The Word Became Flesh

Everyone has an origin, a place where he or she comes from.

This can be understood from several different perspectives. 

One perspective is family. We each come from a particular family. Each person has a father and a mother. Good or bad, known or unknown, our family affects who we are. Family determines eye, hair and skin color.

Another perspective we can understand origin from is community. We all speak English because English is the language of our community.

Another perspective we can understand origin from is geography. Growing up in the mountains, on the plains, or on the beach, in the jungle or in the artic all have an effect.

Knowing someone involves knowing his or her origin, where he or she comes from.

As we begin a new year, I hope you will join me in seeking to know Jesus. Resolve with me to put fresh new life into your relationship with Him.

The people of Jesus’s day had a unique opportunity to know Jesus. However, most of that generation missed the opportunity. On more than one occasion, those closest to him said, “Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know?” (John 6:42, ESV)[i] They missed their opportunity because they thought they knew His origin. 

We just finished the Christmas season where we celebrate Jesus’s miraculous birth. However, this is not the beginning of His story. Micah 5:2 says:

But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, who are too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel, whose coming forth is from of old, from ancient days.

Today, I want to consider Jesus’s origins.  Going beyond the place of His birth, we will look at where He is truly from. We will see that by believing in Him we are made children of God, and this is due to His origin.

Jesus has revealed God to us. No other person can claim this. No other person came from where Jesus came. John 1:1-18 will serve as the basis for my comments and for our understanding. In John 1, we will see that Jesus has revealed God in that He is the Word, the Light and the Son.

First, Jesus has revealed God to us in that He is the Word.

John 1:1 says, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” ESV

In this verse, John is using the “Word,” to describe Jesus. 

The simplest reason why Jesus is called the “Word” is that as our words show our minds to others, so Jesus was sent to show God’s mind to the world. Hebrews 1:3 tells us, “He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power.”(ESV) Jesus is God expressing Himself.

Sent as the expression of God to the world, the Word had its origins from eternity past. John takes us to the beginning. Using Language that sounds the same as Genesis 1:1, he says, “In the beginning was the Word.”

This passage makes it clear that the Word was with God and was at the same time God. The way we understand this and try to explain it is the doctrine of the Trinity. He is separate from God and is therefore described as being with God. At the same time, He is God.

We meet God in Genesis 1:1 as the creator of all things. Here in John, we meet Jesus as the One through whom all things were created. “Without Him was not anything made that was made.” (Verse 3, KJV)

At this point, we must humbly bow and worship the Son as God. The Father and the Son are One. Co-eternal with the Father and the Holy Spirit, Jesus is God. 

This is how we understand Jesus as the Word, and how his origin reveals God to us. John also speaks of Jesus as the Light. As the Light, Jesus reveals God to us.

John says, “In him was life; and the life was the light of men.” (John 1:4, KJV)

In Genesis 1, we learn that God formed man from the dust of the ground and then breathed into him the breath of life.

It is difficult to define what life is.

Wikipedia defines life as:

Life is a characteristic distinguishing physical entities having biological processes (such as signaling and self-sustaining processes) from those that do not, either because such functions have ceased (death), or because they lack such functions and are classified as inanimate.[ii]

This defines life strictly by its biological processes. Within this definition, there is no room for a soul. The origins of life itself are considered a by-product of an evolutionary process and the natural result of 4.5 billion years. The development of consciousness and morality are ascribed to chance and natural selection.

We are told in John 1 that in Him was life. Additionally, we are told that this life was the light of men. 

According to this, life is what gives us understanding and enlightenment. Life is the source of understanding and morality. The light is said to be shining into the darkness, but the darkness is said to be unable to understand or overcome the light. This battle is further explained when John says, “He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not. He came unto his own, and his own received him not.” (John 1:10-11, KJV)

John 1:9 tells us that the Light gives light to everyone. This is evident in the fact that the conscience and an awareness of right and wrong are universally present within humanity. This light of conscience is to be understood as being rooted in life itself if we use John 1 as the source of our definition of life. This is tied to the idea of the soul and the soul being the life of the body. 

