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Public-domain commentary
Matthew Henry
From his Commentary on the Whole Bible. Henry comments on passages, not single verses — this entry covers Luke 3:15–20. His four-level outline is real structure in the source text, so it is rendered as structure.
We are now drawing near to the appearance of our Lord Jesus publicly; the Sun will not be long after the morning-star. We are here told,
I.How the people took occasion, from the ministry and baptism of John, to think of the Messiah, and to think of him as at the door, as now come. Thus the way of the Lord was prepared, and people were prepared to bid Christ welcome; for, when men's expectations are raised, that which they are in expectation of becomes doubly acceptable. Now when they observed what an excellent doctrine John Baptist preached, what a divine power went along with it, and what a tendency it had to reform the world,
1.They began presently to consider that now was the time for the Messiah to appear. The sceptre was departed from Judah, for they had no king but Caesar; nay, and the law-giver too was gone from between his feet, for Herod had lately slain the sanhedrim. Daniel's seventy weeks were now expiring; and therefore it was but three or four years after this that they looked that the kingdom of heaven should appear immediately, Luk 19:11. Never did the corrupt state of the Jews more need a reformation, nor their distressed state more need a deliverance, than now.
2.Their next thought was, "Is not his he that should come?" All thinking men mused, or reasoned, in their hearts, concerning John, whether he were the Christ or not. He had indeed none of the external pomp and grandeur in which they generally expected the Messiah to appear; but his life was holy and strict, his preaching powerful and with authority, and therefore "why may we not think that he is the Messiah, and that he will shortly throw off this disguise, and appear in more glory?" Note, That which puts people upon considering, reasoning with themselves, prepares the way for Christ.
II.How John disowned all pretensions to the honour of being himself the Messiah, but confirmed them in their expectations of him that really was the Messiah, Luk 3:16, Luk 3:17. John's office, as a crier or herald, was to give notice that the kingdom of God and the King of that kingdom were at hand; and therefore, when he had told all manner of people severally what they must do ("You must do this, and you must do that"), he tells them one thing more which they must all do: they must expect the Messiah now shortly to appear. And this serves as an answer to their musings and debates concerning himself. Though he knew not their thoughts, yet, in declaring this, he answered them.
1.He declares that the utmost he could do was to baptize them with water. He had no access to the Spirit, nor could command that or work upon that; he could only exhort them to repent, and assure them of forgiveness, upon repentance; he could not work repentance in them, nor confer remission on them.
2.He consigns them, and turns them over, as it were, to Jesus Christ, for whom he was sent to prepare the way, and to whom he was ready to transfer all the interest he had in the affections of the people, and would have them no longer to debate whether John was the Messiah or no, but to look for him that was really so.
(1.)John owns the Messiah to have a greater excellency than he had, and that he was in all things preferable to him; he is one the latchet of whose shoe he does not think himself worthy to loose; he does not think himself worthy to be the meanest of his servants, to help him on and off with his shoes. John was a prophet, yea more than a prophet, more so than any of the Old Testament prophets; but Christ was a prophet more than John, for it was both by the Spirit of Christ, and of the grace of Christ, that all the prophets prophesied, and John among the rest, Pe1 1:10, Pe1 1:11. This was a great truth which John came to preach; but the manner of his expressing it bespeaks his humility, and in it he not only does justice to the Lord Jesus, but does him honour too: "He is one whom I am not worthy to approach, or draw nigh to, no not as a servant." Thus highly does it become us to speak of Christ, and thus humbly of ourselves.
(2.)He owns him to have a greater energy than he had: "He is mightier than I, and does that which I cannot do, both for the comfort of the faithful and for the terror of hypocrites and dissemblers." They thought that a wonderful power went along with John; but what was that compared with the power which Jesus would come clothed with?
[1.]John can do no more than baptize with water, in token of this, that they ought to purify and cleanse themselves; but Christ can, and will, baptize with the Holy Ghost; he can give the Spirit to cleanse and purify the heart, not only as water washes off the dirt on the outside, but as fire purges out the dross that is within, and melts down the metal, that it may be cast into a new mould.
[2.]John can only preach a distinguishing doctrine, and by word and sign separate between the precious and the vile; but Christ hath his fan in his hand, with which he can, and will, perfectly separate between the wheat and the chaff. He will thoroughly purge his floor; it is his own, and therefore he will purge it, and will cast out of his church the unbelieving impenitent Jews, and confirm in his church all that faithfully follow him.
