STUDY THEME: ONE SOLITARY LIFE: THE LIFE OF JESUS 1-14-01
UNIT 2: BORN TO SAVE: "PREPARATION FOR JESUS." LUKE 3: 2-17
PLEASE OPEN YOUR BIBLE TO LUKE 3. (In Luke 3 we find that John's ministry
prepared the way for Jesus ministry.
In the summer of 1942 the Bowlegs School Board where I was teaching paid
me $l00 to go to East Central College in Ada to take a course in
Aeronautics. My roommate was a Chemistry major and not a believer. As I
pleaded with him to receive Christ his reply was "Put him in a test tube;
place it over a Bunsen burner; and if he stays in the tube at 212* I'll
consider him." It won't work. The scientific approach is appropriate for
material things, but other methods are needed to authenticate nonphysical
reality. One such method is the witness. The innocence or guilt of an
accused person can be judged by the testimony of witnesses. A witness is
one who testifies from firsthand knowledge. Because Jesus cannot be
placed in a test tube to authenticate his Messiahship, we must depend on
the witness of those who knew him.
Imagine that this is our day in court. In fact, we have been chosen to
serve on the jury. The accused is none other than Jesus Christ. His
crime,---blasphemy, falsely claiming to be the promised Messiah. The
defense attorney is a Gentile named Luke. He is trying to defeat the
charge by showing that Jesus is indeed who he says he is-the Messiah.
This is the third day of the trial, and the prosecution has rested its
case. Luke begins by summarizing the facts presented during the two
previous days. He notes that the miraculous events surrounding the birth
of Jesus testified to his divinity while his normal growth patters as a
child affirm his humanity. As the Son of God and the Son of man, Jesus
fits perfectly \the description of the promised Messiah.
We will now listen to the witness of John the Baptist. But before John
takes the stand, Luke gives the jury some historical background in Luke
3: 1-2 by giving them data, which will furnish abundant means for testing
the historical accuracy of his gospel.
More important than the exact date is the assurance that it
really happened at a time and place in history. Also important is the
kind of world into which John and Jesus began their ministries. Tiberius
was a brutal, crude ruler. In his later years, he was literally "a dirty
old man." Neither John nor Jesus ever met Tiberius, but Jesus faced both
Pilate and Herod Antipas. Herod Antipas was one of four sons of Herod the
Great who received a portion of land over which to rule. He beheaded John
the Baptist for condemning his sins and those of his adulterous wife and
niece Herodias. He mocked Jesus during the trials. Pontius Pilate was the
one who condemned Jesus to the cross. These latter two men represented
the highest government power in the areas in which John and Jesus
ministered.
Luke reminds us that God always had made known His will to
Israel through the prophets. Before the coming of John, prophecy had been
silent for more than four centuries. The belief was widespread, however,
that when the messianic age came, prophecy would reappear. God in Joel
2:28 promised "And it shall come to pass afterward that I will pour out
My Spirit on all flesh. Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your
old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions." The
sudden and dramatic appearance of John the Baptist in the Judean
wilderness hit Israel like a thunderbolt. Here at last was the prophet
who was to prepare the way for the promised Messiah.
Luke makes sure that all of us on the jury understand that John
is a prophet. In Vs. 2 he even uses the exact words in referring to
John's call that was used of the earlier prophets. The word of God came
to John.
John is now sworn in and asked to take the stand. "Would you please tell
the jury your name?" "My name is John, the son of Zechariah and
Elizabeth." "And what is your profession?" inquires Luke. "I am a prophet
sent to be the forerunner of the Messiah,' answers John. "Over 400 years
ago Malachi in Malachi 3 quoted the Lord as he said concerning me
1.PLEASE READ MALACHI 3:1.
I am the one to whom the prophet Isaiah was referring when he wrote in
Isaiah 40:3-5.
2. PLEASE READ ISAIAH 40:3-5.
Luke now turns to the jury and explains the symbolism in Isaiah's
prophesy. In the first century, the kind of roads we have today did not
exist. Palestine was crisscrossed with paths that were little more than
trails, and just a little rain made them impassable. The first one to
make any effort to do something about the situation seems to have been
King Solomon. He had gravel laid beside some of the main paths of the
day. They were called specifically the King's Highway.
Whenever the king proposed to make a journey, the word would go out to
prepare the roads and make them passable. The O.T. picked up on this
practice and predicted that before the Messiah would arrive, someone
would be sent ahead to prepare the way of the Lord. John fulfilled this
role.
Luke turns back to John and asks, "How have you gone about preparing for
the coming Messiah?"
"I have preached that men should repent for the forgiveness of their
sins," answers John. "As an outward sign of this inner change I have
asked them to be baptized."
3. PLEASE READ LUKE 3: 7-9.
The line God is able to these stones to raise up children unto Abraham
makes several points: (1.)Becoming a child of God is not a matter of
physical heritage. (2.) Only God's grace and power can make any sinner
into a child of His. (3.) He is able to do this for anyone who repents
and believes. (4.) He is able to breathe life into what is dead or
lifeless. The point of Vs. 7-9 is that repentance is the only way to be
forgiven of sins. "Neither baptism nor appeal to the merits of Abraham
will substitute for the personal need of a right orientation to God and
his will." None can trust heritage, ritual, good works, or anything else
to secure our forgiveness." Without repentance we would be cut down and
burned.
"What kind of response have your received to your call for baptism?" asks
Luke.
