PT-1 “The Son’s Baptism” (Luke 3:21)

 

EVENING SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 4/30/2026 6:42 PM

My Worship Time                                                                     Focus:  PT-1 “The Son’s Baptism”

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                                       Reference:  Luke 3:21

            Message of the verse:  “Now when all the people were baptized, Jesus was also baptized and while He was praying, heaven opened,”

            When I began looking at the gospel of Luke I learned that 40% of Luke’s gospel was not in the other three gospels, and yet there are some things missing from his gospel that are important to know and understand, and so I suppose that is why God put four gospels in His Bible. 

            When Jesus baptized it was not some kind of private affair as some think that it was: “when all the people were baptized, Jesus was also baptized.  Jesus’ thirty years in obscurity were over, and the time had come for Him to publicly launch His ministry.  Now all does not  refer the entire nation of Israel, or even to all who came out to hear John.  So not everyone heard John’s message repented; in 7:30, Luke notes that “the Pharisees and the lawyers rejected God’s purpose for themselves, not having been baptized by John.” But all those who responded to John’s preaching were baptized. 

            Now at the height of Jon’s ministry Jesus came along with the crowds to be baptized.  Now there really was nothing  to distinguish Him; He had done no miracles, there was not halo around His head, His divine glory was veiled, and He wore no special messianic vestments.  This is how God had planned for this to happen, and so we must not read anything into these verses that is not there.  Even John did not recognize Him at first (John 1:31; although they were cousins, the had lived in different regions: John is in the Judean wilderness (Luke 1:80) and Jesus in Galilee.  There is not indication in Scripture that they had ever met before this incident, which would in fact be their only meeting, and this is speculation because the Bible does not confirm it.  John’s ministry would continue only for about another six months before his imprisonment and execution as we have already written about this truth.

            MacArthur writes “Matthew’s account relates that John was extremely reluctant to baptize Jesus (the verb translated ‘to prevent’ in Matthew 3:14 is an intense, compound verb, and the imperfect tense suggests a dialogue between John and Jesus), and exclaimed, ‘I have need to be baptized by You, and do You come to me?’ (Matt. 3:14).  John’s baptism involved a public confession of sin and repentance…  John was unwilling to baptize Jesus because he knew that He was the holy Son of God, and thus did not need to undergo John’s baptism of repentance.  John may have been concerned that people not draw the wrong conclusion about Jesus and assume He was acknowledging Himself to be a sinner.  John’s defensiveness was groundless, as would shortly become evident.

            “Jesus had a specific purpose for being baptized.  It was not, as the apocryphal Gospel According to the Hebrews claimed, to pleas His mother and brothers.  Still less was it so that the ‘Christ spirit’ could indwell the purely human Jesus, as the Gnostics falsely taught.  Nor was it to affirm John’s ministry, or to act as though He was a sinner to preview His work of sin-bearing on the cross.  Jesus plainly stated His purpose in being baptized when He said to John, ‘Permit it at this time; for in this way it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness (Matthew 3:15).

            “According to John 1:33, God commanded John the Baptist to baptize.  Therefore, He wanted people to be baptized, and it was incumbent on the righteous to do so.  And whatever God required the righteous to do, Jesus did—even things He personally did not need to do.  For example, Jesus faithfully participated in the Passover celebration, which pictured God’s deliverance of His people from sin.  Yet He had no sin to be delivered from (Matthew 17:24-27 provides another illustration:

“24 ¶  When they came to Capernaum, the collectors of the two-drachma tax went up to Peter and said, “Does your teacher not pay the tax?” 25  He said, “Yes.” And when he came into the house, Jesus spoke to him first, saying, “What do you think, Simon? From whom do kings of the earth take toll or tax? From their sons or from others?” 26  And when he said, "From others," Jesus said to him, "Then the sons are free. 27  However, not to give offense to them, go to the sea and cast a hook and take the first fish that comes up, and when you open its mouth you will find a shekel. Take that and give it to them for me and for yourself.’”

“As the Son of God, Jesus was exempt from paying the temple tax.  But to do what righteous people do, He paid it anyway.”

Lord willing I will finish this section tomorrow morning.

