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Luke 3:7-14
John said to the crowds coming out to be baptized by him, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? Produce fruit in keeping with repentance. And do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham. 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.”
“What should we do then?” the crowd asked.
John answered, “Anyone who has two shirts should share with the one who has none, and anyone who has food should do the same.”
Even tax collectors came to be baptized. “Teacher,” they asked, “what should we do?”
“Don’t collect any more than you are required to,” he told them.
Then some soldiers asked him, “And what should we do?”
He replied, “Don’t extort money and don’t accuse people falsely—be content with your pay.”
New International Version (NIV)
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What happened to Zechariah and Elizabeth’s boy? You remember Gabriel promised them a son, and right on God’s standard time, John made his entry into the world. From the beginning then, he was no ordinary child. Thank God! Israel needed renewal and revival. So John came to prepare the way for the Way, Jesus, the Lord. He made quite a splash, baptizing in the Jordan river, preaching to the great crowds.
People are still hungry for God, whether or not we know it. Augustine was right in his prayer, “Oh God you have made us for yourself . . .” I wonder. If John showed up today, how would he be received? We might find him a little rough around the edges. He never checked the winds of public opinion before he spoke. John was the exact opposite of those polite, refined, court prophets in the Old Testament who always told the Kings that they were always right.
Imagine John the Baptist showing up at some Baptist church this Sunday morning, smelling like the outdoors, grizzled beard covering his face. If he preached, I believe people would tremble and say, “What should we do then?” What if he told us to share our shirts and our food with others? Or if he told us to be content with our pay what would we say? Then if he pointed us to Jesus, would we follow him?
John preached the good news: he told people they were worse off than they thought and more loved than they ever dreamed. This is a different gospel than telling people they are not really very sinful and that it is really ok to continue to sin. His message was decidedly not anything like, “Let’s try a little harder to do better.” He asked them to repent and believe the good news to receive God’s kingship in their lives. To this day, that will preach.
The world was not ready for John the Baptist. John told Herod that he couldn’t marry his brother’s wife. That did not sit well with Herod or his wife Herodias. So John went to jail, straight to jail without "Passing Go!” He died there in his early thirties, for doing the right thing. This, of course, is a lot better than dying of old age while doing the wrong things.
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Pray with me:
Father, thank you for John the Prophet who cared more about what you thought of him than about what others thought of him. Thank you that he spoke the truth and lived the truth, even though it cost him his life. Father, raise up prophets in our day whose only concern is what you say. We really are worse off than we thought. Thank you that we are more loved than we ever dreamed. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
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Join us in memorizing the Word. Scripture for this week:
Matthew 5:1-2
Now when Jesus saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him, and he began to teach them.
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| Our 2020 Every Day with Jesus readings will follow the Foundations New Testament reading plan. Copies of the reading plan are available at Tallowood Baptist Church, or download your copy at REPLICATE.ORG
We would love for you to join us as we read the New Testament through this year, five chapters a week. Every other week after this one you have seven days to read five chapters. This week I will do two bonus devotionals for Saturday and Sunday so that on Monday we are on track with the plan and begin week two in Luke 6. After this week you will have seven days to read five chapters. In addition I will continue my long-standing practice of reading one Psalm a day through the year. Use Robby Gallaty’s H. E. A. R. plan to study each chapter. Highlight verses which speak to you, explain what they mean in your own words in a journal, apply them to your own life, then respond by doing what God tells you to do.
Joyfully,
Duane
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