And So It Begins.

Matthew 3:13-17; Mark 1:9-11; Luke 3:21-23; John 1:29-34

“Look! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.” – John 1:29 NLT

More than likely, John the Baptist did most of his preaching and baptizing along the Jordan River in the region known as Peraea, just east of Jerusalem. It is a wilderness area, but close enough the capital city that crowds could make their way there to see this unusual phenomenon, this prophet named John. It is in this semi-remote region that God chooses to launch the earthy ministry of His Son, the Messiah. After nearly 30 years of relative obscurity living in the city of Nazareth and within the environs of Galilee, Jesus makes His way to the River Jordan where John is baptizing all those who have repented of their sins. That day, in the crowd, John sees Jesus, his own cousin, and immediately exclaims, "Look! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world." Jesus asks John to baptize Him, but John tries to talk him out of it. He tells Jesus, "I am the one who needs to be baptized by you, so why are you coming to me?" (Matthew 3:14 NLT). He knew that Jesus' baptism was different than his own. He had been telling the people, "He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire" (Matthew 3:11 NLT). But Jesus insists, because He knows this is all part of God's divine plan for Him. He tells John, "It should be done, or we must carry out all that God requires" (Matthew 3:15 NLT).

What a fascinating scene. Here is John, this wild-looking prophet of God, dresses in camel's hair, surrounded by a crowd of anxious onlookers, having an intimate and animated discussion with Jesus. To the crowd, He was just another man. Despite John's pronouncement that Jesus was the Lamb of God who would take away the sins of the world, they did not comprehend who Jesus was. This appears to be an exchange between the two cousins. Two men who had been set apart by God prior to their own births as part of God's redemptive plan for mankind. Somewhere in the wilderness on the banks of the Jordan River, God inaugurates His Son's public ministry. And He does it by having Jesus identify with the people by following in the same act of baptism John had been calling them to. While Jesus had no sin to confess or repent of, as God's representative for mankind, Jesus acknowledged the sins of mankind by submitting Himself to John's baptism. He was modeling for the people obedience to God's will and encouraging them to return to God in repentance and submission. Jesus was the ultimate substitute for mankind. His life would be lived on their behalf. His death would serve to replace their own need to die as payment for their sins. His baptism was a public declaration and confession of mankind's sinfulness and need for repentance.

And Matthew, Mark and Luke each tell us that as soon as Jesus came up out of the water of the Jordan, something remarkable happened. "As Jesus came up out of the water, he saw the heavens splitting apart and the Holy Spirit descending on him like a dove. And a voice from heaven said, 'You are my dearly loved Son, and you bring me great joy.'" (Mark 1:10-11 NLT). It is amazing to think that the very Son of God received the Spirit of God as a part of the launch of His earthly ministry. Jesus, the God-man, was filled with the Holy Spirit and would be directed by the Spirit throughout His earthly ministry. And as the water continued to drip off of the face and clothes of Jesus, God the Father acknowledges His love for Him. God broadcasts His love for Jesus for all to hear, but it was mainly for the ears of Jesus. And it is interesting that this expression of love proceeded what was going to be one of the most difficult periods of Jesus' life, His own temptation in the wilderness. God loved His Son, but was still going to require that He undergo a very difficult trial at the hands of the enemy. How often do we doubt God's love in difficult times? How easy it is to feel unloved by God when things don't go quite the way we would like them to. But God let it be clear up front, that His Son was beloved and loved. Everything that was about to happen during the next three-and-a-half years was within God's loving plan for His Son. And so it begins.

Father, what a way to start a ministry. Your Son, identifying Himself with the common, sin-suffering man. But that was His role. He was the God-man. He had been born like a man, raised like a man, worked like a man, and would spend His next three years living like a man in the midst of all the sin and suffering this world had to offer. He was going to live the life that You required and that no other man could live – sinless, perfectly obedient, and in complete submission to Your will. All so that His ultimate death would be totally sufficient to satisfy Your demand for justice. Thank You! Amen.

And So It Begins.

And So It Begins.

Matthew 14:4-12;Luke 3:19-20; John 1:26-27

“So John was beheaded in prison.'” – Matthew 14:10 NLT

How many times in life does something happen that makes us ask the question, "Can this be God's will?" Usually, it involves an event or situation that appears tragic, unfair, unexplainable or, in our minds, unacceptable. It could be the death of a child or a spouse. Someone innocent who is treated unfairly or accused unjustly. At those times in our lives, it is easy to question God and wonder about His will. Was He in charge? If so, why didn't He do something about the situation? Why didn't He intervene? Doesn't He care? If it was all a part of God's will, how can a loving God allow something so tragic or unjust to happen? Invariably, we begin to measure God based on our understanding of the circumstance, rather than the other way around.