4/30/2026 7:24 PM

PT-2 “Intro to ‘The Messiah’s Divine Confirmation’” (Luke 3:21-22)

 

MORNING SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 4/30/2026 7:56 AM

My Worship Time                           Focus: PT-2 “Intro to ‘The Messiah’s Divine Confirmation’”

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                                 Reference:  Luke 3:21-22

            Message of the verses:  “Now when all the people were baptized, Jesus was also baptized, and while He was praying, heaven was opened, and the Holy Spirit descended upon Him in bodily form like a dove, and a voice come out of heaven, “You are My Beloved Son, in You I am well-pleased.”

            I will continue to quote from John MacArthur’s introduction to these verses in this morning’s SD.

            “But of all the historic New Testament witnesses to Jesus Christ the most significant was God the Father in John  5:37, Jesus said to the Jewish leaders, ‘The Father who sent Me, He has testified of Me,’ and in 8:18, He added, ‘The Father who sent Me testifies about Me.’  Concerning the Father’s testimony to the Son, the apostle John wrote,

“The testimony of God is this, that He has testified concerning His Son.  The one who believes in the Son of God has the testimony in himself; the one who does not believe God has made Him a liar, because he has not believed in the testimony that God has given concerning His Son.  And the testimony is this, that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. (1 John 5:9b-11)

“At the transfiguration the terrified disciples heard the Father’s ‘voice out of the cloud [saying], This is My beloved Son, with whom I am well-pleased; listen to Him! (Matthew 17:5).          

            “The Father also testified audibly concerning Jesus at His baptism.  That testimony, recorded in verse 22, is the main point of this powerful majestic passage.  Though brief, it opens up a wide panorama of truth, as it reveals the Spirit’s and the Father’s confirmation of Jesus as Messiah and Savior.

            “These verses also mark the final transition from the story of John the Baptist to Jesus.  Everything up to this point has set the stage for the ministry of Jesus Christ.  That ministry, launched here at His baptism, will be the theme and focus of the remainder of Luke’s gospel.

            “This passage is also one of the most significant Trinitarian texts in the New Testament, as the Father speaks, the Holy Spirit descends, and Jesus is baptized.  That all appear simultaneously refutes the heresy know as modalism (or modalistic Monarchianism.  Modalism is also known as Sabellianism after Sabellius, its most prominent advocate in the early church).  In modern times, it is the teaching of the so-called ‘oneness’ groups, the largest of which is the United Pentecostal Church.  Modalism denies the biblical teaching that God exists eternally in three persons.  It views Him as one person, the Father, who also manifests Himself at various times as the Holy Spirit, and on other occasions as the Son.  That view is untenable in light of this and other passages where the members of the Trinity are clearly distinguished from each other (e.g., Matt. 10:32-33; 11:25-27; 17:1-5; 26:39, 42; 28:19; Luke 23:46; John 5:17-26; 11:41; 12:28; 16:28; 17:1-26; 20:17; Acts 7:55-56; Col. 3:1; Heb. 1:3; 8:1; 10:12; 12:2; 1 Peter 1:17; 1 John 2:1).

            “This text may be approached by looking at it in relation to each of the persons of the Godhead; the Son’s baptism, the Spirit’s anointing, and the Father’s testimony.”

Spiritual Meaning for my Life today:  Looking at this last paragraph in MacArthur’s commentary I read about things that had words in it that were new to me, and what I saw in parts of that paragraph are workings of Satan who has to be behind the thinking that there is no trinity.  There is a trinity, for MacArthur gives many verse references to prove that the Bible teaches that.

My Steps of Faith for Today:  I trust the Lord to get me to Columbus tomorrow without any problems with my IBS, and most of all that the doctors who will see my wife will have some things that will help her fight this battle with this aggressive cancer that has invaded her body.

4/30/2026 8:21 AM

 

“Intro to ‘The Messiah’s Divine Confirmation’” (Luke 3:21-22)

 

EVENING SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 4/29/2026 6:18 PM

My Worship Time                                  Focus:  “Intro to ‘The Messiah’s Divine Confirmation’”

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                                 Reference:  Luke 3:21-22

            Message of the verses:  “Now when all the people were baptized, Jesus was also baptized, and while He was praying, heaven was opened, and the Holy Spirit descended upon Him in bodily form like a dove, and a voice come out of heaven, “You are My Beloved Son, in You I am well-pleased.”

