Jesus Baptized by John.—Luke 3:1-38

Notes

1. Note the exactness of the inspired history. It was in the year 12 A. D. that Augustus associated Tiberius with him in the empire, and in the year 14 that Tiberius began to reign as sole emperor; but his reign is properly computed from the earlier date, since that is when he really began to reign. The fifteenth year of Tiberius would, therefore, be A. D. 27. For a full discussion of this matter, see "The Life of Our Lord," by Andrews, pp. 22-25.

2. John came "preaching the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins." He preached remission of sins through faith in Christ (Acts 19:4), therefore his baptism was "Christian baptism" in the fullest sense. That everybody who was baptized by him fully understood the significance of the rite, cannot be supposed, judging from the great numbers of people who are baptized in these days, without any real knowledge of Christ.

3. The prophecy in the fortieth of Isaiah shows that the one crying in the wilderness is preparing the way for a King. A straight and level road must be prepared for him. "Behold the Lord God will come with strong hand, and his arm shall rule for him; behold his reward is with him, and his work before him. He shall feed his flock like a shepherd; he shall gather the lambs with his arm, and carry them in his bosom, and shall gently lead those that are with young." Isa. 40:10, 11. This evidently reaches to the second coming of Christ, when his reward is with him, to give every man according as his work shall be (Rev. 22:12), showing that the work that John the Baptist begun is to be continued till the Lord comes in glory. The lesson to be learned from the prophecy is that Christ's power and glory, when he comes the second time, are the measure of his power now to save those from sin who trust in him. He saves and comforts, as priest, with all the power and authority of a king. And his kingly, priestly power is that of One who created the heavens and the earth, who calls the stars by name, and who, by the greatness of his might, keeps every portion of the universe in its appointed place. See Isa. 40:25, 26; Col. 1:11-19.

4. "Begin not to say within yourselves, we have Abraham to our Father; for I say unto you that God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham." The Pharisees would begin to say, "We are Abraham's children," as the Jews did afterwards to Christ, meaning by that that they were all right. They thought that their position as children of Abraham—birthright members of the church of Christ—made it unnecessary for them to repent. They considered themselves above all danger. God had made promises to Abraham and to his seed, and so of course they were sure of everything. But John told them that they could hope for nothing on the ground of birth and position. "The promise that he should be the heir of the world was not to Abraham and his seed through the law, but through the righteousness of faith." Rom. 4:13. "They which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham." Gal. 3:7. Rather than acknowledge them in their bigoted self-righteousness as children of Abraham, God would make from the stones men who would accept the righteousness of God by faith in Christ, and thus be true children of Abraham. Here again we find ample evidence that God is no respecter of persons, and that he never shut himself up exclusively to the Jewish nation. The fact that the Jews were not God's peculiar people, except as their righteousness through faith made them so, is clearly set forth. Read Rom. 4:11-14.

5. "Whose fan is in his hand, and he will thoroughly purge his floor, and will gather the wheat into his garner, but the chaff will he burn up with fire unquenchable." Chaff is very combustible, and quickly consumed by fire. If it were thrown into the fire, the fire could scarcely be quenched quickly enough to keep it from destruction. Even a much more enduring substance than chaff will be utterly consumed when fire breaks out in it, if the fire is not quenched. But here we have chaff, a most inflammable substance, cast into unquenchable fire. How could the utter destruction of the wicked be more strongly stated? "But must not unquenchable fire always continue to burn?"—Not by any means. Many a man has found to his sorrow that the fire which broke out in his house was unquenchable, notwithstanding the strongest efforts of the firemen. The result was that the building was destroyed, when the fire went out of itself, because there was nothing left to burn. This burning up of the chaff with fire unquenchable is the baptism of fire spoken of in the preceding verse. Not all men are to be baptized with the Holy Spirit, neither will all receive the baptism of fire. Those who will not receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit are counted as the chaff, and will at last be consumed, by immersion in "the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone, which is the second death." Rev. 21:8. "Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father." Matt. 13:41-43.