Here in the opening days of Jesus' earthly ministry, we read the tragic story of the death of John the Baptist. John had been arrested by Herod Antipas, the ruler of Galilee, for publicly reprimanding him about having an immoral relationship with the wife of his brother, Phillip. Here was John, the cousin of Jesus, and the one chosen by God to herald the coming of the Messiah, locked in prison for speaking the truth of God. He and his disciples had to be wondering how this could have happened. He had a God-given job to perform. He didn't have time to sit in prison. He had a message of repentance to preach and more people to baptize. But not only was John confined to jail, he was about to be beheaded at the request of Herod's wife, as a party favor for a dance her daughter performed for his friends. John's head would literally be handed over on a silver platter, ending his life and putting an end to his career as God's voice in the wilderness.

But why? How could God allow this to happen? How could this tragic event be a part of His divine will? Those are legitimate and yet difficult questions. And there are no easy answers. But we must not allow ourselves to question the wisdom, righteousness, or justness of God. We must remind ourselves that at no point was God up in heaven shocked by these events, or caught off guard by the outcome. He was fully aware and fully in control – otherwise He would cease to be God as we know and understand Him. As difficult as it is for us to understand the why behind events like these, we must refrain from questioning the Who. God reminds us, "My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts. And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine" (Isaiah 55:8 NLT). God does not always act in ways that we can understand or comprehend. He does not operate according to a rule book devised by men. There are things happening behind the scenes that we cannot see. There are outcomes we are not aware of. We tend to equate the activity of God with those events we deem good and that produce for us a measure of happiness. A job promotion most certainly be God's will. The birth of a baby must be His will. A bride and groom exchanging vows and rings has to be within the will of God. But should anything seemingly negative or unfair happen in or around our lives, and suddenly we begin to question God and His will. And yet, when Job found himself covered in sores, financially devastated, and having lost all of his children through a tragic event, he told his wife, "Should we accept only good things from the hand of God and never anything bad?" (Job 2:10 NLT).

Yes, John the Baptist died a tragic, undeserved death. From our point of view, it was unnecessary, unfair and far to early in his young life. But God had a reason. There was a purpose behind it all. Does He explain it to us? No. Is He obligated to explain Himself to us? No. But would the death of Jesus be any less tragic, unfair, seemingly unnecessary, and unacceptable to the disciples when it took place just a few years later? No. Would they question the will of God for allowing their Messiah to be murdered at the hands of their own religious leaders? Probably. But God had a purpose. God had a plan. It was necessary for Jesus to suffer and die. And for some reason, it was necessary for John to do the same. Why? I don't know. We can speculate that God needed to remove John from the scene so that there would be no chance of anyone mistaking John for the Messiah, but the Scriptures don't tell us. God doesn't give us His reasoning. But rather than view God through the lens of life's events, we must learn to view life's events through the character of God. We must remind ourselves that He is all-knowing, all-loving, all-powerful, sovereign, wise, just, righteous, holy, merciful, gracious, and in complete control of ALL that is happening in the world around us. We see only in part. Our perspective is limited. Our understanding is restricted. So we must learn to trust that God, in His infinite wisdom and love, is doing what He knows to be best, according to His divine, perfect will.

Father, open our eyes and help us to see You. It is so easy to concentrate on what we see happening and not recognize that we have a faithful, loving, all-powerful God working behind the scenes in ways that we cannot see or comprehend. We have such limited perspectives and are quick to call You unjust or unfair without knowing the full outcome. Teach us to continue to trust You even when we don't understand. Amen.

Now What?

Mark 1:2-8; Luke 3:3-18

“The crowds asked, 'What should we do?'” – Luke 3:10 NLT

John came onto the scene preaching a message of repentance. He was calling the people to change their minds about God and their mindset about what it means to be in a right relationship with God. But his was a call to life transformation via behavior modification. While at this early stage of the game John is preaching the Good News, it is as of yet incomplete. His job is to prepare the way for the Messiah. He is getting the hearts of the people ready to receive the Message of salvation through faith alone in Christ alone. To do so, he must call them to repentance. He must make them aware of their need and their inability to live the life God demands of them. To date, they have been saddled with attempting to keep the Law in an effort to please God and have a right relationship with Him. They have been counting on their Jewishness – their standing as descendants of Abraham – to qualify them as children of God. Now when John breaks the bad news to them that "God can create children of Abraham from these very stones" (Luke 3:8 NLT), and "every tree that does not produce good fruit will be chopped down and thrown in to the fire" (Luke 3:9 NLT), they are blown away. They ask him, "What should we do?" Look closely to the answer he gives them. "If you have two shirts, give one to the poor. If you have food, share it with those who are hungry" (Luke 3:11 NLT). He is calling them to a different lifestyle. He is calling them to reconsider how it is they live their life and what they will consider as their priorities for living holy lives. He talks of sharing and sacrifice. He tells the corrupt tax collectors to "collect no more taxes than the government requires" (Luke 3: 13 NLT). In other words, change your behavior. Stop doing what you are doing and act differently. He tells some soldiers, "Don't extort money or make false accusations. And be content with your pay" (Luke 3:14 NLT).