            I realize that one has to go to the other gospel accounts to find out what the Lord Jesus Christ did after His baptism, as He went out into the wilderness to fast for 30 days and then was tempted by the devil, which was difficult on Him because He was without food for thirty days.  I have mentioned in earlier SD’s that when one looks at the words “and then He became hungry,” is the truth about what happens when one fast for a long period of time.  I have read of a person fasting for up to three months, and it was not dangerous for him because he had not yet become hungry.  Jesus’ body was in perfect condition because He did not have a sin nature, and so He became hungry after only thirty days.

            Now the central theme of both Old Testament prophecy and New Testament preaching is the Lord Jesus Christ.  Now the Bible, particularly the Gospels, is filled with testimony of Him (Luke 24:44; John 5:30; Revelation 19:10).”

(Luke 24:44; John 5:30; Revelation 19:10)

“44  Then he said to them, “These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.’”

“39  You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me,”

“10  Then I fell down at his feet to worship him, but he said to me, “You must not do that! I am a fellow servant with you and your brothers who hold to the testimony of Jesus. Worship God.” For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.”

“After her conversation with Jesus in which He revealed Himself to be the Messiah (John 4:26), the Samaritan woman went back to her village “and said to the men, ‘Come, see the man who told me all the things that I have done; this is not the Christ is it?’” (v. 29).  As a result, “From that city many of the Samaritans believed in Him because of the word of the woman who testified, ‘He told all the things that I have done’’’ (v. 39).  Now Jesus’ supernatural knowledge of him moved Nathanel to testify, “Rabbi, You are the Son of God; You are the King of Israel” (John 1:49).

            John MacArthur then writes “Not only His omniscient knowledge, but also His miraculous works testified to Jesus.  In John 5 :36 Jesus said to His opponents, ‘The works which the Father has given Me to accomplish—the very works that I do—testify about Me, that the Father has sent Me’ (cf.  10:25).

            As befitting those chosen to be His witnesses (Acts  1:8), the apostles continually testified about Jesus Christ.  In response to the Lord’s query, ‘Who do you say that I am?’  (Matt. 16:15) Peter replied, ‘You are the Christ, the Son of the living God’ (v. 16).  The apostle John twice recorded his testimony to Jesus: ‘And he who has seen has testified, and his testimony is true; and he knows that he is telling the truth, so that you also may believe’ (John 19:35); ‘This is the disciple who is testifying to these things and wrote these things, and we know that his testimony is true’ (John 21:24; cf. 1 John 1:2; 4:14; Rev. 1:1-2, 9).  Jesus told the apostles, ‘You will testify…because you have been with Me from the beginning’ (John 15:27), and the book of Acts records that they did just that (Acts 4:33; 10:42; 18:5; 20:21).

            “As has been noted in previous chapters of this volume, it was the mission of John the Baptist, the forerunner of the Messiah, to bear witness to Jesus.  John ‘came as a witness, to testify about the Light’ (John  1:7; cf. v-8); he ‘testified about Him and cried out, saying, ‘This was He of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me has a higher rank that I, for He existed before me’’’ (v. 15); ‘Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!’…I myself have seen, and have testified that this is the Son of God’ (vv. 29, 34).  Both John’s disciples (John 3:26) and Jesus (John 5:33) referred to John’s testimony to Jesus.

            “Holy angels gave testimony to the deity of our Lord (1:35; cf. Matt. 1:23).  Even demons gave testimony to the Lord Jesus as God: ‘I know who You are—the Holy One of God!’  said the demon in the synagogue in Capernaum (Mark 1:24; cf. v. 34).

            “Moving to the Trinity, the Holy Spirit has testified to Jesus. ‘When the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father,’ Jesus told His disciples, ‘that is the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify about Me’ (John   15:26).  In John 16:13-14, He added,

“13  When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. 14  He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you.”

