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, ...”, and in chapter three and verse two of his book Luke shared how, “the word of God came unto John” where we read:
Annas and Caiaphas being the high priests,
the word of God came unto John the son of Zacharias in the wilderness.
The verse reads, “Annas and Caiaphas being the high priests, ...” Luke began with the word, “Annas” or “humble” was the “high priest of the Jews, elevated to the priesthood by Quirinius the governor of Syria c. 6 or 7 A.D., but afterwards deposed by Valerius Gratus, the procurator of Judaea, who put in his place, first Ismael, son of Phabi, and shortly after Eleazar, son of Annas. From the latter, the office passed to Simon;” “and Caiaphas” which means “as comely” and was “the high priest passed from Simon c. 18 A.D.; but Annas even after he had been put out of office, continued to have great influence.” “being the high priests” or “existing as the chief priests who had great power in the State, as well as the members of the families from which high priest were created, provided that they had much influence in public affairs”. Luke shared how “Annas and Caiaphas” were the “ruling” “chief priests” during the time of the next event he shall share.
The verse continues, “... the word of God came unto John the son of Zacharias in the wilderness.” Luke added the words, “the word of God” which means “the speech, discourse, utterances and topic belonging to the Godhead bodily and trinity which was comprised of God the Father, Christ the Son and the Holy Spirit” “came unto John” or “arose and appeared to John the Baptist who was the forerunner of Christ and whose name means God is a gracious giver” “the son of Zacharias” which means “the progeny and offspring of Zacharias the priest whose name means remembered of Jehovah” “in the wilderness” or “within the solitary, lonely, desolate and uninhabited desert place”. Luke shared how “God's” word was revealed to John while he was living in the “desert” area, and he later became known as John the Baptist,
When consider Luke's words in this verse, we learn why he presented the “six ruling” entities during this time. “John”, who was later known as “John the Baptist”, was arriving on the scene. John was given “the word of God” while he was living in the “wilderness” area, and because he was to be the “fore-runner” of God's Christ, His Son Jesus, the timing for these events was necessary. God was working His plan of “salvation” for mankind, and Luke was recording not only the timing for these things to take place, but also many of the people who were “ruling” at this time. Those who examine all these details will learn who Jesus is and have the opportunity to receive Him as their personal “Savior and Lord”. The “will of God” is that everyone would have the chance to yield their lives to Him.
Next time Luke shares how John was, “preaching the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins”, 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".
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