1. Now in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate being governor of Judaea, and Herod being tetrarch of Galilee, and his brother Philip tetrarch of Ituraea and of the region of Trachonitis, and Lysanias the tetrarch of Abilene,
2 Annas and Caiaphas being the high priests, the word of God came unto John the son of Zacharias in the wilderness.
Tiberius Caesar (adopted son of Caesar Augustus, Luk 2:1) reigned from 14 to 37 AD.
His 'fifteenth year' (about 29 AD) marks the beginning of John the Baptist's ministry.
Pontius Pilate was appointed as governor {procurator} of Judea, by Tiberius in 26 AD.
Herod Antipas and Philip were sons of Herod the Great (of Mat 2:1,16).
A 'tetrach' ruled over a quarter of a given region. Herod Antipas ruled over Galilee (4 BC-39 AD), while his brother Philip ruled over much of Syria and Lebanon.
Caiaphas was high priest in Jerusalem 18-36 AD.
Annas held that position 6-15 AD, but retained substantial influence long afterwards.
3 And he came into all the country about Jordan, preaching the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins;
4 As it is written in the book of the words of Esaias {Isaiah} the prophet, saying, The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.
5 Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be brought low; and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough ways [shall be] made smooth;
6 And all flesh shall see the salvation of God. {Isa 40:3-5}
This passage from Isaiah (above) foretold John's coming and ministry.
The verses that follow (below) describe John's ministry and message. Luke's account, while similar to Matthew's, includes several examples (directed to people in various strata of society) showing that true repentance must be accompanied by a corresponding change of life (the 'fruits worthy of repentance').
7 Then said he to the multitude that came forth to be baptized of him, O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come?
8 Bring forth therefore fruits worthy of repentance, and begin not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to [our] father: for I say unto you, That God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham.
9 And now also the axe is laid unto the root of the trees: every tree therefore which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.
God will exercise judgment upon corrupt individuals and nations, just as a man cuts down a rotten tree. God does not respect self-righteous claims of ethnicity or religion. True children of Abraham live to please God, not in the pretense of hypocrisy. cp. Joh 8:39
10 And the people asked him, saying, What shall we do then?
11 He answereth and saith unto them, He that hath two coats, let him impart to him that hath none; and he that hath meat, let him do likewise. {eg., 1Joh 3:17; Jam 2:15-17}
12 Then came also publicans {tax collectors} to be baptized, and said unto him, Master, what shall we do?
13 And he said unto them, Exact {collect} no more than that which is appointed you. {eg., Luk 19:2,8}
14 And the soldiers likewise demanded of him, saying, And what shall we do? And he said unto them, Do violence to no man, neither accuse [any] falsely; and be content with your wages.
Roman soldiers often misused their authority to extort money from defenseless citizens.
15. And as the people were in expectation, and all men mused in their hearts of John, whether he were the Christ, or not;
16 John answered, saying unto [them] all, I indeed baptize you with water; but one mightier than I cometh, the latchet of whose shoes I am not worthy to unloose: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire:
17 Whose fan [is] in his hand, and he will throughly purge his floor, and will gather the wheat into his garner; but the chaff he will burn with fire unquenchable.
18 And many other things in his exhortation preached he unto the people.
19 But Herod the tetrarch, being reproved by him for Herodias his brother Philip's wife, and for all the evils which Herod had done,
20 Added yet this above all, that he shut up John in prison.
21. Now when all the people were baptized, it came to pass, that Jesus also being baptized, and praying, the heaven was opened,
22 And the Holy Ghost descended in a bodily shape like a dove upon him, and a voice came from heaven, which said, Thou art my beloved Son; in thee I am well pleased.
The genealogy of Mary, mother of Jesus. 3:23-38
Two genealogies of Jesus are included in the NT.
Mat 1:1-17 is the genealogy of Jesus, as "the righteous Branch of David."
It is traced from Abraham, through David's son, Solomon, to Joseph the husband of Mary. As Joseph's legal son, Jesus was a legal heir to the throne of David.
Luke ch.3 records the genealogy of Jesus, "the Man whose name is the Branch."
This genealogy begins with Jesus and traces His lineage all the way back to Adam, showing that, as the 'second Adam,' He is eligible to reverse Adam's curse (1Cor 15:22)
He is shown to be the physical seed of David (cp. 2Sam 7:12,13), through David's son Nathan (v.31). This became necessary, because God cursed wicked Jeconiah (Coniah), the last king born in the line of Solomon, declaring that none of his seed would ever occupy David's throne (Jer 22:24-30).