“Peter and the apostles declared to the Sanhedrin, ‘The [Christ] is the one whom God exalted to His right hand as a Prince and a Savior, to grant repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins.  And we are witnesses of these things; and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey Him’ (Acts 5:31-32).  Speaking of the Spirit’s testimony to Jesus the apostle John wrote,

“6 ¶  This is he who came by water and blood—Jesus Christ; not by the water only but by the water and the blood. And the Spirit is the one who testifies, because the Spirit is the truth. 7  For there are three that testify: 8  the Spirit and the water and the blood; and these three agree.”

            There is more to this introduction, but I will save it until tomorrow morning’s SD.

4/29/2026 6:57 PM

 

“Prison” (Luke 3:20)

 

MORNING SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 4/29/2026 10:07 AM

My Worship Time                                                                                                 Focus:  “Prison”

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                                       Reference:  Luke 3:20

            Message of the verse:  “Herod also added this to them all: he locked John up in prison.”

            This morning we come to the last section from John MacArthur’s commentary on Luke where he will cover just the first five chapters of Luke in this first volume of Luke’s gospel. In this SD we will look at what will happen to John the Baptist after his preaching is concluded.  I think that it is good to know that when we look at John’s preaching here that it is kind of a summary of what he had been preaching about for around six months.

            MacArthur begins his commentary on this verse by writing about Antipas’s marriage to Herodias, as it was wrong on several counts.  “First, they divorced their spouses to marry each other.  Second, their relationship was also incestuous, since she as his niece. Finally, Antipas’s marriage to her was a flagrant violation of the Mosaic law, which explicitly prohibited a man from marrying his brother’ wife (Lev. 20:21).”

 (Lev. 20:21)

“21  If a man takes his brother’s wife, it is impurity. He has uncovered his brother’s nakedness; they shall be childless.”

“The only exception was to produce offspring if his brother died (Levirate marriage).  But Philip already had offspring (Salome; see the discussion below).  Moreover, he was still alive.

            “Although he was calling Herod to repent out of concern for his soul, John’s uncompromising rebuke of the couple’s illicit marriage was explosive politically.  As noted above, Aretas was already infuriated that Antipas had divorced his daughter to marry Herodias.  Now the widely popular John the Baptist was denouncing his sin.  Moving to silence the bold preacher, Herod added to his already lengthy list of iniquities the most public one of them all: he locked John up in prison.”

            This is the end of Luke’s story about John the Baptist, but there is more to this story as Matthew and Mark record the grim final episode of his life.  Wanting to execute John, but Herod was actually afraid of the people’s reaction as seen in Matthew 14:5 “5  And though he wanted to put him to death, he feared the people, because they held him to be a prophet.”  So Herod kept him in prison.  However more imprisonment was not enough for the vindictive Herodias who “had a grudge against [John] and she wanted to put him to death as seen in Mark 6:19 “19  And Herodias had a grudge against him and wanted to put him to death. But she could not.”  Eventually, she found a way to manipulate her husband and get what she wanted, as that was the kind of woman she was.  At a gala celebration of Antipas’s birthday Herodias’s daughter from her marriage to Philip, and in the writings of Josephus he states her name as Salome, and Salome performed a lude and immoral dance before Herod and his guests.  Herod and his guests were seduced by her performance, wanting to play the magnanimous ruler before his guests, and the truth is that Herod and his guest were probably very drunk, and so because of that Herod “promised with an oath to give her whatever she asked” (Matthew 14:7).  Prompted by her vengeful mother, the girl replied, “Give me here on a platter the head of John the Baptist (v. 8).  Grieved over the outcome of his foolish promise but too proud to break it, Herod reluctantly ordered John’s decapitation (Matthew. 14:10).  “10  He sent and had John beheaded in the prison.”

            Now actually in the end killing John did not accomplish anything for Herod and Herodias, for in my last SD I wrote about how they lost everything and went into exile.  MacArthur writes “And Herod was haunted by guilt over what he had done.  Thus when reports of Jesus’ ministry reached him, Herod exclaimed, ‘This is John the Baptist; he has risen from the dead, and that is why miraculous powers are at work in him’ (Matthew 14:2).  And Herod would add to his guilt by playing a role in the trial of Jesus (Luke 23:7-12).”

