LUKE
CHAPTER 3
TABLE
OF CONTENTS
OBSERVATION
STAGE
The purpose of
the observation stage is to maintain focus on the text at hand within the
normative rules of language, context and logic 
which limits the observer to the content offered by the book of Luke. This
will serve to avoid going on unnecessary tangents elsewhere; and more
importantly, it will provide the framework for a proper and objective
comparison with passages located elsewhere in Scripture.
Remember that
something elsewhere may be true, but in the text at hand it may not be in
view.
I)
[Lk 3:1-14]:
A)
(3:1-2) IN THE FIFTEENTH YEAR OF TIBERIUS CAESAR, WHEN PONTIUS PILATE
WAS GOVERNOR OF JUDEA, AND HEROD ANTIPAS WAS TETRARCH OF GALILEE, AND
HIS BROTHER PHILIP WAS TETRARCH OF ITURAEA AND TRACHONITIS, AND LYSANIAS
WAS TETRARCH OF ABILENE, DURING THE PRIESTHOOD OF ANNAS AND CAIAPHAS,
AND AFTER CENTURIES OF SILENCE, GOD'S WORD CAME TO JOHN THE SON OF
ZECHARIAH IN THE WILDERNESS
B)
(3:2b-6) DURING THE FIFTEENTH YEAR OF THE REIGN OF TIBERIUS CAESAR, THE
WORD OF GOD CAME TO JOHN THE SON OF ZECHARIAH, IN THE WILDERNESS,
WHEREUPON JOHN PREACHED THE BAPTISM OF REPENTANCE UNTO REMISSION OF SINS
THROUGHOUT THE JORDAN RIVER REGION. HIS MINISTRY WAS DECLARED TO BE A
FULFILLMENT OF THE PROPHECY IN ISAIAH OF THE VOICE WHO WOULD CRY OUT IN
THE WILDERNESS TO PREPARE THE WAY OF THE LORD, MAKING HIS PATHS
STRAIGHT, EVERY RAVINE FILLED, MOUNTAINS AND HILLS BROUGHT LOW, CROOKED
PLACES STRAIGHT, ROUGH ROADS SMOOTH, SO THAT ALL FLESH WILL SEE THE
SALVATION OF OUR GOD - THE REMISSION OF THE SINS OF ALL MANKIND TO BE
RECEIVED AS EACH INDIVIDUAL TRUSTS IN THE LORD FOR IT. IN THE CASE OF
THE MESSAGE OF JOHN OF REPENTANCE UNTO REMISSION OF SINS, THE WORD
REPENTANCE CANNOT MEAN DOING GODLY WORKS IN ORDER TO RECEIVE REMISSION
(FORGIVENESS) OF SINS, AS SOME CONTEND; BECAUSE DOING GODLY WORKS CANNOT
ERASE SINFUL DEEDS. NOR CAN REPENTANCE MEAN TURN FROM SIN IN THE SENSE
OF NOT COMMITTING SINS ANY MORE; FOR THAT IS A TASK WHICH IS NOT
POSSIBLE GIVEN THE SINFUL NATURE OF EVERY INDIVIDUAL
1)
[Compare Luke's words in Lk 3:4-6 with Isa 40:1-5]:
****** EXCERPTS
FROM THE BOOK OF ISAIAH ******
OR
MOVE TO THE NEXT SECTION OF LUKE CHAPTER 3
(Isa
7:14-16; 9:6-7; 39:1-8; 40:1-5) IN VIEW OF THE IMMINENT RETURN IN
ANCIENT TIMES OF ISRAEL FROM BABYLONIAN CAPTIVITY TO A JERUSALEM WHICH
WOULD BE REBUILT, A VOICE OF A PROPHET CRIED OUT TO THE PEOPLE OF
JERUSALEM TELLING THEM IN A FIGURATIVE / SPIRITUAL SENSE, NOT A LITERAL
SENSE, THAT IN THE WILDERNESS THEY WERE ALL TO PREPARE THE WAY OF THE
LORD IN THE SENSE OF MAKING THE WAY OF THE LORD RIGHTEOUS; AND IN THE
SAME SENSE, MAKE A STRAIGHT HIGHWAY FOR OUR GOD IN THE DESERT, AND
LIKEWISE HAVE EVERY VALLEY LIFTED UP, EVERY MOUNTAIN AND HILL LEVELED,
AND UNEVEN GROUND BECOME SMOOTH AND ROUGH PLACES A PLAIN, I.E., SO THAT
