory, and pointed him out as God's beloved Son, in whom
the richest gifts and graces resided. Thus all present had an opportunity to hear
and see the miraculous testimony; particularly the Baptist, who, as soon as he
beheld the Spirit remaining upon Jesus, is supposed to have made use of the
words, This is he of whom I spake, &c. John 1:15. The descent of the Spirit on
Jesus was predicted Isaiah 42:1; Isaiah 61:1. In like manner, the voice from
heaven is supposed to be predicted Psalms 2:7.
BURKITT, "Observe here, the solemn investing of Christ into his office, as
Mediator, is attended with a threefold miracle; namely, the opening of the
heavens, the descending of the Holy Ghost, and God the Father's voice
concerning the son.
The heavens were opened; to show, that heaven, which was closed and shut
against us for our sins, is now opened to us, by Christ's undertaking for us.
Next, The Holy Ghost descends like a dove upon our Saviour. Here we have a
proof and evidence of the blessed Trinity; the Father speaks from heaven, the
Son comes out of the water, and the Holy Ghost descends after the manner of a
dove, hovering and overshadowing him. But why did the Holy Ghost now
descend upon Christ?
First, for the designation of his person, to show that he was the person set apart
for the work and office of a mediator.
Secondly, for the unction and sanctification of his person for the performance of
that office. Now was he anointed to be the king, priest, and prophet of his
church.
Lastly, we have here the voice of God the Father, pronouncing.
1. The nearness of Christ's relation: This is my Son.
2. The endearedness of his person: This is my beloved Son.
3. The fruit and benefit of this near relation unto us: In thee I am well pleased.
Learn hence, 1. That there is no possibility for any person to please God out of
201

202. Christ; neither our persons nor our performances can find acceptance with God,
but only in and through him, and for his sake.
2. That the Lord Jesus Christ is the ground and cause of all that love and good
will which God the Father showeth to the sons of men.
In Christ, God is well pleased with us as a reconciled Father; out of him a
consuming fire; Thou art my beloved Son, in thee I am well pleased.
CONSTABLE, "This was a theophany, God appearing in corporeal form. The
dove is a biblical symbol of peace (Genesis 8:8-12; cf. Genesis 1:2). Primarily it
signified the coming of God's peaceful Spirit to empower Jesus for His ministry
(Isaiah 42:1; cf. Isaiah 64:1). Secondarily it represented the peace that Jesus
would impart to those who believed on Him. [Note: See L. E. Keck, "The Spirit
and the Dove," New Testament Studies 17 (1970-71):41-67.] Only Luke wrote
that the Spirit came "in bodily form" thereby giving the theophany more
substance. The voice from heaven identified Jesus as God's beloved Son (cf. Luke
1:32; Exodus 20:1; Psalms 2:7; Isaiah 42:1). God announced that His favor
rested on Jesus, not that He as the Father felt delight in His Son. [Note: Morris,
p. 100.] With this guarantee of divine enablement, Jesus was ready to begin His
ministry.
"The risen Jesus connects the beginning of the apostles' mission with the coming
of the Spirit upon them (Luke 24:46-49; Acts 1:8), and the Pentecost scene shows
that the coming of the Spirit leads immediately to the first preaching and
expansion of the community. Thus in both Luke and Acts the descent of the
Spirit initiates the central sequences of events which dominate these writings."
[Note: Tannehill, 1:57.]
"The primary application of this text comes in its Christology. Many in our
culture respect Jesus, regarding him as a religious teacher of great significance
and even placing him among the top religious teachers of all time. Others even
acknowledge him as a prophet, giving him a seat in a rather limited club of
divine revealers. But as high as these notes of respect are, they pale in
comparison to the biblical portrait. Luke shows that Jesus is not like anyone who
came before him or anyone since. The Hall of Religious Fame into which he is
placed has only one portrait in it-his. There have been other great teachers,
prophets, and kings, but there is only one who has combined all of those roles as
God's Son." [Note: Bock, Luke, pp. 119-20.]
23 Now Jesus himself was about thirty years old
when he began his ministry. He was the son, so
it was thought, of Joseph, the son of Heli,
202

203. GILL, "Which was the son of Matthat, which was the son of Levi,.... These
two, Grotius says, are omitted in the ancient exemplars; and he thinks they ought to
be left out; and for which he mentions the authorities of Irenaeus, Africanus,
Eusebius, Nazianzen, Jerom, and Augustin: but not only the Vulgate Latin, but all the
Oriental versions, retain them:
which was the son of Melchi: and who, he thinks, was the immediate father of
Eli:
which was the son of Janna: frequent mention is made, in the Jewish writings (e)
of ‫מלכא‬ ‫,ינאי‬ "king Jannai", who is said to be the same with king Jochanan, or John,
the son of Simeon, the son of Mattithiah, that was called Hyrcanus; and his son
Alexander, that reigned after him, was also called Jannai (f); but whether either of
these is the same with this Janna, is not certain: but this may be observed, that they
were both before the times of Herod, and the birth of Jesus, some years. And Jannai
is called; in the chronicle of Jedidiah of Alexandria, or Philo the Jew (g), Hyrcanus
the second, who reigned sixteen years:
which was the son of Joseph. This Joseph, according to the same chronicle, is
called Joseph the second, and surnamed Arsis, and was greatly honoured by Ptolemy,
and governed sixty years; and accordingly we shall meet with another Joseph anon.
HENRY, “1. His age: He now began to be about thirty years of age. So old Joseph
was when he stood before Pharaoh (Gen_41:46), David when he began to reign
(2Sa_5:4), and at this age the priests were to enter upon the full execution of their
office, Num_4:3. Dr. Lightfoot thinks that it is plain, by the manner of expression
here, that he was just twenty-nine years old complete, and entering upon his thirtieth
year, in the month Tisri; that, after this, he lived three years and a half, and died
when he was thirty-two years and a half old. Three years and a half, the time of
Christ's ministry, is a period of time very remarkable in scripture. Three years and
six months the heavens were shut up in Elijah's time, Luk_4:25; Jam_5:17. This was
the half week in which the Messiah was to confirm the covenant, Dan_9:27. This
period is expressed in the prophetical writings by a time, times, and half a time
(Dan_12:7; Rev_12:14); and by forty-two months, and a thousand two hundred and
threescore days, Rev_11:2, Rev_11:3. It is the time fixed for the witnesses'
prophesying in sackcloth, in conformity to Christ's preaching in his humiliation just
so long.
2. His pedigree, Luk_3:23, etc. Matthew had given us somewhat of this. He goes no
higher than Abraham, but Luke brings it as high as Adam. Matthew designed to show
that Christ was the son of Abraham, in whom all the families of the earth are blessed,
and that he was heir to the throne of David; and therefore he begins with Abraham,
and brings the genealogy down to Jacob, who was the father of Joseph, and heir-
male of the house of David: but Luke, designing to show that Christ was the seed of
the woman, that should break the serpent's head, traces his pedigree upward as high
as Adam, and begins it with Ei, or Heli, who was the father, not of Joseph, but of the
virgin Mary. And some suggest that the supply which our translators all along insert
here is not right, and that it should not be read which, that is, which Joseph was the
son of Heli, but which Jesus; he was the son of Joseph, of Eli, of Matthat, etc., and
he, that is, Jesus, was the son of Seth, of Adam, of God, Luk_3:38. The difference
between the two evangelists in the genealogy of Christ has been a stumbling-block to
infidels that cavil at the word, but such a one as has been removed by the labours of
learned men, both in the early ages of the church and in latter times, to which we
203

204. refer ourselves. Matthew draws the pedigree from Solomon, whose natural line
ending in Jechonias, the legal right was transferred to Salathiel, who was of the
house of Nathan, another son of David, which line Luke here pursues, and so leaves
out all the kings of Judah. It is well for us that our salvation doth not depend upon
our being able to solve all these difficulties, nor is the divine authority of the gospels
at all weakened by them; for the evangelists are not supposed to write these
genealogies either of their own knowledge or by divine inspiration, but to have
copied them out of the authentic records of the genealogies among the Jews, the
heralds' books, which therefore they were obliged to follow; and in them they found
the pedigree of Jacob, the father of Joseph, to be as it is set down in Matthew; and
the pedigree of Heli, the father of Mary, to be as it is set down here in Luke. And this
is the meaning of hōs enomizeto (Luk_3:23), not, as it was supposed, referring only to
Joseph, but uti sancitum est lege - as it is entered into the books, as we find it upon
record; by which is appeared that Jesus was both by father and mother's side the Son
of David, witness this extract out of their own records, which any one might at that
time have liberty to compare with the original, and further the evangelists needed not
to go; nay, had they varied from that, they had not gained their point. Its not being
contradicted at that time is satisfaction enough to us now that it is a true copy, as it is
further worthy of observation, that, when those records of the Jewish genealogies
had continued thirty or forty years after these extracts out of them, long enough to
justify the evangelists therein, they were all lost and destroyed with the Jewish state
and nation; for now there was no more occasion for them.
CALVIN, "This was also the reason why he delayed his baptism till the thirtieth
year of his age, (Luke 3:23.) Baptism was an appendage to the Gospel: and
therefore it began at the same time with the preaching of the Gospel. When
Christ was preparing to preach the Gospel, he was introduced by Baptism into
his office; and at the same time was endued with the Holy Spirit. When John
beholds the Holy Spirit descending upon Christ, it is to remind him, that nothing
carnal or earthly must be expected in Christ, but that he comes as a godlike man,
(297) descended from heaven, in whom the power of the Holy Spirit reigns. We
know, indeed, that he is God manifested in the flesh, (1 Timothy 3:16 :) but even
in his character as a servant, and in his human nature, there is a heavenly power
to be considered.
The second question is, why did the Holy Spirit appear in the shape of a dove,
rather than in that of fire ? The answer depends on the analogy, or resemblance
between the figure and the thing represented. We know what the prophet Isaiah
ascribes to Christ.
“He shall not cry, nor lift up, nor cause his voice to be heard in the street. A
bruised reed shall he not break, and the smoking flax shall he not quench,”
(Isaiah 42:2.)
On account of this mildness of Christ, by which he kindly and gently called, and
every day invites, sinners to the hope of salvation, the Holy Spirit descended
upon him in the appearance of a dove And in this symbol has been held out to us
an eminent token of the sweetest consolation, that we may not fear to approach
to Christ, who meets us, not in the formidable power of the Spirit, but clothed
with gentle and lovely grace.
204

205. He saw the Spirit of God That is, John saw: for it immediately follows, that the
Spirit descended on Christ There now arises a third question, how could John
see the Holy Spirit? I reply: As the Spirit of God is everywhere present, and fills
heaven and earth, he is not said, in a literal sense, to descend, and the same
observation may be made as to his appearance. Though he is in himself invisible,
yet he is spoken of as beheld, when he exhibits any visible sign of his presence.
John did not see the essence of the Spirit, which cannot be discerned by the
senses of men; (298) nor did he see his power, which is not beheld by human
senses, but only by the understanding of faith: but he saw the appearance of a
dove, under which God showed the presence of his Spirit. It is a figure of speech,
(299) by which the sign is put for the thing signified, the name of a spiritual
object being applied to the visible sign.
While it is foolish and improper to press, as some do, the literal meaning, so as to
include both the sign and the thing signified, we must observe, that the
connection subsisting between the sign and the thing signified is denoted by these
modes of expression. In this sense, the bread of the Lord’s Supper is called the
body of Christ, (1 Corinthians 10:16 :) not because it is so, but because it assures
us, that the body of Christ is truly given to us for food. Meanwhile, let us bear in
mind what I have just mentioned, that we must not imagine a descent of the
thing signified, so as to seek it in the sign, as if it had a bodily place there, but
ought to be abundantly satisfied with the assurance, that God grants, by his
secret power, all that he holds out to us by figures.
Another question more curious than useful has been put. Was this dove a solid
body, or the appearance of one? Though the words of Luke seem to intimate that
it was not the substance of a body, but only a bodily appearance; yet, lest I
should afford to any man an occasion of wrangling, I leave the matter unsettled.
BARCLAY, "THE LINEAGE OF JESUS (Luke 3:23-38)
3:23-38 When Jesus began his ministry he was about thirty years of age. He was
the son (as it was supposed) of Joseph, the son of Heli, the son of Matthat, the son
of Levi, the son of Melchi, the son of Jannai, the son of Joseph, the son of
Mattathias, the son of Amos, the son of Nahum, the son of Esli, the son of Naggai,
the son of Maath, the son of Mattathias, the son of Semein, the son of Josech, the
son of Joda, the son of Joanan, the son of Rhesa, the son of Zerubbabel, the son
of Shealtiel, the son of Neri, the son of Melchi, the son of Addi, the son of Cosam,
the son of Elmadam, the son of Er, the son of Jesus, the son of Eliezer, the son of
Jorim, the son of Matthat, the son of Levi, the son of Symeon, the son of Judas,
the son of Joseph, the son of Jonam, the son of Eliakim, the son of Melea, the son
of Menna, the son of Mattatha, the son of Nathan, the son of David, the son of
Jesse, the son of Obed, the son of Boaz, the son of Salmon, the son of Nashon, the
son of Amminadab, the son of Ami, the son of Hezron, the son of Perez, the son
of Judah, the son of Jacob, the son of Isaac, the son of Abraham, the son of
Terah, the son of Nahor, the son of Serug, the son of Reu, the son of Pelag, the
son of Eber, the son of Shelah, the son of Cainan, the son of Arphaxad, the son of
Shem, the son of Noah, the son of Lamech, the son of Methuselah, the son of
Enoch, the son of Jared, the son of Mahalaleel, the son of Cainan, the son of
205