(Luke 23:7-12)

“7  And when he learned that he belonged to Herod’s jurisdiction, he sent him over to Herod, who was himself in Jerusalem at that time. 8  When Herod saw Jesus, he was very glad, for he had long desired to see him, because he had heard about him, and he was hoping to see some sign done by him. 9  So he questioned him at some length, but he made no answer. 10  The chief priests and the scribes stood by, vehemently accusing him. 11  And Herod with his soldiers treated him with contempt and mocked him. Then, arraying him in splendid clothing, he sent him back to Pilate. 12  And Herod and Pilate became friends with each other that very day, for before this they had been at enmity with each other.”

            MacArthur concludes “John’s humble acceptance of his subordinate role is an example for all preachers (and all believers) of humility.  John confrontively and fearlessly spoke the truth, thus faithfully carrying out his ministry. He boldly called for repentance no matter what it cost him. In an age of ear-tickling preaching (2 Tim. 4:3) and self-promoting preachers (Phil. 1:17), the church desperately needs more bold, yet humble preachers like the Baptist.”

(2 Tim. 4:3)

“3  For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions,”

(Phil. 1:17)

“17  The former proclaim Christ out of selfish ambition, not sincerely but thinking to afflict me in my imprisonment.”

Spiritual Meaning for my Life Today:  Learn from John the Baptist and be bold in speaking the truth no matter what it may cost me.

My Steps of Faith for Today:  I am trusting the Lord to give my wife help from the new doctor that we will see this Friday.

4/29/2026 10:45 AM

 

  

“Personalizing” (Luke 3:19)

 

EVENING SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 4/28/2026 8:43 PM

My Worship Time                                                                                      Focus:  “Personalizing”

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                                  Reference:  “Luke 3:19”

            Message of the verse:  “But when Herod the tetrarch was reprimanded by him because of Herodias, his brother’s wife, and because of all the wicked things which Herod had done,”

            As we been looking at John’s preaching we can see that his bold preaching has been directed to large audiences, but also to separate individuals.  Even Herod Antipas, the tetrarch of Galilee and also Pera, where John was ministering, did not escape being reprimanded by him.  Antipas was a son of Herod the Great.  His long reign from 4 B.C. to A.D. 39 encompassed the entire ministry of Jesus Christ. Now with the exception of the birth narratives seen in Matthew 2:1-19; and Luke 1:5, Antipas is the Herod who appears in the gospel accounts.  He was actually not a Jew; his father, Herod the Great, was an Idumean (Edomite) and his mother, Malthace, was a Samaritan.  That he was descended from the despised Edomites and Samaritans did not endear Antipas to his Jewish subjects as the did not like either of them.  Neither did his actions as ruler, in particular building Tiberias, his capital city, on the site of a Jewish cemetery.  Now because they considered the site to be defiled, Antipas had a hard time persuading any Jews to settle there.  It was Herod Antipas’s father who was really a ruthless man who if memory serves me correctly killed many of his son because he thought that they would take over his kingdom.  Bad blood line for sure!

            One might thing that it would be wrong to rebuke a ruler of Herod’s status, John was not deterred.  MacArthur writes “The verb translated reprimanded is a present passive participle, indicating continuous action.  John continually challenged the moral character of this ruler because of all the wicked things which Herod had done.”  Now as we have been looking at the different challenges that John the Baptist has been speaking to different people groups, it is no wonder that he challenged Herod on this matter.

            MacArthur goes on to write “Of all of Herod’s sins, one glaring one stood out publicly: his illicit marriage toe Herodias, his brother’s wife.  This sordid story was nothing less than a first-century soap opera.  Marital problems were nothing new to the Herod’s; Antipas’s father, Herod the Great, for example, had ten wives.  Antipas had married the daughter of Aretas, the king of Nabates, a region located just south of Perea.  While on a journey to Rome, Antipas visited his half brother Philip (Not Philip the tetrarch mentioned in 3:1).  While staying with him, Antipas became infatuated with Philip’s wife Herodias (who was also Antipas’s niece, the daughter of another of his half brothers).  The ambitious Herodias was eager to be wife of a tetrarch (Her husband, Philip, was a private citizen) and agreed to marry Antipas on the condition that he divorce Aretas’s daughter. Aretas was outraged over his insult, and his smoldering resentment later led to war between him and Antipas.  Antipas was defeated by Aretas and saved from disaster only by Romen intervention.

