His winnowing fork is in His hand to clear His threshing floor and to gather the wheat into His barn; but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire." His winnowing forkThe "winnowing fork" is an agricultural tool used in ancient times to separate grain from chaff. In the Greek, the word for "winnowing fork" is πτύον (ptyon), which signifies a tool for cleansing and purifying. This imagery is rich with meaning, symbolizing the discernment and judgment of Christ. The winnowing fork represents the authority and power of Jesus to distinguish between true believers (the wheat) and those who are not (the chaff). This tool is a metaphor for the divine judgment that Christ will execute, separating the righteous from the unrighteous. is in His hand
The phrase "is in His hand" indicates readiness and control. The Greek word for "hand" is χείρ (cheir), often symbolizing power and action. This suggests that Jesus is actively engaged in the process of judgment. The imagery of the winnowing fork in His hand conveys the immediacy and certainty of His judgment. It is not a distant or future event but one that is imminent and assured. This serves as a reminder of the sovereignty of Christ and His ultimate authority over all creation. to clear His threshing floor
The "threshing floor" was a place where grain was separated from chaff, a common sight in ancient agricultural societies. The Greek word for "threshing floor" is ἅλων (halon), which signifies a place of separation and purification. In a spiritual sense, the threshing floor represents the world or the church, where Christ will separate the true believers from the false. The act of clearing the threshing floor symbolizes the purification and sanctification process that Jesus will perform, ensuring that only the righteous remain. and to gather the wheat into His barn
"Wheat" symbolizes the true believers, those who have accepted Christ and live according to His teachings. The Greek word for "wheat" is σῖτος (sitos), representing nourishment and sustenance. Gathering the wheat into "His barn" signifies the protection and eternal security that Christ offers to His followers. The "barn" is a metaphor for the Kingdom of God, a place of safety and eternal rest. This phrase assures believers of their ultimate salvation and the promise of eternal life with Christ. but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire
"Chaff" represents those who reject Christ and His teachings, the unrepentant and unrighteous. The Greek word for "chaff" is ἄχυρον (achyron), which denotes something worthless and destined for destruction. The "unquenchable fire" is a powerful image of divine judgment and eternal punishment. The Greek word for "unquenchable" is ἄσβεστος (asbestos), meaning inextinguishable or perpetual. This phrase serves as a solemn warning of the consequences of rejecting Christ, emphasizing the reality of eternal separation from God for those who do not repent. Persons / Places / Events 1. John the BaptistThe speaker of this verse, John the Baptist, is a prophetic figure who prepares the way for Jesus Christ by calling people to repentance and baptizing them in the Jordan River. 2. Jesus ChristImplicitly referenced as the one who will execute the judgment described in this verse. He is the Messiah who will separate the righteous from the unrighteous. 3. Threshing FloorA symbolic place where separation occurs. In ancient times, it was a flat surface where grain was separated from chaff, representing judgment and purification. 4. Wheat and ChaffMetaphors for the righteous (wheat) and the unrighteous (chaff). The wheat is gathered into the barn, symbolizing salvation, while the chaff is burned, symbolizing judgment. 5. Unquenchable FireRepresents the eternal judgment and punishment for the unrighteous, emphasizing the seriousness of divine judgment. Teaching Points The Certainty of JudgmentThe imagery of the winnowing fork and unquenchable fire underscores the certainty and seriousness of God's judgment. Believers are called to live in a way that reflects their readiness for this divine assessment. The Call to RepentanceJohn the Baptist's message is a call to repentance. This verse serves as a reminder for believers to examine their lives and turn away from sin, aligning themselves with God's will. The Assurance of SalvationThe gathering of wheat into the barn symbolizes the assurance of salvation for those who are in Christ. Believers can find comfort in knowing they are secure in God's care. The Urgency of the GospelThe impending judgment highlights the urgency of sharing the Gospel. Believers are encouraged to spread the message of salvation to others, knowing the eternal consequences at stake. Living as Wheat Among ChaffIn a world where the righteous and unrighteous coexist, believers are called to live distinctively, bearing fruit that reflects their identity as wheat, not chaff. Bible Study Questions 1. How does the imagery of the winnowing fork and threshing floor help us understand the nature of God's judgment? 