[3.]John can only speak comfort to those that receive the gospel, and, like other prophets, say to the righteous that it shall be well with them; but Jesus Christ will give them comfort. John can only promise them that they shall be safe; but Christ will make them so: he will gather the wheat into his garner; good, serious, solid people he will gather now into his church on earth, which shall be made up of such, and he will shortly gather them into his church in heaven, where they shall be for ever sheltered.
[4.]John can only threaten hypocrites, and tell the barren trees that they shall be hewn down and cast into the fire; but Christ can execute that threatening; those that are as chaff, light, and vain, and worthless, he will burn with fire unquenchable. John refers here to Mal 3:18; Mal 4:1, Mal 4:2. Then, when the floor is purged, ye shall return, and discern between the righteous and the wicked, for the day comes that shall burn as an oven.
The evangelist concludes his account of John's preaching with an et caetera (Luk 3:18): Many other things in his exhortation preached he unto the people, which are not recorded. First, John was an affectionate preacher. He was parakalōn - exhorting, beseeching; he pressed things home upon his hearers, followed his doctrine close, as one in earnest. Secondly, He was a practical preacher. Much of his preaching was exhortation, quickening them to their duty, directing them in it, and not amusing them with matters of nice speculation. Thirdly, He was a popular preacher. Though he had scribes and Pharisees, men of polite learning, attending his ministry, and Sadducees, men of free thought, as they pretended, yet he addressed himself to the people, pros ton laon - to the laity, and accommodated himself to their capacity, as promising himself best success among them. Fourthly, He was an evangelical preacher, for so the word here used signifies, euēngelizeto - he preached the gospel to the people; in all his exhortations, he directed people to Christ, and excited and encouraged their expectations of him. When we press duty upon people, we must direct them to Christ, both for righteousness and strength. Fifthly, He was a copious preacher: Many other things he preached, polla men kai hetera - many things, and different. He preached a great deal, shunned not to declare the whole counsel of God; and he varied in his preaching, that those who were not reached, and touched, and wrought upon, by one truth, might be by another.
III.How full a stop was put to John's preaching.
When he was in the midst of his usefulness, going on thus successfully, he was imprisoned by the malice of Herod (Luk 3:19, Luk 3:20): Herod the tetrarch being reproved by him, not only for living in incest with his brother Philip's wife, but for the many other evils which Herod had done (for those that are wicked in one instance are commonly so in many others), he could not bear it, but contracted an antipathy to him for his plain dealing, and added this wickedness to all the rest, which was indeed above all, that he shut up John in prison, put that burning and shining light under a bushel. Because he could not bear his reproofs, others should be deprived of the benefit of his instructions and counsels. Some little good he might do to those who had access to him, when he was in prison; but nothing to what he might have done if he had had liberty to go about all the country, as he had done. We cannot think of Herod's doing this without the greatest compassion and lamentation, nor of God's permitting it without admiring the depth of the divine counsels, which we cannot account for. Must he be silenced who is the voice of one crying in the wilderness? Must such a preacher be shut up in prison who ought to have been set up in the courts of the temple? But thus the faith of his disciples must be tried; thus the unbelief of those who rejected him must be punished; thus he must be Christ's forerunner in suffering as well as preaching; and thus, having been for about a year and a half preparing people for Christ, he must now give way to him, and, the Sun being risen, the morning-star must of course disappear.
Historical interpretation
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Notice that even while in prison he is teaching. For he also had his disciples in that place. Why did they stay there, unless John exercised the office of teacher even in prison and taught them with divine words? In the course of these words, a question about Jesus arose. John sends some of his disciples and asks, "Are you he who is to come, or do we wait for another?" The disciples return and announce to the teacher what the Savior had bidden them to say. With Jesus' words, John was armed for battle. He died confidently and was beheaded without resistance, strengthened by the words of the Lord himself and believing that he in whom he believed was truly the Son of God. This is what we have to say about John, and his freedom, and about Herod's madness. To his many other crimes he also added this one: he first shut John in prison and afterward beheaded him.
(non occ.) He is called the tetrarch, to distinguish him from the other Herod, in whose reign Christ was born, and who was king, but this Herod was tetrarch. Now his wife was the daughter of Aretas, king of Arabia, but he had sacrilegiously married his brother Philip's wife, though she had offspring by his brother. For those only were allowed to do this whose brothers died without issue. For this the Baptist had censured Herod. First indeed he heard him attentively, for he knew that his words were weighty and full of consolation, but the desire of Herodias compelled him to despise the words of John, and he then thrust him into prison. And so it follows, And he added this above all, that he shut up John in prison.
