Do You See God’s Salvation-Luke 3:1-20
Luke 3:1-20
Key Verse: 3:6“And all mankind will see God’s salvation.”
Today, we begin the study Luke’s gospel, starting with chapter 3. St Luke was a Greek and the only Gentile Christian writer of the New Testament. We learn in Colossians 4:14 that he was a physician. The Gospel of Luke was written to Theophilus, meaning “the one who loves God.” Historians are not sure who this Theophilus (mentioned in Luke 1:3) was, although most likely, he was a Roman who was a eager Bible student. Luke may also have been writing in general to those who loved God. Through our Luke’s gospel study, I pray we may see the humanity of the divine Jesus. Today’s passage is about John the Baptist (1:59,60), the forerunner of Christ, who prepared the way for Jesus. From him, let’s pray to see God’s salvation.
First, the word of God (1,2). According to verse 1, it was the 15th year of Tiberius’ reign. Tiberius was a cruel and sadistic emperor. The Herod clan under him was no better. They were a dysfunctional Jewish family who made life more miserable for the common man. What about the religious leaders? Surely, there were a source of comfort and consolation to the masses of suffering people. Look at verse 2a. “…during the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas.” Annas was the father-in-law of Caiaphas. Throughout the history of the priesthood there have never been two priests at a time. It was “pay to play” politics even in the priesthood. The priesthood was nothing but smooth talking politicians in robes.
It appeared God was silent and weak. It seems the devil ruled the day. But at the time of great darkness a bright light began to appear. Look at verse 2b. “The word of God came to John son of Zechariah in the desert” (2b). What does it mean that “the word of God came”? It means that God was not silent. It means that there was a remnant of god-fearing men like John who loved God. God was about to do his greatest work in the history of mankind by sending his One and Only Son Jesus Christ as the Savior of the world (Jn 4:42; 1 Jn 4:14). God would raise John to prepare the way for the King of Glory.
To many people, the present time seems to be the darkest times. People are experiencing financial and spiritual recession. But to God-fearing men, it is a time for God’s greatest work. Pastor John Piper is truly a godly man. He rejoices that God’s glory can be revealed during the recession. Pastor John intends for this recession to “expose hidden sin and so bring us to repentance and cleansing.” He intends to “relocate the roots of our joy in his grace rather than in our goods, in his mercy rather than our money, in his worth rather than our wealth.” He intends to “advance his saving mission in the world—the spread of the gospel and the growth of his church—precisely at a time when human resources are least able to support it.” May God bless our West Loop Church glorify God at this time of great national adversity.
What does it mean that the “Word of God” came to John? It’ll require the whole Bible to answer this. Firstly, the word of God reveals His almighty power. In Genesis one, the word of God is the very instrument which God used to create the world. In Genesis one, the phrase “God said” is repeated 30 times in 31 verses. It was the word of God that parted the Red Sea. It was the word of God that raised Jesus from the dead. If a man feels weak or tempted by sin or fearful or discouraged, it’s because he or she is lacking in the word of God. If one has the word of God; he or she will have the almighty power of God to overcome and conquer anything, even disappointments, temptations, tragedies and death. How could one man like John do any good? John was like a little shrimp among many blood thirsty sharks. He could do nothing by himself. But when the word of God came to him, he became a completely different person. When the word of God came to him, some thought he was Elijah, others thought he was the Christ. One pastor felt deep sorrow because of his mother’s death at an early age. But when the word of God came into his heart, he felt like an unstoppable locomotive. He wanted to conquer the world with the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
How does the word of God come to us? Sometimes when we hear the word of God, it goes in one ear and out the other. Other times it bounces off us because our minds and hearts are hard like a brick wall. The word of God comes when we have a humble attitude. According to Psalm 1:2, it comes when we “delight in the word of God day and night.” John delighted in the law of God. John was like a cow that “ruminated” the word of God. According to Luke 1:15, he lived a holy and pure life. One who lives a double life or a life of disobedience cannot receive word of God. It is one who sincerely struggles to accept God’s word. Let us pray that the word of God may come into each of us.
Second, preach repentance (3). Read verse 3. “He went into all the country around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.” How did he begin his ministry? He began with a message. These days President Obama is going around the country with the message of the “Stimulus Bill.” John went all over the country with a single message: “Repent for the forgiveness of your sins.” What kind of message is that? A message of a “stimulus bill” or “Revolution! Down with despotic rulers” sounds more real and practical. The people were downtrodden, oppressed and hungry. But John saw what they truly need was to “repent” and receive the “forgiveness of sin.”
