Luke 3 Devotional Bible Study

Why the Details?

Luke 3:1 - It was now the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius…

The verse continues to give us a list of rulers in power at that time. Later in the chapter, Luke lists all of the ancestors of Jesus. Why give us all these details?

Because God, through the writers of the Bible, wants us to understand that Jesus was a real person and that these events actually took place. This is history, not a made-up myth.

How does knowing that the Bible is true, not a legend, help us to have hope for the future? We can believe that what the Bible says will happen will actually happen!

 

Why Baptized? How to Be Forgiven?

Luke 3:3 – Then John went from place to place on both sides of the Jordan River, preaching that people should be baptized to show that they had repented of their sins and turned to God to be forgiven.

This verse tells us why people should be baptized. It’s to show that they have repented of their sins and turned to God. As many Christians say, baptism is an outward sign of an inward grace. It shows on the outside what’s happened on the inside. Has God cleansed and forgiven you spiritually? Then proclaim it by being cleansed physically!

But this verse also tells us what needs to happen for us to be truly saved and forgiven. We have to repent of our sins and turn to God. If we haven’t actually repented – if we haven’t followed through on turning away from our sins and turning to God – we aren’t forgiven. We can’t just say we’re going to repent, or repent for a moment and then turn back to our sin. We have to actually do it and continue in it.

How disrespectful would it be to accept God’s forgiveness and then not change? That would be a greater insult to God than the sins we were originally committing!

 

Preparing Myself for the Lord’s Coming

Luke 3:4-6 – Isaiah had spoken of John when he said, “He is a voice shouting in the wilderness, ‘Prepare the way for the Lord’s coming! Clear the road for him! The valleys will be filled, and the mountains and hills made level. The curves will be straightened, and the rough places made smooth. And then all people will see the salvation sent from God.’”

These verses make me think about what needs to change in me to make me ready for Jesus to return. If I want to clear the road for Him, I need to remove any barriers between me and Jesus in my life. Do I need to remove any sins that are blocking my relationship with Him? Do I have any walls between us, areas of my life that I don’t want to open to Him?

If I want to fill the valleys, what is low in me that Jesus wants to fill? Am I low in love, self-control, courage…?

What mountains or hills in me need to be made level? Do I need Him to knock down my pride, my greed, my lust…?

What is curved, or twisted in my spirit that He wants to straighten? What rough places do I have that He wants to smooth and soften?

When I do those things, and when He does those things in me, all people will see the salvation sent from God because they’ll see the results of God’s salvation in me. They’ll see how the Lord is changing me.

What needs to be changed in you to prepare you for the Lord’s coming, and to show other people God’s salvation in you?

 

Whose Offspring Am I?

Luke 3:7-8 – When the crowds came to John for baptism, he said, “You brood of snakes! Who warned you to flee the coming wrath? Prove by the way you live that you have repented of your sins and turned to God. Don’t just say to each other, ‘We’re safe, for we are descendants of Abraham.’ That means nothing, for I tell you, God can create children of Abraham from these very stones.”

Wow! Calling people a brood of snakes sounds harsh. But what is John saying? Some of these Jewish people were thinking they were saved, that they had a relationship with God, just because they were in the right family. John is telling them that even though they may be physically descendants of Abraham, they’re spiritual descendants of the snake Satan.

Yes, they’re of the people of Israel, but they’re rebelling against God by sinning. It’s good that they came for baptism, but John wants them to know why they need to be baptized. It’s not just another outward act of righteousness to get points with God. It’s because they need to be cleansed spiritually.

Do we know how broken and sinful we are inside? Do we know that we can’t earn points with God or consider ourselves safe because of anything we have done? Each one of us are spiritual children of the devil until God cleanses us and adopts us into His family.

 

What Fruit?

Luke 3:9 – “Even now the ax of God’s judgment is poised, ready to sever the roots of the trees. Yes, every tree that does not produce good fruit will be chopped down and thrown into the fire.”

John has just told the people they need to prove their repentance by changing how they live. Now he tells them to produce the good fruit that God requires or else they will be chopped down and thrown into the fire of Hell.

So what is this good fruit we are to produce? In the following verses, John gives some examples. He tells people to be sacrificially generous toward others, saying to lower yourself in order to raise others up. He then says not to do the opposite; don’t cheat people or take advantage of them – don’t do anything to lower others in order to raise yourself. We are to be giving, not taking. We are to be lowering ourselves to raise others, not lowering others to raise ourselves.

That’s what Jesus did, isn’t it? God the Son lowered Himself by coming to the world as a human and dying for our sins, all to raise us up out of our sin and its consequences. When we raise others up, we’re being a little bit like Jesus.

 

Expectation

Luke 3:15 – Everyone was expecting the Messiah to come soon…

Why did the people of Israel think the Messiah would come soon? Was it because they were tired of being oppressed by the Romans, and felt like God was going to do something for them soon?

What about the circumstances of the world we live in? Are we expecting the Messiah to come soon? Is the Holy Spirit telling your spirit to be ready, that’s it’s almost time?