THE PEOPLE OF ISRAEL WOULD BE CHARACTERIZED AS HAVING THE RIGHTEOUSNESS
OF GOD THUS HAVING REMOVED THE SPIRITUAL HINDRANCES WITHIN THEMSELVES TO
THE COMING OF THE LORD AND HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS SO THAT ALL MANKIND WOULD
SEE THE GLORY OF THE LORD WHEN HE COMES TO RULE OVER HIS EVERLASTING
KINGDOM OF HEAVEN ON THE EARTH, AS DECLARED BY THE PROPHET TO BE TRUE,
FOR ISAIAH DECLARED THAT THE MOUTH OF THE LORD HAD SPOKEN IT TO HIM. SO
THE TIME OF THE LORD'S RULE WOULD BEGIN WHEN EACH ONE OF NATIONAL
ISRAEL, TO WHOM THE MESSAGE OF THE PROPHET CRYING OUT WAS EXCLUSIVELY
DIRECTED, RESPONDED TO IT EVIDENTLY VIA A MOMENT OF FAITH ALONE IN THE
COMING LORD ALONE TO DELIVER ONE FROM ONE'S SINS SUCH THAT EACH ONE
WOULD BE PROVIDED WITH THE GIFT OF GOD'S PERFECT RIGHTEOUSNESS WITHIN
ONESELF UNTO ETERNAL LIFE AND BY THAT PREPARE THE WAY OF THE LORD TO
COME TO RULE OVER HIS EVERLASTING KINGDOM OF HEAVEN ON THE EARTH THROUGH
HIS PEOPLE ISRAEL. NOTICE THAT THIS REPENTANCE CANNOT MEAN DOING GODLY
WORKS IN ORDER TO RECEIVE REMISSION (FORGIVENESS) OF SINS IN ORDER TO
ENTER THE KINGDOM OF GOD, AS SOME CONTEND; BECAUSE DOING GODLY WORKS
CANNOT ERASE SINFUL DEEDS. NOR CAN REPENTANCE MEAN TO TURN FROM SIN IN
THE SENSE OF NOT COMMITTING SINS ANY MORE; FOR THAT IS A TASK WHICH IS
NOT POSSIBLE GIVEN THE SINFUL NATURE OF EVERY INDIVIDUAL. ISAIAH
INDICATED PREVIOUSLY THAT THIS OUTCOME WAS TO BEGIN WITH A CHILD BORN
SUPERNATURALLY OF AN ISRAELITE MAIDEN / VIRGIN - A SON AND CHILD OF
ISRAEL, WHO WOULD BE DECLARED WONDERFUL, COUNSELOR, MIGHTY GOD,
EVERLASTING FATHER, PRINCE OF PEACE WHO WOULD COME TO ESTABLISH HIS
EVERLASTING KINGDOM OF HEAVEN RULE OVER THE WORLD UPON THE THRONE OF
DAVID FROM JERUSALEM THROUGH HIS PEOPLE, ISRAEL AS BOTH GOD AND MAN
[Compare
Isa 7:14-16]:
[Compare
Isa 9:6-7]:
[Compare
Isa 6:3 NKJV]:
****** END
OF EXCERPTS FROM THE BOOK OF ISAIAH ******
C)
(Lk 3:7-9) SO JOHN WAS SAYING TO THE CROWDS WHO WERE GOING OUT TO BE
BAPIZED BY HIM, 'YOU BROOD OF VIPERS, WHO WARNED YOU TO FLEE FROM THE
WRATH TO COME? THEREFORE PRODUCE FRUIT CONSISTENT WITH REPENTANCE UNTO
FAITH IN A COMING MESSIAH / SAVIOR FOR REMISSION OF SINS. NOTE THAT THIS
IMPLIES THAT REPENTANCE IS DIFFERENT FROM PRODUCING FRUIT. FURTHERMORE,
JOHN TOLD THE CROWDS, "DON'T START SAYING TO YOURSELVES, 'WE HAVE
ABRAHAM AS OUR FATHER.' FOR I TELL YOU THAT GOD IS ABLE TO RAISE UP
CHILDREN FOR ABRAHAM FROM THESE STONES! AND EVEN NOW THE AX IS LAID TO
THE ROOT OF THE TREES. THEREFORE EVERY TREE WHICH DOES NOT BEAR GOOD
FRUIT IS CUT DOWN AND THROWN INTO THE FIRE"
D)
(Lk 3:8-14) IN RESPONSE TO JOHN'S CONFRONTATION OF THE CROWDS TO PRODUCE
FRUIT IN KEEPING WITH REPENTANCE - THAT THEIR DESCENDANCY FROM ABRAHAM
WOULD NOT SAVE THEM FROM GOD'S TEMPORAL OR ETERNAL JUDGMENT - PEOPLE
