Luke 3.1-6 NRSV

Luke 3:1-6

The Proclamation of John the Baptist

3In the fifteenth year of the reign of Emperor Tiberius, when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, and Herod was ruler of Galilee, and his brother Philip ruler of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias ruler of Abilene, ²during the high-priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John son of Zechariah in the wilderness. ³He went into all the region around the Jordan, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins, ⁴as it is written in the book of the words of the prophet Isaiah,
‘The voice of one crying out in the wilderness:
“Prepare the way of the Lord,
   make his paths straight. 
⁵Every valley shall be filled,
   and every mountain and hill shall be made low,
and the crooked shall be made straight,
   and the rough ways made smooth; 
⁶and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.” ’

I am indebted to the works of Barclay and Caird for this reflection.

The real beginning of the proclamation of the Gospel of Jesus Christ began with the appearance of John the Baptist.

The advent of John the Baptist was dramatic. The Jewish people had been accustomed to God making His will known to them through prophets, but prophecy had been silent for more than four centuries. Many believed that when the Messiah came, prophecy would reappear. Therefore when John appeared in the Judean wilderness, 'it was like a bolt out of the blue'. Many recognised him as the prophet that was to prepare the way for God's decisive action, the signal that the new age, the age of God's deliverance and salvation of all people had arrived. Luke stresses this point in two ways:

Firstly he describes John's call in the same way as many of the earlier prophets were called and we can see how the same language was used. In verse 2 we read '... the word of God came to John ...' Note the language used in 1 Samuel 15:10: '... the word of the Lord came to Samuel ...' in 1 Kings 17:2 ' ... the word of the Lord came to Elijah ...' and again in Jeremiah 2:1 'The word of the Lord came to me'.

Secondly, Luke states clearly that John was the fulfilment of prophecy, the one who Isaiah said would usher in the messianic age. Quoting from Isaiah 40:3-5 Luke states in verses 4-6:

In the desert someone is shouting. 'Get the road ready for the Lord! Make a straight path for him. Fill up every valley and level every mountain and hill. Straighten the crooked paths and smooth out the rough roads. Then everyone will see the saving power of God.'

But there is also further significance in these words. Not only do they confirm who John the Baptist was, they also call for a response on the part of people.

John called all the people of his day to be baptised. The Jews used baptism as a cleansing ritual when gentiles converted to Judaism. Jews considered gentiles to be unclean so if they wanted to become Jews, they needed to be ritually washed through water baptism. The sting in John's message was that he said that Jews also needed to be baptised. By this was saying that they too were unclean.

One of the major problems of the religion of the day was that many relied on outward forms and traditions. Because outward, formal religion was so prevalent, John had to ensure that the people realised what was really required. John therefore warned the people that it was of absolutely no use to be baptised unless this outward sign revealed a true repentance that was evident in a changed life.

It is absolutely crucial to be regular at worship, to pray, to give - to do all the things that God has given us to do - so that we can receive his blessings. But these outward forms mean absolutely nothing unless we have entered into a personal relationship with Jesus. John makes this clear. In verse three he says: 'Turn back to God and be baptised! Then your sins will be forgiven'.

Repentance has two sides - turning away from sin and turning towards God. Unless we do both we have not repented. In other words, we cannot just say that we believe and then live as we choose. John stresses this point in verse 8. John states:

Do something to show that you really have given up your sins. (CEV)

Luke was writing for educated Romans and he realised how hard it would be for them to believe that the ultimate destiny of the human race would come from a people as despised as the Jews, especially one that had been executed as a criminal. Somehow he must overcome this handicap for them, so he begins by explaining that it was all part of world history.

In making John the beginning of the Gospel, he is in line with the early preaching of the Apostles. We need to know about John, because we need to understand the baptism of Jesus and also to make clear that the Gospel is not a biography of Jesus but a story of the act of God in which John also had a part to play. The word of God came to John just as it had come to the prophets and his message is to be understood as a message from God – as Caird explains : “… it is an active power going out from him to achieve results in the world …” The prophets believed that when God’s Word came to them it meant that God was about to act and was taking them into His confidence. He was king and they were his heralds, so, when he spoke through them, his purpose was being let loose into the world. This was especially true of the symbolic acts which they used to explain God’s message. John’s baptism was symbolic and of this prophetic kind and John gave it a new meaning and urgency: he did not preach what we would view as sermons; he proclaimed a baptism in the same was as a ruler might proclaim an amnesty. God was about to establish his kingdom and he sent John the prepare the way. He also backs up what he is doing with Scripture, ending with the promise: “… all flesh shall see the salvation of God …”

Devout Jews at the time of the appearance of John, had longed for a new Word from God: some believed that prophecy had died out but might some day be revived; many expected that a new movement would begin through which God would renew his Covenant with his people, freeing them from slavery yet again, this time from Roman oppression. So, when John came out of the wilderness with his explosive message, they were ready to listen.

Baptism was a powerful sign of this renewal. When the children of Israel came out of Egypt, they were brought through the Red Sea, through the wilderness of Sinai, and then through the Jordan into the Promised Land. Now they were slaves again – but in their own land and they wanted a new Exodus to bring them to freedom once more. The Prophets has declared that what had happened to them was because of their sin, so their new Exodus would need to deal with sin. Therefore repentance would be a vital ingredient in the preparation. Therefore John took the imagery of passing through water – baptism – and coupled it with the message of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. John was doing what the Prophet Isaiah had said – he was preparing a pathway for the Lord Himself to return to His people.

In the season of Advent, I believe, we should focus on the hope that Jesus brings us, even today, in the power of His Holy Spirit, but we should also be penitent, preparing a way for the Lord to come to us afresh as we celebrate His birth into the world in the babe Jesus; and expect to have a renewal of our experience of Christ over this Advent and Christmas season.

I have been enjoying Professor McCulloch’s series on the History of Christianity and something that seems to come clearly through is the need to find something new that God is saying to each generation, based on what is old. Too often, I live without much expectation that God can do something new in my life and in the life of the Church. Perhaps he can and will, if we prepare the way for him.