Luke 3:3

3:3 He ¹  went into all the region around the Jordan River, ²  preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. ³ 

Luke 24:47

24:47 and repentance ⁴  for the forgiveness of sins would be proclaimed ⁵  in his name to all nations, ⁶  beginning from Jerusalem. ⁷ 

Luke 4:18

4:18 “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,

because he has anointed ⁸  me to proclaim good news ⁹  to the poor. ¹⁰ 

He has sent me ¹¹  to proclaim release ¹²  to the captives

and the regaining of sight ¹³  to the blind,

to set free ¹⁴  those who are oppressed, ¹⁵ 

¹ tn Grk “And he.” Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style. Due to the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation.

² tn “River” is not in the Greek text but is supplied for clarity.

³ sn A baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins was a call for preparation for the arrival of the Lord’s salvation. To participate in this baptism was a recognition of the need for God’s forgiveness with a sense that one needed to live differently as a response to it (Luke 3:10-14).

⁴ sn This repentance has its roots in declarations of the Old Testament. It is the Hebrew concept of a turning of direction.

⁵ tn Or “preached,” “announced.”

⁶ sn To all nations. The same Greek term (τὰ ἔθνη, ta eqnh) may be translated “the Gentiles” or “the nations.” The hope of God in Christ was for all the nations from the beginning.

⁷ sn Beginning from Jerusalem. See Acts 2, which is where it all starts.

⁷ sn The phrase he has anointed me is an allusion back to Jesus’ baptism in Luke 3:21-22.

⁸ tn Grk “to evangelize,” “to preach the gospel.”

⁹ sn The poor is a key term in Luke. It refers to the pious poor and indicates Jesus’ desire to reach out to those the world tends to forget or mistreat. It is like 1:52 in force and also will be echoed in 6:20 (also 1 Pet 2:11-25). Jesus is commissioned to do this.

¹⁰ tc The majority of mss, especially the later Byzantines, include the phrase “to heal the brokenhearted” at this point (A Θ Ψ 0102 ˹ Ï). The phrase is lacking in several weighty mss (א B D L W Ξ Ë¹³ 33 579 700 892* pc lat sy^s co), including representatives from both the Alexandrian and Western texttypes. From the standpoint of external evidence, the omission of the phrase is more likely original. When internal evidence is considered, the shorter reading becomes almost certain. Scribes would be much more prone to add the phrase here to align the text with Isa 61:1, the source of the quotation, than to remove it from the original.

¹¹ sn The release in view here is comprehensive, both at a physical level and a spiritual one, as the entire ministry of Jesus makes clear (Luke 1:77-79; 7:47; 24:47; Acts 2:38; 5:31; 10:43).

¹² sn Again, as with the previous phrase, regaining of sight may well mean more than simply miraculously restoring physical sight, which itself pictures a deeper reality (Luke 1:77-79; 18:35-43).

¹³ sn The essence of Jesus’ messianic work is expressed in the phrase to set free. This line from Isa 58 says that Jesus will do what the nation had failed to do. It makes the proclamation messianic, not merely prophetic, because Jesus doesn’t just proclaim the message – he brings the deliverance. The word translated set free is the same Greek word (ἄφεσις, afesi") translated release earlier in the verse.

¹⁴ sn Again, as with the previous phrases, oppressed may well mean more than simply political or economic oppression, but a deeper reality of oppression by sin (Luke 1:77-79; 18:35-43).