The One Year Bible Club with Teaching
Commentary by Nick Boork
March 18
Luke 3:1-22
Commentary by Nick Boork
March 18
Luke 3:1-22
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March 18 - Luke 3:1-22
Now in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate being governor of Judea, Herod being tetrarch of Galilee, his brother Philip tetrarch of Iturea and the region of Trachonitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene, 2 while Annas and Caiaphas were high priests, the word of God came to John the son of Zacharias in the wilderness. 3 And he went into all the region around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the remission of sins, 4 as it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet, saying: “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 brought low; The crooked places shall be made straight And the rough ways smooth; 6 And all flesh shall see the salvation of God.’” 7 Then he said to the multitudes that came out to be baptized by him, “Brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? 8 Therefore bear fruits worthy of repentance, and do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I say to you that God is able to raise up children to Abraham from these stones. 9 And even now the ax is laid to the root of the trees. Therefore every tree which does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.”
10 So the people asked him, saying, “What shall we do then?” 11 He answered and said to them, “He who has two tunics, let him give to him who has none; and he who has food, let him do likewise.” 12 Then tax collectors also came to be baptized, and said to him, “Teacher, what shall we do?” 13 And he said to them, “Collect no more than what is appointed for you.” 14 Likewise the soldiers asked him, saying, “And what shall we do?” So he said to them, “Do not intimidate anyone or accuse falsely, and be content with your wages.” 15 Now as the people were in expectation, and all reasoned in their hearts about John, whether he was the Christ or not, 16 John answered, saying to all, “I indeed baptize you with water; but One mightier than I is coming, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to loose. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. 17 His winnowing fan is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clean out His threshing floor, and gather the wheat into His barn; but the chaff He will burn with unquenchable fire.” 18 And with many other exhortations he preached to the people. 19 But Herod the tetrarch, being rebuked by him concerning Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife, and for all the evils which Herod had done, 20 also added this, above all, that he shut John up in prison. 21 When all the people were baptized, it came to pass that Jesus also was baptized; and while He prayed, the heaven was opened. 22 And the Holy Spirit descended in bodily form like a dove upon Him, and a voice came from heaven which said, “You are My beloved Son; in You I am well pleased.”
OKAY, HERE'S MY TEACHING COMMENTARY
John the Baptist was preaching a message of repentance and multitudes of people responded by repenting from their sins by being baptized in water. John's preaching touched people from all levels of society. After they repented and were baptized in water as a symbol of being cleansed, each of these groups of people wanted to know how they should live to please God. After all, John preached strongly that the people needed to bring forth fruits worthy of repentance.
This meant a change in lifestyles but what exactly needed to change?
For the common man John said was whoever has two coats let him give one to someone in need. In other words, show God's love in practical ways by supplying the need of a poor person. John was saying don't live a self-centered, selfish life anymore. Learn to care for people who are hurting around you. The tax collectors also asked John what they should do. He told them don't collect more taxes than you should. In other words, don't steal from people. Stop using your position as tax collectors to abuse others financially. The soldiers also asked John what they should do. He told them don't oppress or accuse anyone falsely and to be content with their wages. Soldiers didn't make a lot of money so they used their position to intimidate people and take advantage of them.
The greater question for you and me is what needs to change in our lives?
If a person is really sincere about having a right relationship with the living God they're going to want to know what pleases and displeases God. It's kind of like this, when we come to Christ we have a suitcase in our hand. Inside the suitcase are all kinds of things some good and some bad. These represent our values and our habits. If we are truly sincere with God we will allow the Holy Spirit to open up that suitcase and go through everything inside. Some things the Lord will let you keep like a good work ethic and showing up on time and being truthful. These may have been values you learned at home form your parents.
However, other things the Lord will say to throw away because certain habits are sinful and you can’t allow them to remain in your life and walk with Jesus at the same time. What would some of those things be? The list is without limit. The Lord will speak to every person individually by His Word and Holy Spirit. For starters, it could be that you are currently living in a relationship with the opposite sex outside of marriage. Well, you either need to get married or break off the relationship and separate. Why? Because that’s a sin called “Fornication” That lifestyle would need to change immediately to follow Jesus Christ as Lord. You could be taking advantage of a time clock where you work having somebody else check you in or check you out earlier or later so you can make more money but not actually doing the work. That would need to change. Why? Because it’s a sin called stealing. You need to live honest as a Christian.
When I first came to Christ in 1982, I was very excited because I felt God's presence and His love filled my soul. However, I had been a marijuana addict smoking pot morning, noon and night. It totally controlled my life. I was born again in jail but when I got out of jail one of the first things I did was go get high with old friends. I went back to my old sinful lifestyle.
WHAT'S THE BOTTOM LINE?
1) If you want to please God you'll ask questions about what needs to change in your life.
2) Don't hide your sins because the Bible says if you cover your sins you won’t prosper. Proverbs 28:13 He who covers his sins will not prosper, But whoever confesses and forsakes them will have mercy.
3) Confess your sins to God because He promises in 1 John 1:9 “If we confess our sins He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
4) Remember, be encouraged! God loves you and will help you to change but we need to look at our lives in light of the Word of God and call out to Him and He will answer our prayers to set us free from old habits and sinful ways.
5) Here’s a great promise that the Lord will guard you from falling if you stay close to Him: Jude 1:24 Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to present you faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy…
Now in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate being governor of Judea, Herod being tetrarch of Galilee, his brother Philip tetrarch of Iturea and the region of Trachonitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene, 2 while Annas and Caiaphas were high priests, the word of God came to John the son of Zacharias in the wilderness. 3 And he went into all the region around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the remission of sins, 4 as it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet, saying: “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 brought low; The crooked places shall be made straight And the rough ways smooth; 6 And all flesh shall see the salvation of God.’” 7 Then he said to the multitudes that came out to be baptized by him, “Brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? 8 Therefore bear fruits worthy of repentance, and do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I say to you that God is able to raise up children to Abraham from these stones. 9 And even now the ax is laid to the root of the trees. Therefore every tree which does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.”
