Prepare the Way
Notes
Transcript
Prepare the Way
Prepare the Way
Several years ago, I was used to train dogs.
In that business, I got to work with all types of trainers.
I worked with search and rescue dogs, drug dogs, and even some agility dogs.
Even though I knew what they could do, it was still amazing to see them work.
They would know where to look and how to lead their handlers to the right spot.
They could sniff out and alert to the item that was being tracked.
And as soon as they alerted, usually through a bark, the handler would come over and find what was lost or what they were looking for.
This is similar to what John the Baptist’s role is.
He is pointing people to the hope of salvation in the messiah.
He is crying out in the wilderness, This is the Lord.
Worship him.
Pay homage to him.
The prophesies have been fulfilled.
For the last several weeks we have been looking at the opening chapters of Luke’s gospel.
In those opening chapters I wanted us to see the thread of redemption that Luke points out.
That is the thread that ties the promise of a savior to the fulfilment in Christ.
One of the key markers of the promised messiah is the promise of one who is going to pave or lead the way for Jesus.
We talked about a few weeks ago that John was set apart and chosen to fulfill that role.
He was the prophet that was going to proclaim the redemption of the Lord found through the person and work of Jesus.
Up to this point in Luke’s gospel, neither Jesus’ nor John’s ministry has begun.
But today, that is all going to change.
Today we are going to take a look at John’s role in preparing the way for Jesus
I have split the text into 3 parts.
v.1-6 talks about John’s Ministry.
v. 7-14 speaks about John’s Message.
v.15-20 focuses on John’s Messiah.
Let’s begin with a word of Prayer before we get started.
1 In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, while Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, Herod was tetrarch of Galilee, his brother Philip tetrarch of the region of Iturea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene,
2 during the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, God’s word came to John the son of Zechariah in the wilderness.
3 He went into all the vicinity of the Jordan, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins,
4 as it is written in the book of the words of the prophet Isaiah: A voice of one crying out in the wilderness: Prepare the way for the Lord; make his paths straight!
5 Every valley will be filled, and every mountain and hill will be made low; the crooked will become straight, the rough ways smooth,
6 and everyone will see the salvation of God.
John’s Ministry
John’s Ministry
Up to this point in Luke’s Gospel we have looked at the birth stories and we have seen Jesus and his parent’s interaction in the Temple.
By the beginning of chapter 3, Luke fast forwards some 18 or so years.
So Luke sets the stage for us to tell help us see what is happening prior to John’ and Jesus’ Ministry.
As I stated a few weeks ago, Luke is a historian.
He is an investigator.
He wants us to see and understand that the life of Jesus is rooted in history.
That’s why we get all these names that are loosely tied to the story of Jesus without a lot of detail.
However, if we were 1st century Jews these names would have more meaning for us as we are reading Luke’s account
One theologian points out that all the civil government names would evoke wickedness and intrigue.
Meaning that with these names there would be an association of darkness and immorality.
These name listed here would also give us a time frame of when John’s Ministry began.
John’s ministry would have began between 27-29 ad. Meaning that John would have ministered a few years before Jesus stepped on the scene.
We also learn about the religious leaders, specifically the High priests in these opening verses.
Luke tells us that Annas and Caiaphas were the High Priests.
Now we know historically that Annas wasn’t the ruling High Priest, but he was Caiaphas’ Father-in-Law.
And much like the President even if he doesn’t hold the office he is still called the president.
Annas and Caiaphas weren’t known as good High Priests.
So for Luke there is an overwhelming sense of darkness the looms over God’s people from the civil leaders to the religious leaders.
There needs to be a change.
And Luke then introduces John on the scene.
The last time we saw John was after his birth where Luke records
Luke 1:80 “80 The child grew up and became strong in spirit, and he was in the wilderness until the day of his public appearance to Israel.”
And now some 20+ years later, John is preaching in that same wilderness.
The way Luke reintroduces John is awesome.
Luke 3:2 “...God’s word came to John the son of Zechariah in the wilderness.”
We cannot forget that God has been silent toward his people for the last 400+ years.
There hasn’t been a prophet who has stepped up and proclaimed God’s Word.
And here we read the God’s Word came upon John.
God is once again speaking to his people through the prophet he has chosen.