206. Enos, the son of Seth, the son of Adam, the son of God.
This passage begins with the most suggestive statement. It tens us that when
Jesus began his ministry he was no less than about thirty years of age. Why did
he spend thirty years in Nazareth when he had come to be the saviour of the
world? It is commonly said that Joseph died fairly young and that Jesus had to
take upon himself the support of Mary and of his younger brothers and sisters,
and that not until they were old enough to take the business on their own
shoulders, did he feel free to leave Nazareth and go into the wider world.
Whether that be so or not, three things are true.
(i) It was essential that Jesus should carry out with the utmost fidelity the more
limited tasks of family duty before he could take up the universal task of saving
the world. It was by his conscientiousness in the performance of the narrow
duties of home that Jesus fitted himself for the great task he had to do. When he
told the parable of the talents, the word to the faithful servants was, "Well done,
good and faithful servant; you have been faithful over a little, I will set you over
much" (Matthew 25:21; Matthew 25:23). Beyond a doubt he was putting his own
experience into words when he said that. When Sir James Barries mother died,
he said, "I can look back and I cannot see the smallest thing undone." It was
because Jesus faithfully performed the smallest duties that the greatest task in all
the world was given him.
(ii) It gave him the opportunity to live out his own teaching. Had he always been
a homeless, wandering teacher with no human ties or obligations, men might
have said to him, "What right have you to talk about human duties and human
relationships, you, who never fulfilled them?" But Jesus was able to say, not,
"Do as I say," but, "Do as I have done." Tolstoi was the man who always talked
about living the way of love; but his wife wrote poignantly of him, "There is so
little genuine warmth about him; his kindness does not come from the heart, but
merely from his principles. His biographies will tell of how he helped the
labourers to carry buckets of water, but no one will ever know that he never gave
his wife a rest and never--in all these thirty-two years--gave his child a drink of
water or spent five minutes by his bedside to give me a chance to rest a little from
all my labours." No one could ever speak like that of Jesus. He lived at home
what he preached abroad.
(iii) If Jesus was to help men he had to know how men lived. And because he
spent these thirty years in Nazareth, he knew the problems of making a living,
the haunting insecurity of the life of the working man, the ill-natured customer,
the man who would not pay his debts. It is the glory of the incarnation that we
face no problem of life and living which Jesus did not also face.
Here we have Luke's genealogy of Jesus. The Jews were interested in
genealogies. Genealogies, especially of the priests, who had to prove unbroken
descent from Aaron, were kept amongst the public records. In the time of Ezra
and Nehemiah we read of priests who lost their office because they could not
produce their genealogy (Ezra 2:61-63; Nehemiah 7:63-65).
206

207. But the problem of this genealogy is its relationship with that in Matthew 1:1-17.
The facts are these--only Luke gives the section from Adam to Abraham; the
section from Abraham to David is the same in both; but the section from David
to Joseph is almost completely different. Ever since men studied the New
Testament they have tried to explain the differences.
(i) It is said that both genealogies are symbolic and that Matthew gives the royal
descent of Jesus and Luke the priestly descent.
(ii) One of the earliest suggestions was that Matthew in fact gives the genealogy
of Joseph and Luke of Mary.
(iii) The most ingenious explanation is as follows. In Matthew 1:16 Joseph's
father is Jacob; in Luke 3:23 it is Heli. According to the Jewish law of levirate
marriage (Deuteronomy 25:5 f) if a man died childless his brother must, if free to
do so, marry the widow and ensure the continuance of the line. When that
happened a son of such a marriage could be called the son either of the first or of
the second husband. It is suggested that Joseph's mother married twice. Joseph
was in actual fact the son of Heli, the second husband, but he was in the eyes of
the law the son of Jacob, the first husband who had died. It is then suggested
that while Heli and Jacob had the same mother they had different fathers and
that Jacob's father was descended from David through Solomon and Heli's
father was descended from David through Nathan. This ingenious theory would
mean that both genealogies are correct. In fact, all we can say is that we do not
know.
Two things, however, are to be noted about the genealogy of Jesus which Luke
gives.
(i) It stresses the real humanity of Jesus. It stresses the fact that he was a man
amongst men. He was no phantom or demigod. To save men he became in the
most real sense a man.
(ii) Matthew stops at Abraham; Luke goes right back to Adam. To Matthew,
Jesus was the possession of the Jews; to Luke, he was the possession of all
mankind, because his line is traced back not to the founder of the Jewish nation
but to the founder of the human race. Luke removes the national and racial
boundaries even from the ancestry of Jesus.
COFFMAN, "THE GENEALOGY OF JESUS THROUGH MARY
Thirty years of age ... On the bearing this has with reference to dating the birth
of Jesus, see under Luke 3:2.
We shall not undertake any exhaustive "harmonization" of the two separate
genealogies of Jesus in Matthew and here. It is now and has been this student's
conviction for many years that Luke's genealogy cannot possibly be for Joseph's
line at all, since Luke spelled out in the most emphatic manner the fact that
Joseph had no physical connection whatever with Jesus; and in this fact
207

208. disappears any reason why Luke might have written a genealogy of Joseph.
It is incumbent upon us, however, to demonstrate that the interpretation
preferred in this commentary is valid.
(1) Many of the most illustrious and competent scholars who ever lived have
accepted 'this as Mary's line, not Joseph's. This fact is offered, not for the sake of
proving this position by human testimony, because many other great scholars
deny it; but it is presented to show that the greatest weight of scholarly evidence
tends to the view accepted here. "Among the many modern scholars who accept
it are Professor Godet and Dean Plumptre."[13] Robertson affirmed that the
theory of this being Mary's line "seems the most plausible," citing the following
as concurring in that view: Luther, Bengel, Olshausen, Lightfoot, Wieseler,
Robinson, Alexander, Godet, Weiss, Andrews, Broadus, and many recent
writers.[14]
(2) The solid evidence that supports this is in the Greek text itself, where the
article "the" is omitted before the name of Joseph, and yet is found before all the
names in the long list without exception, save for this solitary omission. What
does it mean? Godet said: "The omission of the article puts the name (Joseph)
outside of the genealogical series."[15] Robertson said, "This would indicate that
`Joseph' belongs in the parenthesis ... (it should) read thus, `being son (as
supposed of Joseph) of Heli, etc.'"[16] Jesus was thus the grandson of Hell,
"grandson" being an absolutely legitimate meaning of "son" as used in Jewish
genealogies. As a matter of fact, the word "son" in such tables also had the
meaning of "son by creation" (as in Luke 3:38), and sometimes even "son-in-
law." It is the context that must determine the meaning. In no case would the
name of Mary have appeared in the direct line of such genealogies, being
contrary to Jewish custom. This necessitated the listing of Jesus as the "son
(grandson) of Hell." It certainly cannot be proved that this interpretation is
incorrect.
(3) And was Jesus actually the grandson of Heli? The writers of the Jewish
Talmud have a passage concerning the pains of hell with the statement:
Mary, daughter of Heli was seen in the infernal regions, suffering the horrid
tortures. (After quoting this Haley said) This statement illustrates, not only the
bitter animosity of the Jews toward the Christian religion, but also the fact that,
according to received Jewish tradition, Mary was the daughter of Hell; hence
that is her genealogy that we find in Luke.[17]
Those who would make Joseph the son of Hell would thus make him the
husband of his own sister, besides denying the truth stated by Matthew that
Joseph was "begat" by Jacob!
(4) There are other ways of reconciling the two accounts of the genealogy of
Jesus, but this is the most plausible and convincing. This is an extensive question,
debated for centuries, and it must be confessed that human knowledge is by no
means complete with regard to it. Perhaps the most persuasive fact related to the
genealogies is that when the enemies of Christianity, such as Celsus and
208

209. Porphyry, sought to discredit the faith, none of them ever alleged any
contradiction in the genealogies. If people who lived when the genealogical tables
were still preserved did not dare to allege any contradiction, those who dare to
do so nineteen centuries later stand on the most tenuous and uncertain ground.
But what is the point of the genealogy? Surely some attention should be given to
that! Once, when this writer was a minister of a great congregation in New York
City, a group of students from one of the universities visited him, asking, "But
don't you really believe that the whole Jesus story is a myth?" It happened, when
this occurred, that this writer had only recently memorized all seventy-seven
names in this list, and he quoted it rapidly, and in full, to the astonished group of
students; and then he said: "Now, will any of you brilliant young people give the
genealogy of Santa Claus, or of Paul Bunyan, or of Beowulf?" The point was
dramatically made. Jesus Christ was no myth! His genealogy is the only one ever
constructed that reaches all the way back to God himself. Since then, this
preacher has quoted the genealogy before assemblies of college students and
congregations throughout America, because the central message is devastating to
any alleged mythological explanation of Jesus of Nazareth.
Some have asserted that Luke ignored Abraham; but that is not true. Abraham
is in the genealogy; the story of Abraham's bosom is found only in Luke (Luke
16:19ff); and one of the strongest statements with reference to that patriarch in
the entire New Testament is Luke 13:28. By taking the genealogy back to Adam,
Luke stressed the fact of Jesus' being the Saviour of all men, not merely of Jews.
Matthew's genealogy through Joseph was given for the purpose of showing that
Christ, through his legal father Joseph, was the legitimate heir to the throne of
David. In the very nature of the God-Man, it was inherent that two genealogies
should be provided, one showing his legal status in the eyes of men, and the other
giving his true physical descent. The Messianic title, "Son of David," as applied
to Jesus required a dual proof: (1) that he was entitled to the throne, as proved
by Matthew's genealogy, and (2) that he was literally descended from David, as
proved by Luke's genealogy. The fundamental "rightness" of this approach to
the problem will commend itself to any careful student of the Scriptures. Also,
Matthew wrote from Joseph's standpoint, Luke from Mary's.
A NOTE ABOUT THE VIRGIN MARY
As this commentary was being written, the writer taught a Bible class each
Sunday, the lesson being based on the previous week's studies. Reference was
one day made repeatedly to "the Virgin Mary," and, after class, a lady objected
to the expression on the grounds that the title thus used tended to support the
theory of the virgin's perpetual virginity. However, this is clearly an incorrect
view. Matthew referred to "Simon the Leper" (Matthew 26:6) without any
implication that he still had leprosy when Jesus was in his house for dinner; in
the same manner, a reference to the Virgin Mary implies nothing of her virginity
during the period after the birth of our Lord.
[13] H. D. M. Spence, The Pulpit Commentary (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Wm.
B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1962), Vol. 16, Luke, p. 71.
209