10 So the people asked him, saying, “What shall we do then?” 11 He answered and said to them, “He who has two tunics, let him give to him who has none; and he who has food, let him do likewise.” 12 Then tax collectors also came to be baptized, and said to him, “Teacher, what shall we do?” 13 And he said to them, “Collect no more than what is appointed for you.” 14 Likewise the soldiers asked him, saying, “And what shall we do?” So he said to them, “Do not intimidate anyone or accuse falsely, and be content with your wages.” 15 Now as the people were in expectation, and all reasoned in their hearts about John, whether he was the Christ or not, 16 John answered, saying to all, “I indeed baptize you with water; but One mightier than I is coming, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to loose. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. 17 His winnowing fan is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clean out His threshing floor, and gather the wheat into His barn; but the chaff He will burn with unquenchable fire.” 18 And with many other exhortations he preached to the people. 19 But Herod the tetrarch, being rebuked by him concerning Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife, and for all the evils which Herod had done, 20 also added this, above all, that he shut John up in prison. 21 When all the people were baptized, it came to pass that Jesus also was baptized; and while He prayed, the heaven was opened. 22 And the Holy Spirit descended in bodily form like a dove upon Him, and a voice came from heaven which said, “You are My beloved Son; in You I am well pleased.”
OKAY, HERE'S MY TEACHING COMMENTARY
John the Baptist was preaching a message of repentance and multitudes of people responded by repenting from their sins by being baptized in water. John's preaching touched people from all levels of society. After they repented and were baptized in water as a symbol of being cleansed, each of these groups of people wanted to know how they should live to please God. After all, John preached strongly that the people needed to bring forth fruits worthy of repentance.
This meant a change in lifestyles but what exactly needed to change?
For the common man John said was whoever has two coats let him give one to someone in need. In other words, show God's love in practical ways by supplying the need of a poor person. John was saying don't live a self-centered, selfish life anymore. Learn to care for people who are hurting around you. The tax collectors also asked John what they should do. He told them don't collect more taxes than you should. In other words, don't steal from people. Stop using your position as tax collectors to abuse others financially. The soldiers also asked John what they should do. He told them don't oppress or accuse anyone falsely and to be content with their wages. Soldiers didn't make a lot of money so they used their position to intimidate people and take advantage of them.
The greater question for you and me is what needs to change in our lives?
If a person is really sincere about having a right relationship with the living God they're going to want to know what pleases and displeases God. It's kind of like this, when we come to Christ we have a suitcase in our hand. Inside the suitcase are all kinds of things some good and some bad. These represent our values and our habits. If we are truly sincere with God we will allow the Holy Spirit to open up that suitcase and go through everything inside. Some things the Lord will let you keep like a good work ethic and showing up on time and being truthful. These may have been values you learned at home form your parents.
However, other things the Lord will say to throw away because certain habits are sinful and you can’t allow them to remain in your life and walk with Jesus at the same time. What would some of those things be? The list is without limit. The Lord will speak to every person individually by His Word and Holy Spirit. For starters, it could be that you are currently living in a relationship with the opposite sex outside of marriage. Well, you either need to get married or break off the relationship and separate. Why? Because that’s a sin called “Fornication” That lifestyle would need to change immediately to follow Jesus Christ as Lord. You could be taking advantage of a time clock where you work having somebody else check you in or check you out earlier or later so you can make more money but not actually doing the work. That would need to change. Why? Because it’s a sin called stealing. You need to live honest as a Christian.
When I first came to Christ in 1982, I was very excited because I felt God's presence and His love filled my soul. However, I had been a marijuana addict smoking pot morning, noon and night. It totally controlled my life. I was born again in jail but when I got out of jail one of the first things I did was go get high with old friends. I went back to my old sinful lifestyle.
- I knew it wasn't right.
- I didn't feel good smoking marijuana anymore.
- Why? Because I made a connection with God through Jesus Christ and was born again.
- I really did want to please God but I was in a major struggle.
- I was kind of like a yoyo up and down.
- I was in church and out of church.
- I had one foot in the world and one foot in the kingdom of God.
WHAT'S THE BOTTOM LINE?
1) If you want to please God you'll ask questions about what needs to change in your life.
2) Don't hide your sins because the Bible says if you cover your sins you won’t prosper. Proverbs 28:13 He who covers his sins will not prosper, But whoever confesses and forsakes them will have mercy.
3) Confess your sins to God because He promises in 1 John 1:9 “If we confess our sins He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
4) Remember, be encouraged! God loves you and will help you to change but we need to look at our lives in light of the Word of God and call out to Him and He will answer our prayers to set us free from old habits and sinful ways.
5) Here’s a great promise that the Lord will guard you from falling if you stay close to Him: Jude 1:24 Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to present you faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy…
ORDINATION
We provide Ministry Credentials and Ordination through Diamond Ministerial Association. Click to learn more and apply! http://www.diamondinstitute.org/ordination
ONLINE COURSES
For Bible courses and ministry resources see our online school Diamond Institute. Enroll free today and get access to our free and pay as you go courses. http://www.diamondinstitute.org/enroll
We provide Ministry Credentials and Ordination through Diamond Ministerial Association. Click to learn more and apply! http://www.diamondinstitute.org/ordination
ONLINE COURSES
For Bible courses and ministry resources see our online school Diamond Institute. Enroll free today and get access to our free and pay as you go courses. http://www.diamondinstitute.org/enroll