If you go out on campus and tell students “repent” they might punch you or call the police. Generally, People do not think “repentance” or “forgiveness of sin” is their real problem. They think their misery is due to outward circumstances like the poor economy, inequality, no job prospects, they think they need a wife or husband, or a new wife or a new husband, a house, etc. This is the reason we elect new presidents, buy the newest and latest gadgets and clothes. We hope change will somehow make us “feel better.” Let us consider more deeply John’s message.
What was the first word of John’s message? It began with the word “repent.” Repentance is from the root word “metanoia.” It is made up of the two words “meta” meaning “change” and “nous” meaning “mind.” Simply speaking, repentance mean changing the way you think about something and accepting the way God thinks about it. How you think and act today will determine you will live the next day, year and your eternal destiny. John did not try to change people’s behavior or their situation. He was in the business of changing people’s minds. This is also the reason why Paul said in Romans 12:2 “…be transformed by the renewing of your mind.”
The second part of his message was the “forgiveness of sins.” John saw their root problem as sin. What is sin? Sin in Greek means to “miss the mark.” Sin means falling short of God’s standards. Sin is a like an incurable disease. It disfigures and scars a man’s soul. It also destroys our relationship with God and others. If you want to see the evidence of sin, just turn on the 10 o’clock news. All acts of sins that you witness begin with our thought world. James 1:15 reads “Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.” Basically John was saying to the people “Stop allowing the devil to rule your thoughts. Let God rule your thoughts and receive the forgiveness of sins.”
Before we can truly repent, we have to acknowledge our sins. In other words, we have to confess our sins. Look at verse 4 and 5. We have to acknowledge our crooked thinking and straighten it. We need to humble our mountain high pride, and fill in our valley deep despair. We must acknowledge that we can’t change ourselves. We need God’s help to straighten our crooked thinking and stubborn pride. A great tragedy of man is that he has no concept of his own personal sin, while seeing others’ sins (6:41; Mt 7:3). The other day I saw a story of a man who was addicted to heroin. For many years, he denied he had a problem. Eventually he lost his job and sold everything he had to finance his habit. Soon his wife became addicted then his two sons. When a man has no concept of his or her sin, then there’ll be no repentance, and no forgiveness of sins. Such a man will never ever see God’s salvation.
These days, the word “repent” is a politically incorrect word. They think it is a violation of human rights. Although repentance has become an unpopular word, without repentance, no one will know the forgiveness of their sins. And without repentance and the forgiveness of sins, no one will ever see God’s salvation.
Third, See God’s salvation (4-6). Look at verse 6 “And all mankind will see God’s salvation.” Everyone in the world needs some kind of “salvation.” Poor people think they need a “bailout” for their financial salvation. Single people want salvation from their loneliness by trying to find Mr. or Mrs. Right. Obese people want salvation from their unhealthy life long overeating habit patterns. The list of what man needs salvation from is endless.
Most of all we need salvation from our sins. Verse 6 suggests that all man can see God’s salvation in Jesus when they prepare their hearts with sincere repentance. Only Jesus has authority to save us from our sins. John said of Jesus in verse 16 “He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.” What does it mean that Jesus baptizes with the Holy Spirit? It means 1) no man can change you; 2) you can’t change yourselves, 3) only the Holy Spirit can change you. In a recent interview, 18 year old Bristol Palin, Sarah Palin’s daughter said abstinence is “unrealistic”. She recently gave birth to a son out of wedlock. She is right, without Jesus abstinence is unrealistic. For that matter, living a Christian life in this godless culture it totally impossible. This is the reason why we need to Holy Spirit. We need to pray for the Holy Spirit to make Jesus “real” in our life. We need the Holy Spirit to change us from the inside out, until we can see the beauty of Jesus who changes us by the power of the Holy Spirit. Verse 16 also says he baptizes with fire. Here fire is used for cleansing. Usually fire is used to remove impurities from gold. Jesus replaces our wicked desires for holy desires. Jesus also changes our worldview. The Philosopher Immanuel Kant is credited with coining the term “worldview” in 1790: The term is referred to how one looks at the world and life, and how it influences the way one lives. The Christian worldview can be summed up in one phrase, “You look at the world you feel oppressed. You look at yourself you feel depressed. You look at Jesus, you are at rest.” Let’s thoroughly prepare our hearts through repentance so that we can see God’s salvation in 2009.
Fourth, produce fruit or else (7-9). These days, people try to be nice to others. This is the reason why Oprah is very popular. She is so sweet, pleasant and nice, as well as sympathetic and empathetic to suffering people. Some have even said they should rename her show “The gospel according to Oprah.” But John the Baptist was not “nice,” at least not on the surface. When John the Baptist saw the crowds coming to him to be baptized, what did he say? Did he preach a “safe” and “politically correct” message in order to grow his young ministry? Look at verse 7b. “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath?”
