Luke 3:5 “Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be brought low; and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough ways shall be made smooth;”    This is poetic imagery in the prophecy concerning John. But, the point is that the effect of his ministry was to be to…

Luke 3:4 “As it is written in the book of the words of Esaias the prophet, saying, The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.”    John was a very significant figure, and as such his importance must not be missed. Many people in…

Luke 3:3 ” And he came into all the country about Jordan, preaching the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins;”    What was this baptism? What did it do for the participants? John’s ministry was to the Jews. He was sent to tell them the Messiah had arrived. His baptism was a preemptive preparation…

Luke 3:2 “while Annas and Caiaphas were high priests, the word of God came to John the son of Zacharias in the wilderness.”    Annas and Caiaphas were both high priest at the time. Knowing this helps avoid some confusion in the gospels as each is referred to individually on occasion. John was the first…

Luke 3:1 “Now in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate being governor of Judea, Herod being tetrarch of Galilee, his brother Philip tetrarch of Iturea and the region of Trachonitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene,”    Tetrarchs ruled the various sections of a region. They thus shared rule of a…

Luke 2:52 “And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men.”    Spiritually, socially, mentally, and physically, Jesus grew. This is one of the mysteries of the incarnation. Though infinite, Jesus was able to increase. The Godhead made this possible. It is amazing to us, but no less a fact.…

Luke 2:51 “Then He went down with them and came to Nazareth, and was subject to them, but His mother kept all these things in her heart.”    Mary was processing all of this. She began to understand what was about to transpire. But, as of yet she still had a ways to go. This…

Luke 2:50 “But they did not understand the statement which He spoke to them.”    How often does this happen? God says something to us and we miss it completely. And why? We tend to always want to understand in our natural way. We fail to take into account His infinitude. We forget His limitless…

Luke 2:49 “And He said to them, “Why did you seek Me? Did you not know that I must be about My Father’s business?”    This is possibly one of the most difficult verses to understand in all of Scripture. Why would Jesus expect His parents to know where He would be? Often, if you…

Luke 2:48 “So when they saw Him, they were amazed; and His mother said to Him, “Son, why have You done this to us? Look, Your father and I have sought You anxiously.”    Everything we see in this verse points to the fact that this was not usual for Jesus. He did not have…