Author: Bill Hall

Luke 3:25 “the son of Mattathiah, the son of Amos, the son of Nahum, the son of Esli, the son of Naggai,”

Though not the prophets themselves, we see here an Amos and a Nahum in the line of Christ. Very likely these names were not common until after he time of the prophets they were connected with.

Heavenly Father, we thank You for the men and women You have put before us as examples. Christ is our great Example of course. But, in Your infinite wisdom You have seen fit to give us many examples in Scripture that we may look to, such as the prophets. May we learn from all of these teachers, for that is Your intention. In the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ I pray and praise You, Amen.

Luke 3:24 “the son of Matthat, the son of Levi, the son of Melchi, the son of Janna, the son of Joseph,”

Joseph and Levi are, of course, common names among Jewish people even to this very day. Janna, Melchi, and Matthat are more rare. Matthat means ‘Gift of God’. Melchi is ‘My King’. Janna means ‘Flourishing’. Levi is ‘Joined’. and, Joseph is ‘Adding’. All of these names have very interesting meanings. It is a great study to look at name meanings in Scripture. All of these fit right in for a genealogy of the King, our Gift from God.

Heavenly Father, we try to make life so complicated. But, You have given us clear truths and You have shown us Your ways. Your goodness is like the new fallen snow, it covers us in every aspect of our lives, and it brings freshness and cleanness. Thank You for being so loving to us! You are worthy of our adoration and heartfelt worship. We will praise You forever! In the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ I pray and praise You, Amen.

Luke 3:23 “Now Jesus Himself began His ministry at about thirty years of age, being (as was supposed) the son of Joseph, the son of Heli,”

   Jesus started ministering in earnest around the time of His baptism. And, now Luke gives us the genealogy through His earthly father. Of course, he was not born of Joseph, but as this was what was supposed, legally, He was the eldest descendant, and heir to all privileges appertaining to Joseph.

Heavenly Father, little do we understand Your plan sometimes. But, we know we can always trust Your ways. You are merciful and loving to us. You give us the means to serve You. We praise You for that! In the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ I pray and praise You, Amen.

Luke 3:22 “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.”

   The baptism of Christ is quite a significant event. Because Jesus is all-powerful we tend to forget that He had a particular program He was following. He didn’t just do what he wanted, when He wanted. He did the will of the Father, and that meant fulfilling prophecy. Thus this baptism was no exception to that pattern. The decent of the Spirit as a dove does not indicate that Jesus operated without the Spirit before that. What it does do is show the involvement of each person of the Trinity in the earthly ministry of Christ.

Heavenly Father, though we do not  fully understand everything as of yet, Your Word teaches us so much. Thank You for allowing us to know Your truth. It changes our lives as Your Holy Spirit uses it to work inside us. May we love it forever for out of it are the issues of life. We love You, and You are worthy of our high praise. In the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ I pray and praise You, Amen.

Luke 3:21 “When all the people were baptized, it came to pass that Jesus also was baptized; and while He prayed, the heaven was opened.”

    This was, of course, before John was imprisoned. Jesus was baptized for a couple of reasons. He did so to fulfill prophecy. It connected Him with the ministry of John. Also, He did it as an example to His followers. In addition, the Father also used it as one of the times that He chose to speak on behalf of His Son.

Heavenly Father, thank You for the shining example of Christ. We know He is the One to follow in everything. What a mercy it is that You have given Him to be our Lord and Savior. Your ways are perfect! All glory be to You and to Your Son the Lord Jesus! In the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ I pray and praise You, Amen.

Luke 3:20 “also added this, above all, that he shut John up in prison.”

   Could not this have been prevented? Could not God have determined to not allow this to happen? His ways are not our ways. When we begin to think we have a better plan then He, we go down a dangerous path.we can rest assured that His way is always best.

Heavenly Father, thank You for Your deliverance. You have given us the path for our life that we need. Give us grace to accept it. In the Name or the Lord Jesus Christ I pray and praise You, Amen.

Luke 3:19 “But Herod the tetrarch, being rebuked by him concerning Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife, and for all the evils which Herod had done,”

   This world goes on in its processes without taking serious thought for the idea of morality. Oh, morality is claimed. But, that is only a show of goodness to save face. Sinful humanity will seek to get away with anything that can be gotten away with. Herod knew he could get away with marrying his brother’s wife, so he did it. The propriety commensurate with a person in his position didn’t stop him. The sense of morality among his subjects didn’t stop him. His own broken conscience didn’t stop him. And since God does not tend to allow hell to claim its treats before its time, God didn’t stop him. And this was only one of a host of evils that Herod ran though the selective morality of evil humanity without a bump, other than John of course.

Heavenly Father, our collective consciousness must be a foul odor to your nostrils. We trust that the submission of Your servants, coupled with our genuine praise, can somehow drown out the screaming malignancy of the wicked purification of the mass of man. Your justice waits, her eyes covered, but her ears not plugged. One day the gavel will fall, this we know. But, we beg Your mercy, which You excel at showing, upon this woefully disgraceful and undeserving group of our companions. But for Your great grace, all among us are the same. We praise You! In the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ I pray an praise You, Amen.

Luke 3:18 “And with many other exhortations he preached to the people.”

   John had something to say. There was a message at hand. It wasn’t just words and empty platitudes. There was truth to be had. This must be true of all preaching. If there is no substance, no amount of form will make up for it.

Heavenly Father, thank You for preaching! It is Your mercy that the truth is told and proclaimed daily. Your wisdom is perfect. You have chosen the best means to the best end. We will praise You forever! In the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ I pray and praise You, Amen.

Luke 3:17 ” “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.”

   John is describing a purging process here. Jesus will sift through humanity. He will take out the fruits of His kingdom and judge the rest. We have to be careful in our day to maintain a good understanding of the love of God. Jesus does love humanity, but this will in no way prevent judgment on those who do not bear His Name.

Heavenly Father, thank You for making Your mercy apparent to us. But, Your love and mercy would be incomplete without Your judgment. Help us to live in Christ that our love and mercy may be balanced. In the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ I pray and praise You, Amen.

Luke 3:16 “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.”

   John addresses the whole crowd, wanting to make sure everyone heard this important message. Indeed, John understood that this was ‘The’ message. If they missed this, they missed the whole point of his ministry.
   Notice what he said Jesus would baptize with. Though as Jesus’ disciples we also use water baptism, that baptism is only a picture of the Spirit baptism that occurs at the time of the new birth. So then what is the fire about? Well, it is easy for us in this day to forget that there is more to the program of Christ than just this church age. There is coming that future day when Jesus will indeed baptize by fire. This coming judgment is just around the corner.

Heavenly Father, thank You for Your love for us! You have given us Your truth, thank You! Amy we live daily to love You and serve You with all our hearts. In the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ I pray and praise You, Amen.