210. [14] A. T. Robertson, op. cit., p. 261.
[15] Ibid.
[16] Ibid.
[17] John W. Haley, Examination of Alleged Discrepancies in the Bible
(Nashville: B. C. Goodpasture, 1951), p. 326.
BENSON, "Luke 3:23-35. And Jesus — John’s beginning was computed by the
years of princes: our Saviour’s by the years of his own life, as a more august
era: — began to be about thirty years of age — The Greek here, ‫ן‬ ‫חם‬ ‫בץפןע‬ ‫ךבי‬
‫בסקןלוםןע‬ ‫פסיבךןםפב‬ ‫ופשם‬ ‫שףוי‬ ‫,יחףןץע‬ should rather be rendered, (as many
commentators understand it,) And Jesus, beginning, (or, when beginning,)
namely, the public exercise of his ministry, was about thirty years of age. “I can
recollect no sufficient authority,” says Dr. Doddridge, “to justify our translators
in rendering the original words, began to be about thirty years of age, or, was
now entering on his thirtieth year. To express that sense, it should have been ‫חם‬
‫ויםבי‬ ‫,בסקןלוםןע‬ &c., as Epiphanius, probably by a mistake, has quoted it.” The
author of the Vindication of the beginning of Matthew’s and Luke’s gospel, [with
whom Dr. Campbell agrees,] extremely dissatisfied with all the common versions
and explications of these words, would render them, And Jesus was obedient, or
lived in subjection [to his parents] about thirty years; and produces several
passages from approved Greek writers, in which ‫בסקןלוםןע‬ signifies subject. But
in all those places it is used in some connection or opposition, which determines
the sense; and therefore none of them are instances parallel to this. Luke
evidently uses ‫,בסקןלוםשם‬ Luke 21:28, in the sense we suppose it to have here:
and since he had before expressed our Lord’s subjection to his parents by the
word ‫,ץנןפבףףןלוםןע‬ Luke 2:51, there is great reason to believe he would have
used the same word here, had he intended to give us the same idea. The meaning
of the evangelist, therefore, evidently is, that Jesus, having received those
different testimonies from his Father, from the Spirit, and from John the Baptist,
all given in presence of the multitudes assembled to John’s baptism, began his
ministry when he was about thirty years old, the age at which the priests and
Levites entered on their sacred ministrations in the temple. Both Jesus and John
deferred entering on their public ministry till they were that age, because the
Jews would not have received any doctrines from them if they had begun it
sooner. Our great Master, as it seems, attained not to the conclusion of his thirty-
fourth year. Yet what glorious achievements did he accomplish within those
narrow limits of time! Happy that servant, who, with any proportionate zeal,
despatches the business of life! And so much the more happy, if his sun go down
at noon. For the space that is taken from the labours of time, shall be added to
the rewards of eternity.
Being (as was supposed) the son of Joseph, which was the son of Heli — That is,
the son-in-law: for Eli was the father of Mary. So Matthew writes the genealogy
of Joseph, descended from David by Solomon; Luke that of Mary, descended
from David by Nathan. In the genealogy of Joseph (recited by Matthew) that of
210

211. Mary is implied, the Jews being accustomed to marry into their own families.
The genealogy inserted here by Luke will appear with a beautiful propriety, if
the place which it holds in his history be attended to. “It stands immediately
after Jesus is said to have received the testimony of the Spirit, declaring him the
Son of God, that is to say, Messiah; and before he entered on his ministry, the
first act of which was, his encountering with and vanquishing the strongest
temptation of the arch enemy of mankind. Christ’s genealogy by his mother, who
conceived him miraculously, placed in this order, seems to insinuate that he was
the seed of the woman, which, in the first intimation of mercy vouchsafed to
mankind after the fall, was predicted to break the head of the serpent.
Accordingly Luke, as became the historian who related Christ’s miraculous
conception, carries his genealogy to Adam, who, together with Eve, received the
fore-mentioned promise concerning the restitution of mankind by the seed of the
woman.” — Macknight.
CONSTABLE, "This was a theophany, God appearing in corporeal form. The
dove is a biblical symbol of peace (Genesis 8:8-12; cf. Genesis 1:2). Primarily it
signified the coming of God's peaceful Spirit to empower Jesus for His ministry
(Isaiah 42:1; cf. Isaiah 64:1). Secondarily it represented the peace that Jesus
would impart to those who believed on Him. [Note: See L. E. Keck, "The Spirit
and the Dove," New Testament Studies 17 (1970-71):41-67.] Only Luke wrote
that the Spirit came "in bodily form" thereby giving the theophany more
substance. The voice from heaven identified Jesus as God's beloved Son (cf. Luke
1:32; Exodus 20:1; Psalms 2:7; Isaiah 42:1). God announced that His favor
rested on Jesus, not that He as the Father felt delight in His Son. [Note: Morris,
p. 100.] With this guarantee of divine enablement, Jesus was ready to begin His
ministry.
"The risen Jesus connects the beginning of the apostles' mission with the coming
of the Spirit upon them (Luke 24:46-49; Acts 1:8), and the Pentecost scene shows
that the coming of the Spirit leads immediately to the first preaching and
expansion of the community. Thus in both Luke and Acts the descent of the
Spirit initiates the central sequences of events which dominate these writings."
[Note: Tannehill, 1:57.]
"The primary application of this text comes in its Christology. Many in our
culture respect Jesus, regarding him as a religious teacher of great significance
and even placing him among the top religious teachers of all time. Others even
acknowledge him as a prophet, giving him a seat in a rather limited club of
divine revealers. But as high as these notes of respect are, they pale in
comparison to the biblical portrait. Luke shows that Jesus is not like anyone who
came before him or anyone since. The Hall of Religious Fame into which he is
placed has only one portrait in it-his. There have been other great teachers,
prophets, and kings, but there is only one who has combined all of those roles as
God's Son." [Note: Bock, Luke, pp. 119-20.]
Verse 23
Luke probably mentioned the round number "30" to describe Jesus' age when
He launched His ministry because many significant Old Testament characters
began their service of God when they were 30 (cf. Genesis 41:46; 2 Samuel 5:4;
Ezekiel 1:1). This included Israel's priests (Numbers 4). Evidently Jesus was 32
211

212. years old when He began His ministry. [Note: Hoehner, pp. 37-38.] Luke also
clarified that Jesus was not the physical son of Joseph. People only supposed that
He was.
COKE, "Luke 3:23. And Jesus himself began to be, &c.— Our Lord having
received these different testimonies from his Father, from the Spirit, and from
John the Baptist, all given in the presence of the multitudes assembled to John's
baptism, began his ministry when he was about thirty years old, the age at which
the priests entered on their sacred ministrations in the temple. See the beginning
of the first note on this chapter. To understand St. Luke's account of our Lord's
age at his baptism aright, we must take notice, that his words stand thus in
construction; ‫בסקןלוםןע‬ ‫חףןץע‬ֹ◌‫ן‬ ‫בץפןע‬ ‫ֹבי‬, ‫פסיבךןםפב‬ ‫ופשם‬ ‫שףוי‬ ‫חם‬ : and Jesus
himself, when he began, was about thirty year of age; that is to say, when he
began his ministry,—in opposition to the commencement of the Baptist's
ministry, the history of which is given in the preceding part of this chapter. In
Acts 1:21-22 we read, Wherefore, of these men which have companied with us all
the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, beginning [ ‫,בסמבלוםןע‬ ]
from the baptism of John unto the same day that he was taken up from us, &c.
Here Christ's ministry is evidently said to have commenced at the baptism of
John,—the time that John baptized him, and to have ended at the day of his
ascension. The author of the Vindication of the beginning of St. Matthew's and
St. Luke's Gospels, would render the words, and Jesus was obedient (or lived in
subjection to his parents) about thirty years: and he produces several passages
from approved Greek authors, in which ‫בסקןלוםןע‬ signifies subject; but in all
these places it is used in some connection or opposition, which determines the
sense, and therefore none of them are instances parallel to this; and since the
evangelist had before expressed our Lord's subjection to his parents by the word
‫,ץנןפבףןלוםןע‬ Ch. Luke 2:51 there is great reason to believe that he would have
used the same word here, had he intended to give us the same idea. With what
amazement should we reflect upon it, that the blessed Jesus, though so early
ripened for the most extensive services, should live in retirement even till the
thirtieth year! that he deferred his ministry so long, should teach us not to thrust
ourselves forward to public stations, till we plainly discover a divine call. That he
deferred it no longer, should be an engagement to us to avoid unnecessary
delays, and to give God the prime and vigour of our life. Our great Master
attained not, as it seems, to the conclusion of his thirty-fifth year, if he so much
as entered upon it; yet what glorious atchievements did heaccomplish within
those narrow limits of time! happy that servant who with any proportionate zeal
dispatches the great business of life!
Being (as was supposed) the son of Joseph,— I. In the first place, with respect to
the genealogies of St. Matthew and St. Luke, we may observe, that St. Matthew
opens his history with our Lord's genealogy, by Joseph his supposed Father; St.
Luke gives us his genealogy on the mother's side. The words before us, properly
pointed and translated, run thus; being (as was supposed) the son of Joseph, the
son of Heli. He was the son of Joseph by common report; but in reality the son of
Heli, by his mother who was Heli's daughter. We have a parallel example,
Genesis 36:2 where Aholibamah's pedigree is thus deduced; Aholibamah, the
daughter of Anah the daughter of Zibeon; for, since it appears from Luke
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213. 3:24-25 that Anah was the son, not the daughter of Zibeon, it is undeniable that
as Moses calls Aholibamah the daughter both of Anah and of Zibeon, because
she was the grand-daughter; so Jesus is fitly called the son of Heli, because he
was his grandson. However, the common
pointingandconstructionofthepassagemaybe retained, consistently with the
present opinion; because though the words the son of Heli should be referred to
Joseph, they may imply no more than that Joseph was Heli's son-in-law, his son
by marriage with his daughter Mary. The ancient Jews and Christians
understood this passage in the one or other of these senses; for the Talmudists
commonly call Mary by the name of Heli's daughter. In proof of what we have
advanced above, we observe that the two genealogies are entirely different, from
David downward; and that if, as some have supposed, these genealogies exhibit
Joseph's pedigree only, the one by hisnatural, the other by his legal father, the
natural and legal fathers would have been brothers, when it is plain they were
not; Jacob, Joseph's father in St. Matthew, being the son of Matthan, the son of
Eleazar; whereas Heli, the father supposed to be assigned by St. Luke, was the
son of Matthat, a different person from Matthan, because the son of Levi. And
further, on this supposition we should be altogether uncertain whether our
Lord's mother, from whom alone he sprang, was a daughter of David; and
consequently could not prove that he had any other relation to David, than that
his mother was married to one of the descendants of that prince. Let the reader
judge whether this fully comes up to the import of the passages of Scripture
which tell us, he was made of the seed of David. Romans 1:3. Acts 2:30.
II. Taking it for granted, then, that St. Luke gives our Lord's real pedigree, and
St. Matthew that of his supposed father, it may reasonably be asked, why St.
Matthew has done so? To which it may be replied, that he intended to remove
the scruples of those who knew that the Messiah was to be the heir of David's
crown; a reason, which appears the stronger, if we suppose with some learned
writers, that St. Matthew wrote posterior to St. Luke, who has given the real
pedigree. Now, though Joseph was not Christ's real father, it was directly for the
evangelist's purpose to derive his pedigree from David, and shew that he was the
eldest surviving branch of the posterity of that prince; because, that point
established, it was well enough understood that Joseph, by marrying our Lord's
mother, after he knew she was with child of him, adopted him for his son, and
raised him both to the dignity and the privileges of David's heir; accordingly, the
genealogy concludes in terms which imply this; Jacob begat Joseph, the husband
of Mary, of whom was born Jesus. Joseph is not called the father of Jesus, but
the husband of his mother Mary; and the privileges following this adoption will
appear to be more essentially connected with it, if, as is probable, Joseph never
had any child: for thus the regal line of David's descendants by Solomon, failing
in Joseph, his rights were properly transferred to Jesus, his adopted son, who
indeed was of the same family, though by another branch. St. Matthew therefore
has deduced our Lord's political and royal pedigree, with a view to prove his title
to the kingdom of Israel, by virtue of the rights which he acquired through his
adoption; whereas St. Luke explains his natural descent in the several
successions of those from whom he derived his human nature, down to the
Virgin Mary. See the note on Matthew 1:16.
213