            “Herodias would ultimately prove to be Herod’s downfall.   After Emperor Caligula granted Herodias’s brother Agrippa I (Acts 12:1) the title of king, she demanded that Herod go to Rome and obtain the same title.  (The gospel references to him as king [Matt. 14:9; Mark 6:14, 22] reflect informal popular usage of the term.)  But before Herod and Herodias reached Rome, a messenger from Agrippa accused Herod of wrong-doing.  As a result, Caligula deposed Herod who, accompanied by Herodias. Was banished  permanently to a city in what is now France. 

            “Antipas and Herodias are reminiscent of another ill-fated couple, Ahab and Jezebel.  ‘Like Ahab,’ writes D. A. Carson, ‘Antipas was wicked but weak, and Herodias, like Jezebel, wicked and ruthless’ (Matthew, in Frank E. Gaebelein, ed., The Expositor’s Bible Commentary [Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1984], 8:338).  Antipas’s weakness coupled with Herodias’s ruthlessness ensured that eventually their sins could only bring disastrous consequences.”  There is an old saying that many times comes true:  “What goes around comes around” and this is certainly true in this case.

4/28/2026 9:20 PM

“Preaching” (Luke 3:18)

 

MORNING SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 4/28/2026 8:55 AM

My Worship Time                                                                                            Focus:  “Preaching”

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                                       Reference:  Luke 3:18

            Message of the verse:  “So with many other exhortations he preached the gospel to the people.”

            There are many things going on in my life today as I have to go to the hospital to get a test, which they must put me to sleep.  Due to her cancer my wife is in pain this morning and is suppose to drive me home, so we are praying that she will be able to do that.

            John MacArthur writes:  “As noted in the previous chapter of this volume, John ministered for many months in the Judean wilderness near the Jordan River.  Large crowds flocked to hear him, and speculation was rampant that he might be Israel’s long-awaited Messiah.  John was not the Messiah, but he preached the gospel to the people, calling them to repent and baptizing those who did so in preparation for the Messiah’s coming.  His exhortation exposed the wickedness of their hearts, condemned heir reliance on ritual and their Abrahamic heritage for salvation, and warned them that they would face God’s wrath and judgment if they did not truly  and evidently repent. His message was not confined to the Jewish people, however, as his condemnation of Herod, a non-Jew, indicates.

            “John’s ministry overlapped that of Jesus, continuing for as long as six months after he baptized Him.  But as Jesus came to the forefront, His ministry eclipsed John’s.  In John 3:22-36, the apostle John recorded John the Baptist’s final testimony to Jesus, as his ministry wound down to its conclusion.  Verses 22-23 not that both Jesus (through His disciples; cf.4:2) and John were baptizing, indicating the overlap in their ministries from Christ’s temptation to John’s imprisonment.  John’s gospel supplements the account of the Synoptic Gospels by revealing what took place between those two events.

            “Disturbed by their master’s declining popularity, John’s disciples ‘said to him, ‘Rabbi, He who was with you beyond the Jordan, to whom you have testified, behold, He is baptizing and all are coming to Him’”(v.26).  Though his disciples may have lost sight of the purpose of John’s ministry, which was to point Israel to the Messiah, John had not.  ‘A man can receive nothing,’ he reminded them, ‘unless it has been given him from heaven.  You yourselves are my witnesses that I said, ‘I am not the Christ,’ but, ‘I have been sent ahead of Him’’(vv. 27-28).  John saw Jesus’ increasing popularity not as a threat to his ministry, but as its fulfillment.  To make his point perfectly clear, John told his disciples, ‘He [Jesus] must increase, but I must decrease’ (v. 30).  Then in verses 31-36 John gave six reasons why Jesus was superior to him.

            “First, Jesus had a heavenly origin.  He is the one ‘who comes from above [and] is above all’ (v. 31; cf. 6:33, 38-50-51, 58; 8:42; 13:3; 16:28; 17:8; 1 Cor. 15:47; Eph. 4:10), which affirms His deity.

