The Preparation of Souls for the Coming of Christ: A Sermon on Luke 3:1-20

Date: 10 May 2026

Place: Trinity Baptist Church, Charlesworth, near Glossop

Preacher: Benedict

Passage: Luke 3:1-20

Listen Below:

Luke 3:1-20

49:31

The Preparation of Souls for the Coming of Christ: A Sermon on Luke 3:1-20

A World in Darkness

There are moments in history when the atmosphere itself seems heavy with meaning. Before a great storm breaks, the skies darken and the wind shifts. Before a king arrives, roads are cleared and heralds go before him. So too, before the public ministry of Jesus Christ bursts forth upon the world, Luke carefully sets the scene.

And what a scene it is.

The opening verses of Luke 3 are thick with names: Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate, Herod Antipas, Philip, Lysanias, Annas, Caiaphas. To modern readers, these details may seem tedious. Yet Luke is not wasting words. He is painting a picture of a nation in profound distress.

Israel, at the time of Christ’s appearing, was a people under subjugation. Foreign rulers governed the land promised to Abraham’s descendants. Pagan power sat heavily upon the covenant nation. Even worse, spiritual decay had seeped into the heart of Israel itself. Luke mentions two high priests – Annas and Caiaphas – even though the law of God recognised only one. The implication is unavoidable: the nation had drifted far

from its lawful moorings.

Politically oppressed. Spiritually compromised. Morally weakened.

Israel was lost.

And the tragedy of that lostness extended far beyond national circumstances. The people needed more than political freedom. They needed redemption from sin itself.

The Voice in the Wilderness

Into this darkness comes John the Baptist.

Luke presents John as the great forerunner promised by the prophets – the voice crying in the wilderness, preparing the way for the Lord. Just as ancient monarchs sent servants ahead to clear roads and prepare the route for a royal procession, John comes before Christ to prepare hearts for the arrival of the King.

Yet John’s preparation is not what many expected. He does not organise armies. He does not rally political revolutionaries. He does not preach national triumph. Instead, he preaches repentance.

That is striking.

The great problem in Israel was not merely Rome. The deepest bondage was not political but spiritual. The people needed deliverance not simply from Caesar, but from sin.

John therefore shines a spotlight upon the doctrine of the remnant. Many Jews assumed that because they were descendants of Abraham, they automatically belonged to God’s kingdom. John demolishes that false confidence. “Bear fruits in keeping with repentance,” he warns, “and do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’”

The kingdom of Christ would not consist merely of those outwardly connected to Israel. It would consist of those who truly repented and believed.

The warning remains painfully relevant. Many today rest upon outward religion, family background, or cultural Christianity. Yet none of these things can save. Church attendance cannot save. Christian parents cannot save. Baptism without faith cannot save. The question is not whether one appears religious, but whether one has truly turned to Christ.

Repentance and the Wrath to Come

John’s preaching cuts deeply because repentance always begins with a recognition of guilt. Before anyone will seek mercy, they must first understand their danger. John therefore speaks with terrifying clarity: apart from forgiveness, mankind stands under “the wrath to come.”

Modern society recoils against such language. We prefer softer categories. Mistakes. Failings. Brokenness. Yet Scripture insists upon a deeper truth: we are sinners before a holy God. Repentance begins when the soul finally stops excusing itself and bows before divine justice.

True repentance is not merely feeling bad about consequences. It is sorrow for sin itself. It is grief over offending God. It is a turning away from wickedness and a turning toward Jesus Christ in faith.

John’s imagery is vivid. The axe is already laid at the root of the trees. Judgment is not distant or hypothetical. Every tree that bears no good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.

And yet there is mercy. Great mercy.

John points beyond himself to the coming Christ. He baptises with water, but the one coming after him will baptise with the Holy Spirit and with fire. The Messiah has come not merely to expose sin, but to save sinners.

Baptism and the Public Profession of Faith

This is why repentance and baptism belong together in John’s ministry. Baptism publicly marks a person as belonging to the kingdom of God. Passing through the waters

symbolises cleansing, death to the old life, and entrance into the promised inheritance.

The imagery would have been especially powerful beside the Jordan River – the very river Israel once crossed to enter Canaan.

But John insists that the outward sign must correspond with inward reality. Baptism without repentance is empty. A changed profession must flow from a changed heart.

And this remains true today. Christianity is not merely private sentiment hidden away in the heart. Faith in Christ openly identifies a person with his kingdom. Baptism is the declaration that one now belongs to another King.

Fruits in Keeping with Repentance

John’s hearers ask him repeatedly, “What then shall we do?” His answers are remarkably practical. Share with the needy. Be honest in business. Refuse corruption. Be content. The fruits of repentance are not abstract religious feelings, but transformed lives.

This is one of the great marks of genuine Christianity: it changes people.

The greedy become generous. The dishonest become truthful. The bitter become merciful. The proud become humble. The immoral become pure. Not perfectly in this life, but truly and increasingly.

Repentance is not simply turning from sin in theory. It is learning to walk in righteousness in practice.

John addresses different groups according to their particular temptations. Tax collectors are warned against dishonesty. Soldiers are warned against abuse and greed. In the same way, God’s Word confronts each of us where we most commonly fall.

True grace produces real fruit.

A tree planted in fertile soil naturally bears fruit according to its nature. So too, those planted by God’s grace into the kingdom of Christ begin to display the fruits of that kingdom.

The Cost of Faithfulness

Yet the world hates such righteousness.

Luke closes this section with the imprisonment of John the Baptist by Herod Antipas. John reproved Herod’s wickedness openly, and the ruler responded by silencing the preacher.

It is an ancient pattern that continues today: darkness resists the light.

Faithful preaching will always provoke opposition because truth exposes sin. A society that loves immorality does not tolerate voices calling it to repentance for long.

Yet this should not surprise Christians. The kingdom of Christ has always advanced through suffering, bold witness, and costly faithfulness. John prepared the way for Christ not through worldly power, but through uncompromising truth.

The King is Coming

We live in an age deeply confused about good and evil – an age determined to call “fair foul, and foul fair.” Yet into such darkness the gospel still shines. The answer to a lost nation remains the same as it was in Luke 3: repentance toward God and faith in Jesus Christ.

For though the scene Luke describes is dark, it is not hopeless.

The King is coming.