Read & Study the Bible Online - Bible Portal
Matthew Henry

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Luke 3:15-20

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... read more

William Barclay

William Barclay's Daily Study Bible - Luke 3:7-18

3:7-18 To the crowds who came out to be baptized by him, John used to say, "You spawn of vipers, who put it into your heads to flee from the coming wrath? Produce fruits to match repentance. Do not begin to say among yourselves, 'We have Abraham as our father.' I tell you that God is able to raise up children to Abraham from these stones. Even now the axe is laid at the root of the trees. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire." The crowds asked him,... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Luke 3:15

And as the people were in expectation, of the coming of the Messiah ; Daniel's seventy weeks being now accomplished, the sceptre being departed from Judah, and the Romans having the government in their hands, from whom they hoped for a deliverance by Christ; and all men mused in their hearts of John; whether he were the Christ, or no ; about which they had many reasonings and debates: some doubting of it, others ready to believe it, from his extraordinary birth, the singular holiness of... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Luke 3:15

Whether he were the Christ - So general was the reformation which was produced by the Baptist's preaching that the people were ready to consider him as the promised Messiah. Thus John came in the spirit and power of Elijah, and reformed all things; showed the people, the tax-gatherers, and the soldiers, their respective duties, and persuaded them to put away the evil of their doings. See the note on Matthew 17:11 . read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Luke 3:1-18

The forerunner, and his ministry. Some thirty years have passed since the birth of a son of the old age had filled the house of the good priest Eacharias with the voice of rejoicing. The blameless priest and his blameless wife are dead. The son who, when an unconscious babe, was called "the prophet of the Highest," has lived the life of a recluse, receiving his inspirations wholly from the study of the Law of the Lord, from lonely communings with God and truth in the great temple of... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Luke 3:1-20

The ministry of the Baptist. We left Jesus, when last we studied Luke's narrative, in Nazareth, subject to his parents and realizing a gracious development in subjection. We have now to pass over about eighteen years, of which we know only that during them he had become a carpenter, that we may contemplate the preparatory movement under John the Baptist. In these verses we find Luke entering upon the description with the hand of a true artist. He summarizes for us a whole life in fewer... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Luke 3:15

All men mused in their hearts of John, whether he were the Christ, or not. There was general expectation at that time among the Jews that Messiah's coming was at hand. This strange feeling that something momentous was about to happen to mankind was not confined to the Jews of Palestine, it strongly influenced the Jews who were dispersed in foreign countries—Egypt, Greece, Italy, etc., and through them it had even reached many of the Gentiles who were brought into contact with the chosen... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Luke 3:15-17

The wisdom of a true estimate. Those who are far up the social. heights are usually under a strong temptation to climb to the very summit. We do not know how strong the temptation may have been to John to assume or to attempt the part of the Messiah. Popularity is very exciting and ensnaring; it leads men to prefer claims and to adopt measures which, on lower ground and in calmer mood, they would not have entertained for a moment. But John's mind never lost its balance in the tumult of... read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Luke 3:15

In expectation - Expecting the Messiah. Margin, “suspense.” That is, they were not certain whether John was not himself the Messiah. They confidently “expected” his appearing, and there minds were in “suspense,” or they were in a state of doubt whether he had not already come, and whether John was not the Messiah.Mused in their hearts of John - Thought of his character, his preaching, and his success, and anxiously inquired whether he did not do the things which were expected of the Messiah. read more

Group of Brands