MORNING SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 4/18/2026
10:18 AM
My
Worship Time Focus:
PT-1 “The
Historical Setting”
Bible
Reading & Meditation Reference: Luke
3:1-2a
Message of the verses: “Now in the fifteenth year of the reign of
Tiberius Caesar, when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, and Herod was tetrarch
of Galilee, and his brother Philp was tetrarch of the region of Ituraea and
Tachonitis, and Lysanias was tetrarch of Abilene, in the high priesthood of
Annas and Caiaphas,”
As we begin this third chapter of Luke, he includes
seven individuals, five Gentiles and two Jews, in providing the background for
the ministries of John and Jesus. Now
his purpose in introducing them was not to provide an exact chronology, but
rather a general historical context. Now
the first name he mentions is Tiberius Caesar, illustrates that fact,
because there are two plausible ways of determining the fifteenth year of his
reign. There are some who argue
that Tiberius’s reign as emperor began at the death of his illustrious
predecessor Augustus Caesar, Rome’s first emperor, now we looked at him when we
studied Luke 2:1 earlier in this study of Luke.
Now since Augustus died on August 19, A.D. 14, that would mean John’s
ministry began in A.D. 29. “The more
traditional view counts the fifteen years not from Augustus’s death in A.D. 14,
but from A.D. 11, when Tiberius became his co-regent. John’s ministry would then have commenced in
A.D. 26.”
He goes on to write “While it is
impossible to be dogmatic, the latter view best harmonizes with the chronology
of the New Testament (cf. The Zondervan Pictorial Encyclopedia of the Bible,
s.v., “Chronology of the New Testament’; Lewis A. Foster, ‘The Chronology of
the New Testament’ in Frank E. Gaebelein, ).ed., The Expositor’s Bible
Commentary, vol. 1 [Grand Rapids; Zondervan 1979]. There are also several specific arguments in
favor of starting the fifteen years in A.D. 11 when Tiberius became co-regent.”
I realize that this is technical things
that MacArthur is writing, but I suppose that is one of the reasons that I
enjoy his commentaries. He goes on to
write “First, he reference to the co-regency of Annas and Caiaphas as high
priests (see the discussion below) suggests that Luke may also have had the
co-regency of Augustus and Tiberius in mind.
“Second, according to the
first-century Jewish historian Josephus, Herod the Great began building the
temple in 19 B.C. In John 2:20, the Jewish leaders said to Jesus, who was in
Jerusalem for the Passover, that the temple had been under construction for
forty-six years. That would make the
date of the Passover A.D. 27, which in turn places the start of Jesus’ public
ministry late in A.D. 26.
“Finally, according to Luke 3:23,
Jesus was about thirty years old when He began His public ministry. Since He was born shortly before the death of
Herod in 4 B.C., Jesus would have been about thirty in A.D. 26.
“Moving from the supreme ruler of
the Roman Empire to the highest-ranking local Roman authority, Luke next
introduced Pontius Pilate, who had been appointed the fifth governor
of Judea by Tiberius in A.D. 26 and
remained until he was removed from office in A.D. 36. The Gospels and extrabiblical sources portray
Pilate as proud, arrogant, and cynical (cf. John 18:38), and also weak and
vacillating.”
(cf. John 18:38)
“38 Pilate
said to him, "What is truth?" After he had said this, he went back outside to
the Jews and told them, "I find no guilt in him.”
Notice the
highlighted portion and one can wonder what, since Pilate had the Son of God
who knows everything why he asked the question but did not stay around for the
answer.
“As
governor, Pilate displayed insensitivity and brutality (cf. Luke 13:1).”
(cf. Luke 13:1)
“1 ¶ There were some present at that very time who
told him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their
sacrifices.”
“Reversing
the policy of the earlier governors, Pilate marched his troops into Jerusalem
carrying standards bearing images that the Jews viewed as idolatrous. Outraged, many protested heatedly against
what they saw as a sacrilege. Pilate
ignored their protests and ordered them, on pain of death, to stop bothering
him. But they called his bluff and dared
him to carry out his threat. Unwilling
to massacre so many people, Pilate removed the offending standards. The story
reveals his poor judgment, stubbornness, arrogance, and vacillating weakness. Pilate also engaged the Jews when he took
money from the temple treasury to build an aqueduct to bring water to Jerusalem. In the ensuing riots, his soldiers beat and
slaughtered many of the protesters.” As
I look at the writing from MacArthur about Pilate it reminds me of a story that
MacArthur wrote about that happened after Pilate died, from committing suicide when
his body was thrown into the Tiber River.
Now some say that when his body was thrown into the Tiber River that it
caused supernatural disturbances, leading it to be moved to Vienna (France) and
eventually near Lucerne, Switzerland.
These are stories and not sure that they are true, but it is known that
Pilate was the man that went along with the Jews to have Jesus killed, and must
have had some very bad mental effects on him, so it is no wonder he committed suicide.
“Ironically, the incident that
finally triggered Pilate’s removal from office involved not the Jews, but their
hated rivals the Samaritans. A group of
them decided to climb Mount Gerizim in search of golden objects Moses had
supposedly hidden on its summit.
Mistakenly thinking the Samaritans were insurrectionists, Pilate ordered
his troops to attack them, and many were killed. The Samaritans complained about Pilate’s
brutality to his immediate superior, the governor of Syria. He removed Pilate from office and ordered him
to Rome to be judged by Tiberius, but Tiberius died before Pilate reached
Rome. At that point, Pilate disappeared
from history. Some accounts claim that
he was banished, others that he was executed, still other that he committed suicide.”
Spiritual
Meaning for my Life Today: God is in control as I can see from my study
of Luke how He brought different people to be a part of the birth of His Son,
godly people and now His ministry will shortly begin something that I am
thankful to continue to read and study about it.
My Steps
of Faith for Today: Trust the Lord to bring revival to
me so that my life will be pleasing to God, as right now things are seemingly
not well with what is going on.
4/18/2026
11:20 AM
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