came forth to be baptized of him, O generation of
vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to
come! 8. Bring forth therefore fruits worthy of
repentance; and begin not to say within yourselves, We
have Abraham to our Father: for I say unto you, That
God is able of these stones to raise up children unto
Abraham. 9. And now also the axe is laid unto the root
of the trees: every tree therefore which bringeth not
forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.
10. And the people asked him, saying, What shall we do
then? 11. He answereth and saith unto them, He that
hath two coats, let him impart to him that hath none;
and he that hath meat, let him do likewise. 12. Then
came also publicans to be baptized, and said unto him,
Master, what shall we do? 13. And he said unto them,
Exact no more than that which is appointed you. 14. And
the soldiers likewise demanded of him, saying, And what
shall we do? And he said unto them, Do violence to no
man, neither accuse any falsely; and be content with
your wages.'--LUKE iii. 144.

Why does Luke enumerate so carefully the civil and ecclesiastical
authorities in verses 1 and 2? Not only to fix the date, but, in
accordance with the world-wide aspect of his Gospel, to set his
narrative in relation with secular history; and, further, to focus
into one vivid beam of light the various facts which witnessed to
the sunken civil and darkened moral and religious condition of the
Jews. What more needed to be said to prove how the ancient glory had
faded, than that they were under the rule of such a delegate as
Pilate, of such an emperor as Tiberius, and that the bad brood of