214. III. Our Lord's genealogy given by St. Luke, will appear with a beautiful
propriety, if the place which it holds in his history is attended to. It stands
immediately after Jesus is said to have received the testimony of the Spirit,
declaring him the Son of God (which includes his being the true Messiah), and
before he entered on his ministry, the first act of which was, his encountering
with and vanquishing the strongest temptations of the arch enemy of mankind.
Christ's genealogy by his mother, who conceived him miraculously, placed in this
order, seems to insinuate that he was the seed of the woman, which, in the first
intimation of mercy vouchsafed to mankind after the fall, was predicted to bruise
the serpent's head. Accordingly, St. Luke, as became the historian who related
Christ's miraculous conception in the womb of his mother, carries his genealogy
up to Adam, who together with Eve received the before-mentioned promise
concerning the restitution of mankind by the seed of the woman. That the
genealogy, not only of our Lord's mother, but of his reputed father, should have
been given by the sacred historians, was wisely ordered; because the two, taken
together, prove him to be descended from David and Abraham in every respect,
and consequently that one of the most remarkable characters of the Messiah was
fulfilled in him; the principal promises concerning the great personage, in whom
all the families of the earth were to be blessed, having been made to those
patriarchs in quality of his progenitors. See Genesis 22:18. Psalms 132:11-12 and
Matthew 1:1.
IV. Bishop Burnet, speaking of the authentic tables which, according to the
custom of the Jewish nation, were preserved with the greatest accuracy,
observes, that had not the genealogy of Christ been taken exactly according to
the temple registers, the bare shewing of them had served to have confuted the
whole. For, if any one thing among them was clear and uncontroverted (the
sacred oracles excepted), it was the register of their genealogies; since these
proved that they were Abraham's seed, and likewise made out their title to the
lands, which from the days of Joshua were to pass down either to immediate
descendants, or, as they failed, to collateral degrees. Now this shews plainly, that
there was a double office kept of their pedigrees; one was natural, and might be
taken when the rolls of circumcision were made up; and the other relative to the
division of the land; in which, when the collateral line came instead of the
natural, then the last was dropped, as extinct, and the other remained. It being
thus plain from their constitution, that they had these two orders of tables, we
are not at all concerned in the diversity of the two evangelists on this head; since
both might have copied them out from those two offices at the temple; and if they
had not done it faithfully, the Jews could have authentically demonstrated their
error in ascribing to our Saviour by a false pedigree, that received character of
the Messiah,—that he was to be the son of David. Therefore, since no exceptions
were made at the time when the sight of the rolls must have ended the inquiry, it
is plain that they were faithfully copied out; nor are we now bound to answer
such difficulties as seem to arise out of them, since they were not questioned at
the time in which only an appeal could be made to the public registers
themselves.
BURKITT, "At thirty years of age, the priests under the law entered upon their
public office; accordingly Christ stays the full time prescribed by the law, before
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215. he undertakes his public ministry, and he gives the reason for it. That he might
fulfil all righteousness. Matthew 3:15 That is, the righteousness of the ceremonial
law, which required persons to be of that age, before they entered upon that
office; and also enjoined them to be baptized or washed in water, when they
undertook their office. See Exodus 29:4
Learn hence, that whatever the law required in order to perfect righteousness,
that Christ fulfilled in most absolute perfection, both in his own person, and also
in the name of all believers.
Observe farther, the title given to Joseph here: he is called the supposed father of
Christ. Joseph was not his natural father, though so supposed by the Jews; but
he was his legal father, being married to the Virgin when our Saviour was born;
and he was his nursing father, that took care of him, and provided for him,
though Christ sometimes showed both his parents, that, if he pleased, he could
live without any dependence upon their care. See Luke 2:49
24 the son of Matthat,
the son of Levi, the son of Melki,
the son of Jannai, the son of Joseph,
GILL, "Which was the son of Matthat, which was the son of Levi,.... These
two, Grotius says, are omitted in the ancient exemplars; and he thinks they ought to
be left out; and for which he mentions the authorities of Irenaeus, Africanus,
Eusebius, Nazianzen, Jerom, and Augustin: but not only the Vulgate Latin, but all the
Oriental versions, retain them:
which was the son of Melchi: and who, he thinks, was the immediate father of
Eli:
which was the son of Janna: frequent mention is made, in the Jewish writings (e)
of ‫מלכא‬ ‫,ינאי‬ "king Jannai", who is said to be the same with king Jochanan, or John,
the son of Simeon, the son of Mattithiah, that was called Hyrcanus; and his son
Alexander, that reigned after him, was also called Jannai (f); but whether either of
these is the same with this Janna, is not certain: but this may be observed, that they
were both before the times of Herod, and the birth of Jesus, some years. And Jannai
is called; in the chronicle of Jedidiah of Alexandria, or Philo the Jew (g), Hyrcanus
the second, who reigned sixteen years:
215

216. which was the son of Joseph. This Joseph, according to the same chronicle, is
called Joseph the second, and surnamed Arsis, and was greatly honoured by Ptolemy,
and governed sixty years; and accordingly we shall meet with another Joseph anon.
HENRY, “Which was the son of Matthat, which was the son of Levi,....
These two, Grotius says, are omitted in the ancient exemplars; and he thinks they
ought to be left out; and for which he mentions the authorities of Irenaeus,
Africanus, Eusebius, Nazianzen, Jerom, and Augustin: but not only the Vulgate
Latin, but all the Oriental versions, retain them:
which was the son of Melchi: and who, he thinks, was the immediate father of
Eli:
which was the son of Janna: frequent mention is made, in the Jewish writings (e)
of ‫מלכא‬ ‫,ינאי‬ "king Jannai", who is said to be the same with king Jochanan, or John,
the son of Simeon, the son of Mattithiah, that was called Hyrcanus; and his son
Alexander, that reigned after him, was also called Jannai (f); but whether either of
these is the same with this Janna, is not certain: but this may be observed, that they
were both before the times of Herod, and the birth of Jesus, some years. And Jannai
is called; in the chronicle of Jedidiah of Alexandria, or Philo the Jew (g), Hyrcanus
the second, who reigned sixteen years:
which was the son of Joseph. This Joseph, according to the same chronicle, is
called Joseph the second, and surnamed Arsis, and was greatly honoured by Ptolemy,
and governed sixty years; and accordingly we shall meet with another Joseph anon.
JAMISON, "son of Matthat, etc. — (See on Mat_1:13-15). In Luk_3:27,
Salathiel is called the son, while in Mat_1:12, he is called the father of Zerubbabel.
But they are probably different persons.
BURKITT, "We find the genealogy of our blessed Saviour recorded by two
evangelists, St. Matthew and St. Luke. His pedigree is set forth by St. Matthew
from his father Joseph, by St. Luke from his mother Mary; the design of both is
to prove him lineally descended from Abraham and David, and consequently the
true and promised Messiah.
St. Matthew, intending his history primarily for the Jews, proves him to be the
son of Abraham and David, for their comfort. St. Luke, designing the
information and comfort of the Gentiles, derives our Lord's pedigree from
Adam, the common parent of mankind; to assure the Gentiles of their possibility
of an interest in Christ, they being the sons of Adam. Neither of these evangelists
are strict and accurate in enumerating every individual person; which should
teach us not to be over-curious in scanning the parts of this genealogy, much less
captiously to object against it, because of some seeming contradictions to it; for if
the evangelists were not nice and critical in composing this genealogy, why
should we be so in examining of it? Let us rather attend to the design of the Holy
Ghost in writing of it, which was twofold.
1. For the honour of our Saviour as man, showing who were his noble and royal
progenitors according to the flesh.
216

217. 2. For the confirmation of our faith, touching the reality of our Saviour's
incarnation. The scripture making mention of all his progenitors from the first
man Adam, to his reputed father Joseph, we cannot reasonably doubt either of
the truth of his human nature, or of the certainty of his being the promised
Messiah.
Hence we may learn that the wisdom of God has taken all necessary care, and
used all needful means, for satisfying the minds of all unprejudiced persons,
touching the reality of Christ's human nature, and the certainty of his being the
promised Messiah; for both these ends is our Saviour's genealogy, descent, and
pedigree, recorded in holy scripture.
CONSATABLE, "Verses 24-38
Matthew traced Joseph's line back to David through Joseph's father Jacob and
David's son Solomon. Luke traced Joseph's line back to David through Joseph's
father Eli (or Heli, NIV) and David's son Nathan. Is there a mistake in the text, is
one of these genealogies really the genealogy of Mary rather than Joseph, or did
Joseph have two fathers?
The two lines of Joseph proceed back through two entirely different sets of
names. Therefore there does not seem to be an error in the text regarding the
name of Joseph's father. Luke did not even mention Mary in his genealogy, and
Matthew seems clearly to have been describing Joseph's ancestors (Matthew
1:16). Consequently it appears unlikely that one of the genealogies is Mary's. As
strange as it may seem, Joseph appears to have had two fathers.
One solution to this problem is that the custom of levirate marriage in the
ancient Near East permitted the widow of a childless man to marry his
(unmarried) brother. It was common to consider a child of the second marriage
as the legal son of the deceased man to perpetuate that man's name. In
genealogies the ancients sometimes listed such a child as the son of his real father
but at other times as the son of his legal father. This may be the solution to the
problem of Joseph's fathers. It is a very old explanation that the third century
church father Africanus advocated. [Note: The Ecclesiastical History of Eusebius
Pamphilus, 1:7.] Evidently either Jacob or Eli (Heli) was Joseph's real father,
and the other man was his legal father. This may also be the solution to the
problem of Shealtiel's two fathers (Matthew 1:12; Luke 3:27). This is only an
adequate explanation, however, if Jacob and Eli were half-brothers, specifically
the sons of the same mother but not the same father. Jacob's father was Matthan
and his grandfather was Eleazar whereas Eli's father was Matthat and his
grandfather was Levi.
Another solution is that Matthew provided a list of incumbents (actual or
potential) to the Davidic throne, and Luke listed Joseph's physical father and
forefathers. [Note: Machen, p. 209; The New Bible Dictionary, 1962 ed., s.v.
"Genealogy of Jesus Christ," by F. F. Bruce.] I prefer this view. According to
this view Matthew showed that Jesus had a legitimate right to rule as Messiah
since He was in the royal line through His legal guardian Joseph. Luke showed
217

218. that Jesus was a real blood descendant of David. Yet Luke had already showed
in chapters 1 and 2 that Jesus was not a biological son of Joseph. Advocates of
this view point out that Luke was careful to state that Jesus was only supposedly
the son of Joseph (Luke 3:23). However if He was not the physical son of Joseph
what is the point of tracing Joseph's ancestors to prove Jesus' humanity? This
criticism applies to the former view too. Probably in the eyes of Greeks Jesus'
connection with Adam through Joseph would have been adequately convincing.
Another view is that the genealogy is Joseph's, but Luke did not mean that
Joseph was Jesus' physical father.
"In the eye of the law Jesus was the heir of Joseph; and therefore it is Joseph's
descent which is of importance." [Note: Plummer, p. 103.]
Yet the purpose of the genealogy seems to be to trace Jesus back to the first man
to prove that He was a real son of Adam.
The obvious problem with the view that Luke recorded Mary's genealogy, a
fourth view, is that he did not refer to Mary but wrote that his genealogy was
Joseph's. Advocates of this view explained the lack of reference to Mary this
way. It was not customary among the Romans or the Jews to include the name of
a woman in such a list. [Note: Norval Geldenhuys, Commentary on the Gospel of
Luke, p. 151; Richard C. H. Lenski, The Interpretation of St. Luke's Gospel, pp.
218-21.] Nevertheless Matthew mentioned four women in his genealogy, and
Luke showed more interest in women than any of the other evangelists. [Note:
See Tannehill, 1:132-39.] It seems unlikely that he would have refrained from
using Mary's name if he meant that this genealogy was hers.
Most of the scholars are not dogmatic about the solution to this problem.
"It is only right, therefore, to admit that the problem caused by the existence of
the two genealogies is insoluble with the evidence presently at our disposal."
[Note: Marshall, The Gospel . . ., p. 159. Cf. Morris, p. 101.]
From David to Abraham (Luke 3:32-34), Luke's list parallels Matthew's quite
closely (Matthew 1:2-6). The list from Abraham to Adam (Luke 3:34-38) is very
similar to the one in Genesis 11:10-26 (cf. Genesis 5:1-32; 1 Chronicles 1:1-26).
[Note: For a study of the differences and several ways of reconciling them, see M.
S. Mills, "A Comparison of the Genesis and Lukan Genealogies (The Case for
Cainan)" (Th.M. thesis, Dallas Theological Seminary, 1978).]
The presence of Shealtiel and Zerubbabel in the lists of both Solomon and
Nathan's descendants is another problem (Matthew 1:12; Luke 3:27). King
Jeconiah, a descendant of Solomon, may have adopted Shealtiel, a descendant of
Nathan and Zerubbabel's father, into his line (cf. 1 Chronicles 3:17; Jeremiah
22:30). Then Zerubbabel's descendants continued the two lines of Solomon and
Nathan, one branch of the family perpetuating the legal line of Solomon and the
other the bloodline of Nathan. [Note: See Plummer, p. 104.] Another possibility is
that there were two sets of fathers and sons named Shealtiel and Zerubbabel, one
set in Joseph's legal line and the other in his bloodline.
218