This idea of life and light help us to understand who Jesus is, and reveal truth to us about the nature of God.  However, the world is in darkness.

There is, as has been mentioned, a battle. The Light shines in the darkness but the darkness is said to not be able to seize, comprehend or overcome the Light.

The world resists the Light. John says, “He came unto His own, and His own received Him not.” (John 1:11, KJV) The Light that we have within us condemns us before God. Light shows where we have sinned. It is felt in a guilty conscience. 

Romans 2:14-15 explain this function of the light in each person when it says:

Even Gentiles, who do not have God’s written law, show that they know his law when they instinctively obey it, even without having heard it. They demonstrate that God’s law is written in their hearts, for their own conscience and thoughts either accuse them or tell them they are doing right.[iii]

This law written in the heart of every person is part of the life that is given by God and is integral to the soul. Its origin is found in the person of Jesus Christ.

We see that Jesus is the Word, and we understand that He is the Light. This leaves us in need because the Light condemns us. This brings us to the truth that Jesus reveals God in that He is the Son.

We find this truth first in verse 14 that says, “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.” ESV The King James Version says, “the glory as of the only begotten of the Father.” This idea of Jesus as the Son permeates the book of John. It is this idea that gives birth to our understanding of Jesus as our Savior.

The truth that Jesus is the Son is closely tied to the truth called grace. Grace is the expression of God’s favor. We hear the words “God loves you” and these words are demonstrated by Grace. Grace is God pouring out gifts and goodness on us that we do not deserve. In this favor, we find the meaning of Jesus as the Son.

He is said to be from the Father and He is said to be full of grace and truth.  Verse 16 repeats this truth of grace when it says, “For from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace.” ESV

John 3:16 is an expression of this truth. It says, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” ESV

The riches that God has poured out on us are beyond our ability to comprehend.  These riches are not measured in silver or gold.  These riches are not measured in property and land.  These riches are the riches of God’s children.  Romans 8:32 asks, “He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?” ESV

God as creator is awesome and bigger than we can even imagine. There is nothing He cannot do.  This is part of Jesus’s origin.

God as Light is Holy, righteous and inapproachable in purity.  In Him is no darkness at all.  This also is part of Jesus’s origin.

It is in God the Son that we find grace and a Savior. This is why John 1:12 says, “But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.” ESV

Becoming a child of God is as simple as believing in his name. However, let me attach a warning.  John gives this warning in chapter 3 verse 36 when he says, “Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.” ESV

He came unto His own but His own received Him not.  Do not be among those who do not receive Him.  His origin is from ancient times.  He is your creator.  He has given you your conscience as a reminder of your need of His grace.  He has sent His Son to be your Savior.  It only remains for you to receive Him to become a child of God and enjoy eternal life, new life, abundant life.

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[i]  Scripture quotations marked ESV are from The ESV Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version) copyright 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.  Used by permission.  All rights reserved.

[ii] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Life

[iii] Unless otherwise noted Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation.  Copyright © 1996, 2004, 2007 by Tyndale House Foundation.  Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Steam, Illinois 60188.  All rights reserved.

The Search

Luke 2:41-52

No matter how careful one is as a parent, there will be that moment when the location of a child is in doubt.  I experienced the worst panics of my life when shopping with a toddler in tow.  Looking at the clothing rack for just an instant to try to find my size, not even taking time to consider the color, only to turn around to find the toddler had vanished.  My grey hair was earned in those moments. Thankfully, I was always able to find my child.  He or she would be in the clothes rack amongst the clothes or in the next isle looking at Legos, Barbie dolls or the new Map of Middle Earth autographed by Gandalf.  During those panicked moments of desperate search, I would imagine all the ways I would dismember the little imp for causing me such distress. But, by the time I found him or her, I was so happy that he or she was alive and unharmed I would forget about retribution.

In Luke 2:41-52, Luke tells of an incident from Jesus’s youth.  He was 12, not a toddler, and his parents were not shopping. But, they were panicked. Their panic lasted for 3 days.

