Luke 3:1-22

It was the 15th year of the rule of Tiberius Caesar. These men were under Caesar: Pontius Pilate, the governor of Judea; Herod, the ruler of Galilee; Philip, Herod’s brother, the ruler of Iturea and Trachonitis; Lysanias, the ruler of Abilene. Annas and Caiaphas were the high priests. During this time, John, the son of Zechariah, was living in the desert, and he received a message from God. So he went through the whole area around the Jordan River and told the people God’s message. He told them to be baptized to show that they wanted to change their lives, and then their sins would be forgiven. This is like the words written in the book of Isaiah the prophet: “There is someone shouting in the desert: ‘Prepare the way for the Lord. Make the road straight for him. Every valley will be filled, and every mountain and hill will be made flat. Crooked roads will be made straight, and rough roads will be made smooth. Then everyone will see how God will save his people!’” Crowds of people came to be baptized by John. But he said to them, “You are all snakes! Who warned you to run from God’s judgment that is coming? Change your hearts! And show by your lives that you have changed. I know what you are about to say—‘but Abraham is our father!’ That means nothing. I tell you that God can make children for Abraham from these rocks! The ax is now ready to cut down the trees. Every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.” The people asked John, “What should we do?” He answered, “If you have two shirts, share with someone who does not have one. If you have food, share that too.” Even the tax collectors came to John. They wanted to be baptized. They said to him, “Teacher, what should we do?” He told them, “Don’t take more taxes from people than you have been ordered to collect.” The soldiers asked him, “What about us? What should we do?” He said to them, “Don’t use force or lies to make people give you money. Be happy with the pay you get.” Everyone was hoping for the Messiah to come, and they wondered about John. They thought, “Maybe he is the Messiah.” John’s answer to this was, “I baptize you in water, but there is someone coming later who is able to do more than I can. I am not good enough to be the slave who unties his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire. He will come ready to clean the grain. He will separate the good grain from the straw, and he will put the good part into his barn. Then he will burn the useless part with a fire that cannot be stopped.” John said many other things like this to encourage the people to change, and he told them the Good News. John criticized Herod the ruler for what he had done with Herodias, the wife of Herod’s brother, as well as for all the other bad things he had done. So Herod added another bad thing to all his other wrongs: He put John in jail. When all the people were being baptized, Jesus came and was baptized too. And while he was praying, the sky opened, and the Holy Spirit came down on him. The Spirit looked like a real dove. Then a voice came from heaven and said, “You are my Son, the one I love. I am very pleased with you.”