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John the Baptist prepares people to meet Jesus

This report is about John, the son of Zechariah. It happened when Tiberius Caesar had been the Roman ruler for 15 years.[a] Pontius Pilate was the Roman ruler of Judea. Herod had authority over the region of Galilee. Herod's brother Philip had authority over Iturea and Trachonitis. Lysanias had authority over Abilene.[b] At this time, the leaders of the priests were Annas and Caiaphas. John was living in the wilderness. While he was there, God spoke to him.

John went to many places near the Jordan River and spoke a message from God. ‘You have done many wrong things,’ he taught everybody. ‘You must turn away from them and change how you live. Then God will forgive you and I will baptize you.’

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Footnotes

  1. 3:1 Tiberius Caesar ruled over all the countries where Rome had authority. He began to rule in AD 11 after Caesar Augustus died. See Luke 2:1. This report about John the Baptist begins in AD 25-26.
  2. 3:1 Galilee, Iturea, Trachonitis and Abilene were the names of some of the different regions of Judea, where the Romans had authority. They chose men to rule those places for them. Judea was the country where the Jewish people lived.