LUKE 3:1-6 - The Highwayman

So our Advent season, as we remarked last week, is our time to consider what the arrival of Jesus into the world means—for us, and for our world. We saw last week that it is only by the grace of God that the coming of Christ into the world in His First Advent (His first coming) was an event to celebrate, and not to mourn. Because the sinfulness and rebellion of this fallen world cannot endure in the presence of the holiness and righteousness of God. The only reason this world still exists at all is because Jesus came as a Sacrifice two thousand years ago and not as a Judge (which is how He will come at the end of the age.)

In our passage this morning we are considering the ministry of John the Baptist—the one who was sent by God the Father to announce the arrival of God the Son in the power of God the Spirit:

Luke 3:2–3 (ESV)

2 ...the word of God came to John the son of Zechariah in the wilderness. 3 And he went into all the region around the Jordan, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.

Luke goes on to quote from Isaiah, describing John as

Luke 3:4 (ESV)

4 ...“The voice of one crying in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.’”

If you go back to the original text in Isaiah that Luke quotes, the sense of what John came to do is made even more clear:

Isaiah 40:3 (ESV)

3 A voice cries: “In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord; make straight in the desert a highway for our God.

Into the world of the Roman Empire, Herod and the ruling priesthood in Jerusalem, into the world of a people who had rebelled against God’s laws, a people who were lost in their sin, John came to announce that there was a highway coming through—a highway that would usher in the arrival of God’s Kingdom.

You’ve heard of the practice of “eminent domain?” Where the government can claim that your property is needed for “public use” and can confiscate it from you against your will as long as you are compensated? In some ways, John was declaring “eminent domain” against the powers and rulers of that day—YHWH was their rightful King, and He was announcing the creation of a highway that would usher in His salvation—even if it wound up destroying the domain of the existing powers.

What we see here in this passage is that

The WORLD must reckon with the advent of the KINGDOM of CHRIST

John’s announcement to the existing powers and authorities (as we will see this week and next week) put them on notice that they were going to answer to a new King. The old way of doing business. Because

I. The advent of the Kingdom INDICTS a CORRUPT nation (Luke 3: 1-2)

Luke makes a very detailed and specific identification of the time when these events took place:

Luke 3:1–2 (ESV)

1 In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate being governor of Judea, and Herod being tetrarch of Galilee, and his brother Philip tetrarch of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene, 2 during the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John the son of Zechariah in the wilderness...

One of the reasons that Luke is so careful to dial in exactly when “the word of God came to John” is because this was the first time in 400 years that God had spoken to His people through a prophet! John was, in fact, the last Old Testament prophet to minister before Jesus came—and he looked the part, too, dressing and living in a way that immediately put people in mind of Elijah, the greatest of the prophets from the Old Testament era (cp. Matthew 3:4; cp. 2 Kings 1:8).

But it is also highly significant that Luke names all of the governing powers as he opens this account. He is not only showing us exactly when John’s ministry began, he is also saying that these governing powers were going to be indicted by the coming of the Kingdom of God.

The first power named by Luke was the Roman Empire: “In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate being the governor of Judea...” The advent of the Kingdom John was announcing would indict those powers, because

Rome was BRUTAL

The ancient historian Josephus relats the brutality of Pilate, from the day he arrived in Judea in AD 26:

The Lexham Bible Dictionary (Conflict with the Jewish People)

Pilate first offended the Jews by bringing Roman standards—with images of the emperor—into Jerusalem. Previous prefects had not placed any images in Jerusalem. The Jewish people sent a delegation to Caesarea and pleaded with Pilate for five days to remove the images from the city. On the sixth day, Pilate sent soldiers into the crowd. At his signal, they were to draw their swords and cut the Jews to pieces if they did not allow Caesar’s image. The Jews fell down together and exposed their necks, for they would rather die than transgress their law. Pilate, not desiring a revolution, decided to remove the images from Jerusalem (Josephus, Jewish War 2.9.2–3 §§169–74; Antiquities 18.3.1 §§55–59).

