Luke 3:1-20 NIV
3 In the fifteenth year of
the reign of Tiberius Caesar—when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea,
Herod tetrarch of Galilee, his brother Philip tetrarch of Iturea and
Traconitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene— 2 during
the high-priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to
John son of Zechariah in the wilderness. 3 He
went into all the country around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance
for the forgiveness of sins. 4 As it is written in
the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet:
“A voice of one calling in
the wilderness,
‘Prepare the way for the Lord,
make
straight paths for him.
5 Every valley shall be filled in,
every
mountain and hill made low.
The crooked roads shall become straight,
the
rough ways smooth.
6 And all people will see God’s salvation.’”
7 John
said to the crowds coming out to be baptized by him, “You brood of
vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? 8 Produce
fruit in keeping with repentance. And do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We
have Abraham as our father.’ For I tell you that out of these stones God
can raise up children for Abraham. 9 The ax is
already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good
fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.”
10 “What should we do
then?” the crowd asked.
11 John answered, “Anyone who
has two shirts should share with the one who has none, and anyone who has food
should do the same.”
12 Even tax collectors came
to be baptized. “Teacher,” they asked, “what should we do?”
13 “Don’t collect any more
than you are required to,” he told them.
14 Then some soldiers asked
him, “And what should we do?”
He replied, “Don’t extort money and don’t accuse people
falsely—be content with your pay.”
15 The people were waiting
expectantly and were all wondering in their hearts if John might possibly
be the Messiah. 16 John answered them all, “I
baptize you with water. But one who is more powerful than I will
come, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you
with the Holy Spirit and fire. 17 His
winnowing fork is in his hand to clear his threshing floor and to gather
the wheat into his barn, but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.” 18 And
with many other words John exhorted the people and proclaimed the good news to
them.
19 But when John rebuked
Herod the tetrarch because of his marriage to Herodias, his brother’s
wife, and all the other evil things he had done, 20 Herod
added this to them all: He locked John up in prison.
Roads and Rainbows
Here we go into the Second week of Advent. Advent, a time
to wait. Advent, a time to listen. Advent, a time to look. Advent, a time to
prepare. Yes, Advent when we wait on Jesus to come to us. Jesus comes to us
from the outside to invade our insides. Jesus comes to us in Advent, both personally
and corporately in His Church. Come, Lord Jesus, come, we pray.
May the words and my study of this week bring God’s Word to
you, as I “Point to Jesus.”
Have you ever looked at a rainbow really close and thought
about it? Have you noticed how the colors go from the blues to the reds. In fact,
it starts out with a kind of royal purple color. This passage of scripture for
the Second week of Advent reminds me of the rainbow. John the Baptist takes us
into the blue waters, as we repent of our sin. And Jesus ushers us into the red
fire of the Holy Spirit’s power and grace as we live out our lives as Children
of God, called, sanctified and kept in the One True faith, into eternity in
relationship with God.
This account from Luke is an account synchronized with
political and ecclesiastical history. Here we witness Jesus’ ministry as a real
event in history and witness the proof as it unfolds.
The ministry of John the Baptist, marked the end of an old
era and the beginning of something new. In this time of John, a social order is
changing within the people of his time. A social order to care and love rather
than the expected violent revolution. This was a time of radical change.
John the Baptist at around 30 years old, preached repentance
for 18 months before baptizing Jesus. Followed by 18 months of public preaching
and 16 months of prison and then John the Baptist was beheaded. Yes, Advent…
Come, Lord Jesus, come. This doesn’t sound so meek and mild. As John the
Baptist pointed to Jesus the Messiah, life was always tough, rough and, in the
end, violent.
John cleansed mankind with that “blue, royal” symbol of
water. Yet Jesus cleanses mankind’s heart with the “red” of fire and the Holy
Spirit. Remember the picture of the colors of the rainbow?
As John the Baptist baptizes Jesus, this is the beginning
of the public life of Jesus. The
beginning of something new.
John preaches repentance, as he calls people to prepare for
the ministry of Jesus.