4. PLEASE READ LUKE 3: 10-14.
The people in Vs. 10 are a different group from the multitude in Vs. 7.
The ones in Vs. 10 were sincere in wanting to know what was involved in
truly repenting. John gave them two positive things to do-they should
share their clothes and their food with people without clothes and food.
Coats or tunics were inner garments worn under a cloak. Those who had two
were to give one of them to someone who had none. The same principle
applied to meat or food.
John continued, "Literally hundreds have come to be baptized by me in the
Jordan River. In fact, my baptism has fanned into flame the messianic
hopes of the people so that many of them have begun to wonder if I could
be the Messiah. I have had to deny this in the strongest terms. I have
told them that a mightier than I is coming and that I am not worthy even
to offer him the menial service of untying his sandals. I baptize with
water but He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire." "His
winnowing fork is in his hands to clear his threshing floor and to gather
the wheat into his barn, but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable
fire."
5. PLEASE READ LUKE 3: 15-18.
John is now finished with his testimony, and Luke requests the judge to
call a brief recess while he prepares to present his second witness who
will speak in next Sunday's lesson. Instead of the immediate recess we
are privileged to hear a surprise witness who was one of John's early
disciples. Please listen to what John the Apostle had to say about John
the Baptizer.
6. PLEASE READ JOHN 1: 6-8, 15-28.
John is now finished with his testimony, and the judge calls for the
recess. In the jury room during the recess, a discussion breaks out about
what John meant by preaching repentance. Someone notes that this was a
warning concerning God's wrath. John was announcing that the wrath of God
was about to be poured out on all unrighteousness. You agree that this
wrath of God is a part of John's message but feel that it is an
inadequate motive to get people to serve God. John did not just denounce
sin; he pointed to One who was coming to deal decisively with sin. He was
not saying, "Repent for something bad is going to happen" but rather,
"Repent for something good is coming."
"Repentance" in Vs. 3 and 8 translates the Greek word metanoia. The basic
meaning is "to change one's mind." In Greek usage it often meant
"remorse" or sorrow for some shortcoming. In the N.T. its primary meaning
is "to turn." This usage is consistent with the meaning of the Hebrew
word sub''-"to turn back," "to return"-that is used for repentance in the
O.T., The O.T. prophets called people to turn from their sins. A godly
sorrow for sins can lead to repentance, but the heart of repentance is
turning away from sins.
"Remission" or "forgiveness" means "release" or "pardon." When used with
sins, it refers to God's removing sin as a barrier between Himself and
the repentant sinner. Repentance is essential for the remission of sins.
O.T. prophets preached the necessity of turning from sins to be forgiven.
John the Baptist preached it. Jesus came preaching it. When Jesus
commissioned his disciples after the resurrection, He told them "that
repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all
nations."
In the N.T., repentance is closely related to faith. Sometimes they
appear together. Sometimes one or the other is used, but both are
necessary for Christian conversion. People have not truly turned from sin
unless they turn to the Lord in faith that God will forgive and
transform.
What is the relationship between baptism and the remission of sins? Some
interpret the word FOR to mean that baptism is necessary for
forgiveness. But it can refer to either to purpose or to result. Hershel
H. Hobbs wrote, "the remission came as a result of repentance, and it was
symbolized in the meaning of baptism." Repentance, baptism, and
forgiveness appear together here and in passages such as Acts 2:38.
However forgiveness also appears without reference to baptism in Acts
3:19 and 10: 43. Baptism is seen in the N.T. as the sign of divine
forgiveness when a person repents and believes. Thus John was
"proclaiming a baptism in token of repentance for the forgiveness of
sins."
John's baptism and the Messiah's baptism differed, and each was unique.
John's was a repentance baptism performed with water. It was preparation
for the Messiah's baptism-a Spirit baptism performed in the Holy Spirit.
The promise of the baptism of the Spirit was fulfilled on the day of
Pentecost. Since then all true believers receive the baptism of the
Spirit at conversion. Jesus would baptize with the Holy Spirit people who
repented and would baptize with fire people who would not repent.
The Jews had been familiar with the symbolism of baptism from the
earliest days; as a consecration and purification. It was one of the
forms by which proselytes were admitted into Judaism
The biblical content for this lesson focuses on John the Baptist's
preaching concerning the urgency of God's call to repentance. He gave
specific examples of what changes in living were called for in true
repentance. He pointed ahead to the One who would baptize with the Spirit
and with fire.
The lesson teaches these facts about repentance: God calls all people to
repent. Repentance begins in remorse for sin and leads to a change of
mind and heart, turning from sin and turning to God. Forgiveness is the
result of genuine repentance. Baptism signifies the assurance of divine
cleansing of those who repent. God's plan always has been to offer
salvation to all people. Repentance is the only way to be forgiven of
sins.
People are saved by grace, when they repent of their sins and trust Jesus
as their Savior. Christian baptism points to the death and resurrection
of Jesus Christ and signifies the power and presence of the Holy Spirit
to live a new life. Repentance is free, but it is not cheap. It cost God
the death of His Son. It cost sinners their sins. Those who reject divine
forgiveness face certain judgment.
Prayer of Commitment: "Lord, forgive us our sins, as we forgive those who
sin against us."
NEXT SUNDAY FROM MATTHEW 3 AND 4 WE SEE THAT BECAUSE JESUS WAS
OBEDIENT TO GOD, HE WAS ABLE TO OVERCOME TEMPTATON. 1-14-2001
A.V. Daugherty