The King that John was heralding would indict Rome for its cruelty and brutality. The next powers listed in Luke 3:1 was Herod and his family--

Luke 3:1 (ESV)

1 ... and Herod being tetrarch of Galilee, and his brother Philip tetrarch of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene

Rome was brutal, and

Herod was MORALLY BANKRUPT

Now, this Herod was not the same Herod that we read about in the story of Jesus’ birth—Herod The Great was the one who ordered the massacre of the innocents in an effort to stamp out the possibility of a new King usurping him. He died shortly after that event, and in his will directed that his three sons (Archelaus, Philip, and Antipas) take over his kingdom.

After Antipas rose to power, he made a trip to Rome, where he stayed with Philip, his brother. While he was there, he fell in love with Philip’s wife, Herodias. According to Josephus, Antipas persuaded Herodias to run off with him and divorce Philip, which she did. (On top of this, Herodias was also Herod The Great’s granddaughter, meaning she was Antipas’ niece as well as his sister-in-law…)

John would go on to directly and repeatedly call Antipas out for his morally bankrupt behavior, leading to his eventual arrest and execution (Mark 6:17-29). John was announcing that a new kingdom was coming—one that would declare eminent domain over all of Herod’s kingdom, a kingdom that demanded righteousness. Herod stood condemned by the coming of the Kingdom that John was proclaiming, and was willing to kill that Kingdom’s herald in order to silence its righteous demands.

The advent of the Kingdom John was proclaiming indicted brutality of Rome, the moral bankruptcy of Herod—and it also indicted the ruling priesthood of Jerusalem. Rome was brutal, Herod was corrupt, and

The priests were APOSTATE (cp. John 11:48-53)

There is an odd statement in verse 2, as Luke names the high priest in power at this time:

Luke 3:2 (ESV)

2 during the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John the son of Zechariah in the wilderness.

According to the Law of Moses, there was only to be one high priest—so why are there two names here? The answer takes us deep into the intrigue and politics of the Jewish rulership of Judea during this period—there was a complex and shifting power struggle going on among different factions of the Jews. Annas and Caiaphas were both members of the Sadducee sect, wealthy and powerful families who came from a sort of liberalized religious background, willing to cut deals with Rome in order to obtain the power of the high priesthood. During this time, the Roman governor (Pilate) actually possessed the high priest’s vestments, and would only release them to the individual that had his approval. (This was Rome’s way of guaranteeing the cooperation of the Jewish Sanhedrin and priesthood).

Annas had originally been high priest, but had been deposed by Pilate’s predecessor. His son-in-law, Caiaphas, was the designated High Priest, but Annas still had a great deal of power and influence (as demonstrated by the fact that when Jesus was arrested in Gethsemane, he was taken to Annas’ house first, and only appeared before Caiaphas when Annas was through with Him - John 18:19-24).

Both Annas and Caiaphas were so wrapped up in the pursuit of their own power and influence that when the Kingdom of God was standing before them in the person of Christ, not only did they not recognize Him, but they saw Him as a threat to their power and position, and determined to kill Him:

John 11:48–50 (ESV)

48 If we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him, and the Romans will come and take away both our place and our nation.” 49 But one of them, Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, said to them, “You know nothing at all. 50 Nor do you understand that it is better for you that one man should die for the people, not that the whole nation should perish.”

The advent of the Kingdom indicted the brutality of Rome, the moral bankruptcy of Herod, the apostasy of the priesthood. All of those rulers had to reckon with the arrival of the Kingdom that John was proclaiming, and right down to today, corrupt and brutal and apostate leaders must reckon with the demands of the Kingdom of Christ. It indicts a corrupt nation, and

II. The advent of the Kingdom CONVICTS a GUILTY people (Luke 3:3-4, cp. v. 7)

Luke lays out the exact historical context of when this account takes place, giving us everything from the year of Tiberius’ reign all the way down to which high priest(s) were in office because of the significance of what happened:

Luke 3:2 (ESV)

2 during the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John the son of Zechariah in the wilderness.

This was a monumental development because, up to this point in history God had not spoken to His people through a prophet for four hundred years! The last Old Testament prophet, Malachi, closes his book with God’s promise that

Malachi 4:5–6 (ESV)

5 “Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and awesome day of the Lord comes. 6 And he will turn the hearts of fathers to their children and the hearts of children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the land with a decree of utter destruction.”

When John came out of the wilderness to prepare a highway for the arrival of the Kingdom of God, he was coming with the first words God had spoken to His people in four centuries!

