Luke 3
John the Baptist prepares people to meet Jesus
1 This report is about John, the son of Zechariah. It happened when Tiberius Caesar had been the Roman ruler for 15 years. Pontius Pilate was the Roman ruler of Judea. Herod had authority over the region of Galilee. Herod's brother Philip had authority over Iturea and Trachonitis. Lysanias had authority over Abilene. 2 At this time, the leaders of the priests were Annas and Caiaphas. John was living in the wilderness. While he was there, God spoke to him.
3:1Tiberius Caesar ruled over all the countries where Rome had authority. He began to rule in AD 11 after Caesar Augustus died. See Luke 2:1. This report about John the Baptist begins in AD 25-26. 3:1Galilee, Iturea, Trachonitis and Abilene were the names of some of the different regions of Judea, where the Romans had authority. They chose men to rule those places for them. Judea was the country where the Jewish people lived.
3 John went to many places near the Jordan River and spoke a message from God. ‘You have done many wrong things,’ he taught everybody. ‘You must turn away from them and change how you live. Then God will forgive you and I will baptize you.’
4 The prophet Isaiah wrote this message from God in his book:
‘Somebody's voice is shouting in the wilderness,
“The Lord will come soon, so prepare a way for him to follow.
Make the paths straight for him.
5 Fill in every valley and make every mountain and hill flat.
Take away every bend so that the road is straight.
Take away all the rocks so that the road is flat.
6 Then everyone will see how God can save them.” ’
3:6See Isaiah 40:3-5. Isaiah was using a picture to show people what would happen when the Lord was ready to come into the world. At that time, people mended the roads before a ruler arrived. Isaiah showed that someone would prepare the way for the Lord to come. John the Baptist was that person. 7 Crowds of people were going out into the wilderness. They wanted John to baptize them. He told them, ‘You are like dangerous snakes! God is angry. You are trying to run away from him. But he will soon punish people like you. 8 You have to show that you are sorry. Change how you live. Stop doing things that God does not like. Do not begin to say to yourselves, “We are in the family of Abraham. God will surely not punish us.” Listen! God can take these stones and make children for Abraham out of them! 9 You are like trees that have bad fruit. God has an axe ready to use. He will cut down every tree that does not make good fruit. He will throw those trees into the fire.’
3:8The Jews knew that they were God's special people. But how they lived was important to God. God wanted them to live good lives. At that time, many of them did not seem to understand that. When they did not obey him, he was angry with them. He was ready to punish those people, if they would not obey him.
3:8The Jews called themselves ‘children of Abraham’. God had used Abraham many centuries before to start their family.
10 ‘So what should we do?’ the crowd asked.
11 John answered, ‘If you have two shirts, give one away. Give it to someone who does not have even one shirt. If you have some food, give some of it away. Give some to someone who has no food.’
12 In the crowd, there were men who took taxes from people. These men also wanted John to baptize them. They asked him, ‘Teacher, what should we do?’ 13 John told them, ‘You must take the right amount of money from people. You must not take more money than the rules say you should take.’
14 Then some soldiers asked John, ‘What about us? What should we do?’
John replied, ‘Do not rob people of their money. Do not say that a person is guilty if he has not done anything wrong. You must not take money for yourself in that way. You should be happy with the money that you receive for your work.’
3:14Many people who took taxes were not honest. They often took too much money. They took it for themselves. John told them that they should be honest. God would then know that these people really wanted to obey him.
15 At this time people were thinking, ‘Is John the Messiah that God has promised?’ They were all hoping that he might be. 16 John knew what they were thinking. He said to them, ‘I baptize you with water. But someone else is coming soon. He is much greater than I am. I am not good enough even to undo his shoes for him. This other person will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire. 17 He is like a farmer that brings the wheat home from his field. He uses a special tool to throw the wheat up in the air. He does this to make the wheat seeds separate from what remains. Then he cleans his yard. He carefully stores all the seeds to keep them safe. But he burns everything else in a great fire that nobody can put out.’
18 John said many more things to the people. He was telling them the good news about how God could change their lives. 19 One day John told Herod, the ruler, that it was wrong for him to marry Herodias. Before that, she had been the wife of Herod's brother. John also told Herod that he had done many other bad things. 20 So then Herod did an even worse thing; he locked John up in prison.
3:19Herod had married Herodias. She was already the wife of Philip. Philip was Herod's brother.
John baptizes Jesus
21 While John was still baptizing all the people, he also baptized Jesus. While Jesus was praying, the sky opened. 22 The Holy Spirit came down onto Jesus. When he came down like that, he looked like a dove. Then a voice spoke from heaven, ‘You are my Son and I love you. You make me very happy.’
3:22God called Jesus, ‘my Son’. Jesus often said that God was his father.
The ancestors of Jesus
23 Jesus was about 30 years old when he began his work. People thought that he was the son of Joseph.
Joseph was from the family of Heli.
3:23To the Jews, a person's family was very important. God had promised to send the Messiah, who would be from David's family. It was necessary to show that the Messiah was from the family of David. So both Matthew and Luke record the family of Jesus. But the two lists are completely different. Matthew gives the list of names from Abraham to Joseph that the law would recognize. In Jewish law, Joseph was the father of Jesus but in fact, he was not. Matthew starts his list with Abraham and finishes with Jesus (see Matthew 1:2-16). This shows that Jesus as a man is Jewish. Jesus was the Messiah that God promised to Israel. Luke shows that Jesus is not in fact a son of Joseph. So he gives the list of the people in Mary's family. Joseph was the son of Jacob (see Matthew 1:16). Heli was the father of Joseph's wife Mary. Mary was the daughter of Heli. But the Jews would not usually end or start the family list with a woman. So Luke does not mention Mary by name. 24 Heli was from the family of Matthat.
Matthat was from the family of Levi.
Levi was from the family of Melchi.
Melchi was from the family of Jannai.
Jannai was from the family of Joseph.
25 Joseph was from the family of Mattathias.
Mattathias was from the family of Amos.
Amos was from the family of Nahum.
Nahum was from the family of Esli.
Esli was from the family of Naggai.
26 Naggai was from the family of Maath.
Maath was from the family of Mattathias.
Mattathias was from the family of Semein.
Semein was from the family of Josech.
Josech was from the family of Joda.
27 Joda was from the family of Joanan.
Joanan was from the family of Rhesa.
Rhesa was from the family of Zerubbabel.
Zerubbabel was from the family of Shealtiel.
Shealtiel was from the family of Neri.
28 Neri was from the family of Melchi.
Melchi was from the family of Addi.
Addi was from the family of Cosam.
Cosam was from the family of Elmadam.
Elmadam was from the family of Er.
29 Er was from the family of Joshua.
Joshua was from the family of Eliezer.
Eliezer was from the family of Jorim.
Jorim was from the family of Matthat.
Matthat was from the family of Levi.
30 Levi was from the family of Simeon.
Simeon was from the family of Judah.
Judah was from the family of Joseph.
Joseph was from the family of Jonam.
Jonam was from the family of Eliakim.
31 Eliakim was from the family of Melea.
Melea was from the family of Menna.
Menna was from the family of Mattatha.
Mattatha was from the family of Nathan.
Nathan was from the family of David.
32 David was from the family of Jesse.
Jesse was from the family of Obed.
Obed was from the family of Boaz.
Boaz was from the family of Salmon.
Salmon was from the family of Nahshon.
33 Nahshon was from the family of Amminadab.
Amminadab was from the family of Ram.
Ram was from the family of Hezron.
Hezron was from the family of Perez.
Perez was from the family of Judah.
34 Judah was from the family of Jacob.
Jacob was from the family of Isaac.
Isaac was from the family of Abraham.
Abraham was from the family of Terah.
Terah was from the family of Nahor.
35 Nahor was from the family of Serug.
Serug was from the family of Reu.
