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Lucas 3

ARC · Chapter 3/24

1E no anno quinze do imperio de Tiberio Cesar, sendo Poncio Pilatos presidente da Judea, Herodes tetrarcha da Galilea, e seu irmão Philippe tetrarcha da Iturea e da provincia de Traconites, e Lysaneas tetrarcha da Abylinia,

2Sendo Annás e Caiphás summos sacerdotes, veiu no deserto a palavra de Deus a João, filho de Zacharias.

3E percorreu toda a terra ao redor do Jordão, prégando o baptismo de arrependimento, para o perdão dos peccados;

4Segundo o que está escripto no livro das palavras do propheta Isaias, que diz: Voz do que clama no deserto: Preparae o caminho do Senhor; endireitae as suas veredas.

5Todo o valle se encherá, e todo o monte e outeiro se abaixará; e os caminhos tortos se endireitarão, e os caminhos escabrosos se aplanarão;

6E toda a carne verá a salvação de Deus.

7Dizia pois João á multidão que sahia a ser baptizada por elle: Raça de viboras, quem vos ensinou a fugir da ira que está para vir?

8Dae pois fructos dignos de arrependimento, e não comeceis a dizer em vós mesmos: Temos Abrahão por pae; porque eu vos digo que até d'estas pedras pode Deus suscitar filhos a Abrahão.

9E tambem já está posto o machado á raiz das arvores; toda a arvore, pois, que não dá bom fructo, corta-se e lança-se no fogo.

10E a multidão o interrogava, dizendo: Que faremos pois?

11E, respondendo elle, disse-lhes: Quem tiver duas tunicas, reparta com o que não tem, e quem tiver alimentos faça da mesma maneira.

12E chegaram tambem uns publicanos, para serem baptizados, e disseram-lhe: Mestre, que devemos fazer?

13E elle lhes disse: Não peçaes mais do que o que vos está ordenado.

14E uns soldados o interrogaram tambem, dizendo: E nós que faremos? E elle lhes disse: Não trateis mal, nem defraudeis alguem, e contentae-vos com o vosso soldo.

15E, estando o povo em expectação, e pensando todos de João, em seus corações, se porventura seria o Christo,

16Respondeu João a todos, dizendo: Eu, na verdade, baptizo-vos com agua, mas vem um mais poderoso do que eu, a quem eu não sou digno de desatar a correia das alparcas; esse vos baptizará com o Espirito Sancto e com fogo.

17E a sua pá está em sua mão; e limpará a sua eira, e ajuntará o trigo no seu celleiro, porém queimará a palha com fogo que nunca se apaga.

18E assim, admoestando, muitas outras coisas tambem annunciava ao povo.

19Sendo, porém, o tetrarcha Herodes reprehendido por elle por causa de Herodias, mulher de seu irmão Philippe, e por todas as maldades que Herodes tinha feito,

20Accrescentou a todas as outras ainda esta, de encerrar João n'um carcere.

21E aconteceu que, como todo o povo fosse baptizado, e sendo baptizado tambem Jesus, e orando, abriu-se o céu,

22E o Espirito Sancto desceu sobre elle em forma corporea, como uma pomba; e ouviu-se uma voz do céu, que dizia: Tu és o meu filho amado, em ti me tenho comprazido.

23E o mesmo Jesus começava a ser de quasi trinta annos, sendo (como se cuidava) filho de José, e José de Heli,

24e Heli de Matthat, e Matthat de Levi, e Levi de Melchi, e Melchi de Joanna, e Joanna de José,

25e José de Mattathias, e Mattathias de Amós, e Amós de Naum, e Naum de Essi, e Essi de Naggai,

26e Naggai de Maath, e Maath de Mattathias, e Mattathias de Semei, e Semei de José, e José de Juda,

27e Juda de Johanna, e Johanna de Rhesa, e Rhesa de Zorobabel, e Zorobabel de Salathiel, e Salathiel de Neri,

28e Neri de Melchi, e Melchi de Addi, e Addi de Cozam, e Cozam de Elmodam, e Elmodam de Er,

29e Er de José, e José de Eliezer, e Eliezer de Jorim, e Jorim de Matthat, e Matthat de Levi,

30e Levi de Simeon, e Simeon de Juda, e Juda de José, e José de Jonan, e Jonan de Eliakim,

31e Eliakim de Melea, e Melea de Mainan, e Mainan de Matthata, e Matthata de Nathan, e Nathan de David,

32e David de Jesse, e Jesse de Obed, e Obed de Booz, e Booz de Salmon, e Salmon de Naasson,