Every year they traveled to Jerusalem to observe the Passover.  They did this as a family, and from Luke 2:44 we gather they traveled with relatives and friends.  Not having a mini-chariot or buggy, they walked. It was at least a five-day walk assuming the roads were dry and there was light traffic.  During a festival time and traveling with a group, it took longer.

It sounds like fun.  Walking and talking with relatives and friends, and camping along the road with the same.  What child would not love it!  Not only was there the adventure of the trip to Jerusalem, there was also the fun and excitement of the return trip. (Could you imagine the mess the children would have been if it rained?)

By the age of 12, most children are fairly independent, and are expected to do many things for themselves. Since the 13^th century, the Jewish practice of Bar Mitzvah has recognized a 13-year-old as being old enough to be spiritually responsible for their choices. There are historical references that indicate that the tradition is much older.[i]  (This is only speculation, but perhaps this is the significance of Jesus being at the temple at the age of 12.)  We see from this that at least in one culture a 12- to 13-year-old is considered fairly independent.

Because of His age, Jesus’s parents were not worried about Him when they left Jerusalem for the return trip to Nazareth.  Jesus would be with His relatives and friends doing what they did every year when they traveled together.  Luke tells us, “They assumed he was among the other travelers.”  (Luke 2:44) When Jesus did not show up that evening, then the panic began to set in. 

Luke tells us Mary and Joseph traveled the full day back to Jerusalem (which I imagine they covered in half the time), and they searched for Jesus for three days.

Now, I have never had to search for my kids for 3 days, and I pray I never do.  Others have had to search for their children that long and longer.  Only they know what kind of panic Mary and Joseph were experiencing.  When they found Jesus, Mary said, “Your father and I have been frantic.” (Luke 2:48)[ii] “Frantic” is a significant word. 

Sometimes there are words that are hard to translate from one language to another.  Various English translations have used words like anxious, distress, sorrow to translate the word that Mary used.  The word being translated properly defined means:

to experience intense emotional pain, i.e. deep, personal anguish expressed by great mourning. This root (ody-) literally means "go down" (as the sun in a sunset) and refers to consuming sorrow.[iii]

We all experience moments of panic.  We all experience intense emotional pain.  Because of this, we can identify with what Mary and Joseph are going through.

There are many kinds of distress. The distress of a soldier in a foxhole is not the same as the distress of a parent seeking a lost child.  Neither does a person facing a disease, a death, a bankruptcy or a prison sentence feel the same distress as the parent seeking a child. 

The thing common to all these distresses is their tendency to drive us to seek God.

We never pray like we pray when we are in distress.

Can you imagine Mary and Joseph’s prayers while they were seeking for Jesus?

Actually, probably not too different from prayers we might pray today.

The lesson for us to learn today from this event in the life of Jesus is, "Jesus will be found by the seeking heart.” (Matthew 7:7)

Two truths will help us shorten the search time.

The first truth is:

            We assume Jesus is where we are.

Jesus’s parents assumed Jesus was traveling with the rest of the group.

If I can draw a spiritual parallel, we assume Jesus is traveling with us. 

In one sense, He is.  He has promised never to leave us. However, two people can travel in the same vehicle and not be together.  In this sense, we can assume Jesus is with us and be miles apart.

Ancient Israel had this problem.  In Psalm 50:20-21, God addresses the problem with these words:

You sit and speak against your brother; you slander your own mother’s son. These things you have done, and I have been silent; you thought that I was one like yourself.  But now I rebuke you and lay the charge before you. Psalm 50:20-21 ESV[iv]

The problem shows up in verse 21 where it says, “You thought that I was one like yourself.”

We get in distress and seek God, but the problem is we think God is like ourselves.

We are not offended by the television shows we watch, so they must be okay with God. We are not offended by the way we choose to live, so it must be okay with God. In fact, we go to great lengths to explain why it is okay. 