2. In what ways can we ensure that we are living as "wheat" and not "chaff" in our daily lives? 3. How does the concept of unquenchable fire influence our understanding of the seriousness of sin and the need for repentance? 4. What practical steps can we take to share the urgency of the Gospel with those around us, in light of the coming judgment? 5. How do the themes in Luke 3:17 connect with other biblical passages about judgment and salvation, and how can these connections deepen our faith? Connections to Other Scriptures Matthew 3:12This verse parallels Luke 3:17, reinforcing the imagery of the winnowing fork and the separation of wheat and chaff, highlighting the consistent message of judgment and salvation. Malachi 4:1This Old Testament prophecy speaks of a day coming that will burn like a furnace, connecting to the imagery of unquenchable fire and divine judgment. Psalm 1:4-5The psalm contrasts the righteous and the wicked, similar to the wheat and chaff imagery, emphasizing the ultimate fate of the wicked. Revelation 14:14-20Describes the harvest of the earth, where the righteous are gathered, and the wicked face judgment, echoing the themes of separation and divine justice. People Adam, Addi, Aminadab, Amminadab, Amos, Annas, Aram, Arphaxad, Boaz, Booz, Caiaphas, Cainan, Cosam, David, Eber, Eli, Eliakim, Eliezer, Elmodam, Enoch, Enos, Enosh, Er, Esaias, Esli, Esrom, Heber, Heli, Herod, Herodias, Hezron, Isaac, Isaiah, Jacob, Janna, Jared, Jesse, Jesus, Joanna, Johanan, John, Jonan, Jorim, Jose, Joseph, Joses, Joshua, Judas, Kenan, Lamech, Levi, Lysanias, Maath, Mahalaleel, Mahath, Maleleel, Mathusala, Mattatha, Mattathias, Matthat, Melchi, Melea, Menan, Methuselah, Naasson, Nachor, Nagge, Nahor, Nahshon, Nahum, Nathan, Naum, Neri, Noah, Noe, Obed, Peleg, Perez, Phalec, Phares, Pharez, Philip, Pilate, Ragau, Reu, Rhesa, Sala, Salah, Salathiel, Salmon, Saruch, Sem, Semei, Serug, Seth, Shealtiel, Shelah, Shem, Simeon, Terah, Thara, Tiberius, Zacharias, Zechariah, Zerubbabel, ZorobabelPlaces Galilee, Ituraea, Jordan River, Judea, TrachonitisTopics Barn, Burn, Burned, Chaff, Clean, Cleanse, Clear, Fan, Fire, Floor, Fork, Garner, Gather, Grain, Granary, Instrument, Purge, Shovel, Store, Storehouse, Thoroughly, Threshing, Threshing-floor, Throughly, Unquenchable, Waste, Wheat, Winnowing, Winnowing-fan, Winnowing-shovelDictionary of Bible Themes Luke 3:17 4524 threshing-floor
4550 winnowing
4826 fire
5583 tools Luke 3:3-17 5098 John the Baptist Luke 3:15-18 5624 witnesses, to Christ Luke 3:16-17 2366 Christ, prophecies concerning
3120 Holy Spirit, descriptions
4324 dross
5224 barn Luke 3:16-18 8425 evangelism, nature of Library St John the Baptist
Chester Cathedral. 1872. St Luke iii. 2, 3, 7, 9-14. "The Word of God came unto John the son of Zacharias in the wilderness. And he came into all the country about Jordan, preaching the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins. . . . 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? Bring forth therefore fruits worthy of repentance. . . . And now also the axe is laid unto the root of the …
Charles Kingsley—All Saints' Day and Other SermonsJohn the Preacher of Repentance
'Now, in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Cesar, Pontius Pilate being governor of Judea, and Herod being tetrarch of Galilee, and his brother Philip tetrarch of Iturea 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. 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 …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions Of Holy Scripture John's Witness to Jesus, and God's
'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 thoroughly purge His floor, and will gather the wheat into His garner; but the chaff He will burn with fire unquenchable. …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions Of Holy Scripture John's Rebuke of Herod.
Preached May 15, 1853. JOHN'S REBUKE OF HEROD. "But Herod the tetrarch, being reproved by him for Herodias, his brother Philip's wife, and for all the evils which Herod had done, added yet this above all, that he shut up John in prison,"--Luke iii. 19, 20. The life of John the Baptist divides itself into three distinct periods. Of the first we are told almost nothing, but we may conjecture much. We are told that he was in the deserts till his showing unto Israel. It was a period probably, in which, …
Frederick W. Robertson—Sermons Preached at Brighton Elucidations.
I. (In the body of a dove, cap. iii. p. 523.) The learned John Scott, in his invaluable work The Christian Life, [7283] identifies the glory shed upon the Saviour at his baptism, with that mentioned by Ezekiel (Cap. xliii. 2) and adds: "In this same glorious splendor was Christ arrayed first at his Baptism and afterward at his Transfiguration....By the Holy Ghost's descending like a Dove, it is not necessary we should understand his descending in the shape or form of a Dove, but that in some glorious …
Tertullian— On the Flesh of Christ Genealogy According to Luke.
