We could follow I Need Thee Every Hour with Fill My Cup, Lord. I've got a thirst this morning. I would trust both physical and spiritual to hear words of encouragement from God's Word. So we're in Luke chapter 3 and trying to get this message preached for about three weeks. We're going to make a little progress this morning here in Luke's gospel. Chapter 3, we're going to read down through verse 9. However, we will, we're going to, our goal is to make it to verse 6. You know, they always said growing up set realistic goals. Well, you know what that sounds like to a fifth grader. Realistic, yeah. Well, here we are. This is, this begins another, really another portion of Luke's gospel. We've heard from the angel Gabriel, we had the birth announcement concerning John the Baptist, we had the birth announcement concerning Jesus, then we have their births. They're roughly six months apart. And then we don't hear from them. We don't hear from them for some 30 years. So you fast forward from what we have in chapter 1 and 2 to where we are in chapter 3, you fast forward about 30 years. So from Malachi to the New Testament, you have 400 years of silence. Well, thank you, Rod. I appreciate that very much. If I need a second cup, can I call on you? All right. All right. Wonderful. That'll work this morning. So there's this 400-year period of silence between Malachi and the New Testament. And God begins to move. And we have these two men, John, who's the herald of the king or the forerunner of the king, and then Jesus, the king. And in Luke's writing, Jesus is always far superior to John the Baptist. In fact, in every gospel writer, John is inferior to Jesus, who is far superior. But we haven't heard from them. They've been growing up. So they were born, they grow up, and now chapter 3 is after another some 30 years of silence. John's been growing up. Jesus has been growing up. In fact, the last thing we knew about John was over in verse 80 of chapter 1. and the child continued to grow and become strong in spirit. He lived in the deserts until the day of his public appearance to Israel. That's interesting. John is in a priestly line. His dad is Zacharias. Where did his dad hear about this miraculous birth? Well, he was performing his priestly function in the temple. But John is not going to follow the priestly path. In fact, it's a whole other tale. John is a prophet. He's in the line of these Old Testament prophets. And then the last thing we heard about Jesus was in chapter 2, I think verse 40. If you look there, it says the child continued to grow and become strong. increasing in wisdom and the grace of God was upon him. So that's, you know, we have two basic summary statements concerning John and Jesus. We get to chapter three and now, okay, here we go. Things are gonna pick up in earnest. And Luke does it in, he's the only one that could do it this way. Him and the Holy Spirit of God. And this is powerful, we'll read down through verse 9. Now in the 15th year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, and Herod was tetrarch of Galilee, and his brother Philip was tetrarch of the region of Aetarea, and Trachonitis, and Lysanias was tetrarch of Abilene. In the high priesthood of Annas, And Caiaphas, the word of God, came to John, the son of Zacharias, the son of Zacharias, in the wilderness. And we knew he grew up in the desert. He's still in the desert. And he came into all the district around Jordan preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. As it is written in the book of Isaiah the prophet, the voice of one crying in the wilderness, make ready the way of the Lord. Make his path straight. Every ravine will be filled and every mountain and hill will be brought low. The crooked will become straight, the rough road smooth, and all flesh will see the salvation of God. So he began saying to the crowds who were going out to be baptized by him. By the way, the crowds are going out to him. John's still in the wilderness. What does that say about God? What does that say about his ways? That John didn't start preaching in the temple. He didn't start preaching around Jerusalem. He was in the wilderness and these folks had to come from their city of Jerusalem or their other significant cities and they had to go out to hear this prophet of God. Well in so many words it tells me that God is somewhat anti-establishment and you'll find out why soon enough. So he began saying to the crowds who were going out to be baptized by him. So this is his words to the crowds. You brood of vipers who warned you to flee from the wrath to come. Well, you got to appreciate that, don't you? I don't guess Dale Carnegie and his book, How to Win Friends and Influence People, was around back then. I think John probably would have ignored it, even if it had been. Therefore, bear fruits in keeping with repentance, and do not begin to say to yourselves, we have Abraham for our father. For I say to you that from these stones God is able to raise up children to Abraham. Indeed, the axe is already laid at the root of the trees. So every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. The word of the Lord. Father