Miniskirts were once an abomination.  Now, our culture laughs at such prudishness.  Bikinis were once unthinkable.  Now, they are common.  Alcohol, smoking, abortion, homosexuality and other issues fall into this category.  Our culture changes its opinion about these things and our feelings/beliefs about them change.

Our thinking on these issues changes with the times, but does God’s thinking change with the times? God tells us, “The LORD doesn't see things the way you see them. People judge by outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.”  1 Samuel 16:7

 Jesus asked His parents a probing question.  He asked, “Why did you need to search?”

The unspoken answer is, “because of assumptions.”

The solution is found in the next words of Jesus:

“Didn’t you know that I must be in my Father’s house?” Luke 2:49

We must seek Him where He can be found. He does not move or change.  The starting place is the word of God.  Rather than assuming God is like we are, we must pray and seek to understand what God has revealed about Himself. This is why the Psalmist says, “How can a young person stay pure? By obeying your word.” (Psalm 119:9)

This covers the first truth that will shorten our search time.  We assume Jesus is where we are.  The second truth is like it.  The second truth is, “We search where we think He should be.”

The first place Jesus’s parents looked was among their friends and relatives.  The next place they looked was around town in Jerusalem.

Jesus rebuked them for this.  He said, “Didn’t you know that I must be in my Father’s house?” (Luke 2:49)

The angels rebuked the women for looking for Jesus in the tomb.  They said, “Why are you looking among the dead for someone who is alive?”  (Luke 24:5)

A good example of looking for God in the wrong place is the account of what happened to the prophet Elijah.  1 Kings 19 verses 11-13 contain this account.

And as Elijah stood there, the LORD passed by, and a mighty windstorm hit the mountain. It was such a terrible blast that the rocks were torn loose, but the LORD was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake. And after the earthquake there was a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire. And after the fire there was the sound of a gentle whisper. When Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his cloak and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave.

And a voice said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”

We might look for God in smashing rocks or earthquakes, because this is where we think He should be. 

We might look for God in good health, peace in our family or plenty of money, because this is what we want from Him.  We must have the humility to acknowledge that God’s ways are not the same as ours.

God spoke to Elijah in a whisper. 

The angels reminded the women of what Jesus had told them about rising from the dead. 

Jesus reminded His parents who He was according to what they had been told at His birth. 

They could not find Jesus, because they were looking in the wrong place. They were looking with eyes of flesh instead of eyes of faith. He was not out playing around like a child. He was about His Father’s business.

Not only do we assume that Jesus is where we are, we forget what He has told us.  Our faith is weak and we do not remember His word.  He is not limited like us.  He is not playing around or taking a vacation.  He is God and is able to do all things. We must never forget His word.  Romans 10:17 says, “So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.” ESV

Referring again to Psalm 119 the way to solve this issue is given in verse 11. “I have hidden your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you.”

We can find comfort in all our distress in knowing what He says, “Don’t let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, and trust also in me.”  (John 14:1)  How do we trust in God if we do not know what He says?

Seek the Lord while he may be found; call upon him while he is near; let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the Lord, that he may have compassion on him, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.

For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. (Isaiah 55:6-9, ESV)

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[i] http://www.jewsforjesus.org/publications/havurah/mm96-02/barmitzvah

[ii] Unless otherwise noted Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation.  Copyright © 1996, 2004, 2007 by Tyndale House Foundation.  Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Steam, Illinois 60188.  All rights reserved.

[iii]   copyright © 1987, 2011 by Helps Ministries, Inc.

[iv] Scripture quotations marked ESV are from The ESV Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version) copyright 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.  Used by permission.  All rights reserved.

Favored

Luke 1:26-38[i]

Christmas songs are playing on the radio and in all the stores, songs about mistletoe, Rudolf and white Christmases.

We celebrate love and peace.  We celebrate the birth of a Savior.  We sing about peace on earth and joy to the world.

Truly, the birth of Jesus Christ in the manger at Bethlehem is worth celebrating.  He is God with us, Emmanuel, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace.  He is our hope and salvation, and represents God’s favor toward us. 