^C Luke III. 23-38. ^c 23 And Jesus himself [Luke has been speaking about John the Baptist, he now turns to speak of Jesus himself], when he began to teach, was about thirty years of age [the age when a Levite entered upon God's service--Num. iv. 46, 47], being the son (as was supposed) of Joseph, the son [this may mean that Jesus was grandson of Heli, or that Joseph was counted as a son of Heli because he was his son-in-law] of Heli, 24 the son of Matthat, the son of Levi, the son of Melchi, the …
J. W. McGarvey—The Four-Fold Gospel Appendix vii. On the Date of the Nativity of Our Lord
So much, that is generally accessible, has of late been written on this subject, and such accord exists on the general question, that only the briefest statement seems requisite in this place, the space at our command being necessarily reserved for subjects which have either not been treated of by previous writers, or in a manner or form that seemed to make a fresh investigation desirable. At the outset it must be admitted, that absolute certainty is impossible as to the exact date of Christ's Nativity …
Alfred Edersheim—The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah Fate of the Enemies of Jesus.
According to the calculation we adopt, the death of Jesus happened in the year 33 of our era.[1] It could not, at all events, be either before the year 29, the preaching of John and Jesus having commenced in the year 28,[2] or after the year 35, since in the year 36, and probably before the passover, Pilate and Kaiapha both lost their offices.[3] The death of Jesus appears, moreover, to have had no connection whatever with these two removals.[4] In his retirement, Pilate probably never dreamt for …
Ernest Renan—The Life of Jesus Jesus at Capernaum.
Beset by an idea, gradually becoming more and more imperious and exclusive, Jesus proceeds henceforth with a kind of fatal impassibility in the path marked out by his astonishing genius and the extraordinary circumstances in which he lived. Hitherto he had only communicated his thoughts to a few persons secretly attracted to him; henceforward his teaching was sought after by the public. He was about thirty years of age.[1] The little group of hearers who had accompanied him to John the Baptist had, …
Ernest Renan—The Life of Jesus The Distinction of the Holy Spirit from the Father and from his Son, Jesus Christ.
We have seen thus far that the Holy Spirit is a Person and a Divine Person. And now another question arises, Is He as a Person separate and distinct from the Father and from the Son? One who carefully studies the New Testament statements cannot but discover that beyond a question He is. We read in Luke iii. 21, 22, "Now when all the people were baptized, it came to pass that Jesus also being baptized, and praying, the heaven was opened, and the Holy Ghost descended in a bodily shape like a dove upon …
R. A. Torrey—The Person and Work of The Holy Spirit The Doubting Soul More Particularly Assisted in Its Inquiries as to the Sincerity of Its Faith and Repentance.
1. Transient impressions liable to be mistaken for conversion, which would be a fatal error.--2. General scheme for self-examination.--3. Particular inquiries--what views there have been of sin?--4. What views there have been of Christ?--5. As to the need the soul has of him;--6. And its willingness to receive him with a due surrender of heart to his service.--7. Nothing short of this sufficient. The soul submitting to Divine examination the sincerity of its faith and repentance. 1. IN consequence …
Philip Doddridge—The Rise and Progress of Religion in the Soul A New Age and New Standards
As the Kingdom Comes Ethical Standards Must Advance Every approximation to the Reign of God in humanity demands an advance in the social relations of men, that is, an advance in ethics. Every really epochal advance must have it or slip back. There must be, first, better obedience to the moral principles already recognized and accepted by society; second, an expansion of the sway of ethical duty to new fields and wider groups of humanity; and third, a recognition of new duties and the assimilation …
Walter Rauschenbusch—The Social Principles of Jesus Luke.
Lucas, Evangelii el medicinae munera pandens; Artibus hinc, illinc religione, valet: Utilis ille labor, per quem vixere tot aegri; Utilior, per quem tot didicere mori!" Critical and Biographical Schleiermacher: Ueber die Schriften des Lukas. Berlin, 1817. Reprinted in the second vol. of his Sämmtliche Werke, Berlin, 1836 (pp. 1-220). Translated by Bishop Thirlwall, London, 1825. James Smith (of Jordanhill, d. 1867): Dissertation on the Life and Writings of St. Luke, prefixed to his Voyage and …
Philip Schaff—History of the Christian Church, Volume I The First Ministry of the Baptist.