33e Naasson de Aminadab, e Aminadab de Arão, e Arão de Esrom, e Esrom de Fares, e Fares de Juda,

34e Juda de Jacob, e Jacob de Isaac, e Isaac de Abrahão, e Abrahão de Thare, e Thare de Nachor,

35e Nachor de Saruch, e Saruch de Ragau, e Ragau de Faleg, e Faleg de Heber, e Heber de Sala,

36e Sala de Cainan, e Cainan de Arfaxad, e Arfaxad de Sem, e Sem de Noé, e Noé de Lamech,

37e Lamech de Mathusala, e Mathusala de Henoch, e Henoch de Jared, e Jared de Maleleel, e Maleleel de Cainan,

38e Cainan de Henos, e Henos de Seth, e Seth de Adão, e Adão de Deus.

📖 Chapter study

Summary

John the Baptist preaches repentance in the wilderness and baptizes crowds, including Jesus, when the Holy Spirit descends like a dove and a voice from heaven declares him the beloved Son. Luke then presents the genealogy of Jesus, tracing it back to Adam.

Explanation

John takes up Isaiah's prophecy about a voice preparing the way of the Lord, and his preaching is practical: he calls for concrete fruits of repentance, not just religious talk (v.10-14). Jesus' baptism marks the public beginning of his ministry, confirmed by the Trinity present: the Father (the voice), the Son (Jesus), and the Spirit (the dove). Unlike Matthew's genealogy, which goes back to Abraham, Luke traces it back to Adam, emphasizing that Jesus came for all humanity, not only for Israel. This invites us to consider that genuine faith shows up in practical, everyday attitudes.

Fun facts

  • Luke's genealogy likely follows Mary's line (through Eli, Joseph's father-in-law), while Matthew's follows Joseph's legal line — scholars compare the two to show Jesus' double right to David's throne.
  • Tiberius Caesar, mentioned in v.1, allows us to date the beginning of John the Baptist's ministry to around A.D. 28-29, one of the few points in the New Testament that can be precisely anchored in Roman history.