Do you see what John is doing? He is raising the bar. He is making this about life change, not political revolution or religious renewal. After 400 years of silence on God's part, He is picking up His message right where He left off. Listen to the words of God against the people of Israel, given through Malachi the prophet some 400 years earlier. "You have said, 'What's the use of serving God? What have we gained by obeying his commands or by trying to show the Lord of Heaven's Armies that we are sorry for our sins? From now on we will call the arrogant blessed. For those who do evil get rich, and those who dare God to punish them suffer no harm.'" (Milachi 3:14-15 NLT). God goes on to warn them, "Look I am sending you the prophet Elijah before the great and dreadful day of the Lord arrives. His preaching will turn the hearts of fathers to their children, and the hearts of children to their fathers. Otherwise I will come and strike the land with a curse" (Malachi 4:5-6 NLT).

That same passage is used by the angel when he tells Zechariah that he and his wife Elizabeth will have a son. Speaking of John the Baptist, the angel says, "He will turn the hearts of the fathers to their children, and he will cause those who are rebellious to accept the wisdom of the godly" (Luke 1:17 NLT). John's job, like that of any prophet of God, was to call the people to repentance, to convince them to turn back to God. That required them to acknowledge their sin and to come to grips with their shortcomings. They had failed to measure up to God's revealed standard as expressed in the Law. Now he tells them that God was going to require them to live completely different lives than they were currently living. John tells them, "Prove by the way you live that you have repented of your sins and turned to God" (Luke 3:8 NLT). God expected not only repentance, but life change. And this call by John was meant to leave the people feeling inadequate and incapable of pulling off what God was calling them to do. And what better way to prepare their hearts for the coming of the Savior. A recognition of our own sinfulness and helplessness must always proceed our acceptance of God's gift of salvation. Our inability to measure up is what drives us to turn to Christ as the solution to our problem. The reality of the judgment of God hovering over all those who fail to live in complete obedience to God should cause us to gratefully and eagerly accept His mercy and grace as expressed through His Son's own death in our place.

I find it interesting how verse 18 explains what John was doing. "And in this way, with many other exhortations, John proclaimed good news to the people" (Luke 3:18 NET). This was all part of the Good News, the Gospel of Jesus Christ. John was explaining the problem. He was opening their eyes to the dilemma they faced. After 400 years, God's expectations had not changed. His holy requirements were the same. And the people's ability to meet them remained unchanged as well. Which is why He was sending His Son.

Father, how hard it is to admit our need. Even after experiencing Your gracious gift of salvation, we can easily tend to think we can live this life in our own strength and according to our own set of criteria. But like the Israelites in John's day, we have to come to grips with our need for You and Your Son's sanctifying power. We do not have the capacity to live the lives You've called us to on our own, but thanks for the finished work of Christ and the indwelling power of the Holy Spirit, we can and should be living transformed lives. Amen.

Prepare the Way!

Matthew 3:1; Mark 1:1-4; Luke 3:1-2

“Prepare the way of the Lord,make his paths straight.” – Mark 1:3 ESV

Luke gives us the specifics. "It was now the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius, the Roman emperor. Pontius Pilate was governor over Judea; Herod Antipas was ruler over Galilee; his brother Philip was ruler over Iturea and Traconitis; Lysanias was ruler over Abilene. Annas and Caiaphas were the high priests. At this time a message from God came to John son of Zechariah, who was living in the wilderness." (Luke 3:1-2 NLT). The timing was precise. The long delay was over. The Messiah's arrival was near.

John, the son of Zechariah, later to be nicknamed John the Baptizer, was to set the stage for the entry of Jesus into His public ministry. Interestingly enough, John's commission sent him to the Judean wilderness to begin his proclamation of the Messiah's arrival. Not exactly a prominent assignment or an ideal place to begin his tenure as the Messiah's advance PR team. The Judean wilderness was not exactly user-friendly. It was a harsh and hostile place, far from the political and religious action taking place in Jerusalem. But it was all part of God's divine plan and in fulfillment of the Word of God given to Isaiah hundreds of years earlier. "Behold, I send my messenger before your face, who will prepare your way, the voice of one crying in the wilderness: Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight" (Mark 1:2-3 ESV).