WERE ASKING HIM, "WHAT, THEN, SHALL WE DO? JOHN TOLD THEM TO SHARE
WITH THOSE IN NEED, TO BE HONEST, TO NOT ABUSE ONES AUTHORITY OVER
OTHERS, ESPECIALLY FOR PERSONAL GAIN, AND TO BE CONTENT WITH WHAT ONE
HAS RECEIVED - I.E., ONE WAS TO DEMONSTRATE AGAPE / GODLY LOVE TOWARD
THE LORD AND ONE ANOTHER
II)
[Lk 3:15-20]:
A)
(3:15-17) THERE WERE A NUMBER OF PEOPLE IN THE CROWDS WHO CAME TO JOHN
TO BE BAPTIZED SYMBOLIZING REPENTANCE FOR THE REMISSION OF SINS WHOSE
EXPECTATION OF THE IMMEDIATE ARRIVAL OF THEIR MESSIAH / SAVIOR WAS
AWAKENED AS A RESULT OF JOHN'S PREACHING. THEY REASONED IN THEIR HEARTS
(MINDS) AS TO WHETHER JOHN WAS THE CHRIST. JOHN ANSWERED THAT THE ONE TO
COME WAS MIGHTIER, WHOSE SANDAL STRAP HE WAS NOT WORTHY TO LOOSE, WHO
WOULD BAPTIZE BELIEVERS WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT AND UNBELIEVERS WITH
UNQUENCHABLE FIRE WHEN HE CAME TO COMMENCE HIS ETERNAL KINGDOM OF GOD
1)
[Lk 3:16c Interlinear]:
2)
[Compare Ezekiel 36:26-29]:
B)
(3:18-20) JOHN PREACHED MANY OTHER EXHORTATIONS. THEREAFTER, HEROD
IMPRISONED JOHN THE BAPTIST FOR REBUKING HIM CONCERNING HERODIAS, HIS
BROTHER PHILIP'S WIFE AND ALL HIS EVILS
III)
[Lk 3:21-22]:
A)
(3:21-22) ON A PARTICULAR DAY, WHEN ALL THE PEOPLE WERE BAPTIZED, JESUS
WAS THEN BAPTIZED, SYMBOLIZING HIS IDENTIFICATION WITH HIS MISSION TO
PROVIDE HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS - THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF GOD FOR MANKIND'S
REDEMPTION THROUGH FAITH IN HIM TO PROVIDE IT THROUGH HIS SACRIFICE FOR
THE REMISSION OF THE SINS OF THE WHOLE WORLD. AND WHILE JESUS PRAYED,
HEAVEN WAS OPENED AND THE HOLY SPIRIT DESCENDED UPON HIM IN BODILY FORM
LIKE A DOVE. A VOICE CAME FROM HEAVEN WHICH SAID, "YOU ARE MY
BELOVED SON; IN YOU I AM WELL PLEASED"
IV)
[Lk 3:23-38]:
A)
(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
B)
(3:23-38) LUKE'S GENEALOGY OF JESUS FROM ADAM TO ABRAHAM THROUGH DAVID
VERIFIES THAT JESUS WAS IN THE DAVIDIC LINE, THE PROMISED MESSIAH
1)
[Compare Jer 23:5-6]:
****** EXCERPT
FROM STUDY ON JESUS' GENEALOGY ******
B)
THE GENEALOGY OF LUKE INVESTIGATED
1)
INTRODUCTION
2)
LUKE'S GENEALOGY FROM ADAM TO ABRAHAM
a)
LUKE'S GENEALOGY FROM ADAM TO ABRAHAM SUMMARIZED
b)
EXPLANATION OF THE 'EXTRA' NAME CAINAN IN LUKE'S GENEALOGY
1)
[Ruth 4:17]:
3)
LUKE'S AND MATTHEW'S GENEALOGIES FROM ABRAHAM TO DAVID COINCIDE
4)
LUKE'S AND MATTHEW'S GENEALOGIES FROM DAVID TO CAPTIVITY BRANCH OFF FROM
ONE ANOTHER
a)
MATTHAT TO RHESA:
5)
LUKE'S AND MATTHEW'S GENEALOGIES DIFFER FROM PERIOD OF CAPTIVITY TO
JESUS CHRIST
a)
JECONIAH, NERI AND SHEALTHIEL:
b)
SHEALTHIEL, PEDIAH AND ZERUBABEL
c)
JOSEPH, HELI AND MARY
III)
SKEPTICS QUESTIONS ANSWERED:
A)
IF THE VIRGIN BIRTH STORY IS TRUE, THEN WHY DO THE GENEALOGIES REPORT
JOSEPH AS BEING THE FATHER OF JESUS?