And what was the message that John took to the people?

Luke 3:3 (ESV)

3 And he went into all the region around the Jordan, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.

See the grace of God to His willful, stubborn people! After four hundred years of silence, of waiting to hear from God, of wondering whether God had forgotten them, His first words to them were not words of judgment or condemnation or warning—when the Word of God came to His people, it was a message of reconciliation!

John went out into the region around the Jordan river with a message of reconciliation! “Repent of your sins, turn away from your rejection and rebellion against God and turn to Him, come and demonstrate your desire to be cleansed from your sin in the waters of baptism, prepare for the arrival of your righteous King!”

God had spoken to His people for the first time in four hundred years—and we see here that

God’s VOICE brings CONVICTION (cp. Isaiah 6:5)

There are people today who believe that they hear God’s voice in some spectacular or supernatural way—and they take it as some sort of sign that they are specially favored, somehow more spiritual or more anointed or more set apart or more excellent than those who don’t. But isn’t it interesting that in the Scriptures hearing the voice of God does not make you feel more special about yourself—it confronts you with your sinfulness! As Isaiah trembled before God in His throne room (“Woe is me! For I am a man of unclean lips!” - Isa 6:5), so God’s Word spoken by His representative John brought conviction to His people.

The people who heard the Word of God that John brought to them did not exult that they were so specially favored that they were the first people in four hundred years to hear from God—they were compelled by the realization of their sinfulness that God’s Word had caused in them that they wanted to be made right with Him!

So we see here that when a people are convicted of their sin by God’s Word,

God’s SPIRIT brings REPENTANCE (Luke 3:7; cp. Matthew 3:5-6)

We see in verse 7 that crowds came out to be baptized—Matthew’s Gospel reports that

Matthew 3:5–6 (ESV)

5 Then Jerusalem and all Judea and all the region about the Jordan were going out to him, 6 and they were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins.

John was sent out to proclaim the forgiveness of sins in advance of the arrival of God’s Kingdom—and God’s Spirit moved in the people’s hearts to respond. See the mercy and kindness of God displayed for us here—that even though it had been four centuries since He had spoken to His people, His first words weren’t warnings of judgment; they were invitations to reconciliation!

God could have sent John to make an announcement that the Kingdom was coming to judge and punish and avenge God’s righteousness—but instead, God sent John to offer reconciliation to His righteousness through repentance!

Because the coming of the Kingdom does not just convict a people who are bearing the guilt of their sin—see in verses 4-6 how

III. The advent of the Kingdom RESCUES a REPENTANT heart (Luke 3:4-6)

Luke 3:4–6 (ESV)

4 As it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet, “The voice of one crying in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. 5 Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be made low, and the crooked shall become straight, and the rough places shall become level ways, 6 and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.’ ”

The King who was coming was a king whose kingdom would indict the corruption, brutality, moral bankruptcy and apostasy of Rome, Herod and Jerusalem. His coming would bring conviction and repentance to a people lost in the darkness and despair of their sin and rebellion against God. And John was sent to prepare the way for Him—to “make straight in the desert a highway for our God” as Isaiah prophesied.

Follow any highway or interstate today and you will see what these verses describe—hilltops leveled off, ravines filled in or spanned with bridges to make the road straight and level as it passes along the miles.

This is how the Scriptures describe the coming of that Kingdom—bringing low every proud mountain—every pretentious ruler who set himself as the ultimate authority would be leveled by the coming of this Kingdom—and raising up the poor and lowly, exalting them with God’s favor.

Here is the promise from God for every repentant heart today—that when you come to Him in faith, forsaking your sin and trusting in the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ, then He will rescue you

From the VALLEY of your SHAME (cp. Hebrews 12:2)

You say, “I’ve gone too far, I’m too ashamed to come to God, I’m so embarrassed by my sin—God will never forgive me”—but Jesus Christ, the King that John was announcing, knows all about shame. The Scriptures say that Jesus

Hebrews 12:2 (ESV)

2 ...the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.

There was no more shameful, no more humiliating or dehumanizing death ever devised than death on a cross. You say you are too ashamed of your sin? Jesus suffered your shame on the Cross, and He utterly rejected it! The phrase “despising the shame” means that He doesn’t care about your shame! He intends to lift you out of the valley of your shame and set you on the solid rock of His forgiveness—and

John 8:36 (ESV)

36 ...if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.