This is Jesus' genealogy through Mary, His mother. Notice that Matthew's genealogy says that "Jacob begat Joseph the husband of Mary" (Mat 1:16). Luke's genealogy says that "Joseph was... of Heli" (in v.23, the italicized [bracketed] words: "the son" are not in the GK text). Joseph could not be the physical son of both Jacob and Heli. Evidently, Joseph was the 'son-in-law' of Heli, who was the father of Mary. (However, the translator's insertion of the word 'son' is not inappropriate, because, according to Hebrew custom, a 'son-in-law' was considered a 'son.' eg., 1Sam 24:16)
23 And Jesus himself began to be about thirty years of age, being (as was supposed) the son of Joseph, which was [the son] of Heli,
24 Which was [the son] of Matthat, which was [the son] of Levi, which was [the son] of Melchi, which was [the son] of Janna, which was [the son] of Joseph,
25 Which was [the son] of Mattathias, which was [the son] of Amos, which was [the son] of Naum, which was [the son] of Esli, which was [the son] of Nagge,
26 Which was [the son] of Maath, which was [the son] of Mattathias, which was [the son] of Semei, which was [the son] of Joseph, which was [the son] of Juda,
27 Which was [the son] of Joanna, which was [the son] of Rhesa, which was [the son] of Zorobabel, which was [the son] of Salathiel, which was [the son] of Neri,
28 Which was [the son] of Melchi, which was [the son] of Addi, which was [the son] of Cosam, which was [the son] of Elmodam, which was [the son] of Er,
29 Which was [the son] of Jose, which was [the son] of Eliezer, which was [the son] of Jorim, which was [the son] of Matthat, which was [the son] of Levi,
30 Which was [the son] of Simeon, which was [the son] of Juda, which was [the son] of Joseph, which was [the son] of Jonan, which was [the son] of Eliakim,
31 Which was [the son] of Melea, which was [the son] of Menan, which was [the son] of Mattatha,
Luke compiled this genealogy using records which were available in the Temple. The record from Adam through David's son, Nathan, is supported by several genealogies within the Hebrew Bible {the Tanach, the Old Testament}. (The biblical record follows David's descendants through Solomon, several hundred years further, because Solomon's was the kingly line.) Following the destruction of Jerusalem (in 70 AD) many records were lost. However, because Luke's genealogy, from Nathan to Mary, would have been readily verifiable, at the time of writing, we can be sure that it is accurate.
Regarding the line from Adam to Nathan, some of the supporting genealogies in the biblical record are referenced, below. Spelling differences between the OT and NT are largely due to transliteration between Hebrew, Greek and English.
which was [the son] of Nathan, {1Chr 14:3,4} which was [the son] of David, {1Chr 2:1-15}
32 Which was [the son] of Jesse, which was [the son] of Obed, which was [the son] of Booz {Boaz}, which was [the son] of Salmon, which was [the son] of Naasson {Nahshon},
33 Which was [the son] of Aminadab, which was [the son] of Aram {Ram}, which was [the son] of Esrom {Hezron}, which was [the son] of Phares {Pharez}, which was [the son] of Juda {Judah},
34 Which was [the son] of Jacob, {God re-named Jacob as Israel; 1Chr 1:34} which was [the son] of Isaac, {1Chr 1:24-28} which was [the son] of Abraham {Abram; Gen 11:18-28}, which was [the son] of Thara {Terah}, which was [the son] of Nachor {Nahor},
35 Which was [the son] of Saruch {Serug}, which was [the son] of Ragau {Reu}, which was [the son] of Phalec {Peleg; Gen 10:22-25}, which was [the son] of Heber {Eber}, which was [the son] of Sala {Salah},
36 Which was [the son] of Cainan,
{This Cainan is included in the LXX, but not in any of the Hebrew genealogies.}
which was [the son] of Arphaxad, which was [the son] of Sem {Shem; Gen 5:1-32}, which was [the son] of Noe {Noah}, which was [the son] of Lamech,
37 Which was [the son] of Mathusala {Methuselah}, which was [the son] of Enoch, which was [the son] of Jared, which was [the son] of Maleleel {Mahalaleel}, which was [the son] of Cainan,
38 Which was [the son] of Enos, which was [the son] of Seth, which was [the son] of Adam, which was [the son] of God.