Luke 3:15 – 22 The Coming of the Messiah/The Baptism of Jesus

Luke 3:15 – 22 The Coming of the Messiah/The Baptism of Jesus

Now the people were filled with expectation, and all were asking in their hearts whether John might be the Messiah. John answered them all, saying, "I am baptizing you with water, but one mightier than I is coming. I am not worthy to loosen the thongs of his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fan is in his hand to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire." Exhorting them in many other ways, he preached good news to the people. Now Herod the tetrarch, who had been censured by him because of Herodias, his brother's wife, and because of all the evil deeds Herod had committed, added still another to these by (also) putting John in prison. After all the people had been baptized and Jesus also had been baptized and was praying, heaven was opened and the Holy Spirit descended upon him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven, "You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased."

In this part of the Gospel John speaks of the coming of the Messiah. It is the traditional message – the one John and the people are familiar with, a message of one who is mighty, a fierce enemy of the ones who have been persecuting Israel. This is called “the good news” by John. There is no mention of Jesus in this context, maybe John hasn’t put two and two together. It’s seems unlikely he would connect the mighty Messiah with his younger cousin. There is no actual mention in Luke’s gospel of John making the connection, at least yet. John must baptize Jesus, there is no mention of anyone else doing so, but neither is there an acknowledgement by John that Jesus is in fact the one they all are waiting for. The voice Jesus hears upon his baptism is God’s affirmation of him. YOU are my beloved son. On YOU my favor rests. It seems to be a private moment, not a public one. John appears to be making an exit and Jesus getting ready to make an entrance. The stage is set. God is ready to shake things up, break out of the old expectations of the past, to do something completely new, something completely unexpected.