And he is speaking through this prophet who is living in the wilderness.
This is no small thing, in fact, there are two reasons that John is in the wilderness.
First, to fulfill what Isaiah wrote 700 years before this event, that we will read about in a few minutes
Second, this is symbolic for the people of Israel.
The time in the wilderness for John and the preaching of repentance by John initiates a new exodus.
A crossing over the Jordan river through baptism that leads to entrance into the promised land and the forgiveness of sin.
Luke tells us that John is “proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins”
Let’s talk about this for a moment.
Luke is not saying that baptism is equal to repentance.
He is not saying that it is baptism that forgives sins.
He is saying that baptism is an outward sign of repentance and that repentance forgives sin.
Baptism is important.
In fact, it goes hand in hand with obedience to the Lord.
If you have repented then you should be baptized.
But Baptism without repentance is just getting wet.
Baptism with repentance is an indication that you have repented.
So I guess the natural question that flows out of this thought is what is repentance?
What does it mean to repent?
What was John calling his people to do?
Repentance in the Greek simply means “a change of mind,” however the concept of repentance means to turn away from one thing and turn toward another.
A Change of direction.
A change of focus.
A change of understanding.
A change from relying on self to relying on God.
Now the Key is to understand why we need to repent and what we need to repent from.
Why do we need to repent?
B/c we are sinners.
We have all sinned against a holy God.
To sin means to violate God’s standards.
And we have all done it.
It doesn’t matter how good you think you are, you have fallen short of God’s mandate of perfection.
But we need to recognize this need of repentance.
We often offer justifications and excuses for our sinfulness.
We look at our friends and neighbors and say at least I don’t act like they act.
Or we look at God’s standards and say, does he really mean that.
Let me tell you, if God has called it a violation of his goodness then if you do it you have sinned.
We tend to want to minimize our behavior and think God won’t hold us accountable.
But if that’s true we wouldn’t need to repent.
Part of repentance is aligning our understanding with God’s heart.
We need to turn from our own thoughts and understanding and listen to what God has said.
If God has declared that sex outside of marriage is wrong, we can’t try and justify sleeping around.
If God has declared that being drunk is wrong, we can’t go out on the weekends and get drunk and then ask for forgiveness.
If God says that stealing, lying, and greed is wrong we need to align our minds with his.
This is repentance shifting our hearts, minds, and desires and lining them up with God’s.
Repentance is changing directions.
Making a U-Turn, and not going down the same road we have gone down before b/c it dishonors God.
Repentance, a true change of mind, doesn’t allow for us to keep sinning thinking that God will forgive us if we ask for forgiveness.
And I know that’s something at the heart of cultural Christianity.
Go to church on Sunday so that you can ask for forgiveness for the things you did the rest of the week.
But truly repenting.
Truly receiving the forgiveness from God is knowing how awful your sin is.
And NOT GOING BACK TO IT!
That doesn’t mean that you will never sin again when you repent.
It simply means that you will fight against going down that road again.
That you will do all that is within your power to stay on the Road of obedience to God.
And John’s message of repentance isn’t contrary from Jesus’. rather it is incomplete.
The Message of repentance that Jesus proclaims is this.
23 Then he said to them all, “If anyone wants to follow after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross daily, and follow me.
If you are willfully sinning you aren’t denying yourself.
You aren’t following Jesus.
You are letting your desires get the best of you.
Repentance is turning from yourself and this world, and following after Jesus.
And when you repent, when your turn toward and follow Jesus, then you receive forgiveness of your sins.
Forgiveness doesn’t happen until repentance is a reality.
Why do you need to be forgiven of your sins?
B/c it is your sins that separate you from God.
It is your sin that causes you to be at enmity with God.
It is your sin that declares you as guilty and condemned to hell.
You carry with you condemnation.
Meaning that you will spend eternity in hell if you don’t repent.
If you don’t turn away from the life you are leading and turn toward Jesus.
The good news is, forgiveness is available.
It’s available for those who repent.
You can be made right with God through repentance that is offered through the person of Jesus.
It is through gospel of Jesus that repentance can be offered.
True repentance is recognizing that there is nothing you can do to be saved.
Rather it is through belief in the death, burial, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus that one is saved and true repentance happens.