219. 25 the son of Mattathias, the son of Amos,
the son of Nahum, the son of Esli,
the son of Naggai,
GILL, "Which was the son of Mattathias,.... Surnamed Siloah, by the same
Philo, who governed ten years:
which was the son of Amos; whose surname, according to the same author, was
Sirag; or, as some, Syrach, or Shyrach, who governed fourteen years:
which was the son of Naum; who was called Mesalut, or Maslot, who governed
seven years:
which was the son of Esli; or Eli, surnamed Haggai, who governed eight years;
which was the son of Nagge: with Philo he is called Nagid Artasat, or Artaxat,
and said to govern ten years.
26 the son of Maath,
the son of Mattathias, the son of Semein,
the son of Josek, the son of Joda,
GILL, "Which was the son of Maath,.... Surnamed Aser, who governed nine
years:
which was the son of Mattathias; called Eli Matathias, who governed twelve
years:
which was the son of Semei; and named Abner Semei, who governed eleven
years:
which was the son of Joseph; called Joseph the first, who governed seven years:
219

220. which was the son of Juda; who, according to the same writer, must be Judas,
surnamed Hyrcanus the first, who governed fourteen years.
27 the son of Joanan, the son of Rhesa,
the son of Zerubbabel, the son of Shealtiel,
the son of Neri,
GILL, "Which was the son of Joanna,.... Johannes, or John, the son of Rhesa
Mesullam, who governed fifty three years:
which was the son of Rhesa, called, by the above writer, Rhesa Mesullam; 1Ch_
3:19 and said, by him, to govern sixty six years:
which was the son of Zorobabel who governed fifty eight years:
which was the son of Salathiel; the same with Shealthiel; See Gill on Mat_1:12.
which was the son of Neri; the same with Jechonias, according to the
Alexandrian, chronicle; See Gill on Mat_1:12
28 the son of Melki,
the son of Addi, the son of Cosam,
the son of Elmadam, the son of Er,
GILL 28-31, "This, with the following, "Addi, Cosam, Elmodam, Er, Jose, Eliezer,
Jorim, Matthat, Levi, Simeon, Juda, Joseph, Jonan, Eliakim, Melea, Menan, and
Mattatha", all lived before the captivity, and were of the house of David, in the line of
Nathan; for it follows,
which was the son of Nathan: of which persons no mention is made in the Old
220

221. Testament, nor even of Mattatha, the son of Nathan: his sons that are mentioned are
Azariah, Zabud, and Ahishar, 1Ki_4:5 which last is thought to be the same with
Mattatha: that Nathan was the son of David, as the order of things here directs,
which was the son of David, is clear from 2Sa_5:14.
29 the son of Joshua, 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 Jonam, the son of Eliakim,
31 the son of Melea, the son of Menna,
the son of Mattatha, the son of Nathan,
the son of David,
32 the son of Jesse,
221

222. the son of Obed, the son of Boaz,
the son of Salmon,[d] the son of Nahshon,
GILL, "Which was the son of Jesse,.... The order of the persons from Jesse to
Abraham, as Obed, Boaz, Salmon, Naasson, Aminadab, Aram, or Ram, Esrom, (for
Joram, which the Arabic version here inserts, is to be rejected,) Phares, Judah,
Jacob, Isaac, Abraham, perfectly agrees with the genealogy of Matthew, and the
accounts of the Old Testament:
which was the son of Thara; the same with Terah, Gen_11:26 called by the
Septuagint, Tharra:
which was the son of Nachor;, the same with Nahor, Gen_11:24 called there, by
the Septuagint, as here.
33 the son of Amminadab, the son of Ram,[e]
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,
222

223. 35 the son of Serug, the son of Reu,
the son of Peleg, the son of Eber,
the son of Shelah,
GILL, "Which was the son of Saruch,.... The Septuagint call him Serouch, the
same with Serug, Gen_11:22
which was the son of Ragau; so the Septuagint, the same with Reu, Gen_40:20
which was the son of Phaleg; the same with Peleg, Gen_11:18 the Septuagint
reads as here: "which was the son of Heber", or Eber, Gen_11:16
which was the son of Sala, or Salah, Gen_11:14 the Septuagint there call him
Sala.
36 the son of Cainan,
the son of Arphaxad, the son of Shem,
the son of Noah, the son of Lamech,
CLARKE, "Of Cainan - This Cainan, the son of Arphaxad, and father of Sala, is
not found in any other Scripture genealogy. See Gen_10:24; Gen_11:12; 1Ch_1:18,
1Ch_1:24, where Arphaxad is made the father of Sala, and no mention at all made of
Cainan. Some suppose that Cainan was a surname of Sala, and that the names should
be read together thus, The son of Heber, the son of Salacainan, the son of Arphaxad,
etc. If this does not untie the knot, it certainly cuts it; and the reader may pass on
without any great scruple or embarrassment. There are many sensible observations
on this genealogy in the notes at the end of Bishop Newcome’s Harmony.
GILL, "Which was the son of Cainan,.... This Cainan is not mentioned by Moses
in Gen_11:12 nor has he ever appeared in any Hebrew copy of the Old Testament, nor
in the Samaritan version, nor in the Targum; nor is he mentioned by Josephus, nor
in 1Ch_1:24 where the genealogy is repeated; nor is it in Beza's most ancient Greek
copy of Luke: it indeed stands in the present copies of the Septuagint, but was not
223

224. originally there; and therefore could not be taken by Luke from thence, but seems to
be owing to some early negligent transcriber of Luke's Gospel, and since put into the
Septuagint to give it authority: I say "early", because it is in many Greek copies, and
in the Vulgate Latin, and all the Oriental versions, even in the Syriac, the oldest of
them; but ought not to stand neither in the text, nor in any version: for certain it is,
there never was such a Cainan, the son of Arphaxad, for Salah was his son; and with
him the next words should be connected,
which was the son of Arphaxad; Gen_11:12
which was the son of Sem, or Shem, Gen_11:10
which was the son of Noe, or Noah, Gen_5:32
which was the son of Lamech, Gen_5:28
HENRY, One difficulty occurs between Abraham and Noah, which gives us some
perplexity, Luk_3:35, Luk_3:36. Sala is said to be the son of Cainan, and he the son
of Arphaxad, whereas Sala was the son of Arphaxad (Gen_10:24; Gen_11:12), and
there is no such man as Cainan found there. But, as to that, it is sufficient to say that
the Seventy Interpreters, who, before our Saviour's time, translated the Old
Testament into Greek, for reasons best known to themselves inserted that Cainan;
and St. Luke, writing among the Hellenist Jews, was obliged to make use of that
translation, and therefore to take it as he found it.
The genealogy concludes with this, who was the son of Adam, the son of God. (1.)
Some refer it to Adam; he was in a peculiar manner the son of God, being, more
immediately than any of his offspring, the offspring of God by creation. (2.) Others
refer it to Christ, and so make the last words of this genealogy to denote his divine
and human nature. He was both the Son of Adam and the Son of God that he might
be a proper Mediator between God and the sons of Adam, and might bring the sons
of Adam to be, through him, the sons of God.
BENSON, "Luke 3:36-37. Which was the son of Cainan — “There is no mention
made of this Cainan in either of the genealogies which Moses gives, Genesis
10:24; Genesis 11:12; but Salah is there said to be the son of Arphaxad. Cainan
must therefore have been introduced here from the translation of the Seventy
interpreters, who have inserted him in both these places in the same order as we
find him here; and as this translation was then commonly used, and was more
generally understood than the Hebrew, it is probable that some transcriber of
this gospel added Cainan from that version. Unless we suppose that Luke himself
might choose, in writing this genealogy, to follow the LXX., as he appears to do
in several other passages that he has quoted from the Old Testament.” The
evangelist’s design was only to present us with the genealogy of Christ in its
ascent to Adam, and this is equally clear, whether we reckon Salah as the
immediate descendant of Arphaxad, or whether we consider him as his grandson
by Cainan.
224