B)
THE TERM BEGOTTEN IS NOT USED IN LUKE'S GENEALOGY SO IT IS SUSPECT OF
BEING A TRUE GENEALOGY
C)
MARY SHOULD BE DISQUALIFIED TO TRANSFER THE RIGHTS OF HER LINEAGE TO HER
SON JESUS SINCE SHE IS A WOMAN
D)
MATTHEW'S LINEAGE DOES NOT HAVE EVERY NAME IT'S SUPPOSED TO HAVE AND IS
THEREFORE SUSPECT
E)
OBJECTORS MAINTAIN THAT THE PURPOSE OF THE GENEALOGIES IN MATTHEW, LUKE
AND ELSEWHERE IS NOT TO GIVE AN ACCURATE HISTORY WHICH THEY MAINTAIN ARE
NOT BIOLOGICAL BUT ARE FALSELY CONTRIVED TO MAKE ONE THEOLOGICAL POINT
OR ANOTHER
F)
OBJECTORS MAINTAIN THAT SINCE THE MATTHEW AND LUKAN GENEALOGIES ARE NOT
IDENTICAL IN FORM AND CONTENT THIS INDICATES THAT THEY DO NOT HAVE A
COMMON SOURCE, AND BOTH ARE INACCURATE AND CONTRIVED AND CERTAINLY NOT
BIOLOGICAL
G)
THERE IS A DEFINITIVE LACK OF GENEALOGICAL EVIDENCE TODAY WHICH PROVES
THAT GENEALOGIES ARE NOT TO BE BIOLOGICALLY ACCURATE
H)
OBJECTORS MAINTAIN THAT SINCE ISRAEL HAD KINGS AFTER THE EXILE THAT WERE
NOT OF THE DAVIDIC LINE, THAT THIS FALSIFIES THE GENEALOGIES IN MATTHEW
AND LUKE
I)
THE MATTHEAN GENEALOGY IS ARTIFICIAL BECAUSE IT OMITS SEVERAL NAMES IN
ORDER TO ARRIVE AT FOURTEEN NAMES EACH FOR THE THREE PERIODS OF TIME
DEPICTED. THIS DONE FOR CONTRIVED THEOLOGICAL REASONS
J)
TAMAR IS A CANAANITE WOMAN IN THE LINE OF MATTHEW THUS FALSIFYING THE
TRUE BIOLOGICAL GENEALOGY OF OUR LORD
K)
OBJECTORS STATE THAT LUKE PRESENTS MARY AS BEING RELATED TO THE
LEVITICAL FAMILY OF ZECHARIAH & ELIZABETH, AND THEREFORE NOT
BELONGING TO THE TRIBE OF JUDAH AND THE LINE OF DAVID
L)
OBJECTORS STATE THAT MT 1:17 INDICATES THAT ALL SEGMENTS OF THE
GENEALOGY LISTED CONTAINS 14 NAMES, YET THE THIRD ONLY HAS THIRTEEN
****** END OF EXCERPT
FROM STUDY ON JESUS' GENEALOGY ******
CONTINUE TO LUKE
CHAPTER 4 