Repentance is the message that John was preaching.
and the reason he was preaching it was to help prepare the way for Jesus.
B/c only the forgiveness of sins can be found in turning toward Jesus.
If we look once again at the quote from Isaiah.
4 as it is written in the book of the words of the prophet Isaiah: A voice of one crying out in the wilderness: Prepare the way for the Lord; make his paths straight!
5 Every valley will be filled, and every mountain and hill will be made low; the crooked will become straight, the rough ways smooth,
6 and everyone will see the salvation of God.
John is preaching and proclaiming repentance to help remove any obstacles that Jesus may face in his ministry.
John is essentially laying out the red carpet for Jesus’ arrival.
Leveling any obstacle that might stand in his way.
John is preparing the hearts of the people for Jesus’ coming.
Many are turning back toward God b/c of John’s Ministry.
B/c he is preaching repentance.
The Lord used John to help soften the hearts of the people toward Jesus.
he was an amazing instrument of God the prepare the way for Jesus.
The picture painted by Luke quoting Isaiah demands that those who want salvation have to receive new life.
If they want to know the goodness and grace of God they need to be made new.
And the reason that John is the forerunner is b/c he is pointing to the salvation that is found in Jesus himself.
John is laying out the great highway that leads to the beauty of Jesus.
He was saying to truly see where salvation comes from you need to change your minds, you need to shift your focus, you need to see that salvation isn’t found in who you are, it’s Found in who God Sent.
That is Jesus the Lord.
In these opening verses we see that John is preaching repentance, but we haven’t heard what he actually said.
In the next verses we will hear what he has to say.
7 He then said to the crowds who came out to be baptized by him, “Brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath?
8 Therefore produce fruit consistent with repentance. And don’t start saying to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father,’ for I tell you that God is able to raise up children for Abraham from these stones.
9 The ax is already at the root of the trees. Therefore, every tree that doesn’t produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.”
10 “What then should we do?” the crowds were asking him.
11 He replied to them, “The one who has two shirts must share with someone who has none, and the one who has food must do the same.”
12 Tax collectors also came to be baptized, and they asked him, “Teacher, what should we do?”
13 He told them, “Don’t collect any more than what you have been authorized.”
14 Some soldiers also questioned him, “What should we do?” He said to them, “Don’t take money from anyone by force or false accusation, and be satisfied with your wages.”
John’s Message
John’s Message
What a way to open a sermon:
“Brood of Vipers!”
We see that these people have come to be baptized by John, but he isn’t quite convinced that they understand what they are doing.
They want to be washed clean, but they haven’t understood the truth of repentance.
John is warning them about a coming judgement.
He wants them to know that God is going to judge them.
The ax is at the root of the tree and if you aren’t producing fruit you will be cut down.
You see, many of those that John spoke to believed that just b/c they were Jewish that they would be right with God.
That’s what John means when he starts talking about Abraham.
They were under the impression that b/c they were God’s chosen people that God wouldn’t cut them off regardless of what they believed or how they acted.
So when John says, “God is able to raise up children of Abraham from these stones.”
He is shooting back at them that it doesn’t matter you history or heritage.
That’s not what saves you from God’s Judgement.
If you don’t have the fruit of repentance then you will be cut down.
I want us to think about this real quick.
Repentance is a personal action.
It isn’t inherited.
That’s part of what John is saying.
You can’t inherit repentance.
If you haven’t turned toward God and started to follow after him, then you will not be saved from Judgement.
Too often we believe that our parents or grandparents faith is enough to cover us.
I’m a Christian b/c my parents drug me to church.
I’m a Christian b/c my grandparents are devout.
I’m good with God b/c my dad’s uncles cousin’s brother is a preacher.
But regardless of how many Godly people are around you or are a part of your family, it doesn’t matter if you haven’t turned toward God.
Your sins cannot be forgiven through someone else.
And on top of that, it doesn’t matter how much good you do.
It doesn’t matter how much money you give.
How much time you serve.
If you haven’t turned toward God all these are vain activities.
With that being said, if you have repented and turned toward God there will be actions that follow.
Or as John puts it fruit that has been produced.
But that fruit flows from repentance and not to earn repentance.
You don’t earn forgiveness of sins through your actions.