            “Second, Jesus is omniscient.  His teaching is superior to anyone else’s because He is the source of divine revelation.  ‘What He has seen and heard’ in the heavenly realm, of that He testifies’ (v. 32).

            “Third, what Jesus said was always in complete harmony with God the Father, so that ‘he who has received His testimony has set his seal to this, that God is true’ (v.33).  Conversely, to reject Jesus is to call God a liar (1 John 5:10).

            “Forth, Jesus experienced the power of the Holy Spirit in an unlimited way; God gave Jesus ‘the Spirit without measure’ (v. 34).  That is in contrast to all others who spoke for God, even the prophets and the inspired writers of Scripture.  Their ability to receive the Spirit’s power was limited by their sinful, fallen human natures.  But since in Christ ‘all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form ‘(Col. 2:9), there was no limits on the Spirit’s power working in Him.

            “Fifth, Jesus has received all authority from the Father, who ‘has given all things into His hand (v. 35).  The Father’s granting Him supreme authority over everything in heaven and earth.  (Matt. 11:27; 28:18; 1 Cor. 15:27; Eph. 1:22; Phil. 2:9-11; Heb. 1:2; 1 Peter 3:22) is a clear testimony to the Son’s deity.

            “Finally, Jesus alone is the Savior (Acts 4:12), and ‘he who believes in the Son has eternal life; but he who does not obey the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him’ (36).  Since in Isaiah 43:11 God declared, ‘I, even I, am the Lord and there is no savior besides Me,’ to say that Jesus is Savior is to say that He is God.

            “Having given this final testimony to the Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ, John faded from the scene.  The work of the great prophet was over.”

4/28/2026 9:40 AM

 

PT-2 Intro. To “The Boldness of John the Baptist”

 

EVENING SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 4/27/2026 7:15 PM

My Worship Time                                                                 Focus:  Introduction to Luke 3:18-20

My Worship Time                                Focus: PT-2 Intro. To “The Boldness of John the Baptist”

            Message of the verses:  “So with many other exhortations he preached the gospel to the people.  But when Herod the tetrarch was reprimanded by him because of Herodias, his brother’s wife, and because of all the wicked things Herod had done, Herod also added this to them all: he locked John up in prison.” 

            It is my desire to complete John MacArthur’s introduction to these verses above.

            “Among the hundreds of  Protestants martyred in England during the reign of Mary Tudor (‘Bloody Mary’) was the great preacher Hugh Latimer.  As he was about to be burned at the stake along with fellow reformer Nicolas Ridley, Latimer said to him, ‘Be of good comfort, Master Ridley, and play the man; we shall this day light such a candle by God’s grace in England as I trust.

            “In modern times many faithful preachers of God’s Word have faced persecution or martyrdom in such places as China, the Middle East, parts of Africa and India, and elsewhere.  Nevertheless, as Paul wrote during his own imprisonment for the cause of Christ, ‘the word of God is not imprisoned’ (2 Tim. 2:9).

            “The first of many through the ages who would be martyred for faithfully testifying to Christ was His forerunner, John the Baptist.  By human standards, John’s career does not appear to have been very successful.  His brief ministry of about a year was spent in the Judean wilderness, and ended with a long stretch in prison followed by his being beheaded.

            “But such an evaluation of John’s career is misguided.  The truth is, he was eminently used by God to accomplish the task for which he was born (Luke 1:13-17, 76)—so much so that Jesus said of him, ‘Truly I say to you, among those born of women there was not arisen anyone greater than John the Baptist!’(Matt. 11:11).  John accomplished precisely what God purposed him to.

            “Having given examples of his preaching and interacting with the crowds in verses 7-17, Luke closed out the story of John the Baptist with this brief summary of his ministry.  It should be noted that Luke’s insertion of this  section here was not chronological, but thematic.  John was not actually imprisoned until later in Jesus’ ministry, but Luke pulls his imprisonment back to this point to conclude his account of John’s ministry and set Jesus on center stage.  For the rest of Luke’s gospel John appears only in reference to Him.

            “Three Words, ‘preaching,’ ‘personalizing ,’ and ‘persecution,’ help unfold John’s impact.”

4/27/2026 7:27 PM