The King that John was announcing is the King who has come to rescue you

From the CROOKEDNESS of your SIN (2 Corinthians 5:21)

You say, “You have no idea how screwed up I am—God will never accept someone who is as twisted and messed up as me. I’m too broken, I’m too perverted for God to even want me...”

But Jesus Christ, the King that John was announcing, took all that twistedness for Himself on that Cross and gives you His righteousness!

2 Corinthians 5:21 (ESV)

21 For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

He will lift you from the valley of your shame, He will take all your crookedness of your sin and give you His own perfect righteousness, and He will rescue you

From the ROUGH PLACES of your PAST (cp. Luke 7:34; John 8:41)

You say, “I’m from the wrong side of the tracks; I had such a rough upbringing, you have no idea. I bear all the scars and wounds from the messes I’ve made and the nightmares I’ve been through—I don’t belong with “church people!”

But the King that John was announcing, Jesus Christ, is perfectly at home “on the other side of the tracks”! He is the One who had a bad reputation of being a partyer and a drunkard:

Luke 7:34 (ESV)

34 The Son of Man has come eating and drinking, and you say, ‘Look at him! A glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’

He is the One who was accused of being an illegitimate child, as the self-righteous Pharisees did:

John 8:41 (ESV)

41 ...They said to him, “We were not born of sexual immorality. We have one Father—even God.”

You say you have too rough a background to come to Jesus? The One who was accused of being an immoral, drunken bastard? He not only sees your rough past, He understands it from the inside! He not only sees the crookedness of your sin, He takes it on so that you can have His righteousness! You feel too ashamed to come to Him, but He doesn’t despise you, He despises the shame that has buried you!

John came out of the wilderness to proclaim the coming of this Savior—to proclaim a King whose reign would indict the corrupt rulers of this world, convict a guilty people of their sin, a King who would not just punish the guilty, but take the punishment of the guilty!

John says at the end of verse 6 that when the King he was announcing came, that

Luke 3:6 (ESV)

6 ...all flesh shall see the salvation of God.’ ”

What John began to proclaim here in Luke’s Gospel is still being proclaimed throughout the world today--the Good News of salvation through faith in the death, burial and resurrection of Christ. This is a declaration that all the world must reckon with: Every single person who has ever lived—from the highest office in the halls of power down to every bed in every rehab center, and every person in this room right now—everyone must reckon with the fact that this King has come, and He has established this Kingdom, and He calls on every last person to repent and submit to Him.

All flesh will see this salvation—but some will see it too late. Because the Scriptures also say that

Hebrews 9:27 (ESV)

27 ...it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment,

Every one of you here in this room as a day appointed for you to die. And every one of you has a day appointed to stand before this King in judgment. And on that Day, will you stand before Him in your corruption and brutality and immorality and apostasy, or will you stand before Him with your sins forgiven, your twistedness replaced by His righteousness, your rough places made beautiful by His Spirit at work in you, your shame washed away forever by His blood shed for you on that Cross?

For the sake of your never-dying soul, don’t leave here today not knowing for sure how it will go for you on that Day. Come and talk to me, talk to one of the elders, talk to one of the other members of our fellowship so that we can help you know for sure that this King that John announced will come for you not as your Judge, but as your Savior—come, and welcome! to Jesus Christ!

BENEDICTION

2 Thessalonians 2:16–17 (ESV)

16 Now may our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God our Father, who loved us and gave us eternal comfort and good hope through grace, 17 comfort your hearts and establish them in every good work and word. To Him be the glory forever and ever, Amen.

QUESTIONS FOR REFLECTION:

John announced the arrival of the Kingdom of God to a world that was mired in corruption, moral bankruptcy and apostasy. How does John’s announcement indict the corruption of our own day?

John’s announcement came after 400 years of silence from God. When He spoke, a great number of people came to Him in repentance—what does this tell you about the power of God’s Word (the Bible) to bring a guilty person to repentance and faith?

What are some reasons people might give for not wanting to come to Jesus for salvation? How does Jesus’ life and work demonstrate that there is nothing too low, too crooked, too rough in your life to keep Him from saving you?

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