In spite of the celebration and the words we hear about God’s love for us, it may not seem that God loves us.  With all that happens in our lives and in our world, it can seem at times that God is not here.  Do we really enjoy God’s favor?  What does it look like to be favored of God? 

Mary was a young virgin engaged to be married to a man named Joseph.  She was chosen by God to be the mother of Jesus.  She, of all people, represents what it means to be favored of God.  Mary said of herself, “. . . and from now on all generations will call me blessed.”  When the angel greeted Mary, he said, “Greetings, favored woman!  The Lord is with you!”

Even this greeting shows Mary was favored of God.  As we consider Luke’s account of this moment in history, we will learn truths about God’s favor.

The first truth is, “It changes everything.”

Luke 1:29 tells us Mary was confused and disturbed by the angel’s greeting. Let’s consider this.

First, it was unusual to get a message from an angel.  Gabriel and Michael are the only angels named in Scripture.  Earlier in Luke chapter 1 Gabriel appeared to Zechariah and said of Himself, “I am Gabriel!  I stand in the very presence of God.”  An important messenger delivers important news.  The appearance of an angel or angels usually causes fear.  The importance and appearance of the messenger would have been unsettling for Mary.

The greeting the angel started with was also strange to Mary.  He started with a greeting that meant grace and favor and named her as one who was favored of God.  Then he stated, “The Lord is with you.”

The next verse tells us she was trying to figure out what such a greeting might mean.  In other words, this was not a typical greeting. 

Both the message and the messenger signaled that this was a major event.  Mary’s world was about to change.  In fact, this greeting signaled the beginning of events that would change the world forever. 

There are moments and events in all of our lives that come as life changers.  These events can be either good or bad, but they are events that leave us disturbed and wondering, trying to figure out what these things mean.

The question is, “Can we trust God?”

The angel reassured Mary.  “Don’t be afraid, Mary.”  (Luke 1:30) 

The Lord Jesus reassured His disciples.  “Don’t let your hearts be troubled.  Trust in God, and trust also in me.”  (John 14:1) 

The Lord God reassured Israel.  “For I know the plans I have for you,” says the LORD.  “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.” (Jeremiah 29:11) 

The Lord reassures us.  “And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.”  (Romans 8:28)

The message the angel brought was just as astonishing as the greeting had been.  He said:

You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you will name him Jesus.  He will be very great and will be called the Son of the Most High.  The Lord God will give him the throne of his ancestor David.  And he will reign over Israel forever; his Kingdom will never end!”  (Luke 1:31-33)

Again, Mary was left confused and wondering.  So, she asked a question.  “But how can this happen?  I am a virgin.”  (Luke 1:34)

The angel then explained one of the greatest miracles that God ever performed.  He said:

“The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you.  So the baby to be born will be holy, and he will be called the Son of God.  (Luke 1:35)

This was so amazing that the angel gave this important additional piece of information.  “For nothing is impossible with God.”  (Luke 1:37)

When Zechariah received the message that he would have a son in his old age he did not believe it.  Consequently, he was stricken and unable to speak until the child was born.  When Abraham received the message that he would have a son in his old age he believed God and it was counted to him as righteousness. 

These events are similar to events like Israel standing at the Red Sea with Pharaoh’s army coming behind them, or David facing Goliath.  They are all beyond human capabilities. 

We all have one big issue that is beyond our capabilities.  The issue is sin.  We can do nothing to save ourselves from sin. 

The similarity in all these events or situations is that we must trust what the angel said, “Nothing is impossible with God.”  God parted the Red Sea and destroyed Pharaoh’s army.  God enabled David to defeat Goliath.  God gave Isaac to Abraham.  God gave John to Zechariah.  God washed away our sins with the blood of His own Son.

We all face events or news that will leave us confused and wondering how these things can be.  The question is, do we believe God like Abraham or doubt like Zechariah? 