Repentance, turning toward Jesus grants you forgiveness.
And much like many of you, John gets asked the question from three different sources what is the Fruit of repentance.
The three types of people who ask him are the crowds in general.
Just normal people.
Then a tax collector, and a soldier.
It’s interesting that Luke includes both a tax collector and a soldier who ask this question along with the crowd.
Both of these types of people would have been hated by the crowd.
The tax collector would extort and steal money from the people.
The soldier would enforce the laws and government that cause oppression for the Jewish people.
But both of these categories are also seeking repentance.
They are also invited to the table.
They can also receive salvation and forgiveness of their sins.
And b/c we are running short on time, I want you to see simply the common theme that John presents here with all the people asking about the fruit of repentance.
Essentially, the fruit of repentance means that you stop doing what you’ve always done and replace it with Loving others.
To the crowd he says, be generous with your possessions.
Don’t horde your things, but give to those in need.
To the Tax collector, he says don’t take more than you should.
Tax collectors made their money off of the people. They were required to collect a certain amount for Rome.
But they could also charge extra and pocket the rest.
So most of the tax collectors were taking more then they needed to live extravagant lives.
To the Soldier, he says to act Justly and don’t steal from the people.
Don’t use your power and authority to treat people unjustly.
So the key take away is that if you truly have the heart and life of repentance you will stop doing what you’ve always done.
Your life will be made new.
And people will be able to witness this change in the way that you life your life.
True repentance first produces the fruit of character: “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control” (Galatians 5:22–23). Then it produces the fruit of action.
So repentance isn’t just feeling sorry about what you did.
It’s not simply having remorse over your sin.
True repentance leads to a life and character change.
Why is that?
B/c true repentance aligns your heart with God’s will.
True repentance pushes you toward living a life that loves and honors God while loving and honoring others.
True repentance means you can’t follow Jesus and stay where you are.
Your life will change if you have truly repented.
Your character will change if you have truly repented.
Your actions will change if you have truly repented.
True repentance takes you from where you were and places you on the track to living like Jesus.
And if you haven’t truly repented it will be evidenced by the lack of fruit that you produced.
If your life and behaviors aren’t affect by what you believe then do you really believe it?
And John warns that if you don’t repent then you will be cut down and thrown into the fire.
And again, I want us to see that John’s preaching about fruit of a life changed by God isn’t different from Jesus’ teaching.
Luke 6:43–44 “43 “A good tree doesn’t produce bad fruit; on the other hand, a bad tree doesn’t produce good fruit. 44 For each tree is known by its own fruit. Figs aren’t gathered from thornbushes, or grapes picked from a bramble bush.”
John 15:5–6 “5 I am the vine; you are the branches. The one who remains in me and I in him produces much fruit, because you can do nothing without me. 6 If anyone does not remain in me, he is thrown aside like a branch and he withers. They gather them, throw them into the fire, and they are burned.”
If we have repented and been brought into the family of God, then we will produce the fruit of a life made new.
This is Christianity 101 and sadly many who proclaim to be Christians don’t produce the fruit of repentance therefore they are kidding themselves.
They will be cut down and thrown into the fire.
John is a pretty hard-nosed preacher.
And his teaching is causing people to ask about his identity.
They begin to wonder if he’s the promised Messiah.
15 Now the people were waiting expectantly, and all of them were questioning in their hearts whether John might be the Messiah.
16 John answered them all, “I baptize you with water, but one who is more powerful than I am is coming. I am not worthy to untie the strap of his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.
17 His winnowing shovel is in his hand to clear his threshing floor and gather the wheat into his barn, but the chaff he will burn with fire that never goes out.”
18 Then, along with many other exhortations, he proclaimed good news to the people.
19 But when John rebuked Herod the tetrarch because of Herodias, his brother’s wife, and all the evil things he had done,
20 Herod added this to everything else—he locked up John in prison.
John’s Messiah
John’s Messiah
B/c of the authority that John speaks with, the people start to think that maybe, just maybe He’s the one that is promised.
And it would have been the human notion to take the belief and run with it.
It would have been so easy for John to confirm their beliefs and take all the Glory upon himself.
But John had repented.
He knew his place.
He knew his purpose.
