‘Now in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate being governor of Judaea, and Herod being tetrarch of Galilee, and his brother Philip tetrarch of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene, in the high-priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John the son of Zacharias in the wilderness.
Once again everything is put in its historical context. Augustus has died and now Tiberius is the Emperor. But here Luke overwhelms us with information. He describes first the ruler who is over all, Tiberius, and then describes all the rulers who have authority under him in the regions in and around Palestine, in descending order. Here is the might of Rome as carried into effect by its satellite ‘rulers'. There is Pontius Pilate, praefectus of Judaea; Herod Antipas, Tetrarch of Galilee (and Peraea); Herod Philip, Tetrarch of lands north east of Galilee, with his capital at Caesarea Philippi; Lysanias, Tetrarch of Abilene which was even further north; and the High Priests of Jerusalem, who ruled under Pilate's authority. Rome is seen as in control everywhere.
As we know from inscriptions Pilate was a ‘praefectus', or ‘prefect', a man of equestrian rank set over a troublesome province that required military expertise. Tacitus calls him ‘procurator' which was certainly the title used from the time of Claudius. But he may have been reading back a title that Pilate never strictly had (it indicated the same status, although emphasising more the financial side of things).
A ‘Tetrarch' is a minor king over a small territory. This Lysanias has been long evidenced by inscriptions (a fact often ignored in order to suggest that Luke was in error. But as often he proves to be correct in the end).
Annas was no longer High Priest as far as the Romans were concerned. They had replaced him. But in Jewish eyes a High Priest could not be deposed, and they would still look to Annas as High Priest, as well as to Caiaphas, the current High Priest, and Annas still had a great deal of influence over Judaea's affairs, for he was Caiaphas's father. Note that in the Greek ‘High Priest' is singular acknowledging that there was effectively only one High Priesthood.
Every High Priest who took part in the Day of Atonement was thereafter seen as a High Priest until death, even if he was a one off substitute because the current High Priest had in some way been rendered unclean and therefore unable to participate. He might never officiate again, but he was still called High Priest to the end of his days. Thus Luke is quite right to call Annas High Priest. Indeed at this time there would be a number of ‘High Priests', but Luke only mentions the two who were actually influencing events.
One purpose of this opening was undoubtedly to date the time of the appearance of John and Jesus on the scene. It was ‘in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar.' The problem for us is as to whether this refers to when he began his co-rule with Augustus over the provinces, or when he finally began to reign supremely on his own. The latter is the more probable, being the normal basis used elsewhere, which would give us a date around 27-29 AD.
We note here how Luke's opening descriptions have slowly increased in impressiveness. In Luke 1:5 it was ‘in the days of Herod the king'. In Luke 2:1-2 it was in the days of ‘Caesar Augustus' and of Quirinius his appointed instrument. Now we have the full works, Caesar and all his authorities in and around Palestine. The mention of Lysanius prevents us from simply seeing it as a description of those whose lands will be affected by Jesus' ministry. There is here the deliberate intention of bringing out the power of Rome which ruled the world into which John and Jesus came. And it is significant that Israel's ‘spiritual' leaders are place firmly on the side of Rome. Nothing could have been truer, although they would no doubt have preferred total independence as all men do.
But now with John a new authority breaks onto the scene, the authority of the word of God (rema theou). The great panoply of power previously described is to meet up with an irresistible force, the power of the word of God which is to sweep through the whole Empire. The ‘word of God' (here rema theou (as possibly in Luke 4:4) but usually logos theou) is a theme of Luke in both the Gospel and in Acts. It signified God speaking through His servants, and included the witness of the Old Testament. It comes to John here while he is in the wilderness, so that he might proclaim it (compare Luke 7:24). It is the word which God puts into the hearts of His prophets. It is also the word on which man feeds. ‘Man shall not live by bread alone but by every word of God' (Luke 4:4). (Thus Jesus too received the rema theou in the wilderness if the last phrase is the original). In Luke 5:1 the people will press on Jesus to hear the word of God (logos tou theou). In the parable of the sower in Luke 8:11-15 the seed is the word of God. In Luke 8:21 Jesus declares those who hear the word of God to be His mother, His sisters, and His brothers. In Luke 11:28 those who hear the word of God and keep it are blessed rather than His earthly mother who bore Him. In Acts 4:31 the word of God is proclaimed boldly to the Jews, in Acts 6:7 it ‘increases', in Acts 8:14 it is received by the Samaritans, in Acts 11:1 the Gentiles have received the word of God, in Acts 12:24 it grows and multiplies, in Acts 13:5 it is preached in Salamis, in Luke 13:7 it is preached to the proconsul of Cyprus, in Acts 13:44 almost the whole of the city of Pisidian Antioch come together to hear the word of God, in Acts 13:46 the word of God must now go even more abundantly to the Gentiles, in Acts 17:13 the word of God is being preached in Berea where it is thoughtfully compared with the Scriptures, in Acts 18:11 it is effectively proclaimed in Corinth, in Acts 19:20 the word of God grows mightily and prevails. And finally the message of the Kingly Rule of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ will be proclaimed in Rome (Acts 28:31). And of course on top of this are the many times when it is simply called ‘the word' or ‘the word of the Lord' or similar. Thus from John to Corinth and onwards the new ‘word of God', which is based on the old, is received and proclaimed, and acts powerfully. From this beginning with John ‘the word of God', the message of deliverance which centres on Christ, and fulfils the Scriptures, will go forward continually until it is effectively established in Rome.