Big Idea: Jesus is anointed as the Messiah at his baptism, and God publicly declares that Jesus is his Son.

Understanding the Text

This is the first appearance of the adult Jesus in Luke’s narrative. This and the following passage record his preparation for public ministry, which will begin in 4:14. The sequence from 3:20 is not strictly consecutive, in that John is here apparently still at liberty to baptize Jesus. Luke has rounded off John’s story, and now he goes back to locate the beginning of Jesus’s story within it.

The declaration that Jesus is God’s Son is a pivotal moment, picking up Gabriel’s announcement in 1:32, 35 and initiating a christological theme that will be developed in the recognition of Jesus by supernatural beings (4:3, 9, 41; 8:28), in a further divine announceme…