This preparation was present with the ongoing rulers of the
time, both political and religious. But really, these rulers were but background
static noise to the coming of the Word of God to the people.
The greatness of mankind does NOT come from conditions or
solutions of this life. The ruler Tiberius can’t fix this world for mankind. Rulers
throughout time, with all their plans and solutions and ideas, can’t take care
of mankind. No! Greatness comes from enduring character that points away from
self and to someone mightier. Witness how John the Baptist, humbly points away
from himself and TO Jesus. John’s character is the character of a disciple and
follower of Jesus, NOT as many men do today and throughout history who, point
to themselves as the solution.
John listened to God. And yet, John’s message wasn’t weak.
John’s message was bold and honest and instant. John brought a message to the
people unlike any message of this world but a message of a world unseen. Yes, John’s
message was NOT of, or about John. John brought a message of God.
John was a preacher. John believed he was called as a voice
to the people, to the Truth in Jesus from heaven. Preaching is a ministry in
the power of the speaking Word. A Word spoken in which the Holy Spirit moves in
and through John. Do you listen carefully to your preacher, your Pastor, your
Priest, your Deacon, perhaps a Lay person in your congregation? Listen to them,
as the Holy Spirit moves through them and brings you God’s Word. Yes, listen
and listen carefully!
Prepare! Prepare in the wilderness. The wilderness reminds
us of Israel’s formation and their return to God. Yes, as has happened to the people of the Old
Testament, in the wilderness we prepare. You and I prepare in the wilderness of
our lives as well. In the wilderness, God speaks to us. In the wilderness, we
meet the Messiah in Jesus. In the wilderness, Jesus comes to us. This message
is a message to ALL the people. This message is a message foretold to us in the
Word of God spoken to and through Isaiah.
Isaiah 40:1-5 NIV
40 Comfort,
comfort my people,
says
your God.
2 Speak tenderly to Jerusalem,
and
proclaim to her
that her hard service has been completed,
that her
sin has been paid for,
that she has received from the Lord’s
hand
double for
all her sins.
3 A voice
of one calling:
“In the wilderness prepare
the
way for the Lord;
make straight in the desert
a
highway for our God.
4 Every valley shall be raised up,
every
mountain and hill made low;
the rough ground shall become level,
the
rugged places a plain.
5 And the glory of the Lord will be revealed,
and all
people will see it together.
For the mouth of the Lord has
spoken.”
Yes! All flesh shall see
the salvation of God!
Now, let’s spend some time
on the “Road.”
Think about the “Road” as
the way of the LORD into all areas of your life. It is written that this road
fills up the valleys, and brings low the mountains, and makes a straight path,
for God to enter in to each of us and all of us. While on this road, be sure to
“Look UP!” For… Christ is coming!
It’s funny, how at baptism
we are presented as snakes fleeing the fire of eternal death. Visualize that.
And in our fleeing death, God leads us to repent. God repents us and gives us a
new life. God does all the work. We did all the slithering away, yet God comes
to us in Jesus and spins us around, even to the point of repenting us through Jesus.
Pause with this thought a while. We slither in our sin and God repents us and
gives us new life in Him.
I like how John preached
to the “regular” people the Truth and Honesty that he heard from God, just as
he heard it. John didn’t sugar coat it. John meant what he said, even to the
point of death. Sound familiar. Jesus died for you as well.
Remember, salvation is for
ALL people. This is God’s mercy. Don’t’ get hung up, like many then, and now,
get hung up on their roots being what saves them. No! That’s not how you were
saved. You aren’t saved by BEING, Jew, Gentile, Roman Catholic, Baptist,
Lutheran, Presbyterian, Methodist, even Non-Denominational, or from any country
of any kind. No! It’s not about your roots. Remember from the Lord’s Prayer, we
are ONE catholic, universal Church, which bears the fruits of the Holy Spirit
in our ways and in our lives.
If your hung up with your
religion, well then, you’re LOST! Your fruit as disciples is to be kind,
honest, considerate and loving to all those God gives to you in your life. John
encourages the people to share their shirts, or coats. This shirt or coat was
the garment that was close to their skin, close to the body, like an
undershirt. Share what is close to you. Share all that is close to you in love
and kindness to those God gives to you, each and every day.