Luke too, before beginning the acts of Jesus, makes a similar observation, saying that Herod added one more offense to his other crimes by shutting up John in jail.
(Mor. 15. sup. Job 20.) The fire of hell is here wonderfully expressed, for our earthly fire is kept up by heaping wood upon it, and cannot live unless supplied with fuel, but on the contrary the fire of hell, though a bodily fire, and burning bodily the wicked who are put into it, is not kept up by wood, but once made remains unquenchable.
But John was not imprisoned in those days. According to St. John's Gospel it was not till after some miracles had been performed by our Lord, and after His baptism had been noised abroad; but according to Luke he had been seized beforehand by the redoubled malice of Herod, who, when he saw so many flock to the preaching of John, and the soldiers believing, the publicans repenting, and whole multitudes receiving baptism, on the contrary not only despised John, but having put him in prison, slew him.
For his exhortation was the telling of good things, and therefore is fitly called the Gospel.
(ordin.) For before that Luke relates any of the acts of Jesus, he says that John was taken by Herod, to show that he alone was in an especial manner going to describe those of our Lord's acts, which were performed since the year in which John was taken or put to death.
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Summary
Luke 3:20 serves as a stark conclusion to John the Baptist's public ministry, detailing Herod Antipas's ultimate act of injustice: imprisoning the prophet. This verse highlights Herod's escalating moral depravity, culminating in the silencing of a divine voice, and simultaneously marks a pivotal transition in Luke's narrative, setting the stage for the imminent emergence of Jesus Christ's public ministry.
Context
Literary Context
This verse immediately follows Luke 3:19, where Luke recounts John the Baptist's courageous rebuke of Herod Antipas for his illicit marriage to Herodias, his brother Philip's wife, and for "all the evils which Herod had done." The phrase "added yet this above all" in Luke 3:20 signifies that John's imprisonment was not an isolated incident but the culmination and crowning wickedness in a series of Herod's moral transgressions. It effectively silences John's prophetic voice, concluding his role as the forerunner and paving the way for Jesus's public ministry, which is about to commence in the subsequent verses with Jesus's baptism and genealogy.
Historical & Cultural Context
Herod Antipas, a tetrarch appointed by Rome, ruled Galilee and Perea from 4 BC to AD 39. His marriage to Herodias, his brother Philip's wife, was a flagrant violation of Mosaic Law (specifically Leviticus 18:16 and Leviticus 20:21). John the Baptist, operating within the prophetic tradition of Israel, fearlessly confronted this powerful ruler, embodying the role of a divine messenger calling for repentance and righteousness. In a culture where rulers often held absolute power and dissent was swiftly suppressed, John's public rebuke was a direct challenge to Herod's authority and moral legitimacy, making his imprisonment a predictable, albeit unjust, consequence for such prophetic boldness.
Key Themes
Luke 3:20 powerfully contributes to several overarching themes in Luke's Gospel and the broader biblical narrative. It underscores the cost of prophetic truth, demonstrating that faithfully proclaiming God's righteousness, even to those in power, can lead to persecution and suffering, a theme echoed in the experiences of many prophets throughout Israel's history and foreshadowing the persecution Jesus and His followers would face (e.g., Matthew 10:22). The verse also highlights the theme of tyranny and injustice, as Herod's act represents the oppressive nature of worldly power that seeks to silence voices of truth rather than confront its own sin. Finally, John's imprisonment marks a crucial transition in God's redemptive plan, signifying the completion of his preparatory ministry as the one who would "prepare the way of the Lord" (Luke 3:4), thereby clearing the stage for the Messiah, Jesus Christ, to begin His public work.
Exposition and Analysis
Key Word Analysis
This verb (G4369) means "to place additionally, i.e., lay beside, annex, repeat." In Luke 3:20, it emphasizes that Herod's imprisonment of John was not his first or only evil act, but rather another, and indeed the most significant, transgression added to a growing list of his immoral deeds. It conveys a sense of accumulation and escalation in Herod's wickedness.
This verb (G2623) means "to shut down (in a dungeon), i.e., incarcerate." It vividly describes the definitive act of confinement imposed upon John. The prefix "kata-" intensifies the action of "kleíō" (to shut), implying a forceful and complete closure, effectively ending John's freedom and public ministry.
This noun (G5438) refers to "a guarding or (concretely, guard), the act, the person; figuratively, the place, the condition." In this context, it denotes the literal place of incarceration. The use of "prison" underscores the physical restriction and loss of liberty that John endured, representing the ultimate human attempt to silence God's prophetic voice.