in heaven, this is an important part of scripture. And Luke includes it in this whole unfolding of your plan to save lost souls. And your plan of sending Jesus to accomplish this. So help us to appreciate the timing. Lord, your perfect timing. sending John and then Jesus to save, to accomplish salvation. Help us to appreciate that timing. Help us to grasp what Luke is telling us here. And we'll forever be grateful to you. And our hearts are open. We're wide open to you. In Jesus' name, amen. So first of all, we have three points. The first one is short. So listen quickly. Now in the 15th year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, okay, so what Luke is doing, he is setting the date for us. Luke is good about putting everything in a historical context. This is not, this Bible, this New Testament is not a fable. It's not some grandiose, fanciful tale. It is the word of God. It was accomplished, that is the word of God, the will of God in human history. And in dire times, I might add, So he says in the 15th year, the reign of Tiberius Caesar. Well, who is Tiberius Caesar? Well, Tiberius Caesar followed Caesar Augustus. So Caesar Augustus died August 19th, AD 14. So if you add that 15 years there, now in the 15th year of his reign, of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, and we believe that once Caesar Augustus died, Tiberius followed. So we put his reign beginning in 14 AD and that would mean that in the 15th year of his reign, which would make it year approximately 29. So that's right there. Now, not everybody understands it that way. If you read John MacArthur, he's going to say it's AD 26 because for three years Tiberius Caesar was a co-Caesar with Caesar Augustus and he goes into all the reasons and rationale. And I just don't, I don't go for that because I'm a little more simple. This is what Luke tells us. It's the 15th year of his reign. The reign of who? The reign of Tiberius Caesar. when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea. Now this is interesting. He's going to bring some familiar names to us. Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea. And Herod was tetrarch of Galilee. Now this is Herod Antipas. Herod Antipas, his dad, King Herod. was the one who wanted to destroy all the baby boys when Jesus was born. This is Herod Antipas, his son. And his brother Philip, you've heard of Caesarea Philippi. Okay, that's a city named in honor of Philip. And he was Tetrarch, the agent of Aeterea and Trachonitis and Lysanias was Tetrarch of Abilene. So here's what takes place. You have a leader who upon his death wants to divide the kingdom. So that's where you get these tetrarchs. Kingdom is divided in four ways. So this person, this person, this person has a role to play. And they're all under Tiberius. So Tiberius Caesar is over and above. He is the man with the power. He leads Rome. Pontius Pilate is mentioned here, he's actually, this is not a noun, it's a participle, he's governing. And he's governing a significant part of the territory, he's governing Judea. Now we think Pontius Pilate is in this role because Archelaus, one of the sons, had died, or was deposed, I guess it was. He was deposed, they didn't like him. So Pilate takes over. the part of Judea. And Herod is Tetrarch of Galilee. So that's up north in the country. And then his brother Philip was Tetrarch of the region of Aeturaea and Trachonitis. And Lysanias was Tetrarch of Abilene. So there you go. They're trying to keep all the governing into family. And these are Roman. These are all Gentile people that he's naming. And he said, well, why would Luke go through the trouble of telling us all this? We understand he set the date, that's wonderful. But Pilate, Herod, Philip, and Lysanias, all these, what's it mean? Well, it means that that land that God had promised to give Abraham way back when, was under the rule of Rome, their Caesar, and then their four lower level governors, or tetrarchs. And so what we need to take in here is that Rome, which was an ungodly empire, full of idols, that all they really cared about was their own glamour, their own power. And hey, even though they tried to encourage the people they conquered, those folks were still the people they conquered. They were still under them. And the people, the Jewish people had to pay taxes and they had to do all this stuff to support Rome. So what we learn from verse one is that Rome had the people of God in God's land on lockdown, totally locked down. Nobody's gonna rise up and overthrow the Romans. They have their leaders, they have their Caesar, and the Caesar and these leaders are all approved by the Roman Senate, and there's a lot of There's just a lot of political machinations going on for these people not only to gain leadership and power, but to hold that leadership and that power. And so in that day, in that place, if you looked anywhere, you see Rome and you see slavery like you've never seen it. These are abysmal times. Rome rules with an iron fist over these people. That's what we need to hear from this. And all these folks, I believe every one of them that we just read are around when Jesus Christ is crucified on the cross. And they rule. And what they say goes. But what they say is not often just or right. It's for the benefit of Rome. So it's bad. I mean, I would read verse one, I would just say, boy, those were horrendous times. Those people are in dire straits because there they are and there is no way out. What are they supposed to do? No way out. And they're there because they had sinned, they turned their back on God. Say, wow, that's bad. Verse one, you make it sound like it's really bad. It really was bad, but it gets worse. Look at verse two. In the high priesthood of Annas, in the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas. Yeah, those Gentiles, they were evil. But then Luke gives us a word about the religious life of the children of Israel. He mentions the high priesthood. He mentions two high priests. There's only one. God had only always prescribed for there to be one high priest, but there's, he mentions two. Well, these guys are related. Caiaphas is the son-in-law of Annas. Both of these guys are around and play a significant role, by the way, in the crucifixion of Jesus. In fact, Annas is the first one that they go to. What are we going to do with this guy? Well, let's go to Annas first. Why would they do that? Because if Annas doesn't okay it, there's no point in doing anything else. He is the man with the power and the clout. He has the experience. So we think Caiaphas is actually the high priest. Annas was a previous high priest who's still around, who still holds power over the people and influence over the people. It's like we have presidents that are no longer president. But what do we call them? Mr. President. Because there's still some degree of authority and power. So that's the idea here with the high priest. Well, why do you say it gets worse? Well, it gets worse because these are high priests. Of all the people in Judaism, they are the ones who should care for the spiritual health and vitality of the people. But they don't. They don't care. In fact, Anas and Caiaphas are in cahoots with these other leaders that we just named. They're in cahoots with the Gentiles. Everybody is trying to make sure everybody stays happy and nothing is done for justice, it's done for expediency and power and prestige. It's like these names here, it's like a crime syndicate. No one's gonna get through this. You're not going, you are at their mercy. I mean, crucifixion was the method of execution in that day, and many, many, many, many, many people were crucified. Addison, Caiaphas. Couple things here is that Just to give an example or two, so there'd be a feast, all right? So there's a feast of Passover, there's a whatever feast, and all the Jews, they get to celebrate the feast, and they get to go to Jerusalem, and they get to go to the temple. It's a big deal. And so prior to the feast, they're gonna select the lamb, they gotta make a sacrifice when they go. They're going to select a lamb. And then they're going to make sure they have their shekels, their money. And they're going to make their way to Jerusalem. And they're going to go to the temple. And this is a big deal. And they want to honor their God. Well, when they get there, you've got to, you know, you're an animal. You're a lamb or you're a bird. You've got to pass the test. It's got to be unblemished. So that's the first hoop you've got to jump through. Well, this is the best lamb I got. Well, if you look behind his ear, you see what I see. That lamb's not going to do. But we've got over here some pre-certified lambs. And you can buy one of them. Well, what do I do with this one? Well, I don't know what you do with that lamb. You take it home or whatever. So you have to buy one of their lambs at a higher price. And so it's a, what do we call it? It's a racket. And these leaders are taking advantage of the people. Well, another thing that happened is they would go to the temple and they wanted to make their offering. Well, back then it was one common money. It was Rome and the likeness of Caesar was on that coin. But you couldn't offer that coin in the temple as your offering. Why? Because it's idolatry. You got the head of the likeness of Caesar on that coin. So you'd have to go to the money changer. And you would have to change your Roman money to get money acceptable for the Jews. And there again was another price to be paid. It was a racket. All these people cared about was their own pocketbook, their own money. They didn't care about the people. It was awful. The times, Luke is letting us know, the times were horrendous. The people were oppressed. The people don't have a way out. They're in a hopeless world, and this hopeless world we're looking at is filled with hopeless people who don't have a chance from any angle, whether it be politically or religiously, spiritually, they have no chance. As it were, their lives are in the hands of the leaders. And I want you to look. So John has set the date, and now he set the historical and the religious setting through these names. How many did we count? Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate, Herod. We got Brother Philip. Now Philip, they say he was the best of the bad. You've got Lysanias and you've got Annas and Caiaphas, so that's seven. I mean, that's it. It's checkmate for these Jewish people. Even though God had promised the land to Abraham, they don't possess the land. They're in dire straits. These high priests, it's good to know, most of them were Sadducees. They were not Pharisees. They were Sadducees. They didn't believe in a word of God. They didn't believe in angels. They didn't believe in miracles. They didn't believe in the Old Testament. What did they believe in? Money. Money, money, money. They were the religious liberals of the day. And that's the only reason they Did what they did. And what's interesting is if you follow Luke's writing into Acts, you'll follow it and follow it and follow it and finally you'll get to a place and you'll find out that even the priests started receiving Jesus. Pretty amazing. But look what happens. So he's established the date, he's established the context. What was going on when John arrived on the scene and began his ministry? What was going on when Jesus came about six months later? Well, look at this. The Bible says the word of God came to John. Right in the midst of that mess, here comes our Lord. Listen, never forget that right in the midst of your mess is when our Lord often shows up to show the way. He did it then and there, and he continues to do it here and now. And we give him praise, but let's look at this short phrase, the word of God came to John. Now the word there, see, we have one word for word in English. But in the Hebrew, or in the Greek, there's several different words for word. So it's important to note the difference, and we really don't in our English translations. You just read word, you think, well, it's word, okay. But there's different words for word, and I'll show you here in a minute. Right here, the word of God came to John. The word here, is Rhema. Rhema. Now, we're used to the word Lagos, the Greek word Lagos, means word of God. It's used in reference to the word of God all the time. Over in 2 Timothy, where Paul says, preach the word, be instant, in season and out of season, the word there is Lagos. He says, preach the word. But you know what's interesting? Romans 10, 17, faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God. It's not logos, it's rhema. So what's the difference? Logos is general, rhema is more particular, more specific. Have you ever been read, I've heard this story before. So somebody be talking about their salvation experience and I'll say, you know, I was in church that day And I was listening to the preacher, and it seemed like he was just talking to me. Well, we know what's going on. Yeah, the Lord is using the preacher, but the Lord is talking to that person. That's rhema. Logos is the general word, and rhema is the specific word that will at times come to you, and you go, that's for me. It could be with regard to salvation. It could be something else. You could be seeking God for an answer. You could be seeking God for some wisdom, some light. What direction do I go? What do I do here? Wisdom. And God, you're reading the word and you just come upon it and go, that's mine. Boom. Right there in your heart. So that's the difference between Ramah and Lagos. And you know what? It amazes me that we don't talk about that more often because there is a difference. And you know what? They're both really good. They're both really good. Well, does that mean I just leave off Logos? No, no, no, no. Your Rhema will probably come out of Logos. You keep bringing the Word of God. But it is an interesting statement. So right here, it's Rhema. The Word of God came to John. Now, do I think this has to do with his call? I do. I think it has to do with his call as a prophet, but I also think that it is the Word of God that John was to speak to the people. So it's the Word of God with regard to John's call, it's the Word of God with regard to what the message, the message that John would speak. And so the Word of God, and I would rather, if I were going to translate this, I wouldn't say the Word of God came to John, I would say the Word of God came upon John. Because there is the sense here, the Word of God comes down and there is pressure on the person as they sense the Word of God being imparted to their life, their heart. Genesis 15-1, Abraham, the Word of God came to Abraham. Ezekiel, the Word of God came to Ezekiel. You have it all with the prophets. So John the Baptist is in line with these Old Testament prophets. But right in the middle of all this mess, what is man to do? Which way is man to turn? How is man to extricate himself from all the political and all the spiritual and all the religious and all the social nonsense of the times? What is a man to do? And God right there shows up bringing a word to John. I like what Paul says in Galatians chapter 4, he says, but when the fullness of time came, this is the fullness of time, God sent his son Jesus, born of woman, born under the law, that he might redeem us who were born under the law to the adoption as sons. So it's the fullness of time. God's timing is perfect. God's timing is right