225. 37 the son of Methuselah, the son of Enoch,
the son of Jared, the son of Mahalalel,
the son of Kenan,
GILL, "Which was the son
of Mathusala,.... The same with Methuselah; and so he is called by the Septuagint
in Gen_5:25
which was the son of Enoch, Gen_5:21
which was the son of Jared Gen_5:18,
which was the son of Maleleel; the same with Mahalaleel; who is also so called
by the seventy interpreters, in Gen_5:15 as here; which was the son of Cainan, Gen_
5:12.
38 the son of Enosh,
the son of Seth, the son of Adam,
the son of God.
GILL, "Which was the son of Enos,.... Gen_5:9
which was the son of Seth, Gen_5:6
which was the son of Adam Gen_5:3
which was the son of God: not begotten, as all the rest were, by their immediate
parents, but created by God, in a supernatural manner, out of the dust of the earth,
and quickened with the breath of God: so Adam is, by the Jews (h) called, ‫אלהים‬ ‫,בן‬
"the son of God": though this may be understood of Jesus; the son of Joseph, of Heli,
&c. and so on to this clause, "the son of God"; being so as a divine person, to whom
the human nature was united, and on that account so called; see Luk_1:35 Thus, as
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226. Matthew gives us the regal line of Christ, showing him to be heir to the throne of his
father David, Luke gives the natural line of Christ; and as Matthew traces his
genealogy down from Abraham, in a descending line, to Joseph, the husband of
Mary, the mother of Jesus, Luke traces it upwards, in an ascending line, from Mary
by Joseph, even up to Adam; to whom the Messiah was first promised, and who was
a type of the second Adam, from whom he descended, though not by ordinary
generation; nay, even to God himself: Christ, according to his divine nature, was the
only begotten of the Father; and as to his human nature, had a body prepared by
him, and in the fulness of time was God manifest in the flesh.
HENRY, “The genealogy concludes with this, who was the son of Adam, the son
of God. (1.) Some refer it to Adam; he was in a peculiar manner the son of God, being,
more immediately than any of his offspring, the offspring of God by creation. (2.)
Others refer it to Christ, and so make the last words of this genealogy to denote his
divine and human nature. He was both the Son of Adam and the Son of God that he
might be a proper Mediator between God and the sons of Adam, and might bring the
sons of Adam to be, through him, the sons of God.
JAMISON, "son of God — Compare Act_17:28.
BI, “Which was the son of Adam, which was the son of God
Genealogies
As we glance through the list of names given in these chapters (Mat_1:1-25.
and Luk_3:1-38.), we see that few could claim a higher descent than could the
carpenter Joseph and the gentle woman to whom he was espoused. They were both
lineally descended from the ancient kings of the proud tribe of Judah—from Solomon
and David—and, going further back, from the patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac, and
Jacob—from Shorn, from Seth, from Adam. Their family tree in one place covered a
space of 2,000 years; in another of more than 4,000 years. Yet they were poor,
humble, unrecognized. In the lapse of time there are fluctuations and undulations.
While some families have their flows, others have their ebbs. While some rise in
wealth and consequent honour, others glide into poverty and insignificance. The old
stock wears out, the new tree takes its place. The world, constituted as it is,
recognizes lineage only when it is accompanied by wealth. By itself it is a voice from
the past, and nothing more. Could we read the history of men’s lives, and trace their
descent, we should have plenty of examples of this. We see it in our own times.
Examples crowd on us without difficulty. It is not long since the gallant son of an
emperor died as a simple soldier in the British uniform. It is asserted that the last
scion of a kingly race, sprung from the warrior Cid, eked out a miserable existence—
neglected, half-starved—in London, where he died a few years ago.The descendants
of one of the most remarkable men of the sixteenth century are a poor peasant family
in a Midland County to-day—decent folk enough, but certainly “unhonoured and
unsung.” Such was the case with the gentle Mary of Nazareth. Some people boast of
their patrician birth. The boasting, at least, confers no merit upon them. If Mary
wished, she might with reason have boasted too. Though a peasant, she sprang from
kings; though poor, her ancestors were wealthy; though humble, one of her
forefathers was the wisest of men. But her claim to honour came not from the past—
it was reflected back from the future. It was not due to the long line of an unbroken
pedigree, but from Him she was to bear … With the exception of the two of our Lord,
there are no genealogies in the New Testament, whereas there are several in the Old
Testament. Moreover, St. Paul, himself descended from Jacob’s youngest son, wrote
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227. this counsel to Timothy, “Neither give heed to endless genealogies,” and to Titus,
“Avoid foolish question and genealogies … for they are unprofitable and vain.” Is
there no significance in this? Family records were scrupulously guarded under
Judaism; they were ignored, even condemned, under Christianity. Why so? Because
Christianity’s principle sweeps away all walls of partition, blots out all records, tears
down all red lines which may separate man from man. Christianity teaches that each
and every man, whoever he be, is a brother; and each and every woman a sister.
Christianity abrogates and denounces whatever tends to pride, or assumption, or
superciliousness, or self-conceit. It teaches that in God’s sight, prince and beggar,
patrician and peasant, are on the same level. It teaches gentleness and
thoughtfulness and politeness towards all. It teaches that the highest claim to descent
is to be a true child of God; the highest society, true membership with Christ; the
highest inheritance, that which we have if we only keep it—the kingdom of heaven.
(C. E. Drought, M. A.)
The genealogies in Matthew and Luke
In the first Gospel the genealogy of Jesus is placed at the very beginning of the
narrative. This is easily explained. From the point of view indicated by theocratic
forms, scriptural antecedents, and, if we may so express it, Jewish etiquette, the
Messiah was to be a descendant of David and Abraham (Mat_1:1.) This relationship
was the sine qua non of His civil status. It is not so easy to understand why Luke
thought he must give the genealogy of Jesus, and why he places it just here, between
the baptism and the temptation. Perhaps, if we bear in mind the obscurity in which,
to the Greeks, the origin of mankind was hidden, and the absurd fables current
among them about autochthonic nations, we shall see how interesting any document
would be to them, which, following the track of actual names, went back to the first
father of the race. Luke’s intention would thus be very nearly the same as Paul’s,
when he said at Athens (Act_17:26), “God hath made of one blood the whole human
race.” But from a strictly religious point of view, this genealogy possessed still greater
importance. In carrying it back not only, as Matthew does, as far as Abraham, but
even to Adam, Luke lays the foundation of that universality of redemption which is to
be one of the characteristic features of the picture he is about to draw. In this way he
places in close and indissoluble connection the imperfect image created in Adam
which reappears in every man, and his perfect image realized in Christ which is to be
reproduced in all men. But why does Luke place this document here? Because now
Jesus enters personally on the scene to commence His proper work. With the
baptism, the obscurity in which He has lived until now passes away; He now appears
detached from the circle of persons who have hitherto surrounded Him and acted as
His patrons—viz., His parents and the forerunner. He henceforth becomes the He
(verse 23), the principal personage of the narrative. This is the moment which very
properly appears to the author most suitable for giving His genealogy. The genealogy
of Moses, in the Exodus, is placed in the same way, not at the opening of his
biography, but at the moment when he appears on the stage of history, when he
presents himself before Pharaoh. In crossing the threshold of this new era, the sacred
historian casts a general glance over the period which thus reaches its close, and
sums it up in this document, which might be called the mortuary register of the
earlier humanity. There is, further, a difference of form between the two genealogies.
Matthew comes down, while Luke ascends the stream of generations. Perhaps this
difference of method depends on the difference of religious position between the
Jews and the Greeks. The Jew, finding the basis of his thought in a revelation,
proceeds synthetically from cause to effect; the Greek, possessing nothing beyond the
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228. fact, analyzes it, that he may proceed from effect to cause. But this difference
depends more probably still on another circumstance. Every official genealogical
register must present the descending form; for individuals are only inscribed in it as
they are born. The ascending form of genealogy can only he that of a private
instrument, drawn up from the public document with a view to the particular
individual whose name serves as the starting-point of the whole list. It follows that in
Matthew we have the exact copy of the official register; while Luke gives us a
document extracted from the public records, and compiled with a view to the person
with whom the genealogy commences. (F. Godet, D. D.)
The double genealogies of Christ as the Son of David
The general facts are these—
1. The genealogy in St. Matthew descends from Abraham to Jesus, in accordance
with his object in writing mainly for the Jews; whereas St. Luke’s ascends from
Jesus to Adam, and to God, in accordance with his object in writing for the world
in general.
2. The generations are introduced in St. Matthew by the word “begat”; in St. Luke
by the genitive with the ellipse of “son.”
3. Between David and Zerubbabel St. Matthew gives only fifteen names, but St.
Luke twenty-one; and they are all different except that of Shealtiel (Salathiel).
4. Between Zerubbabel and Joseph St. Matthew gives only nine generations, but
St. Luke seventeen; and all the names are different. The difficulty as to the
number of the generations is not serious. It is a matter of daily experience that
the number of generations in one line often increases far more rapidly than that
in another. Moreover the discrepancies in these two lists may all be accounted for
by noticing that Matthew adopts the common Jewish plan of an arbitrary
numerical division into tesseradecads. When this system was adopted, whole’
generations were freely omitted, for the sake of preserving the symmetry,
provided that the fact of the succession remained undoubted (cf. Ezr_7:1-5 with
1Ch_6:3-15). The difficulty as to the dissimilarity of names will of course only
affect the two steps of the genealogies at which they begin to diverge, before they
again coalesce in the names of Shealtiel and of Joseph. A single adoption, and a
single levirate marriage, account for the apparent discrepancies. St. Matthew
gives the legal descent through a line of kings descended from Solomon—the jus
successionis; St. Luke the natural descent—the jus sanguinis. St. Matthew’s is a
royal, St. Luke’s a natural pedigree. (Archdeacon Farrar.)
Our Lord’s descent
1. These verses completely establish that essential point in the evidence of the
Messiahship of Jesus, viz., His descent from David, Judah, and Abraham. Let this
confirm our faith in His Divine mission; let us give our careful attention and firm
adherence to the exact and particular doctrines which He teaches; and show a
ready obedience to the precepts which He enjoins.
2. Among the ancestors of our Lord, there are found persons of various
descriptions and characters.
(1) Though His line frequently runs through the elder brother, it also often
runs through a younger brother of the family, which shows that God follows
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229. His own sovereign will, and in the course of His providence often makes the
first last and the last first, putting down the great and exalting those of low
degree.
(2) In this genealogy, too, are found some who were originally Gentiles, and
strangers to the covenants of promise, as Rahab and Ruth; a circumstance
which gave early proof that in Jesus Christ there was to be neither Greek nor
Jew, and that the blessings of His salvation were to be proposed to every
nation under heaven.
(3) In His pedigree there are found some individuals who were of abandoned
character, and yet He was not thereby disgraced.
(4) It shows that grace does not run through families, but is the special gift of
God to individuals.
(5) Our Lord’s condescension in accepting such a descent.
3. A glance at these generations which have passed away, naturally suggests a
variety of reflections—plaintive, humble, and instructive.
(1) All must die.
(2) The sad consequences of sin.
(3) The vanity of the world. Some few of these obtained celebrity, but how
little it avails them now! Of how many the memory, and even the name, has
utterly perished! How miserable are they who have no name but that which is
written in the earth, and no portion but for this life I Let us seek to gain a
more substantial honour. (James Foote, M. A.)
A binding corner-stone
See what a binding corner-stone the Lord Jesus is, knitting together not man to man
only, Gentiles with Jews, but man with God also; and that not by a personal union
only, which He hath perfected in Himself, but by a spiritual union also by which He
unites all the members of His mystical body in a blessed peace and fellowship with
God; and this hath He now begun, and shall perfect in the end. (Bishop Cowper.)
From Christ according to the Spirit
Then our instruction is, that though neither our names nor our fathers, be in the
catalogue of Christ’s progenitors; yet if we be in the roll of His children and brethren,
we shall have comfort sufficient: though He be not come of us according to the flesh,
if we be come from Him, according to the Spirit, as His sons and daughters by
regeneration, we shall be blessed in Him, even as they were. (Bishop Cowper.)
The genealogical table
A mournful yet instructive study. Take a few of the reflections arising from such a
study.
1. Every individual life belongs to the great whole—the solemn ever-rolling
stream of human being. No man liveth unto himself; we transmit power,
weakness, even depravity.
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230. 2. Though the individual dies, the race moves on; no one being is essential to the
continuance of the world; the greatest dies, yet the world hardly misses the
service of his industrious hand; the most eloquent ceases his speech, yet the roar
in the living air is none the less.
3. How few men of surpassing reputation there have ever been, considering the
innumerable hosts of human generations; how few of these names do we know
anything about—only one here and there, as David, Abraham, Enoch; but of the
mass, who knows anything?
4. Yet there may be great usefulness where there is no renown; our names will
perish when we cease to live, yet within the limits of our day, how much good
may we do!
5. Even though a great succession may seem to be interrupted, or to have died
cut, it may revive again. In this table we come to very low points, yet how the life
rises, how the glory returns! “Cast down, but not destroyed.” It is often thus with
the spiritual seed of the Messiah, yet there has ever been a seed to serve Him, and
a remnant to uphold the honour of His name. (J. Parker, D. D.)
The genealogy of Christ
We learn:
I. GOD’S FIDELITY TO HIS PROMISE.
II. THE ETERNAL NEVER WORKS HURRIEDLY.
III. THE HUMAN RACE IS VERY CLOSELY INTERRELATED.
IV. THE UNIVERSALITY OF DEATH.
V. THE ALL-INCLUSIVENESS OF CHRIST’S MISSION.
VI. CHRIST THE APEX OF THIS PYRAMID AND THE CROWN AND GLORY OF
THE RACE. (J. Ossian Davies.)
Sacred and secular Jewish names
The following possible explanation of the divergencies between the two genealogies
of our Lord is deserving of consideration. The Jews, like other nations, gave more
than one name to each individual. The life of a Jew was essentially twofold: he was a
member of a civil state, and he was at the same time a member of a theocracy; his life
was both political and religious. This distinction seems to have been preserved in the
giving of names. Traces of the double name are found throughout the course of
Scripture history. It is highly probable that the sacred name imposed at birth would
be entered in a different list from the common name by which a man was known in
his civil relationships. The conclusion to which we are brought is that we have before
us two such registers, one drawn from public, and the other from private sources; or,
as is conjectured above, one from a civil genealogy, the other from writings laid up in
the Temple. In support of this view, we may note that in the genealogy in Luke—the
evangelist whose opening chapters show a close familiarity with the interior of the
Temple, and what took place there—the names appear to have a sacred character.
Even an English reader may remark at a glance the different aspect of the two lists.
That in Luke contains, with striking frequency, the familiar names of distinguished
patriarchs, prophets, and priests, and thus confirms the impression that his
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231. genealogy, rather than that of a Matthew, is of a purely religious character. This
hypothesis receives a remarkable confirmation by a comparison of the dates of the
two lists with the dates of the first building, the destruction, and the second building
of the Temple. What, then, is the relation between the two genealogies before
Solomon’s time, when there was no Temple? and during the lives of Salathiel and
Zorobabel, who flourished at the time of the Babylonish captivity, when again, for
seventy years, there was no Temple? It is precisely at these periods that only one list
exists. The divergence in Luke’s genealogy from that of Matthew is exactly coincident
with the periods during which the Temple was standing. What explanation of this
striking fact can be more natural than that at the point where the two genealogies
unite there was but one list to refer to, and that the absence of entries in the sacred
register required it to be supplemented by a reference to the state chronicles?
(Biblical things not generally known.)
Luke carefully guards against the notion of this being the real descent, by introducing
the words “as was supposed”; it was the legal descent, Joseph being legally the Lord’s
father; and from Joseph as the supposed father, St. Luke carries up the pedigree to
the commencement of all things, that is, the creation of the man. Matthew brings
down the descent from Abraham; Luke carries it up to Adam and so to God; and as
the descent from Abraham was the most important for those children of Abraham
who were looking for the fulfilment of the promises made to their forefathers, so the
possibility of ascending to Adam and to God was the most important fact for the race
of mankind at large, who had all fallen in Adam, and all looked for redemption
through Christ. Dry as the long list of names in Luke may seem, it may truly be said
that no passage of Scripture contains more of the essence of the gospel; Jesus is the
true second Adam, because He is linked with the first; Jesus and Adam are the two
heads of the human race, and they are both of them sons of God, Adam by creation,
Jesus Christ by eternal generation; and so it may be said that the genealogical chain,
by which Luke linked the first Adam and the second Adam together, is that chain
upon which the redemption of mankind and all human hopes depend. (Bishop
Harvey Goodwin.)
Why have we Joseph’s genealogy, not Mary’s?
If Joseph’s genealogy, as presented in either of the Gospels, determines our Lord’s
birth as the lineal descendant of David, and the legal heir to the throne, his genealogy
is all-important; while that of Mary, as it would not, according to Hebrew law, have
decided the question of descent, would have been invalid as a document. “Familia
matris nonfamilia” is an ancient maxim among the Jews, and it has Divine sanction
(see Num_1:26). The law that descent is reckoned on the father’s side only, “Filius
sequitur patrem”—a law recognized by all civilized nations—is not contradicted by
the one or two exceptional instances in which the name of a woman’s ancestor was
adopted by her husband and transmitted to her offspring (Num_32:41; comp. 1Ch_
2:21-23; Ezr_2:61). A descent of this kind was not counted a true descent in any case
in which the genealogy was sought (see Ezr_2:62), and gave no legal claim. Joseph is
distinctly honoured, in the Scripture, with the recognition of his legal parentage of
Jesus. (G. W. Butler, D. D.)
The Divine root of the human pedigree
231