John came to baptize with water.
What’s the significance of water in baptism? Well, Luther explains this a bit. Water
is significant in that we daily, in our sinful self, with all of our evil
desires and evil deeds, drown in the water of our baptism, through repentance
daily, and put all that stuff to death under that water, so that we may arise
to live and new life with God in righteousness and purity forever. (my paraphrase)
Where did Luther get this
stuff? St. Paul writes in Romans…
Romans 6:1-4 NIV
6 What shall we say,
then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? 2 By
no means! We are those who have died to sin; how can we live in it any
longer? 3 Or don’t you know that all of us who were
baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4 We
were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that,
just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father,
we too may live a new life.
In this passage for the Second week of Advent, baptism “with
fire” is mentioned. What’s this? This is not only our own baptism in the Holy
Spirit, but also alludes to the Second Advent of Jesus. We wait in the here and
now for Jesus to come again to resurrect the dead and all those who have died
in faith, hope and trust in what God has freely given.
Johns’ message was more that a message of repentance. John’s
message from God brought Hope. John’s message “Pointed to Jesus.”
As you listen to the sermons of the person speaking God’s
Word to you as the Holy Spirit flows through them; open your minds and hearts
to hear the Truth of God in Jesus. Don’t close off to the speaker or even the
writer. Hear the Word spoken. I know… I mentioned this once before. But the
Word IS all important. Listen! Look! Hear it! Take it in and make it part of
yourself.
And it’s here that John makes us perfectly aware that he is
NOT Jesus. Neither is your Preachers. John is not even worthy to be a slave of
Jesus. There’s a big difference here. Know your place. I am NOT God and neither
are any of us.
Jesus baptizes with Spirit and fire, not just water like John.
Jesus will bring judgment, unlike John. Remember… “Point to Jesus!” As long as
we “Point to Jesus” we see that we are NOT Jesus, and Jesus IS in our presence,
leading and guiding us along and through life to be with Him into eternity.
John’s word was frightening. Jesus was different. Jesus was
fascinating and He revealed the manner of life as God wanted it. This was a
relationship with God, not about your sin, but more about the healed person through
Jesus’ righteousness, not your own righteousness. We can’t make ourself righteous
before God by any way we act or anything we do. Only Jesus coming to us and
giving His life for the forgiveness of our sin can we be righteous.
Jesus brought fellowship through salvation, not just for
you, but for ALL the world.
Jesus brought a New Kingdom together in One Spirit, to
emerge into eternity.
The vision of Jesus was founded on the Grace of God for all
those willing to live, work, suffer, serve together, AND die for God’s purposes.
Our life with, and in, God is gradual and patient. Just as
God has been patient throughout time for all His Children. Day after day, God
works on us, turns, no, spins us around to be with Him.
The Kingdom of God coming to us and in us will have ups and
downs, victories and defeats and disappointments. All of this leading us to a
cross and death. AND… Jesus has been there before us as well as John the
Baptist. YET… there is to come resurrection and life eternal.
And what was this world’s Herod response to this message of
John from God?
Herod shut John up and put him in prison. Later John would
be beheaded.
Yes, there is a cost. Yet, we continue to follow John and
Jesus as we await that wonderful Second Advent of Jesus when he comes to raise us
up on the last day.
Come, Lord Jesus, come… today… tomorrow… and forever!
Let us pray…
Purify me, Lord Jesus. I know it won’t be easy. Refine me
in the fire as silver is refined. Scrape away all the dross of my life. May you
see your face reflecting back to you in me. May my life reflect Your life,
overflowing with love. I give thanks to You for coming to me in my baptismal
waters. Lead me and guide me all along. --- Amen
I leave you with a piece of music sung by a wonderful woman, who I remember as a baby, born to a Salvation Army family who were our neighbors years ago. It’s a beautiful, moving piece filled with the Holy Spirit in her and through her. Her name is Hannah. The words “Change is about to begin” will stun you. Enjoy!
Sung by Hannah
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