Luke 3:18 tells us that John the Baptist, alongside many other urgent appeals, preached good news to the crowds gathered at the Jordan River. In plain terms, the verse says that John’s message was not only a call to repent but also an announcement of hope, even though his words were often hard to hear. Luke writes this as the narrator of his Gospel, describing John’s ministry to the ordinary people who had come out to be baptized.
Then with many other exhortations he preached good news to the people…
Luke 3:18 (WEB)
What Luke 3:18 Means
The phrase “with many other exhortations” tells you that what Luke records is only a summary. John did not give one speech and move on. He kept urging people, encouraging them, and challenging them over a period of time, so the reader should picture a steady, repeated appeal rather than a single sermon.
The phrase “he preached good news” is the surprising part. Just before this verse, John has been speaking about a coming judge with a winnowing fork, who will gather the wheat and burn the chaff. That is not the language we usually call good news. Yet Luke says John’s message was good news, which means the good news lay in the promise that God was acting and that a mightier one was coming to set things right.
The verse does not promise that every listener would respond well, nor does it say that the good news was painless. It describes what John was doing: calling people to turn back to God and pointing them toward the hope that God’s kingdom was near. It is a description of a ministry, not a guarantee of a particular outcome for each person.
The Context of Luke 3:18
Luke wrote his Gospel to a readers he calls Theophilus, and tradition holds that the author was Luke, the companion of Paul. His aim was to give an orderly account of the things Jesus did and taught, drawing on eyewitnesses. Chapter 3 opens the public story of Jesus by placing John’s ministry in the wider history of the Roman world, so John is presented as the forerunner preparing the way for Christ.
The verses immediately before and after this one help explain its tone. In verses 15 to 17 John speaks of one who is mightier than himself and who will baptize with the Holy Spirit and fire, and in verses 19 and 20 Luke reports that Herod imprisoned John for rebuking him. Read in that setting, Luke 3:18 shows a preacher who could speak of coming judgment and of public wrongdoing and still call his message good news. The verse therefore holds warning and hope together rather than separating them.
Key Phrases in Luke 3:18
Isaiah 40:9
You who tell good news to Zion, go up on a high mountain. You who tell good news to Jerusalem, lift up your voice with strength. Lift it up. Don’t be afraid. Say to the cities of Judah, “Behold, your God!”
(WEB)
This verse calls messengers to lift up their voices with good news, using language very close to the idea of proclaiming good tidings. Read it alongside Luke 3:18 to see that John’s preaching stood in a long line of prophetic announcements that God was bringing comfort and salvation to his people.
Acts 13:32
We bring you good news of the promise made to the fathers…
(WEB)
Here the apostles speak of bringing good news about God’s promise fulfilled in Jesus. This connects with Luke 3:18 by showing how the good news John proclaimed found its completion in the message the early church carried forward after Christ’s ministry.
A Short Prayer From Luke 3:18
Father, you have never stopped calling your people back to yourself, and you have never stopped sending messengers with words of hope. Help me to hear both the honest warnings and the good news you speak, and to receive them with a humble heart. Where I have grown tired of being urged toward change, renew my willingness to listen. Where I have grown weary of waiting, remind me that your promises are sure. Teach me to speak truth with patience and kindness to the people you have placed around me, trusting you to do the work only you can do. Amen.