Reu was from the family of Peleg.
Peleg was from the family of Eber.
Eber was from the family of Shelah.
36 Shelah was from the family of Cainan.
Cainan was from the family of Arphaxad.
Arphaxad was from the family of Shem.
Shem was from the family of Noah.
Noah was from the family of Lamech.
37 Lamech was from the family of Methuselah.
Methuselah was from the family of Enoch.
Enoch was from the family of Jared.
Jared was from the family of Mahalalel.
Mahalalel was from the family of Cainan.
38 Cainan was from the family of Enosh.
Enosh was from the family of Seth.
Seth was from the family of Adam.
Adam was from God.
3:38The names of all the people in a family were very important to the Jews. In that way, they knew that they were Jews. The list shows that Jesus was in the same family as Judah, David and Abraham.
Luke 4
The Devil tries to make Jesus do wrong things
1 Then Jesus returned from the Jordan River. He was full of the Holy Spirit and the Holy Spirit led him into the wilderness. 2 He stayed there for 40 days and he did not eat anything. During this time the Devil tried to cause Jesus to do wrong things. At the end of 40 days, Jesus was very hungry.
4:1Jesus was soon to start the work that God sent him to do.
4:2The Devil is an angel that refused to obey God. He also tries to cause people to do bad things.
3 The Devil said to Jesus, ‘If you are the Son of God, speak to this stone. Tell it to become bread.’
4 ‘No!’ Jesus replied, ‘The Bible says that food alone cannot cause people to live.’
4:4The Devil knew that Jesus was very hungry, so he gave him the idea to make stones into food. Jesus knew that he had power to do anything. But he wanted only to obey God. He could make stones into food. But that was not what God wanted. Our bodies are not the most important part of us. Jesus came to give us food for our spirits. That part of us is more important. Jesus knew what God said in his book. And he answered the Devil with words from Deuteronomy 8:3. 5 After that, the Devil led Jesus up to a high place. In one moment, he showed Jesus all the countries in the whole world. 6 He said to Jesus, ‘I will let you rule the whole world. I will give you power over all these things. That power all belongs to me. So I can give it to anyone that I choose. 7 You must bend down low and worship me. Then I will give you power over the whole world.’
4:7The Devil was telling Jesus that his work could be easier. He would let Jesus rule the world now, if he would obey him. Jesus knew that this was wrong. He knew that he must obey only God.
8 ‘No!’ Jesus replied, ‘The Bible says,
“Only worship your Lord God.
He is the only one that you should obey.” ’
9 The Devil now took Jesus to Jerusalem. He took him to stand on the highest part of the temple. Then he said to Jesus, ‘If you are the Son of God, jump down from here to the ground. 10 You know that the Bible says:
“God will tell his angels to keep you safe.”
11 “They will hold you safely in their hands.
They will not let you hurt your foot on a stone.” ’
4:11The Devil was using the words from Psalm 91:11-12. But he was not using them in a right way. 12 ‘No!’ Jesus replied. ‘The Bible says,
“Do not test the Lord God, to see if he will save you.” ’
4:12Jesus was speaking words from Deuteronomy 6:16. He was standing on the highest part of the temple. This was 600 metres above the ground. He knew that God did not want him to jump. We must not get into danger just to see God save us. 13 In those ways, the Devil tried to make Jesus do many wrong things. When he had finished this, he left Jesus alone. He waited for another chance.
Jesus goes to Nazareth
14 Then Jesus returned to Galilee. The Holy Spirit continued to give him power. Everyone who lived near there heard the news about him. 15 He taught people in the Jewish meeting places. Everyone said good things about him.
4:15Jews used their meeting places to pray together and to learn more about God.
16 Jesus went to Nazareth, the town where he had grown up. On the Jewish day of rest, he went to their meeting place. This was what he usually did. He stood up to read aloud from the Bible.
4:16The Jewish day of rest is our Saturday. This was a special day for them, when nobody worked.
