Sunday, July 31, 2011

Year 1, Day 212: Luke 3

A Voice Crying Out In The Wilderness

In the wilderness is “en te eremo” in the Greek language of the New Testament.  It is where John preached. 

Why the wilderness?  Because there was no legitimate spirituality to be found in Israel. 

In that sense, everywhere in Israel was a wilderness!  It’d been centuries since a legitimate prophet had spoken the word of God.  Israel was a spiritual wilderness, desperately in need of someone to point them to truth.  John points them to Christ.  When a people are in need of truth – when people are living “en te eremo” – someone had better start pointing to Christ.  It is, after all, what we are called to do as Christians.

But how did John preach?  First, he preached against sin.  Then, he preached repentance.  Finally, he preached the coming of the kingdom of God in the coming Messiah – Jesus Christ.  Without conviction there is no true conversion.  So often the path to belief comes through the valley of conviction, recognition, and repentance.  Yet without Christ there is nothing into which it is meaningful to convert.

Instructions

“Bear fruits in keeping with your repentance,” John said to the onlookers.  Notice that in Luke’s Gospel, this passage is said to all.  In Matthew’s Gospel this sentiment is said to just the Pharisees and Sadducees.  John is warning the people that if they continue to dwell in their sin that the axe is at the root of the tree.  Continuing to dwell in sin is the antithesis to being a disciple.

But I think it really goes deeper than that.  If they are not ready to repent, they will miss what God is doing in Christ.  If they miss what God is doing in Christ, then they will have missed something significant in life.  John is telling them that if they are not careful, their lifestyle is going to cause them to miss out on what God is trying to do in their midst.

You see, many people think of John simply as the herald of Jesus.  They say that John was there just to point to Christ and say, “He’s the one!”  And yes, absolutely this was a part of John’s function.  But John was also there to prepare people for Christ’s coming.  John was there in the midst of the people trying to teach them.  He was trying to help them through the wilderness of what should have been their spirituality so that when Christ showed up it would make sense to them.  John was more than just a herald, John was a teacher!  He was coming up alongside of people and through speaking the Word he was helping them move forward in the walk with God.

Core Values from John

What did John teach?  John taught community: Share your tunics.  John taught honesty: Don’t rip people off.  John taught contentedness: Do an honest job and accept an honest pay for it.  John taught humility: There is one for whom I am not worthy to even stoop at his feet.  John taught truth: Be careful, the winnowing fork is in His hand to gather up the wheat and sort out the chaff.

John didn’t teach a feel-good-religion.  Is it human nature to share?  Is it human nature to accept certain wages when other people are getting more through dishonest means?  Is it human nature to do an honest job when a few shortcuts could save time, money, and thus mean an increase to the profit?  Is it human nature to humble oneself when there is no selfish gain?  Is it human nature to change just because we might be chaff in some unseen God’s eyes?

John didn’t tell people that God accepts them as they are without repentance.  John didn’t tell people that following God was easy.  John didn’t tell people that salvation was cheap.  No, John taught a hard lesson.  But John taught truth.  Following God is not at all easy.  It is demanding.  It is uncomfortable at many times.  It requires something of us.  If done right, it requires not just something of us, but it requires all of who we are.  It consumes us so that it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in us.

Trinity

Notice that the Gospel of Luke does not contain any mention of his denial of worth in the act of baptizing Jesus.  It is a slight difference from Matthew’s account.  Luke is trying to show the divinity of Christ here. 

Luke is trying to give us a picture in which the focus is not on John, but rather on the Trinity.  It is difficult to read this passage and deny the existence of the Trinity.  The Son was baptized.  The Father spoke.  The Spirit descended.  All three are present in this one great act.

Genealogy

As for the genealogy, there are a few things that should be said.  First, Luke’s genealogy is different from Matthew because Luke gives the fathers of Mary whereas Matthew gives the fathers of Joseph.  Furthermore, notice that Matthew starts with Abraham and moves forward while Luke’s starts with Jesus and moves backward.  There’s nothing really significant other than to point out the differences here.

What is important is to note what the genealogy talks about whose son Jesus really is.  This genealogy takes us from Jesus to Adam.  Thus, there can be no doubt that Jesus is human.  Quite literally, Jesus is a son of man.  However, God the Father has also just declared that Jesus is His beloved Son.  Jesus is the Son of God.  Jesus is a divine-man. 

Fully Human; Fully Divine

Yes, this does open up the whole concept of Jesus being fully human and fully divine.  When you completely figure that one out and can explain it, let me know.  Because that one is harder to understand than it is to say.  But it is simple to believe.  Jesus is completely human and Jesus is completely divine.  It is His nature, and it makes Him uniquely different from us.

Why is this important?  Only because it is the foundation of salvation.  Jesus’ baptism and Jesus’ genealogy establishes the foundation for salvation.  Here’s how it plays out:
·      A God who does not require atonement for sin is not just.  As proof, here is Proverbs 17:15, God’s own Word.  “He who justifies the wicked and he who condemns the righteous are both alike an abomination to the Lord.”  Therefore, if God justifies the sinner without condemnation, God is an abomination unto Himself.  Thus, there must be condemnation. 
·      If there is condemnation, then there must be a sacrifice to remove the guilt.  That sacrifice has to be human or else God isn’t really holding humanity responsible for its own actions.
·      Yet, what human can be the unblemished lamb?  What human is righteous and free from sin?  Romans 3:23 says “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”  Only God is righteous.
·      Therefore, how is it that God is true to His nature, yet still able to show us mercy?  The only way is for God to become human.  The only way for God to be true to Himself and His word is to effect judgment on humanity, but the only way that humanity can stand against this judgment is if a righteous person atones.  God must become man.  Only then is humanity held responsible and put under the consequence of death yet still able to be properly justified without going against God’s own character and His Word.

I bet you never realized how important a genealogy was to salvation before.  Yet Jesus’ baptism and genealogy combine to demonstrate that Jesus is both fully human and fully divine.  He is righteous, thus an acceptable sacrifice.  He is human, thus he satisfies the condition of God’s own Word from Proverbs 17:15.  God is condemning humanity through Jesus and justifying humanity through Jesus.  Neither are abominations to God.

Whew.  It got pretty deep pretty quickly in here!  Go in God’s peace.


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