Winnowing Shovel

What is a winnowing shovel?

LUKE 3 COMMENTARY ◄
Luke 3:15-16 Sandal Strap

Luke 3:17-22 Winnowing Shovel

LUKE 3:17-18 17 “His winnowing shovel is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clean out His threshing floor, and will gather the wheat into His barn; but the chaff He will burn with inextinguishable fire.” 18 And with many other exhortations he preached the good news to the people.

What is a “winnowing shovel” (Luke 3:17)?
It's a shovel made entirely of wood that is used to toss harvested grain up into the air on breezy days so that the lighter “chaff” (Luke 3:17) - the dry husk that encases the grain - becomes separated from and lands farther downwind than the heavier grain.

What is the “inextinguishable fire” (Luke 3:17)?
The one in hell.

Whom do the “wheat” and the “chaff” (Luke 3:17) represent?
The true believers whom Jesus will gather “into His barn” - i.e., heaven - and everyone else, who will end up in hell.

How can hearing about hell be “good news to the people” (Luke 3:18)?
Jesus saving repentant sinners from spending the rest of eternity burning in it is very good news.

What question arises if hell is omitted from that good news?
“What did Jesus save me from”?

Who doesn't want to hear about hell?
Unrepentant sinners who don't believe in Jesus and are headed there, including many who fill church pews and offering plates today.

Did John the Baptist preach about heaven and hell or just heaven?

What about your pastor?

LUKE 3:19-20 19 But Herod the tetrarch, being rebuked by him concerning Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife, and for all the evils that Herod had done, 20 also added this to everything: he shut John up in prison.

What evil had Herod the tetrarch done “concerning Herodias, his brother Philip's wife” (Luke 3:19)?
He had taken her from her husband, who was his own brother, and made her his own wife.

Why did Herod “shut John up in prison” (Luke 3:20)?
To literally shut him up so that he stops rebuking his and his wife's sins.

What does repenting from sin lead to?
Forgiveness and restoration.

What does refusing to repent from sin typically lead to?
More and/or bigger sins to cover up the first sin: Herod eventually murdered John the Baptist in prison.

LUKE 3:21-22 21 Now it came to pass that when all the people were baptized, Jesus also was baptized. And while He was praying, the heaven was opened 22 and the Holy Spirit descended in bodily form like a dove upon Him, and a voice came from heaven, saying, “You are My beloved Son; in You I am well pleased.”

Was John the Baptist imprisoned and martyred prematurely?
“All the people were baptized” (Luke 3:21) by John the Baptist, so he had accomplished his mission.

Why was “Jesus also ... baptized” (Luke 3:21)?
See Lamb of God.

What happened while Jesus “was praying” (Luke 3:21) just after He was baptized?
“The heaven was opened and the Holy Spirit descended in bodily form like a dove upon Him, and a voice came from heaven, saying, 'You are My beloved Son; in You I am well pleased' ” (Luke 3:21-22).