Mary chose to believe and accepted the news with grace.  She said, “I am the Lord’s servant.  May everything you have said about me come true.”  (Luke 1:38)

The greeting Mary received signaled a big change.  The news was beyond human capabilities, and now we see that it would cost her everything.

Before we talk about the cost, let us consider what she was gaining.  She says in the verses that follow:

Oh, how my soul praises the Lord.  How my spirit rejoices in God my Savior!  For he took notice of his lowly servant girl, and from now on all generations will call me blessed.  For the Mighty One is holy, and he has done great things for me.  He shows mercy from generation to generation to all who fear him.  His mighty arm has done tremendous things!  (Luke 1:46-51)

Mary was gaining the biggest blessing and privilege of any person in history.  She was to be the mother of the Savior of the World, God in human flesh.  Her Son was the Son of the Most High God.

However, consider the cost. 

People would look down on her.  Her own fiancé was going to divorce her quietly because of the pregnancy.  The only thing that stopped him was the intervention of a messenger from God.  Mary’s word was apparently not good enough.  The Bible does not tell us what other people thought, but even today, many people do not believe that Mary was a virgin.

Besides the cost of community acceptance, Mary suffered.  This is what was prophesied of her, “. . . a sword will pierce your very soul.”  (Luke 2:25) 

We assume this meant that she would have to watch her Son die on a cross.  However, we do not know what she had to suffer as the mother of the Son of God.  This one prophecy gives us an idea that she suffered greatly as opposition to the ministry of Jesus grew to the point of His murder.

Mary did not know what the cost would be, but her response shows that she understood what was required of her.  She said, “I am the Lord’s servant.  May everything you have said about me come true.”  (Luke 1:38)

Mary classified herself as a servant.

The word is slave.

In a culture and age where slavery was an institution enforced by the government, being a slave meant to be wholly owned by someone else and to be entirely at their disposal. 

When God favors us, it costs everything.

Abraham left his home and family in Mesopotamia.  Moses gave up the riches and privileges of being a prince in Egypt.  Paul gave up being a privileged ruler of Israel.  Hebrews 11 speaks of people who paid the price saying:

Some were jeered at, and their backs were cut open with whips.  Others were chained in prisons.  Some died by stoning, some were sawed in half, and others were killed with the sword.  Some went about wearing skins of sheep and goats, destitute and oppressed and mistreated.  They were too good for this world, wandering over deserts and mountains, hiding in caves and holes in the ground.  (Hebrews 11:36-38)

God promises new life.  God promises eternal life.  God promises that in this world we will have trouble.  (John 16:33) 

God chooses that some prosper and have the world’s goods.  Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, David, Job and many others were very prosperous.  This does not mean they did not suffer in their turn.  However, what we know of these people is that they were not their own.  They belonged to God.  Their money and possessions were God’s money and possessions.

What is troubling is the lifestyle that says, “I can accept God’s gift, but I am still my own person.  I like having my sins forgiven.  I like the idea of eternal life.  Heaven sounds wonderful.  However, tithing is a burden.  Fellowshipping with other Christians is a bore.  Trying to control my desire for sex, or food, or money, or acceptance, or what I want is not necessary.  Besides, God wants me to be happy, and this makes me happy.

Salvation is free.  It is a gift.  However, the Apostle Paul puts it this way:

Don’t you realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God?  You do not belong to yourself, for God bought you with a high price.  So you must honor God with your body.  (1 Corinthians 6:19-20)

Christmas changes everything.  The birth of the Savior changes everything.  It was an event that was beyond human capacity, even bigger than the biggest events of your life.  The next time you face a life-changing moment will you face it like Mary did, “I am the Lord’s servant . . .”

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[i] Unless otherwise noted Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation.  Copyright © 1996, 2004, 2007 by Tyndale House Foundation.  Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Steam, Illinois 60188.  All rights reserved.

Why Change?

John the Baptist was a great man.  He is called “the Baptist,” because his ministry was characterized by a call for people to be baptized.  Luke 3:3 says, “Then John went from place to place on both sides of the Jordan River, preaching that people should be baptized to show that they had repented of their sins and turned to God to be forgiven.”[i]  This baptism is how we distinguish him from other men named John, such as John the Apostle. 

