Day Six – Luke 3:1-38
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.
Every valley shall be filled in,
every mountain and hill made low.
The crooked roads shall become straight,
the rough ways smooth.
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.
John’s mission was to prepare the way for Jesus. He does so by giving some harsh judgement in this passage. As people come to receive a baptism for forgiveness, John calls them to consider the fruit of their life. “Produce fruit in keeping with repentance.”
The people ask, “What shall we do?” And John replies - give away your extra shirt, share your food, stop taking more than you need or deserve. Practice contentment.
Spend a moment and consider if greed, over-indulgent consumerism, and selfishness has taken root in your heart. If so, open yourself to God’s healing mercy now.
21 When all the people were being baptized, Jesus was baptized too. And as he was praying, heaven was opened 22 and the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.”
23 Now Jesus himself was about thirty years old when he began his ministry.
Jesus is about to begin what the scripture calls ‘his ministry.’ This moment of baptism takes place before we’ve heard about Him healing anyone or working any miracles or preaching any amazing sermons.
And what is it God chooses to declare over Jesus in this moment? The Father declares who He is - the son of God; that He’s loved by God, and that the Father is well pleased with Him.
Think about that for a second - this is before Jesus has done anything and God declares this over Him publicly.
We removed verses 23-30 from this reading for brevity’s sake. But those verses drew a lineage from Jesus' family line to that of Adam. Perhaps, this is to remind us that the original blessing and delight that we hear of Jesus at the baptism mirrors the original blessing that Adam received in Genesis. Looking at humanity, God said, “You are so good.”
Just as God declares over Jesus, consider these three truths:
You are a child of God
He loves you
He is well pleased with you before you have done anything for Him
Which of these three truths is hardest for you to embrace? Why?
In the same way a parent delights over a newborn baby who has done nothing to deserve love and favor, so God delights in you. Receive that truth now.