<<< Go back to Luke chapter two <<<
(19) John's baptism (Luke 3:1-3, 3rd February 2008)
(20) Giving up selfishness (Luke 3:3-14, 24th February 2008)
(21) Meeting a real king (Luke 3:15-21, 2nd March 2008)
(22) Baptism in the Spirit (I) (Luke 3:16-22, 9th March 2008)
(23) Baptism in the Spirit (II) (Luke 3:16-22, 30th March 2008)
(24) A tale of two families (Luke 3:23-38, 27th April 2008)
>>> Go on to chapter four >>>
Nearly 20 years have gone by and John, and Jesus, are now men. Luke pinpoints just where we are in history, by naming the political and religious leaders of the time: from those at the top of the empire, down to local leaders in Judea. This is similar to some of the Old Testament prophets, whose times are identified by the leaders who were in charge when they were preaching. By naming Tiberius and the others, Luke is also showing us that the story of Jesus is rooted in history: real people taking part in real events. Furthermore, we have an impression of how complicated Israel's situation was, with rival groups jostling to achieve their aims. All of this was far removed from the original plan for Israel: multiple tribes with their own homelands operating as a united people under a single king. And because of that mess, many in Israel were longing for God to intervene and bring about change. John came to prepare the way for just that, but not in the way that everyone wanted. His ministry begins in the very opposite place to his father: Zechariah worked in the Temple, in the Holy Place – the middle of Israel; John goes right out to Israel's boundaries: Jordan. This was the crossing place where Joshua first came into the land. And Luke points out that John is is in the wilderness, which is also reminiscent of Israel's beginnings as a nation – the days in the desert after leaving Egypt. By his location, John is showing that a new start is needed for those who would be God's people. John also preaches this, calling Israelites to repent and be baptised for the forgiveness of their sins. Despite having his law, Israel has failed the Lord. The people need to turn away from their failure and back to their God. They need to admit they are in the wrong and desperately need God to forgive them and help them. They need to recognise that they, with the Old Testament in their hands, have exactly the same problem as the rest of the human race: sinful hearts which do not want God. And when some do repent, then John baptises them in the Jordan: an outward symbol of the inward desire for a new start. In Joshua's day the Israelites crossed the Jordan on dry ground – God made it easy for them, yet they still failed him. John plunges people into the Jordan, as a mark of the seriousness of those who are repenting: they are willing to be “drowned” if this is to follow God. Furthermore, baptism signifies the cleansing away of sin through God's forgiveness. However, John's baptism is only in preparation for a better baptism which will come with Jesus.
(1) Have you understood the truth about our hearts and the sin within them? Do you long for God to forgive you and make you new? Then put your faith in the Lord Jesus and be baptised as he commands, and you will be made new.
(2) John's baptism was a only a preparation for a better baptism. Read ahead in Luke 3 and think about what made the Lord Jesus' baptism so much better.
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John the Baptist's message is that people should repent for the forgiveness of their sins; in these verses that message is explained in more detail. In the opening chapters of Luke we saw people testifying to God's salvation breaking into the world through his king and the starting point for this salvation is to be Israel. However, the chapters also hinted that all is not right with Israel: it's not ready to play this role yet. Which is why John preaches the message that he does. John has come to rebuild Israel so it is ready for the Lord and the preaching of his salvation. Isaiah (ch 40) previously predicted this, picturing the building of a great road worthy for the Lord to travel upon where all problems have been dealt with. To undertake this work, John preaches with vigour and power warning the people that they cannot fall back on being from the “right family”. Rather they need to recognise what they have failed to be thus far and ask God's forgiveness. They need a new beginning in their lives. John further warns that anyone who doesn't see the need of this, or who is unwilling, will be cast away by the Lord – like a tree which bears no fruit being thrown into the orchard bonfire. The crowds find this shocking and ask John just what he means – what fruit? In reply John identifies selfishness. Israel has become a nation of individuals looking after themselves and not caring for the whole community: those in need are being ignored, whilst those with plenty are holding onto all they have. This is the complete opposite of what God wants to see amongst his people. John then presses this home further by accepting tax collectors and soldiers. Both groups are hated for their thieving, cheating and bullying ways. John, however, accepts that they too can be forgiven if they will put away their selfishness conduct – which does not mean giving up their jobs but rather doing them honourably and with justice. By acting in this way John is preaching to the crowds, “Don't be snobs, looking down on these people as 'selfish sinners'. You're all in the same boat and you all need to repent!” In other words, by his offer of forgiveness, through repentance, to the tax collectors and soldiers, John is showing how radical a new start is needed by all who want to be the Lord's people. Surely John's analysis of his society finds a place in our own. Deceit to gain money; resentment of our “limited” income; and a selfish passion to hold onto our possessions – all three mark us. So John's words must speak to us too: calling us to repent and seek forgiveness from the Lord.