 

So Much Greater

Luke 3:16 – John answered their questions by saying, “I baptize you with water; but someone is coming soon who is greater than I am—so much greater that I’m not even worthy to be his slave and untie the straps of his sandals.”

Jesus said that John was the greatest person who had ever been born up to that point (Matthew 11:11), but John says Jesus is so much greater than he is! Do we know how much greater Jesus is than us? No matter how good we are, no matter how righteous we are, no matter how wise we are, we don’t even come close to measuring up to Jesus’ greatness. We’re not even worthy to be His lowest servant.

But, like John, Jesus has grace toward us and calls us to serve Him anyway, in humility.

 

Baptized with the Holy Spirit and Fire

Luke 3:16 – “He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.”

To be baptized means to be dipped. When I think being baptized with the Holy Spirit, I picture a sponge being dipped in water. The water permeates and fills every pore of the sponge, just like we want the Holy Spirit to enter and fill every part of our lives.

And we’ll be dipped in, and pass through, the fire of refining as Jesus teaches us to be more holy, more faithful. The fire may be painful, but it won’t harm us, because like a soaked sponge that doesn’t catch fire, we have the Holy Spirit to protect us and see us through those times.

Is the Holy Spirit soaking and filling every part of your inner life? If not, ask Him to now.

What trouble do you have in your life now? What is Jesus trying to teach you through that time of fire and testing?

 

Warning to Announce the Good News

Luke 3:17 – “He is ready to separate the chaff from the wheat with his winnowing fork. Then he will clean up the threshing area, gathering the wheat into his barn but burning the chaff with never-ending fire.” John used many such warnings as he announced the Good News to the people.

John’s ultimate goal was to tell people the Good News that the Chosen One had come and that they could be part of the Kingdom of God. They could repent and be forgiven of their sins. So if he was telling people something positive, why did he use such troubling images as trees being chopped down and chaff being burned with fire? Why did he call people a brood of vipers?

It’s because there is no Good News without the bad news. You can’t want to be forgiven if you don’t know how bad your sins are. You can’t be excited about the Chosen One coming if you don’t know why you need Him. You can’t accept salvation if you don’t know what you’re being saved from.

So whereas we want to be positive in telling other people about Jesus, we can’t be squeamish and shy away from the bad news. We have to give people the whole picture to be really effective.

 

Public Rebukes

Luke 3:19 – John also publicly criticized Herod Antipas, the ruler of Galilee, for marrying Herodias, his brother’s wife, and for many other wrongs he had done. So Herod put John in prison, adding this sin to his many others.

Normally, when someone sins against us personally, we should talk to that person privately (Matthew 18). But John is showing us here that if someone sins publicly, we should rebuke them publicly. If a celebrity or government official is doing things in full view of everyone, like King Herod was, we should call them out in full view, so that others can take warning as well. And, like John, we have to be ready to accept whatever consequences come. We need to call sin what it is and then be brave enough to accept the backlash. We are not cowards who see wrong and let it pass without saying anything.

 

What Does God Say to You?

Luke 3:21-22 – One day when the crowds were being baptized, Jesus himself was baptized. As he was praying, the heavens opened, and the Holy Spirit, in bodily form, descended on him like a dove. And a voice from heaven said, “You are my dearly loved Son, and you bring me great joy.”

God the Father definitively validated Jesus in this event. But let’s see how it relates to us.

The Holy Spirit descended on Jesus when? While He was praying. What happens when you pray? Do you feel the Holy Spirit’s Presence more heavily on you when you enter into prayer?

When you’re living rightly, do you feel God telling you, “I’m proud of you. You’re My child. I love you. I’m pleased with you.”?

Take a moment now to feel the Holy Spirit, and to hear what the Father wants to say to You.

 

Starting Ministry at 30?

Luke 3:23 – Jesus was about thirty years old when he began his public ministry.

Why did Jesus wait until He was 30 to start His ministry? Because He was fulfilling the Law. In Numbers 4, we read that only men ages 30-50 were allowed to serve in ministry.  Jesus would have been qualified to start His ministry at any age, but He patiently waited until He had fulfilled all of the requirements.

Do we patiently wait for things to happen? Or do we try to take shortcuts and hurry things along? Do we treat certain requirements as unimportant and optional to move things along? Jesus was patient. Jesus fulfilled all righteousness.

 

Known As

Luke 3:23 – Jesus was known as the son of Joseph, the son of…

Jesus wasn’t actually Joseph’s son, but He was known as Joseph’s son. Joseph had adopted Him, and so Jesus could be counted, legally, as being in Joseph’s line of descendants. As an adopted son, He had all the rights of a biological son.

Likewise, we are adopted into God’s family. God has become our Father and claimed us as His children. And as His adopted children we have the full status and rights of a natural child. We are God’s heirs. We have access to His authority and power, just as His own Son, Jesus, does.

We are to be like Jesus, because like Him, we are children of God.