John began his ministry right where he lived – in the wilderness. It was all part of God's elaborate, detailed and predetermined plan. It had been 30 years since Jesus arrived on the scene as a newborn baby in Bethlehem. John, a cousin of Jesus, had been born at roughly the same time. His life had been set aside by God for this very moment. His assignment had been predetermined by God and predicted by an angel 30 years earlier. "Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John. And you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth, for he will be great before the Lord. And he must not drink wine or strong drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother's womb. And he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God and he will go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready for the Lord a people prepared" (Luke 1:13-17 ESV).

The time had come. John was ready. His assignment was clear. The Messiah was near. God was about to do something out of the ordinary, unexpected, unpredictable, unorthodox and unlike anything that had ever happened since the creation of the world.

Father, this story never ceases to amaze me. You could have brought Your Son into the world in so many other ways. Yet You chose this path. You decided to bring it all about under these circumstances and including these obscure individuals. I am reminded of the necessity of John's obedience. He was set apart by You before birth, yet it was essential that he be willing to do what You had called him to do. His parents had kept the requirements given to them by the angel. Mary and Joseph had done their part in the raising of Jesus. And now it was all coming together. Because You had ordained it that way. Your ways are not our ways. "Oh, how great are God's riches and wisdom and knowledge! How impossible it is for us to understand his decisions and his ways!" (Romans 11:33 NLT). Amen.

In the Fulness of Time.

Luke 1:5-80

“For nothing is impossible with God.” – Luke 1:37 NLT

Galatians 4:4 tells us, "But when the right time came, God sent his Son, born of a woman, subject to the law. God sent him to buy freedom for us who were slaves to the law, so that he could adopt us as his very own children." At just the right time. The imagery here conjures up pictures of a pregnant woman ready to give birth. Her day has come. After months of preparation, the day of delivery finally comes. Something long-awaited and highly anticipated is about to take place. The same is true of the situation in Israel as we read Luke's account of the coming of Jesus. For more than 400 years, the Hebrew people have been waiting anxiously for a word from God. They have been desperately and eagerly waiting for the promised arrival of the Messiah. But unlike a pregnancy, they have no timeline to go by. They have no idea when the Messiah might come. During the period between the close of the Old Testament and the time recorded in the Gospel accounts, God has been silent. He has cut off communication with His people. There have been no prophets and therefore, no word from God. There have been no miraculous manifestations of God's presence. It is a dark period, a virtual blackout, void of God's abiding presence. And it would have been easy for the people of Israel to have lost hope. During those 400 years they had suffered considerably. They had had to endure repeated invasions by various enemies, and it culminated with the taking of Jerusalem by the Romans. By the time Jesus came onto the scene, the Jews were living under Roman rule, subject to Roman laws and Roman taxes. Herod the Great sat on the throne, having been appointed "king" over all of Palestine by the Romans. He was wicked, oppressive and a political schemer who had clawed his way to the top. Things could not have looked worse for the average Jew living in Judea at that time.

But at just the right time, God put His long-awaited plan into action. Luke records it for us. Breaking the long silence, suddenly God begins to speak again. He sends angels to Zechariah and Mary. He begins doing works of power and wonder. An elderly and barren couple miraculously give birth to a son. A young virgin girl becomes pregnant – by the Holy Spirit. Luke records for us the birth of John the Baptist, the conception of Jesus, and the foundational events that would set up the birth of Jesus, the Son of God and the Savior of the World. At just the right time – God acted. When things looked bleak and impossible – God did the impossible. "For nothing is impossible with God" (Luke 1:37 NLT). Mary echoed this sentiment when she sang, "For the Mighty One is holy, and he has done great things for me" (Luke 1:49 NLT). "His mighty arm has done tremendous things!" (Luke 1:51 NLT). Zechariah praised God saying, "Praise the Lord, the God of Israel, because he has visited his people. He has sent us a mighty Savior from the royal line of his servant David" (Luke 1:68-69 NLT). God was fulfilling the promises He had made centuries ago to Abraham and David. He was doing exactly what He said He would do, at just the right moment in time.

Nothing is impossible with God. Circumstances are no match for Him. Wicked kings and powerful nations can't stand in His way. Barrenness and old age are no problem for God. Normal human biological and reproductive requirements don't limit God. Mary's virginity, Elizabeth's barrenness, Zechariah's old age, Herod's wickedness, Rome's dominance, and Israel's weakness were not going to keep God from accomplishing His will and unleashing His redemptive power on the world.

"Because of God's tender mercy, the morning light from heaven is about to break upon us, to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, and to guide us to the path of peace" (Luke 1:78-79 NLT).

Father, nothing is impossible with You. You are limitless in Your power and unstoppable in regards to Your will. Yet I tend to place limits on Your effectiveness and doubt Your ability to handle all that goes on in my life. Forgive me for my fear and floundering faith. Use the story of Your Son's coming to remind me of Your sovereign control over all. Amen.