(1) Next time you're listening to the radio or reading the newspaper, take a pen and paper and note down every way in which selfishness is encouraged by our society through articles, reports, adverts, news items, celebrity lives.
(2) Then look at your own life and dig out the selfishness. Where is your “second tunic” you won't give away? Repent. Seek forgiveness. Give it away.
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Through his blunt, powerful preaching John the Baptist is rebuilding Israel so that it consists of those who truly want what God wants. However, rumours spread about him that John may be God's king – the Christ. But John denies this gossip and tells people to expect somebody tougher than him! A king so awesome that John would not even dare tie his sandals! That is a frightening thought because John has been a strong man in his preaching and his actions. However, he's right to preach this because Psalm 2 tells us that God's king will be a mighty victor over his enemies. So John tells people that the coming king will baptise not with water but with the Holy Spirit. They will be plunged into the power of God and made holy: pure and worthy of God. What will that be like? It will be fiery. All that's rubbish in Israel will be burned away, including those people who will not repent. A radical transformation is on its way! John's message is terrifying but necessary because God does desire solid, holy people who are worthy of himself and anybody who couldn't care about that, is in danger of destruction. Having said that, however, we must see that John's message is unbalanced. John's role in Israel is partial and temporary and so he doesn't bring the whole of the good news. The stronger one – God's king – must come to do that and that is emphasised when John is arrested by Herod and imprisoned. John can warn the powers of this world but he cannot defeat them. However, Herod's actions say more to us than just that. Seeing Herod's conduct also prepares us for the arrival of Jesus on the scene. In verses 19 to 21 we have a contrast between two kings: a worldly one who uses his power for bullying and a heavenly one who acts on behalf of his people. This is made plain when Jesus is baptised in the water. By doing so he shows his willingness to stand with the people who want forgiveness and protection. This action is shocking to John given what he has just preached about the coming of the Christ but Jesus must do this to show what sort of king he will be. You see Jesus doesn't just bring baptism to others: he goes down into it himself! And that won't just be water. Jesus will himself face the fire of God's wrath, so that his people may be forgiven and be kept safe from destruction. A true king – a heavenly king – comes with great power and strength but then uses it to serve those who are weak and in danger. Herod used his power for selfish gratification but Jesus comes with power to act on behalf of others.
(1) Think about Jesus. What particular features come to mind? Then ask yourself: is your way of thinking, and singing, about him true to the Bible's picture?
(2) John only presented one particular part of God's message to the crowds but it was still “good news”. Is there a particular element of the gospel message which our society especially needs to hear?
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“Baptism in the Holy Spirit” (Lk 3:16) is widely debated amongst Christians. Some say it is a special experience of God's power which comes to Christians after conversion. However, in the New Testament the term refers to a part of the process by which God created a new people for himself. This process begins with John the Baptist, who gathers repenting Israelites together as a new people for God, marked out by water baptism. But that is only stage one in the process and John preaches that God himself will later mark these people as his own – separating them from others – by giving his Holy Spirit to them all; this will happen when the Messiah (Christ) comes. This second stage, however, is not quite so fast moving as you might imagine from John's words. When Jesus appears he alone receives the Holy Spirit. The reason for this is that his people need protecting from God's wrath against sin and if they were to receive the Holy Spirit straight away, then they would be destroyed. So to begin with only Jesus is empowered by the Spirit so that he can be the suffering servant (see Isaiah 40 onwards) who goes to the cross as a sacrificial substitute to protect his people. Then after Jesus' resurrection and ascension, the Holy Spirit is, at last, poured out on his people on the day of Pentecost. However, even then the process is more open than John's words might have suggested. Peter preaches to Jewish folk (Acts 2:38) that there is still time for them to repent, be baptised and join God's Spirit-filled people; the fiery judgement John spoke about, which will separate wheat from chaff, is still in the future. Furthermore, there is the question of God's salvation going out to the whole world (Lk 3:6; Acts 1:8) – how will that happen? But God himself provides the answer by taking the process forwards in two important steps. Firstly, in Acts 8 preachers go to the Samaritans (half-Jews) who believe, are baptised and then the Spirit comes down on them. Secondly, in Acts 10 Peter preaches to Gentiles who also believe, receive the Spirit and are baptised. In two key historic acts, God shows that now his salvation is to be preached everywhere and his new, Spirit-filled people will be drawn from all the nations of the world. So by the end of Acts 10 John's preaching has been fully explained. Holy Spirit baptism has occurred and the process of separation has begun, although it will take time and the final fiery judgement lies in the future. All that remains is a postscript in Acts 19 where 12 of John's disciples are, at last, brought to Jesus and receive the Spirit. An appropriate ending to the story of John's message.