(LUKE III.) "Hark, what a sound, and too divine for hearing, Stirs on the earth and trembles in the air! Is it the thunder of the Lord's appearing? Is it the music of his people's prayer? "Surely He cometh, and a thousand voices Shout to the saints, and to the deaf and dumb; Surely He cometh, and the earth rejoices, Glad in his coming who hath sworn, I come." F. W. H. MYERS. The Preaching of Repentance--His Power as a Preacher--His Message--Warning of Impending Judgment--The Wages of Sin Thirty …
F. B. Meyer—John the Baptist Pontius Pilate
BY REV. PRINCIPAL WALTER F. ADENEY, D.D. In spite of the fact that he condemned Jesus to death, the Gospels present us a more favourable portrait of Pontius Pilate than that which we derive from secular historians. Josephus relates incidents that reveal him as the most insolent and provoking of governors. For instance, the Jewish historian ascribes to him a gratuitous insult, the story of which shows its perpetrator to have been as weak as he was offensive. It was customary for Roman armies to …
George Milligan—Men of the Bible; Some Lesser-Known Questions.
LESSON I. 1. In what state was the Earth when first created? 2. To what trial was man subjected? 3. What punishment did the Fall bring on man? 4. How alone could his guilt be atoned for? A. By his punishment being borne by one who was innocent. 5. What was the first promise that there should be such an atonement?--Gen. iii. 15. 6. What were the sacrifices to foreshow? 7. Why was Abel's offering the more acceptable? 8. From which son of Adam was the Seed of the woman to spring? 9. How did Seth's …
Charlotte Mary Yonge—The Chosen People Quirinius the Governor of Syria
WE come now to the last serious difficulty in Luke's account of the "First Enrollment". He says that it occurred while Quirinius was administering Syria. The famous administration of Syria by Quirinius lasted from about AD. 6 to 9; and during that time occurred the" Great Enrollment" and valuation of property in Palestine. [94] Obviously the incidents described by Luke are irreconcilable with that date. There was found near Tibur (Tivoli) in AD. 1764 a fragment of marble with part of an inscription, …
Sir William Mitchell Ramsay—Was Christ Born in Bethlehem? One Argument which Has Been Much Relied Upon but not More than Its Just Weight...
One argument which has been much relied upon (but not more than its just weight deserves) is the conformity of the facts occasionally mentioned or referred to in Scripture with the state of things in those times, as represented by foreign and independent accounts; which conformity proves, that the writers of the New Testament possessed a species of local knowledge which could belong only to an inhabitant of that country and to one living in that age. This argument, if well made out by examples, is …
William Paley—Evidences of Christianity Second Stage of the Roman Trial. Jesus Before Herod Antipas.
(Jerusalem. Early Friday Morning.) ^C Luke XXIII. 6-12. ^c 6 But when Pilate heard it [when he heard that Jesus had begun his operations in Galilee], he asked whether the man were a Galilaean. 7 And when he knew that he was of Herod's jurisdiction [Herod was tetrarch of Galilee--Luke iii. 1], he sent him unto Herod, who himself also ["also" includes both Pilate and Herod, neither of whom lived at Jerusalem] was at Jerusalem in these days. ["These days" refers to the passover season. Pilate had come …
J. W. McGarvey—The Four-Fold Gospel The Messianic Call
Matt. iii. 13 TO iv. 11; Mark i. 9-13; Luke iii. 21, 22; iv. 1-13; John i. 30-34 85. In the circle about John all classes of the people were represented: Pharisees and Sadducees, jealous of innovation and apprehensive of popular excitement; publicans and soldiers, interested in the new preacher or touched in conscience; outcasts who came in penitence, and devout souls in consecration. The wonder of the new message was carried throughout the land and brought great multitudes to the Jordan. Jesus …
Rush Rhees—The Life of Jesus of Nazareth Private Property and the Common Good
Private Property Must Serve Social Welfare A glance across history or a simple acquaintance with human life in any community will show us that private property is at the same time a necessary expression of personality and stimulator of character, and, on the other hand, a chief outlet and fortification of selfishness. Every reformatory effort must aim to conserve and spread the blessings of property, and every step toward a better social order will be pugnaciously blocked by its selfish beneficiaries. …
Walter Rauschenbusch—The Social Principles of Jesus Not that Light, but a Witness.
(John I. 8.) "Nothing resting in its own completeness Can have worth or beauty; but alone Because it leads and tends to farther sweetness, Fuller, higher, deeper than its own. "Spring's real glory dwells not in the meaning, Gracious though it be, of her blue hours; But is hidden in her tender leaning To the summer's richer wealth of flowers." A. A. PROCTOR. Resentment of the Sanhedrim--The Baptist's Credentials--Spiritual Vision--"Behold the Lamb of God"--The Baptism of the Spirit The baptism and …
F. B. Meyer—John the Baptist Links Luke 3:17 NIVLuke 3:17 NLTLuke 3:17 ESVLuke 3:17 NASBLuke 3:17 KJV
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