John the Baptist did not write any Scripture.  The gospel of John, 1^st, 2^nd, 3^rd John and Revelation were all written by the Apostle John.  John the Apostle started out as a political zealot and ended up as the Apostle of Love.  John the Baptist was a wild man.  By “wild man,” I mean that he lived in the wild.  He wore clothes made for rough country and ate what food he could find in wild places.

John the Baptist apparently isolated himself for a time.  There is no suggestion of the length of time he lived in the wilderness.  However, in Luke 3:2 we learn, “At this time a message from God came to John, son of Zechariah, who was living in the wilderness.”  Receiving this message from God may have been part of the fruit of his isolation.  The Scriptures do not say this, but I imagine part of John’s living in the wilderness was his personal seeking after God.

We also see in these early verses of Luke 3 that John lived in a politically charged time.  We see names that are famous even in our day.  Tiberius, Pilate, Herod, Annas and Caiaphas are names famous in the story of Jesus.

John was born as the forerunner of Jesus.  This is what Luke 3:4 is referring to when it quotes Isaiah saying, “He is a voice shouting in the wilderness.” This is the Advent Season and we are looking forward to the birth of Jesus.  The Advent is a time of preparing and anticipation.  It is a time for us to reflect and worship.  As we look at John as a forerunner, we are looking at this preparing aspect of his ministry.  However, historically the events we are looking at today actually took place almost 30 years after Jesus was born.  Historically, John and Jesus were born close in time with each other.

I began by saying, “John the Baptist was a great man.”  Jesus, Himself, said of John, “I tell you, of all who have ever lived, none is greater than John.”  (Luke 7:28)  Luke 1:17 and other passages say that John would be a man with the spirit and power of Elijah who would prepare people for the coming of the Messiah.  Elijah was a great Old Testament prophet, and John represented the last of the Old Testament prophets.  However, John the Baptist did not perform any recorded miracles.  Elijah did.  Elisha did.  Moses and Jesus did.  But, John did not.

John came with a very simple message.  He came preaching, “. . . people should be baptized to show that they had repented of their sins and turned to God to be forgiven.”  (Luke 3:3)  John said more.  His head was chopped off because he told the king that he had no business marrying his brother’s wife.  He said more, but his message was one simple idea.  “People should be baptized to show that they had repented of their sins and turned to God to be forgiven.”

John’s job as a forerunner was to announce the Good News.  He does this saying, “someone is coming soon who is greater than I am—so much greater that I’m not even worthy to be his slave and untie the straps of his sandals.”  (Luke 3:16)

John’s message was simple, and his announcement was equally simple and direct.  He did not perform miracles.  Without miracles or a flashy show, this wild man with a simple message and simple announcement drew large crowds.

In our day of marketing, media and flashing lights it is hard to imagine something so simple drawing huge crowds.  However, I think people today hunger for something simple and direct.  A man who has isolated himself from the corruption and glamour of the world and in a simple straightforward way tells the truth is appealing.  The Gospel is powerful.  Before marketing, before preaching, before speaking, we need to take the time to get alone with God and hear from Him.  Even Jesus, the Son of God, rose a great while before dawn to be alone with the Father.  John the Baptist spent time alone in the wilderness, and left the wilderness after hearing from God.

We are busy.  We are busy, but not busier than Jesus was.  We make time for what is important to us.  I have worked with men who worked 60 and 70 hours a week, who made time to watch their favorite football team.  60 or 70 hours a week may be a light week for you, but I would still ask, “Are you too busy to seek the Lord?” 

All of us are drawn to the simple, straightforward truth of the Gospel.  Crowds flocked to John the Baptist just to hear that the Savior was soon to appear.  But, the reception they received was less than inviting.  While we are drawn to the Gospel, we can be driven away by the truth about ourselves.

