John Preaching the Baptism of Repentance - Luke 3:3

Luke the physician wrote, “Now in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate being governor of Judaea, and Herod being tetrarch of Galilee, and his brother Philip tetrarch of Ituraea and of the region of Trachonitis, and Lysanias the tetrarch of Abilene, Annas and Caiaphas being the high priests, the word of God came unto John the son of Zacharias in the wilderness”, and in chapter three and verse three of his book Luke shared how John came, “preaching the baptism of repentance” where we read:

And he came into all the country about Jordan,

preaching the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins;

The verse reads, “And he came into all the country about Jordan, ...” Luke began with the words, “and he came into all the country” or “and John arose, appeared and showed himself in each, every, the whole and everywhere within the region” “about Jordan” which refers to “the one river of Palestine which has its course of little more than 200 miles (300 km), from the roots of Anti-Lebanon to the head of the Dead Sea which means the descender”. Luke shared how “John” appeared in the entire region surrounding the “Jordan River”.

The verse continues, “... preaching the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins;” Luke added the words, “preaching” which means “heralding, proclaiming and publishing openly” “the baptism of repentance” or “the immersion or submersion in water pertaining to a change of mind, compunction from guilt which includes reformation” “for the remission of sins” which means “on behalf of a release from bondage, imprisonment and pardon pertaining to errors, mistakes, missing of the mark and violations to the law of God”. Luke shared how “John” was heralding and publishing the idea of people being “submerged” in water to show their “turning from their sins” and being “released from the bondage and imprisonment” of them.

When meditate upon Luke's words in this verse, we see the beginning of the ministry and preaching of John the Baptist, and we learn why he received that title. John “preached” that people should “turn from” or “repent” of their “sins”, and they were to demonstrate their repentance by being “baptized” in water. This was a preview of things to come as Jesus would be the Messiah of God who would “take away the sins of the world”. God's plan for the salvation of mankind was coming together, and “John” began to present the “gospel” for people to prepare themselves to meet the Christ of God. Those who hear “John's” words should “turn from” their sins, receive Jesus Christ as their personal “Savior and Lord” and be “baptized” to demonstrate to the world they have turned their lives over to Jesus and repented of their sinful ways.

Next time Luke refers to the prophesy about, “the voice of one crying in the wilderness”, so read ahead, and we shall join together then.

Until tomorrow…there is more…

Look for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From Generation to Generation”, the marriage book “So, You Want to Be Married”, “One Year in the Sermon on the Mount” and the new poetry book "Random Mushrooms Volumes I and II" and the new novel "Elizabeth County" in all major bookstore sites, http://www.amazon.com ; http://www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to e-books, and find it locally at www.mrzlc.com/bookstore. All references are from "Strongs Concordance".