17 They gave him the scroll that had the messages of God's prophet Isaiah. Jesus opened the scroll. He found the place where Isaiah wrote:
18 ‘The Spirit of the Lord God is on me.
He has chosen me to tell good news to poor people.
He has sent me to tell people who are in prison, “You can go free!”
I must say to people that cannot see, “See again!”
I must cause people that are like slaves to become free.
19 I must tell everyone, “This is the year when God will be kind to his people.” ’
4:19Jesus read the words from Isaiah 61:1-2, but he changed them a bit. 20 When Jesus had read this to the people, he closed the scroll. He gave it back to an officer of the meeting place. Then he sat down to teach the people. Everyone in the meeting place was looking carefully at him.
21 Jesus said to them, ‘Today this message has become true. It has happened while you were listening.’
22 Everyone was talking about Jesus. They were surprised at the good way in which he spoke. They said to each other, ‘We know that he is only Joseph's son.’
23 Jesus then said to them, ‘Now you will tell me the proverb, “Doctor, make yourself well!” You will also say, “We have heard that you did many surprising things in Capernaum. This is your home town, so do the same things here!” 24 I tell you this: People do not accept a prophet of God who comes from their own town.
25 What I tell you is true. There were many widows in the country of Israel when Elijah was alive. At that time, it did not rain for three and a half years. So people were very hungry in all the country. 26 But God did not send Elijah to help a widow in Israel. Instead, God sent Elijah to the country called Sidon. There he helped a widow in a place called Zarephath.
27 Here is another example: When God's prophet Elisha was alive, there were many people in Israel with a bad disease of the skin. But God did not make any of them well. Instead, he made a man well who was from the country called Syria. That man was called Naaman.’
28 The people in the meeting place heard what Jesus said. They became very angry. 29 They stood up and they made him leave the town. They took him to the top of the hill outside the town. They wanted to throw him over the edge to the bottom. 30 But Jesus walked through the middle of the crowd and he went away.
4:28Jesus told the people in the meeting place about himself. But they did not like the things that he was saying. They refused to believe that God had sent him.
Jesus causes a bad spirit to leave a man
31 Jesus went to a town in Galilee called Capernaum. On the Jewish day of rest, he taught the people there. 32 The people were very surprised at the things that Jesus taught them. He spoke with authority. 33 There was a sick man in the meeting place. He had a spirit of a bad demon that was living inside him. The spirit caused the man to shout loudly. 34 He said, ‘Jesus from Nazareth, leave us alone! Do not destroy us! I know who you are. You are God's Holy One!’
35 Jesus said to the spirit, ‘Be quiet! Come out of the man!’ Then the bad spirit caused the man to fall to the ground in front of the people. It came out of the man but it did not hurt him.
36 All the people were very surprised and they said to each other, ‘Listen to what this man says! He has power and authority. He tells bad spirits to come out of people, and they come out.’ 37 So they began to tell everyone about Jesus. Because of this, people in all the places near Capernaum heard the news about Jesus.
Jesus makes many people well
38 Jesus then left the meeting place and he went to Simon's home. The mother of Simon's wife was ill and her body was very hot. So they asked Jesus to make her well. 39 Jesus came and he stood near her. He told the illness to go away and immediately she was well again. She got up and she prepared food for her visitors.
40 When the sun was going down, people in the town brought to Jesus all those people who were ill. They had many different kinds of illness. Jesus put his hands on each ill person and they became well again.
41 Also, bad spirits came out of many people. They were shouting, ‘You are the Son of God.’ The spirits knew that Jesus was the Messiah. Because of this, Jesus stopped them. He would not let them speak.
42 Early the next morning, Jesus went to a place where he could be alone. The people went to look for him. When they found him they said, ‘Do not leave us! Please stay here with us.’ 43 Jesus replied, ‘I must go to other towns to tell everyone the good news. I will tell them how God rules in the lives of his people. That is what God sent me to do.’
44 Then he travelled to many towns in the country called Judea. He went into the Jewish meeting places and taught people there.
