#6: Monday, 11 March 2019

**Luke 3:1-38**

Today's chapter contains the story of two preparations. Again, we will see the faithfulness of God's promises in both. Luke is continuing the story of God's careful management of his plan of salvation for the world.

The First Preparation Story

The preaching of John the Baptist marks this preparation. Luke references Isaiah's prophecy (40:3-5), declaring John fulfilled God's ancient promise that a prophet would prepare the way for the Messiah.

John's preaching addressed both personal morality and social justice through three examples:

1. Everyone should practice generosity with wealth and property, ensuring no one lacks while others have excess. 2. Tax collectors -- despised for Roman collaboration -- should continue their work honestly rather than abandon their positions. 3. Soldiers should conduct their duties fairly and justly, not necessarily resign their roles.

"The Kingdom of Heaven is not only about going to heaven when you die...it's about living your life in the practical pursuit of beauty, truth and goodness." This reflects Micah 6:8: "What does the Lord require of you? Simply this: to act justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly in the sight of God."

Given widespread messianic expectations in Israel at this historical moment, people wondered if John was the awaited one (v15). John denied this, instead announcing the imminent Messiah while clarifying he was not that figure.

When John criticized King Herod for marrying his brother's wife, Herod imprisoned him at the Masada fortress, where Salome would later dance before the king.

The Second Preparation Story

Part One: Jesus' Baptism

Jesus' baptism represented necessary preparation for his ministry. Luke's account, though brief, emphasizes a Trinitarian revelation -- God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit all appear -- foundational to later theological development.

Part Two: The Genealogy (vv23-38)

Though often overlooked, genealogies contain significant teachings. Three ancestors warrant particular attention:

**Zerubbabel (v27):** Grandson of the exiled King Jehoiachin, Zerubbabel led the first cohort of captives returning to Jerusalem under Persian King Cyrus. After initial difficulties and a seventeen-year pause, Prophet Haggai inspired renewed temple reconstruction, completed within four years. This temple -- later renovated by Herod -- would be destroyed in 70 AD, fulfilling Jesus' prophecy that not one stone would remain.

God's promise to Zerubbabel declares: "I will take you, my servant Zerubbabel, son of Shealtiel, like my signet ring, for I have chosen you." Jesus, Zerubbabel's direct descendant, became God's signet ring, possessing full divine authority and perfect image. He replaced Zerubbabel's temple with his own body.

**Nathan, son of David (v31):** This establishes Jesus' lineage through King David, fulfilling essential Messianic prophecies (2 Sam. 7:12-16).

**Judah, son of Jacob (vv33-34):** Jesus descends from the tribe of Judah, from which Old Testament prophecy declares the Messiah will come. Revelation 5:5 identifies Jesus as the "Lion of the Tribe of Judah."

Conclusion

Luke's first three chapters establish God's faithfulness in keeping his word through carefully planned redemptive history. He has laid foundations for the Incarnation, Christ's divine-human nature, the Trinity, fulfilled Messianic prophecies, the kingdom's focus on God's care for the poor and oppressed, women's significant covenant role, and the establishment of God's worship center in the Son rather than the temple.

**Prayer:**

O Father, I see how detailed and wonderful is your eternal Word. Thank you for the beauty of your Word and how you have cared for it over thousands of years. Thank you for your son, Jesus Christ. I choose to worship him. As I prepare to go on in these Lenten studies, please show me how to see you as God's answer for a lost and broken world. Amen.