Verse-by-verse explanation

  1. Lucas 3:1After the death of Herod the Great, the territory he ruled was divided among several heirs and Roman administrators, each overseeing a portion — hence the title tetrarch, meaning something like ruler of a fourth part of the territory. Luke stacks up these rulers’ names precisely to pin down the date with precision, the way a historian of that era would.
  2. Lucas 3:2Having Annas and Caiaphas as high priests at the same time is a way of describing the real political situation: Annas, a former high priest deposed by the Romans, remained extremely influential, even with his son-in-law Caiaphas holding the official position.
  3. Lucas 3:3John does not stay in one place: he travels through the whole region of the Jordan preaching a baptism of repentance, different from other Jewish purification rituals in having an explicit moral sense of life change.
  4. Lucas 3:4Luke directly identifies John’s ministry as the fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy about a voice announcing, in the wilderness, the coming of the Lord.
  5. Lucas 3:5This image of filled valleys and lowered hills comes from an ancient practice of preparing roads for a king’s arrival — here it is used as a metaphor for spiritual preparation.
  6. Lucas 3:6Unlike Matthew and Mark, Luke extends the quotation from Isaiah to include this line about “all flesh,” reinforcing from early on his interest in a salvation that reaches every people.
  7. Lucas 3:7Calling the crowd a “generation of vipers” is a direct insult, comparing the people to snakes fleeing a fire — John questions whether they truly understand what they are seeking by being baptized.
  8. Lucas 3:8Being a descendant of Abraham gave people of that mindset a kind of automatic guarantee of belonging to God’s people, no matter how they lived. John attacks exactly that idea: bloodline does not replace a changed life.
  9. Lucas 3:9The axe “already laid” at the root of the trees speaks of an imminent, decisive judgment, not a distant threat — the image suggests the time to act is now, not later.
  10. Lucas 3:10The crowd’s direct question, “What shall we do then?”, sets up the very practical instructions John gives next, about how to live out this repentance day to day.
  11. Lucas 3:11The instruction to share an extra coat and food with those who have none shows that, for John, repentance means concrete action, not just an inner feeling.
  12. Lucas 3:12Tax collectors, despised for working for Rome, also come to John to be baptized — a sign that his message reached even the most socially rejected groups.
  13. Lucas 3:13Tax collectors collected taxes for Rome and made their living by charging more than what was owed, pocketing the difference — which is why they were seen as traitors to their own people and extortioners. John does not condemn the profession itself, only the common practice of inflating the charge beyond what was due.
  14. Lucas 3:14To the soldiers, likely auxiliary troops rather than Roman legionaries, John says not to extort anyone through threats or false accusations, and to be content with their wages — a common problem at the time.
  15. Lucas 3:15The people’s expectation was so great that many even began to wonder whether John himself might be the awaited Christ.
  16. Lucas 3:16Untying someone’s sandals was a slave’s task, considered so humiliating that, according to some customs of the time, not even a Jewish slave was required to do it for his master. By saying he is not worthy even of that, John places himself below the lowest rank there was, to mark the distance between himself and the one who was coming.
  17. Lucas 3:17The image of the winnowing fork and the threshing floor describes separating wheat from chaff at harvest: the wheat is stored, the chaff is burned — a picture of final judgment separating what is worthwhile from what is not.
  18. Lucas 3:18This verse works as a summary: the text makes clear that John preached far more than the few examples cited so far.
  19. Lucas 3:19Herod here is Herod Antipas, tetrarch of Galilee, rebuked by John for having married Herodias, his own brother’s wife — a union Jewish law considered wrong.
  20. Lucas 3:20Imprisoning John is described as just one more item on a list of Herod’s wrongdoings, and it sets up the reader for the prophet’s tragic end, told later in the narrative.
  21. Lucas 3:21Luke highlights a detail found only in his gospel: Jesus is praying at the exact moment heaven opens — His baptism happens amid an ordinary crowd being baptized, not off on His own.
  22. Lucas 3:22The Holy Spirit descending like a dove and the voice from heaven calling Jesus the beloved Son form a scene with all three persons of the Trinity present at once: Father, Son, and Spirit.
  23. Lucas 3:23Luke already signals, with the parenthetical “as was supposed,” that he is listing the legal line through Joseph, not a biological link. In the culture of the time, being recognized as someone’s son, even through marriage, counted for purposes of inheritance and genealogy.
  24. Lucas 3:24This part of the list runs through names like Matthat and Levi, which do not appear in any other known biblical record — Luke seems to have had access to a detailed genealogy that has not survived anywhere else.
  25. Lucas 3:25The names listed here, such as Mattathias and Amos, also appear only in this genealogical list of Luke’s, without any other mention in the Bible.
  26. Lucas 3:26The list continues through generations without any narrative significance of their own — the goal here is not to tell a story, but to document an unbroken line of ancestry.
  27. Lucas 3:27Zerubbabel and Shealtiel also appear in Matthew’s genealogy, but linked to different sons — a sign that Luke and Matthew may be following distinct family lines.
  28. Lucas 3:28Again, names like Elmodam and Er have no record outside this list of Luke’s, reinforcing that the evangelist had access to his own genealogical sources.
  29. Lucas 3:29Here appear another Joseph and another Levi — common names repeated throughout the line, unrelated to the more famous figures of the same name found elsewhere in the Bible.
  30. Lucas 3:30The list passes through Simeon and Judah, names that recall the tribes of Israel, but here used as personal names of individuals within a family line, not as the tribes themselves.
  31. Lucas 3:31Here is an important difference: Luke links Jesus to David through his son Nathan, while Matthew traces the line through his son Solomon — a hint that the two gospels follow different branches of the family.
  32. Lucas 3:32This part of the list recovers familiar Old Testament names: David, his father Jesse, and before them Obed, Boaz, and Salmon, tied to the story told in the book of Ruth.
  33. Lucas 3:33The list reaches Judah, one of Jacob’s twelve sons, and continues through names like Amminadab and Hezron, also cited in Matthew’s genealogy at nearly the same points.
  34. Lucas 3:34Here the line passes through the great patriarchs Jacob, Isaac, and Abraham, to whom God had promised, centuries earlier, a line of descendants through whom all nations would be blessed.
  35. Lucas 3:35The list continues through very old biblical names, such as Reu and Serug, mentioned briefly in Genesis 11 as links between the flood and Abraham.
  36. Lucas 3:36Noah appears here, and among the names, Cainan — a name present in the Greek translation of the Old Testament that Luke used, but absent from the Hebrew text of Genesis, a difference scholars still debate.
  37. Lucas 3:37The list goes back to well before the flood, passing through Methuselah, known for the exceptional longevity attributed to him in the account in Genesis.
  38. Lucas 3:38Unlike Matthew, who begins the genealogy with Abraham and works forward to Jesus, Luke goes the other direction and reaches all the way back to Adam, called here “the son of God” — linking Jesus not only to Israel, but to all of humanity.

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