(1) Read through the chapters mentioned in Acts and see how God works through “baptising in the Spirit” to move the work of the gospel outwards to all the world.
(2) Take a look at Ephesians 4 and see how Paul emphasises the ways in which Jews and Gentiles are now completely united as the people of God.
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In Old Testament times only some of those joined to God's people – the Israelites – showed real signs of the power of the Holy Spirit: men like Moses and David. But John the Baptist announces a new people of God, who will all have the Holy Spirit. These are the people who repent of sin, ask for forgiveness and trust in Christ. Such people are now drawn from all nations and there are no “second-class” citizens amongst them: all have the same Spirit given to them (Acts 15:8-9). As Peters says in Acts 2:38, if you believe (in Christ) then you receive (the Spirit). But what does the Spirit do? Well, to understand that we start with John's baptism. John says that both he and Christ baptise – what they do is linked – but that his baptism is a lesser version. So to understand Spirit baptism, you have to understand water baptism. John's water baptism is about a desire for a new life from God. He calls people to repent of their selfish ways which are completely opposed to what God desires. After all, God said in the Old Testament that his people should live loving him and their neighbours. But as John says, they have failed to do that because of the hardness of the human heart. However, if they repent and trust themselves to Christ he will change their lives: doing for them what neither John nor the having the Law can do for them. This is what baptism in the Spirit means. It means that God's Spirit has now come upon all his people to makes their lives into lives of God-like love. Which in turn means love like that found within the Holy Trinity. God is three persons – the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit – who are so joined to one another, that they are one God. That's real life and Christ is now creating the same sort of life amongst his people by his Spirit. John could not offer that – it needed Christ with a better baptism – and hence the fruits of Christian living (Gal 5:22-) are so much richer than the fruits of repentance which John expects to see (Lk 3:10-). So the church is the place where a new sort of life can be lived and anyone who joins the church by believing John's basic message – repent, be baptised, trust Christ – will receive God's Spirit and start to live a new God-like life. However, we have to realise that God's plan is being worked out gradually. The Spirit is active but the fullness of our new lives is yet to be seen (Rom 8). However, we press on patiently, learning – with the Spirit's help – from the Spirit-inspired Bible about how to live. But we must do this as a part of the church, for only there can we live a Trinity-like life (John 17).
(1) Are there any areas of your life as a Christian in which you know you are not showing God-like love? How are you going to change, then, and show real fruits of repentance and new life like those described in Galatians 5?
(2) Read through one of the four gospels and note all the times and ways in which the Lord Jesus shows the fruit of a Spirit-filled life. Learn from him how to live.
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In his genealogy Luke tells us about two families: the family of Adam and the family of Jesus. Thinking about Adam's family, we see that it is actually God's family. Adam is identified as the son of God, reminding us that human beings were created in God's image. Although we are only creatures, nonetheless there is a family resemblance between ourselves and God. Since this is true, human beings have great value and significance. However, we also see from the list that God's family through Adam is completely messed up. In the first place, God has a dead family – almost all the names on the list are dead men. In the second place, Solomon is missing (replaced by Nathan) showing us how God's family has gone wrong in various ways. God truly understands just how people feel when their children go bad and mess themselves up. But God, in his mercy, has not given up on his family. After Adam sinned, God chose to take members of that fallen race and use them in his great plan of salvation. A plan which has worked its way through history, reaching its fulfilment with Jesus. But what does Jesus do? Well he is both a part of Adam's family and the breaking point too. He is a part of the family because he is the culmination of God's great plan of salvation. God promised to Adam and Eve that one day a son would be born into their family who would overcome the disaster into which they had thrown themselves. Jesus is that son: he is the Saviour – the rescuer – whom God has sent. But Jesus also breaks Adam's family. We see that in the way he's described as the “supposed” son of Joseph and in the fact that Jesus himself will have no physical son. But why does he break the family line? In order to begin a new one: Jesus is going to be a new Adam. Luke has already highlighted this by pointing to Jesus as “the son of God” in various ways, in chapters 1, 2 and 3. Just as Adam was the son of God, so is Jesus. Jesus has been brought into the world by God, to start a new family for God. However, in line with God's promise of a saviour, Jesus' family will consist of reborn members of Adam's race. No longer will God's chosen people be identified by the question “who is your birth father?” (which is why this is the last Bible genealogy). So Christians, then, are part of Jesus' family and the result of this is that they will have lives like his. Lives free of sin and death, which will last forever. Lives lived in a perfect family relationship with our father in heaven. But might Jesus fail like Adam? No. He cannot because he is not just “a” son but God's eternal Son.
(1) How will today's sermon help you to pray for either your own family or the families of other believers?
(2) Remind yourself of the story of the prodigal son (Luke 15). Think about the character and the conduct of the father in the story. What does it tell you about God? Turn what you learn into praise and prayer.
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