232. The pedigree of our Lord, as given by the Evangelist of the Gentiles, ends with a
wonderful leap, a leap from earth to heaven. Noah was the son of Lamech, &c., &c.
Enos was the son of Seth, Seth was the son of Adam, Adam was the son of—God.
There is no bolder word in Scripture, none that strikes us with a deeper surprise and
awe. Most of us have, doubtless, wondered at times why, when space was so valuable,
Luke should have inserted in his Gospel “this barren list of names.” But the pedigree
is of immense value, if for nothing else, yet for this, that it connects the second Adam
with the first, that it places a son of God at either end of the list; that it makes us out
to be the children of God both by nature and by grace, by birth and by second birth.
For, of course, if Adam was the son of God, we are all the children of God, since we
are all children of Adam; there is a Divine element in our nature as well as a human
element, a capacity for life and holiness as well as a liability to sin and death. In the
light of our text—
I. EVEN THE MOST PERPLEXING FACTS OF OUR INWARD EXPERIENCE
GROW A LITTLE MORE CLEAR TO US. Double or divided nature of which every
man is conscious. In worst of men something good; something bad even in best. That
which is good we derive from God, our true Father, the sole source and fountain of
good; that which is evil in us we inherit not from Adam only, but from all our earthly
parents.
II. SO DOES THE DEEPEST TEACHING OF THE NEW TESTAMENT BECOME
CLEARER TO US: the philosophy which underlies the teaching of our Lord and of
the two greatest of His interpreters, St. Paul and St. John. That teaching may be
briefly summed up thus: Christ is the Eternal Word by whom all things were created,
by whom therefore Adam, or man, was created. Hence Christ is, as St. Paul calls Him,
the Head of every man. It is in Him that we live and move and have our being. Then,
too, we begin to understand all those difficult and perplexing passages in the writings
of St. Paul, which declare our essential oneness with Christ. The second Adam was
before the first Adam, and called Him into being. Hence He could die for all. Hence
He lives for all, and we all live in and by Him. In short, all the sentences of the New
Testament, which have sounded most mystical and obscure, and which may have
seemed too good to be literally true, become true and plain to us so soon as we
understand that Adam was the son of God, and that Adam was made by Him without
whom nothing was made, and apart from whom nothing can subsist.
III. THE PRACTICAL OUTCOME OF THESE THOUGHTS IS MOST WELCOME
AND MOST PRECIOUS to as many of us as love life and desire to see good. For,
however weak and sinful we may be, we have not, as we sometimes fear, to persuade
God to enter into a fatherly relation to us, and to begin to love us. He is our Father;
He does love us. Nor have we, as we still oftener fear, to ask Him to redeem us from
the yoke and tyranny of our sins. He has redeemed both us and all men, once for all,
by the incarnation and sacrifice of Jesus Christ our Maker, our Head, and therefore
our Representative. We have only to recognize existing and accomplished facts. We
bare only to believe that He is our Father, has been our Father ever since we had any
being, and can never cease to be our Father. We have only to accept the salvation He
has wrought, and which stands waiting for us and urging itself upon us. There need
be, there can be, no change in God, or in the Son of God; it is we in whom a change is
wanted. They are, they have done, they are doing, all that we can desire them to be or
do. And so soon as we know that, and believe it, we shall become all that we desire to
be, and receive all that we long to enjoy. (S. Cox, D. D.)
The two genealogies of Jesus Christ
232