Verse Breakdown
"Added yet this above all"
This phrase serves as a powerful indictment of Herod Antipas, indicating that his act of imprisoning John was not merely another misdeed but the culminating and most egregious of his many evils. The "above all" suggests a climax of his moral depravity, a final, definitive act of opposition to divine truth. It sets the stage for the severity of the consequence.
"that he shut up John in prison"
This clause states the specific, decisive action taken by Herod. The imprisonment of John the Baptist was a direct response to John's prophetic rebuke of Herod's unlawful marriage and other wicked deeds. It represents a tyrannical attempt to silence the voice of God's prophet, removing him from public influence and ministry.
Literary Devices
Luke's concise statement in Luke 3:20 employs several literary devices to convey its profound meaning. The phrase "added yet this above all" is an instance of Hyperbole, emphasizing the extreme nature of Herod's act, portraying it as the ultimate transgression in a series of evils. This exaggeration underscores the gravity of silencing a prophet. The verse also functions as a moment of Foreshadowing, hinting at the persecution that awaits Jesus Himself and His disciples, who will also face opposition and imprisonment for proclaiming God's truth. Furthermore, there is a subtle Irony in Herod's attempt to silence John; by imprisoning him, Herod inadvertently clears the public stage for Jesus, the very Messiah John announced, thus fulfilling God's divine timetable rather than thwarting it.
Theological and Thematic Connections
Luke 3:20 is deeply significant, marking a crucial turning point in the unfolding of God's redemptive plan. The imprisonment of John the Baptist, the last of the Old Testament prophets and the divinely appointed forerunner, signifies the conclusion of an era and the imminent dawn of a new one. This act, driven by human sin and political expediency, paradoxically serves God's sovereign purpose by removing John from the public eye, thereby preparing the way for Jesus Christ to step into the spotlight and commence His public ministry. It underscores the biblical truth that human wickedness, though real and condemned, cannot ultimately thwart God's divine will, but often, in His mysterious providence, serves to advance it. The suffering of God's faithful servants, like John, is often a prelude to greater divine revelation and action.
Reflection and Application
Luke 3:20 offers profound lessons for believers today. John the Baptist's unwavering commitment to speaking truth to power, even at great personal cost, serves as a powerful model of prophetic faithfulness. In a world that often prefers comfort over conviction, and where truth is frequently suppressed or distorted, John's example challenges us to embody courage and integrity, proclaiming God's word without compromise, regardless of the consequences. His imprisonment reminds us that faithfulness to Christ may involve hardship, opposition, or even suffering, but such trials do not negate God's purpose; instead, they often serve to advance His greater redemptive work. We are called to be voices of truth and righteousness in our spheres of influence, trusting that God's plan will ultimately prevail, even when human injustice seems to triumph.
Questions for Reflection
FAQ
Why was John the Baptist imprisoned, and what does it tell us about Herod Antipas?
John the Baptist was imprisoned by Herod Antipas primarily because he fearlessly rebuked Herod for his illicit marriage to Herodias, his brother Philip's wife, which was a clear violation of Mosaic Law (Leviticus 18:16). John's prophetic voice also condemned "all the evils which Herod had done" (Luke 3:19), indicating a broader pattern of moral corruption in Herod's rule. Herod was a tyrannical ruler who could not tolerate a voice that challenged his authority and exposed his sin. His decision to imprison John reveals his character as a man driven by lust, pride, and a desire to suppress dissent rather than to repent or seek righteousness. It was an act of political expediency and personal vindictiveness, culminating in the silencing of a righteous prophet.
Christ-Centered Fulfillment
While Luke 3:20 describes the unjust imprisonment of John the Baptist, it profoundly points to Christ in its narrative function and theological implications. John's ministry, culminating in his confinement, serves as the final act of the Old Covenant's prophetic tradition, preparing the way for the new. His removal from the public stage is not a defeat but a divinely orchestrated transition, allowing the "Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world" (John 1:29) to step forward. John's suffering and eventual death foreshadow the greater suffering and ultimate sacrifice of Jesus Himself, who would also be unjustly condemned and imprisoned before His crucifixion (Matthew 27:1-2). Just as John's imprisonment did not thwart God's plan for the Messiah, so too Jesus's death was not an end but the very means by which salvation was accomplished, leading to His resurrection and the establishment of His eternal kingdom (Romans 4:25). Thus, John's fate in Luke 3:20 is a poignant prelude to the redemptive work of Christ, confirming the divine sovereignty that weaves even human evil into the fabric of His perfect plan.