Luke 3:3

Luke mentioned John’s itinerant ministry in the region around the Jordan River whereas Matthew described it as in the wilderness of Judea (Matthew 3:1). The thing that characterized John’s ministry in the minds of his contemporaries was his baptism. What marked his baptism distinctively was that it expressed repentance that resulted in divine forgiveness of sins. When people came to John for baptism they were saying that they had repented of their sins. John’s baptism prefigured Jesus’ different kind of baptism (cf. Luke 3:16). Luke said little about John’s baptizing but stressed his preaching.

"The task of ’proclaiming . . . repentance for release of sins’ (Luke 3:3) remains central throughout Luke-Acts [cf. Luke 4:18; Luke 5:17-32; Luke 24:47]." [Note: Tannehill, 1:48.]