The bull of St Luke

THE GOSPEL OF LUKE

Chapter 3: Overview

The first part of chapter 3 tells of the ministry of John the Baptist (3,1-20) while the second part begins the story of the adult Jesus (3,21-38).

The opening presentation of the adult Jesus continues after the genealogy with his temptation or testing in the desert (4,1-13). In 4,14, Jesus returns to Galilee (as in Mk 1,14-15) and his public ministry begins.

The Gospel story from 1,5 through to 4,13 covers therefore the pre-public lfe and ministry of Jesus. That is why a number of commentators take the first part of the Gospel as extending into chapter 4. In the first two chapters of course, Jesus is a child whereas in 3,21 he now appears as an adult. Our reading takes the first two chapters as the overture. Then the historical anchor of 3,1-6 opens the main Gospel story (the curtain rises, we might say).

Yet the pattern of the first two chapters continues in chapter 3, with John and Jesus in alternating scenes. Just as in 1,56 Mary with Jesus goes home before the birth of John, so here Luke completes the story of John and puts him in prison (3,19-20) before he presents Jesus. Jesus was baptised (3,21) but we are not told (as in Mark and Matthew) that it was done by John.

The story of John therefore is concluded with his imprisonment in 3,19-20. Luke relates this earlier than either Mark or Matthew in order to end his account of John and then to focus solely on Jesus. John therefore is not present when Jesus speaks about him later (7,18-30) and Herod's mention of John in 9,9 is no more than a passing comment.
The key therefore to reading chapter 3 is that Luke finishes what he has to say about John the Baptist before he introduces the adult Jesus in 3,21. The first section of the chapter ends in verse 20 and the new section begins in verse 21. The change is also indicated by the evangelist beginning verse 21 with the phrase "It happened that..." (though this may not be clear in the translations).

Lk 3,1-4,13 and Mk 1,1-13

After the historical anchor (3,1-2a), Luke follows the events of the prologue of Mark's Gospel, Mk 1,1-13. This takes the story up to the temptation of Jesus and his return to Galilee.

The beginning of Mark's Gospel following the title verse (Mk 1,2-13) is a brief summary of the ministry of John the Baptist (7 verses), the Baptism of Jesus (3 verses) and the Temptation of Jesus (2 verses). All of this has had considerable expansion in Luke's account, 3,1-4,13, which is told in 51 verses. This is even more than Matthew whose account takes 28 verses, Mt 3,1-4,11. A good part of this expansion in Luke is the addition of the genealogy (3,23-38).

Notable additions by Luke to Mark's account begin with the historical anchoring, 3,1-2a.
Then whilst the quotation from Isaiah chapter 40 is used by both evangelists, Luke has a longer quotation (3,4-6) and he also describes the ministry of John the Baptist in greater detail (3,7-14). This is followed by a section on the expected Messiah (3,15-18) which is not recounted by Mark. Luke then gets John into prison (3,19-20) (not told by Mark until chapter 6) before Jesus comes on the scene in verse 21.

The baptism (3,21-22) is described briefly by both evangelists. We will be looking a bit later at the similarities and differences of the two accounts.
To this Luke then adds his genealogy (3,23-38) and recounts the temptation of Jesus in the desert (4,1-13).

We can now return to the main page and consider our reading plan for the chapter.