233. And yet in these very genealogies of Jesus Christ there are hinted profound truths
well worthy of our most serious consideration. Let us rapidly glance at some of them.
I. And, first, THE FACT THAT THERE IS ANY GENEALOGY AT ALL IS
SIGNIFICANT. For it is conceivable that the Son of God might have descended into
the world an unborn Gabriel, or a full-grown, unmothered Adam. The Word has
indeed become flesh, bone of our bones and flesh of our flesh.
II. Again, observe THE PEDIGREE ITSELF. How many and striking its vicissitudes!
How thrilling some of its names! How momentous some of the events it recalls!
Glance for a moment at some of these peculiarities. For example, how profound the
obscurity and hinted shame which rested over Bethlehem’s manger, as suggested by
the evangelist’s comment: “Being, as was supposed, the son of Joseph.” How homely
His descent, as indicated by the fact that eighteen of His immediate ancestors are
unknown except by name! How illustrious His descent, as indicated in such names as
Zerubbabel, Josiah, Hezekiah, Jehoshaphat, Solomon, David, Boaz, Jacob, Abraham,
Noab, Enoch, Seth, Adam! What dark scenes in Hebrew history are recalled by such
names as Jehoiachin, Amon, Manasseh, Ahaz, Jehoram, Rehoboam, Bathsheba,
Tamar! How thrilling the vicissitudes of David’s line, as vibrating in the stories of
Rehoboam, Joash, Esther, the Maccabees, the Virgin Mary! Verily, the genealogy of
Jesus Christ is a book of startling providences. And it is a significant fact that, since
the birth of the Divine Man, the Davidic pedigree has been hopelessly lost, so that
none but Jesus of Bethlehem can claim from the Hebrew genealogical tables to be
David’s promised Son, and so David’s Lord, even Jehovah’s very Christ. But Jesus
Christ was not only the Son of David and the Son of Abraham, He was also the Son of
Adam even that seed of the woman who, as had been foretold by the gates of Eden,
would crush the serpent’s head. Thus, the genealogy of Jesus Christ includes all
extremes and all vicissitudes, so that he is in very truth the Son of man. And not only
is He the Son of man, He is also the Son of God.
III. Lastly, THE GENEALOGY OF JESUS CHRIST IS THE OLDEST IN THE
WORLD. Men think it a great thing to have an ancient lineage. But here is a lineage
which is older than that of William of Normandy, or Romulus, or Priam, or Nimrod,
or Adam. Verily, His goings forth have been from of old—from the days of eternity.
Verily, here is the Ancient of Days. Ah! the true heraldry is the device of the Lamb
slain from the foundation of the world; the true shield is the crimson escutcheon of
the Cross. Dost thou, O friend, belong to the lineage of Jesus Christ? If so, thy name
has already been entered in the heavenly register, even the Lamb’s roll of life. Live,
then, worthily of thy sonship. (G. D. Beardman.)
Thoughts
I. THERE IS MUCH IN GOOD LINEAGE. Virtues and vices are borne along on the
current of blood from generation to generation. Such is the energy of moral qualities
that they may be modified but rarely eradicated by transmission from parent to child.
As surely as the blood of the racer tells in its fleet-footed offspring, the virtues and
vices of David are felt down the line of his generation.
II. SIN HAS TAINTED THE BLOOD OF THE BEST RACES OF MEN, and frequently
makes itself manifest. All have sinned and have come short of the glory of God. There
is no exception.
III. GOD’S GRACE CAN FLOW THROUGH VERY CROOKED HUMAN
CHANNELS. Men who are spiritually dwarfed and ill-shaped can be made, in God’s
providence, to help along very strait principles and policies. God makes manifest His
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234. great wisdom and power by the vastness of the results He works out through weak
human instrumentalities. What could be meaner and more cruel than the murder of
Uriah by David? Yet God made the wife of this murdered man the channel through
which the blood of Abraham flowed into the veins of Joseph.
IV. No MAN STANDS ALONE. We are all parts of a vast organism. Asa and Jothan
and Solomon each saw the life which he lived from his birth to his grave; but this was
not the most important part of his life. That which followed his death, that which he
lived in his descendants, was more far-reaching and wrought still greater results.
(American Homiletic Review.).
BENSON, "Luke 3:38. Adam, which was the son of God — Adam, being
descended from no human parents, but formed by the power of a divine creating
hand, might with peculiar propriety be called the son of God, having, in his
original state, received immediately from God, whatever the sons of Adam
receive from their parents, sin and misery excepted.
COKE, "Luke 3:38. Adam, who was the son of God.— Adam being descended
from no human parents, but formed by the immediate power of the divine
creating hand, might with peculiar propriety be called the Son of God, in his
original state, the heir of immortality and glory. The evangelist might likewise
intend by this expression to prove, if needwere, the possibility of Christ's being
born of a pure virgin; for if divine Omnipotence could create or produce the first
Adam from the dust of the earth, without a parent, it was equally capable of
producing the second Adam from the womb of a virgin. Wetstein observes, that
St. Matthew, writing for the Jews, deduces our Saviour's pedigree from
Abraham to David; but St. Luke, writing for the Gentiles, traces his pedigree as
high as Adam, the common father of mankind, to shew that Jesus is the Saviour
of the world, born for the common good of the human race: and when he calls
Adam the son of God, he means to express that Christ, born of the virgin, is the
second Adam, and that his birth, by the Holy Spirit, is a no less singular instance
of the divine power, than was the creation of the first Adam.
Inferences drawn from Luke 3:23-38 of this chapter.—We have before observed,
that when we survey such a series of generations as this before us, it is obvious to
reflect, how, like the leaves of the tree, one passeth away, and another cometh. Of
those who formerly lived upon the earth, and perhaps made the most
conspicuous figures, how many are there whose names have perished with them!
how many, of whom only the name is remaining! and in this view, how vain is the
search after posthumous fame, a desire to render ourselves conspicuous to future
ages!
It is observable, that all which the divine wisdom has been pleased to tell us
concerning Methuselah, the oldest of the sons of men, is, that at the age of 187 he
begat a son called Lamech; that after this he begat other sons and daughters;
that he lived 969 years, and that he died. Genesis 5:25-27. This is the whole
history of his life and actions; and it is a picture of the generality of mankind,
who think themselves of great consequence in the world. They marry, and are
given in marriage; they perform the common offices of nature; and all that their
posterity, is like to know of them is, perhaps, barely their names, in a genealogy
like that before us; or, at most, the number of years they lived, the names of the
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235. children they begat, and possibly the sum total of the wealth they left behind
them, after a painful and penurious life. Now, who would wish for such a fame as
this! Or who would desire to be so impertinently remembered for circumstances
which do no honour to his memory?
It would be well, therefore, if those who are fond of a posthumous acquaintance
with mankind would seriously consider with themselves, from a review of their
character, in what light they may suppose posterity will regard them. They
should consider and examine, whether they are masters of the amiable and
useful qualities of the genuine Christians; and whether, if their actions were
drawn out to view, and the sources of them opened, they would appear to flow
from pure motives, and tend to promote the glory of God and the good of
mankind: if not, their names are not worth preserving, and silence is the best
compliment that can be paid them.
There are others, of a more lively and active turn indeed than the former; yet
they are as far from entertaining any pious and truly Christian sentiment, or
doing any thing more agreeable to their holy calling: I mean those who are led
away by their sensitive appetite, and who have a great alacrity in all brutish
pleasures; pretenders to wit and humour, ridiculers of the preachers of
righteousness, and far gone in those fashionable vices which erewhile caused the
universal deluge. What a mortifying reflection must it be to a polite and well-
bred sinner, to consider, that even at that awkward age, before the modern arts
of gallantry probably were in being, iniquity should be carried to so great a
height, that it was very near extirpating the species! surely nothing can give us so
mean an idea of the pretensions of our men of pleasure, as to compare them with
an antediluvian reprobate.
Whatever we may fancy of our refinements upon wickedness, it will appear that
we can no more out-act the vices than the virtues of our predecessors. Some
advantages our ancestors before the deluge certainly had above any of their
puny successors: they had a long scene of life before them, to perpetrate and
lengthen out their pleasures; and as their bodies were more durable than ours, so
were they likewise proportionably more robust, since it requires less natural
vigour to support a man to the age of eighty or ninety, than eight or nine
hundred years. How then must it have moved the scorn of one of these ancient
libertines, to see a creature so full of weakness and infirmity, pretending to
primitive vigour and activity, and aping his strong progenitors!
If the abandoned could be persuaded to think seriously of their condition; if they
would look backward upon what they have been doing, and forward to what
they have to do; if they would reflect upon the transitory nature of their
enjoyments, and the certainty of either a weak old age, or an immature and hasty
death; they could not, if they had the least degree of gracious sensibility,
withstand the terrors of so powerful a conviction. Alas! if we speak truth, when
we tell one of this stamp and character that he must die at last, what matters it
how long his life is? What matters the youth and beauty, the strength and vigour
that he enjoys!
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236. But where is the voluptuous libertine that lives out even half his days! how often
is he cut off in a midnight revel, or in prosecuting a criminal amour! the pains
and infirmities of age are his portion even in the bloom of youth. His vigour is
worn out at once, and the rest of his days are but labour and sorrow,—under the
fears of quitting even this wretched being, and of entering into another more
dreadful and discouraging! Disabled for the pleasures of this life, he has no
relish for the happiness of a better; and the most that can be said of him is, that
he lives under a perpetual uncertainty whether he should wish to live or die.
What an abject state of mind! thus to linger upon the brink of a precipice, when
we are sure that we must take the leap at last!
There is not in nature a more melancholy consideration than is afforded to us by
a poor wretch of this stamp. His youth is despicable, but his old age is almost
beyond contempt. At the same time he sees that he is the jest of fools, and
scarcely pitied by the wise and good; the scorn and derision of all around him,
and not so much as the favourite of himself. What horror, to be conscious that no
one values or esteems him, and, at the same time, to be conscious that he deserves
it all! to have out-lived the capacity of enjoying life, and yet to be convinced by
every thing he hears and sees, that it is time for him to quit the stage and make
room for others!
This indeed is the case of the wicked only—of those particularly who are full of
youthful follies. But old age is far from being an object of desire, even in its best
and most venerable circumstances. How often do we see the ruins of an excellent
understanding, so disfigured and defaced with age as to be a reproach to human
reason! and who knows how soon he himself may sink down to circumstances as
miserable and disgraceful? Who would accept of life upon such ignominious
terms? Surely none can be so fond of this present world, but those who fear to
venture upon another!
The happiness and value of human life therefore consists not in the number of
years, but in the internal experience of the life of God, and in the outward
manifestation of every divine grace and virtue. It is but a passage to a better
state; and he who has his eye fixed upon his journey's end, will never be offended
at the shortness of it.
Methuselah, we read, lived 969 years; Enoch but 365. One of them secured a
blessed immortality; he walked with God, and was translated: concerning the
other, we only know that he died. Need I put the question to any one, Whether,
at first sight, he would rather be Methuselah or Enoch?
Thus much for human life in general: and as to the titles and marks of honour
that distinguish us from each other in it, however they may divide the world, yet
how very soon will they be extinguished! what do we know of these patriarchs
before us?—And what a poor idea must we form hence of all our little strifes and
competitions! Are any of these worthies either the better or the worse for the
high or low stations which they possessed in life?—Their fortunes are now
determined:—Their love also, and their hatred, and their envy, is now perished;
neither have they any more a portion for ever in any thing that is done under the
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237. sun. Ecclesiastes 9:6.
And such will be the state of all the great ones whose names now fill the world
with wonder. They shall lie down alike in the dust, and the worms shall cover
them. And is it worth while then for an ambitious spirit to rend the world into
parties, for the sake of so short-lived a glory?
Vain and despicable indeed is all sublunary glory depending on the breath of
men. But religion opens to us a new scene of ambition, in the realms of bliss, by
recommending to us beings of a superior character. The time will come, when, if
it be not our own fault, we shall be removed from the groveling pursuits of this
transitory life, to the society of the glorified saints and angels of God. The reason
why we are so apt to be unmoved with these thoughts in our lifetime, is, because
they are so refined and abstracted, and we so fallen and carnal. But the day will
arrive, when the partition between the two worlds will be broken down, and all
the tribes of intellectual beings be laid open to our view; and, if we be faithful to
the grace of God, we shall know, even as also we are known: we shall then with
ever-waking eyes behold the glories of our blessed Redeemer, who will be the joy
of our hearts to all eternity; when the frail monuments of which the world is so
proud shall for ever be buried in oblivion.
To conclude. If we desire that our lives here may not be useless, let us, under the
aid and blessing of heaven, fill them up with acts of love, charity, and
benevolence. If we would avoid being bewitched with pleasure, let us begin to
despise it while young: If we will provide against the miseries of age, let us,
through the grace of God, arm ourselves with early piety; if we be fond of rank
and precedence, let us consider that death will level us; nay, and if we be
desirous of fame upon earth hereafter, let us reflect that we shall be incapable of
enjoying it. In short, let us all remember, that we are intended for another life,
and let us fix all our hopes of happiness, of fame, and of pleasure there; while we
look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for
the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are
eternal.
REFLECTIONS.—1st, Great expectations had been raised concerning the son of
Zacharias from his infancy; and now he appears to answer them.
1. The time of his entering publicly on his ministry, is here observed. It was in
the reign of Tiberius, when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, Herod tetrarch
of Galilee, his brother Philip of Iturea, and Lysanias of Abilene. They were
called tetrarchs, either as having each the fourth part of what was under the
dominion of Herod the Great, or as standing in the fourth rank of governors,
which are reckoned thus; the emperor, proconsuls, kings, tetrarchs. They were
all foreigners, a mark of the sad subjection of the Jewish people, now reduced
entirely under the Roman yoke, the sceptre being finally departed from Judah,
and the very kingly office abolished in Judea:—Annas and Caiaphas being the
high-priests, not that they both bore that office at the same time, but Annas had
been, and Caiaphas was now in that station; or as some suppose, Annas was the
sagan, or chief of the priests, who stood next to the high-priest in rank and
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238. honour. See the Annotations.
2. The origin and tendency of his ministry is declared. The word of God came
unto John in the wilderness, he was inwardly moved by the Holy Ghost to go
forth, being endued with extraordinary gifts and graces, and possessed of the
spirit of prophesy; and hereupon leaving the solitude where he had hitherto
abode, he came into a more populous part of the country near to Jordan,
preaching publicly the necessity of repentance, and admitting to his baptism
those who made profession of it, as the sign and seal of the remission of their
sins. Note; All who repent truly of their sins, and by faith turn to Jesus, are
assured of their pardon.
3. John herein eminently fulfilled the prophesy of Isaiah, chap. Isaiah 40:3-5. He
was the voice of one crying in the wilderness, loud and vehement, prepare ye the
way of the Lord into your hearts; by a deep and humbling sense of your sins
make his paths straight; let every obstruction from pride and ignorance be
removed, as the harbinger clears the way for the entry of the king. Every valley
shall be filled, the lowly and depressed with sin shall be raised up by pardoning
grace and divine consolations; and every mountain and hill shall be brought low,
the proud and self-righteous shall be humbled into the dust of humiliation, or
sunk into the belly of hell; and the crooked shall be made straight, the perverse
dispositions and conduct of sinners shall by divine grace be rectified; and the
rough ways shall be made smooth, the most untractable spirits softened and
subdued, or every difficulty in the way of men's receiving the Messiah shall be
removed. And all flesh, not of the Jews only, but of the Gentiles also, shall see the
salvation of God; multitudes of all nations, ranks, and ages, will embrace the
gospel of Jesus, and partake of his eternal redemption.
4. He addressed himself with very awakening language to the multitude who
came to him. He charges them as a generation of vipers, full of venom, hypocrisy,
and Satanical subtilty; and asks, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to
come? from the national judgments ready to descend upon them, or the more
terrible and eternal vengeance hanging over every guilty sinner's head? He
warns them therefore of the necessity of a speedy and real change of heart and
life, evident in the fruits of all holy conversation and godliness; without which,
their boasted privilege as Abraham's descendants would profit them nothing, but
rather aggravate their guilt. God wanted them not; he could, and would, from
stones, from Gentiles, raise up a more illustrious and numerous race, the heirs of
Abraham's faith, his spiritual children, who should supply their place, if they
continued hypocritical and impenitent: now therefore the call of mercy was sent
to them, that they might prevent their impending doom, before the axe of divine
vengeance was laid to their roots; and they, as barren trees, were cut down and
cast into the fire, utterly destroyed as a nation; and as the sinners of old,
suffering also the vengeance of eternal fire. Note; (1.) The sinner has no moment
to lose; death and judgment are at his heels. (2.) No outward privilege can profit
those whose hearts remain unrenewed and unholy. (3.) True repentance will be
seen by its fruits; the change will be internal, universal, evident. (4.) It is a fearful
thing for an impenitent soul to fall into the hands of the living God.
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239. 5. The Pharisees and Sadducees were probably disgusted at these hard sayings,
and left him; but the people, the publicans and soldiers, were deeply affected,
and earnestly solicitous to know what those fruits of repentance were, which they
were required to produce: and a blessed symptom it is of real penitence, when we
are thus diligent to inquire what is the mind of God, and really disposed through
grace to follow it. To these, therefore, John directs his instructions, suited to
their several circumstances and temptations.
[1.] To the people in general, he recommends a liberal distribution to the
necessities of their brethren; supplying them according to their ability with food
and raiment; and where the call was urgent, straitening themselves, rather than
suffer their neighbours to perish with cold, or be famished with hunger: and a
truly charitable soul is not only to its power, but sometimes above its power,
willing.
[2.] To the publicans, the collectors of the public taxes, many of whom were Jews,
he gave in charge, that they should use no exaction, nor levy more than the
government demanded. Their employment, though in general odious to the
people, was not in itself unlawful, while they demeaned themselves in it with
justice and integrity.
[3.] To the soldiers, who seem to have been also Hebrews, perhaps the guards of
Philip, or Herod, he said, do violence to no man, extort nothing from the people
by threatening, behave not insolently nor outrageously in your quarters: when
employed in war, use no unnecessary devastations, nor wanton cruelty; neither
accuse any falsely, neither their comrades to their officers, nor the people where
they might be stationed, through malice, or for the sake of money; and be
content with your wages, neither increasing them by plunder, nor seeking to
advance them by mutiny; a caution well deserving the notice of all servants, who,
if once they give way to discontent, will soon be tempted to use unlawful means
to gratify their covetousness.
2nd, We have,
1. The general expectations which the people were in of the Messiah. The sceptre
was departed from Judah, and the prophesies of Daniel concerning him now
required his coming; which made many turn their eyes to John, who appeared
with marks of such singular distinction, and spoke with such authority and zeal,
that they began to think that this might be the long-expected Messiah.
2. John immediately undeceived them, disclaiming all pretensions to that
honour; and directs them to expect shortly the Great Prophet, whose forerunner
he was. The meanest office under him he acknowledges himself unworthy to
discharge; and his baptism was not worthy to be compared with the more
powerful and efficacious influences of that Holy Ghost, which, under the
ministry of Jesus, should be abundantly dispensed, and act, like fire, with
astonishing energy upon the souls of men. By his gospel he would make a
thorough separation between the faithful and the hypocrites; and by his
judgments on the Jewish people sweep them away as the chaff before the fan:
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240. and, when he has gathered in his saints, the wheat, into his garner; the wicked,
the self-righteous, and the apostate, will be cast into the everlasting burnings,—
an awful declaration, which deserves the most awakened attention. These and
many other things did John with great freedom and fidelity deliver, preaching
the glad tidings of the gospel ( ‫וץחדדוכיזופן‬ ) to the people, and urging upon their
consciences the importance of the truths that he declared. Such ministers ought
all who are put in trust with the gospel to be; affectionate, zealous, indefatigable,
free, copious, evangelical. Then may we expect to reap the fruit of our labours, in
a harvest of immortal souls.
3. After a short but glorious course of about a year and a half, a sudden stop is
put to the Baptist's ministry by a most unjust imprisonment. Unable to flatter,
yea, zealous to reprove, the most exalted sinners, Herod the tetrarch escaped not
his sharp rebukes for the complicated crime of taking his brother Philip's wife,
and marrying her during his life; thus joining incest to adultery; and for all the
other evils which Herod had done, which were many and notorious. Exasperated
at this plain and faithful dealing, he added this to all his other wickedness, that
he shut up John in prison, and after a while was prevailed upon to take away his
life. Note; (1.) When God's ministers are thus compelled to an involuntary
silence, their sufferings speak as loud as their sermons. (2.) Mysterious are the
ways of Providence. The excellent of the earth become a prey to persecutors, who
triumph at their fall. Where, will some say, is the God of judgment? Wait a
moment. The mystery will soon be unfolded.
3rdly, The evangelist finishes the history of John's ministry, which continued
near a year after Christ's baptism, before he enters upon the public appearance
of Jesus.
1. After a multitude of others had been baptized, at last Jesus also comes to John,
and is baptized of him in Jordan: when, looking up in prayer to his Father,
instantly the heavens were opened, and the Holy Ghost in a bodily shape
descended upon him, both to qualify him for his mediatorial work, and to be a
sign to John that he was the Messiah; which was farther confirmed by an audible
voice from heaven, God the Father testifying his delight in this Son of his love,
and his perfect satisfaction in his undertaking. Note; (1.) Christ prayed, to set us
the example. In this way the communion between earth and heaven is to be
maintained. (2.) If God be well pleased in his Son, then may we confidently rest
our souls on him as our Saviour, and never doubt of his willingness and power to
save to the uttermost.
2. The age and pedigree of Jesus are recorded by the evangelist. He was about
thirty years of age when he entered on his public ministry, descended from David
by his mother's side, as well as by Joseph's his reputed father. See the
Annotations.
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