He knew that he was simply a signpost that pointed to the Savior.
And one of the reasons he knew that is b/c he knew how much greater the Messiah was than him.
John lived a life of humility, led by the spirit, and in fear of the Lord.
We see here in v.16-17 3 things that John knows about Jesus the Messiah.
John knows that Jesus is more powerful than him.
This means that John understand that Jesus’ ministry carries more authority.
John understands that Jesus is greater.
Jesus is so great in fact, that John states that he isn’t even worthy to untie the straps of his sandals.
You may not know this, but untying sandals was the job of the lowest of servants.
And when John looks at Jesus he shows us just how much more glorious and beautiful Jesus is.
John recognizes that to serve Jesus is the greatest good.
He isn’t interested in trying to get Jesus to serve his needs or to accomplish John’s goals.
No, he looks at the messiah and truly recognizes how great Jesus actually is.
This is something for us to note in the American Church.
Many who profess Jesus want to use Jesus for their means and their messages.
Ignoring how great Jesus actually is.
For Many he isn’t the Lord to be served, but a name to be manipulated.
The Jesus that many worship is lucky to be in their presence.
They believe that it’s a blessing to him that they are on his team.
But what we never need to lose sight of is that, like John, in the grand scheme of things we aren’t worthy to untie Jesus’ sandals.
His power and authority is greater than we could ever comprehend.
and we need to treat him as such.
John’s humility gives a proper perspective on the relationship of humanity to Jesus. Human beings are not Jesus’ advisers or equals; they are greatly honored to know him and serve him. John does not draw attention to himself; instead he points to the superior greatness of the one to come. To direct others to Jesus is the call of God’s servant.
Second, John Points out that Jesus will baptize in the HS.
Here we see that there is a distinction between John’s Baptism and Jesus’ Baptism.
Jesus’ Baptism included the dwelling of the HS within the believers.
We can even see this in the book of Acts.
In Acts 19, Paul is on a missionary Journey.
He runs into people who have only been baptised by John.
They weren’t even aware of Jesus’ Baptism.
They get baptised in Jesus’ name and receive the HS.
There’s a lot of theological debates that can surround texts like these.
But suffice it to say that Jesus’ baptism is greater than John’s b/c with repentance and turning toward Jesus we receive the HS.
The final thing that John speaks about the coming messiah is that he’s the one who gets to separate those who truly believe from those who don’t.
That’s what the imagery is in v.17
Luke 3:17 “17 His winnowing shovel is in his hand to clear his threshing floor and gather the wheat into his barn, but the chaff he will burn with fire that never goes out.””
Jesus is going to gather the wheat unto himself.
The wheat being those who have trusted in repented in the person and work of Jesus..
And those who don’t believe are going to be burned like the chaff.
Here we see that there are two distinct categories when it comes to people.
there are those who belong to Jesus and get everlasting life.
and there are those who don’t belong to Jesus and are cast into the fire.
Luke concludes his account of John’s ministry, message, and Messiah with a little blip about Herod the Tetrarch.
Herod had married his brother’s wife and was involved in all sorts of other evil things.
John called him to repentance.
Immediately we get a picture of one who doesn’t want to repent. One who wants to remain in his sin.
Herod gets so angry at the preaching of John that he has him arrested and thrown into jail.
Eventually, John will be beheaded b/c of Herod’s lack of repentance.
So what do we learn from the preaching of John as he prepares the way for Jesus?
We learn some pretty bad news.
We are all sinful and are on the road to hell.
That we have all fallen short of God’s standard.
We have earned hell b/c of our sinful lives.
We are chaff on the way to the burning pits.
But here’s the good news.
You don’t have to be the chaff.
You can be the wheat.
If you trust and obey.
If you believe that you are a sinner who is walking down the road to hell, you can repent, turn around and be invited into the family of God.
Just as John paved the way for Jesus’ ministry, Jesus paved the way for you to be reconciled to God.
This is good news.
This is great news.
God’s enemies can become his friends.
We can be washed by the water of Jesus’ blood and be cleansed from all sinfulness.
We can be made alive b/c of what Christ did.
I pray that if you haven’t repented of your sins that this morning would be eye opening for you.
That you would see your sinful state and submit to Jesus.
Let’s Pray.