John could have appeared judgmental and condemning. But John’s message came from his shepherd heart for his suffering people. His message came from the anguish of his heart. John was like the father of the lost son, who cried day and night for his wayward sons’ return. John’s message resonated with the people that they “were all wondering in their hearts if John might possibly be the Christ” (15).
Why did John call them a brood of vipers? A brood is a “family” or a “species.” These days we think of a viper as a fancy car. But a viper is venomous snake. A family of poisonous snakes are content with each other. Another interesting definition of brood is “warmth and protection.” In other words, the people who came to John were comfortable in their poison. A great tragedy in our society is that the poison of sin is often condoned. We see this every day; people condone divorce as an entitlement. Some singles and even parents condone immoral behavior as normal and a rite of passage. They condone senseless violence and explicit images as entertainment. They were not aware that sin was like venomous poison in their soul. What is worse, they spread the poison to others including their children. John saw the duplicity of the crowd. They wanted to change, at the same time they didn’t want to give up their poison. They wanted God’s salvation, without repentance. It is like an alcoholic who wants to change, but keeps cases of beer in the fridge. It is like a student who wants an ‘A’, without studying. It is like a person who wants to get married, but has no idea about supporting his family. His rebuke was not for the unbelievers, but also for the believers. Some thought they were fine because they were Abraham’s children. They had the poison of self-righteousness. It is like saying “I’m a Christian because I attend West Loop or I was born into a Christian home.” They had Christian names like Peter, David and John. But they didn’t act like Christians.
John is saying, “If you want salvation, you must pay the cost until there is evidence of it in your life.” In other words, “You must ‘produce fruit in keeping with repentance’” (8a). And if you don’t, verse 9 says, “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.” God’s salvation was not free of charge. It cost the life of his beloved son who was nailed to a cross.
Fifth, what should we do? (10-14) When John spoke the word of God to the people, their hearts were convicted and they wanted to know what they should do. These days, people like sermons that don’t challenge them or convict them, so that they can remain as they are. But no one who heard John’s message said, “You delivered a really good message. You made me laugh a lot. Good job, sir. Keep it up.” Instead, when they heard John’s message they were sweating bullets and cut to the heart, for they felt the fire of hell heating up in their soul. Tax collectors, soldiers and others came to John asked “What should we do then?” Pastor Warren said each sermon he gives; he prays his congregation will ask “What should we do?” He prays the Holy Spirit may convict his hearers and lead them to one decision of repentance. Please pray for our West Loop messenger to give messages that challenges our members to ask “What should we do?” John told them simply, clearly and practically that they should repent of their selfishness, lying and greed. They can produce fruit by learning to share, being fair and being thankful.
Here we learn that repentance should bear fruit in our daily life. In the movie fireproof, firefighter Caleb shows his repentance by smashing his dual core Intel chip computer. To some it was an extreme act. We like our computers because we use it to write our testimonies and play video games. But this was his personal decision before God in order to save his marriage. He used his computer to look at unwholesome images. Today Christians say they believe in Jesus. Yet it’s hard to tell Christians apart from non-Christians. For instance, the divorce rate among Christians is the same as non-Christians. Many so-called Christians are obese and as much in debt as non-Christians. Another tragic consequence is when non-believers see the hypocritical lives of Christians, they are turn off. So John the Baptist is saying to us today that if we truly want to see God’s salvation, then our daily practical lives must show visible fruit of our repentance. May God help us to be a bless to many non-believers by producing fruits of repetenance.
Even though John’s message was stern, many felt God’s love and compassion. John’s ministry began to grow. But John had no political ambition and no interest in personal popularity. In fact, he was quite self-effacing. He didn’t want to draw attention to himself, but point the people to Christ. In verse 16, he even felt unworthy to untie Jesus’ sandals.
John continued to preach the word of God. He never watered down his message. In verse 18, he exhorted all people; rich and poor; wise and foolish. One day, Herod Antipas attended one of John’s revival meetings. He personally rebuked Herod for his adultery and other evil things he had done. Because of this, John locked him up in prison. John was a good shepherd who cared more for the souls of others than himself. John’s life appeared to have a tragic ending. However, John life was pleasing to God. John was a matchless great man of God. Jesus once said of him, “Among those born of women, there is no one greater than John” (7:28). Jesus regarded John as the greatest man born of women.
In conclusion, we learn what we need most of all is God’s salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ. Let us receive the message of repentance deeply in our hearts. Let us repent of the poison and produce fruit in keeping with repentance. May God also use us like John the Baptist who serves the word of God boldly.