on. God is always on time. And he brings the word of God to John, the son of Zacharias. We've heard of him. He was a guy in the temple, John's dad. And where was he? In the wilderness. And we're talking Raphael. I mean, he's basically out alone there in the desert, in the wilderness. It is a rough life. It is dry. It is a devastating place to be. But that's where he's raised. And you know what? The locale of his ministry never changes. Because the Bible says he came into all the district around the Jordan. There he is, out in the wilderness. And he's preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. He's heralding the coming of Jesus. He's telling the people what they should do. So we have the appearance of John. We have the proclamation of John. He's telling the people what they need to do. It's a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. And then, and this is the last point. Speaking of the Word of God, God establishes His Word. So He establishes the date, He establishes the times, the historical, social, religious, spiritual times in which they lived, and how horrendous it was, how bad it was, and then He establishes the Word of God. And we first see the Word of God coming to John, and then Luke quotes Isaiah. Now, all the synoptic writers quote Isaiah, but none quote this much of Isaiah. Most will quote a verse or two, but Luke goes further. So what does he say? He says, this was all written in Isaiah's prophecy. He says, as it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet. the voice of one crying in the wilderness. That'd be John. Make ready the way of the Lord. Make his path straight. That just means John's pointing to Jesus. He'll say it time and again, and it's not me. There's one coming after me. I'm not even worthy to take his sandals off. There's one coming after me. He says every ravine will be filled. What's that mean? It means those who humble themselves will be lifted up. And he says every mountain and hill will be brought low. Those who resist the word and the will of God, those who are too prideful to receive the word of the Lord from John, Or Jesus, he says, every mountain and hill will be brought low. God resists the proud, but God gives grace to the humble. The crooked will become straight. What's that mean? It means that God is all about conversion. God wants to change your life. And when you humble yourself before the Lord, He can change your life. He will change your life. He'll transform your heart. He may not change the circumstances around you, but He will change you. The crooked will become straight. God's the only one that can do that. And the rough road smooth. What's that mean? It means He's gonna remove obstacles. I mean, look at it today. We have the Gospel right before us. We have the Word of God right before us. We came to church today in relative ease. I mean, we have eternity right before us. We have heaven before us. The Gospel of Jesus Christ His payment on the cross for our sins, through the shedding of His blood. All of this, we sit here, we hear it, we see it. He says the rough road's smooth, He's removed the obstacles. I mean, let me ask it this way, what's standing between you and heaven right now? Nothing. Nothing. The obstacles have been removed. The truth is, the obstacle we most have to deal with is self. And then he says this, and this is fabulous. And all flesh will see the salvation of God. So this salvation of God in Jesus is just going to be before our very eyes through the Word of God. And we are drawn to it. We appreciate it. We want to receive it. And he says all flesh will see the salvation of God. And there will be many, many people who respond to Jesus. They receive Christ. They receive the forgiveness of sin. They even receive more of the benefits of God in their life on earth in spite of the mess around them. And this is the glory of God. So He establishes a date for us. He establishes a historical context. Things were bad then. Listen, are the world systems any better now? No. No. No. But He invites us to receive a spiritual kingdom and to walk in that spiritual kingdom the rest of our days on earth. And without skipping a beat, He'll usher us into glory. We give Him praise. There's nothing standing between you and Jesus today. If you've just resisted, Receiving Christ as your Savior, trusting him as your Savior, I would encourage you today to simply trust him and tell someone that you've trusted him today. Father in heaven, we thank you for this time together. Lord, we thank you for Luke. He went through a lot researching, investigating, writing it down so that we would know the exact truth. And Lord, I just pray right now for anyone who does not know Jesus, that they would know Jesus, that they would, the obstacles would be removed and that they would receive Jesus and this eternal life that is offered through Christ. We give you this time and we trust that you and you alone have been glorified. We pray in his name, amen. Please stand, turn number 320. Jesus' name above all names. ♪ Jesus, name above all names ♪ Beautiful Savior, glorious Lord ♪ Emmanuel, God is with us ♪ Blessed Redeemer, living Word