Verses 7, 8 and 9 of Luke 3 are harsh, very harsh.  It says:

⁷When the crowds came to John for baptism, he said, “You brood of snakes!  Who warned you to flee God’s coming wrath? ⁸Prove by the way you live that you have repented of your sins and turned to God.  Don’t just say to each other, ‘We’re safe, for we are descendants of Abraham.’  That means nothing, for I tell you, God can create children of Abraham from these very stones.  ⁹Even now the ax of God’s judgment is poised, ready to sever the roots of the trees.  Yes, every tree that does not produce good fruit will be chopped down and thrown into the fire.”

What a greeting!  “You brood of snakes.”  John was harsh.

These people were Jewish.  From the day they were born, they celebrated the Jewish Holidays.  They learned about the 10 plagues and the crossing of the Red Sea at Passover.  They learned about the 40 years in the wilderness and manna during the festival of Sukkot.  They knew the 10 commandments from the time they were children.  They knew God’s promise to Abraham, and were looking forward to the coming of the Messiah.  John assaults their confidence when he says, “Don’t just say to each other, ‘We’re safe, for we are descendants of Abraham.’  That means nothing.” 

We all put our confidence in something.  Many say, “I am a good person.  I have not done anything wrong.”  By wrong, they mean criminal.  We all like to consider ourselves good people.  But, our standard of good is based on our own ideas and not God’s.  Others count on the fact that they were baptized, or some other religious practice.

The people John the Baptist was talking to were the most religious people possible.  If anyone could be right with God by religious practice, surely they could have been.  However, all their religious practice proved is that one cannot be right with God by religious practice.  Galatians 3:11 says, “So it is clear that no one can be made right with God by trying to keep the law.”

Writing in 1948, well know author and preacher A. W. Tozer, writing in his introduction to the book The Pursuit of God said:

The truth of Wesley’s words is established before our eyes: “Orthodoxy, or right opinion, is at best, a very slender part of religion.  Though right tempers cannot subsist without right opinions, yet right opinions may subsist without right tempers.  There may be a right opinion of God without either love or one right temper toward Him.  Satan is a proof of this.”

Thanks to our splendid Bible societies and to other effective agencies for the dissemination of the Word, there are today many millions of people who hold “right opinions,” probably more than ever before in the history of the Church.  Yet I wonder if there was ever a time when true spiritual worship was at a lower ebb.  To great sections of the church the art of worship has been lost entirely, and in its place has come that strange and foreign thing called the “program.”  This word has been borrowed from the stage and applied with sad wisdom to the type of public service which now passes for worship among us.

The point is, all need a Savior.  There is no exception.  You and I, no matter how spiritual we may think we are, are entirely dependent on Jesus Christ for salvation.  That is why the coming of the Savior is such good news. 

John came with a simple message that drew hearts to hear more.  However, the nature of the message confronted all men with their sins.  The conclusion of the message was the need for change.

Change does not save us.  John says, “Prove by the way you live that you have repented of your sins and turned to God.”  (Luke 3:8)  Salvation is found in turning to God.  Repentance is changing one’s mind.  I once thought I did not need a Savior.  I now see that I need a Savior.  I have changed my mind.  I once thought I was good enough.  I now see that my righteousness is as filthy rags before God.  I have changed my mind.

John tells the multitude that baptism means nothing if the evidence of change is not there.

2 Corinthians 5:17 says, “This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person.  The old life is gone; a new life has begun!” 

We are talking about this kind of change.  James says it like this:

You say you have faith, for you believe that there is one God.  Good for you!  Even the demons believe this, and they tremble in terror.  How foolish!  Can’t you see that faith without good deeds is useless?  (James 2:19-20)

In John’s day as in ours, if we have truly repented and turned to God, our lives will show it.  Do we change in order to be saved?  No, rather, change is the evidence that we have repented and turned to God to be saved.

John came to prepare the way for the Lord’s arrival.  We still need his message today.

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[i]  Unless otherwise noted Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation.  Copyright © 1996, 2004, 2007 by Tyndale House Foundation.  Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Steam, Illinois 60188.  All rights reserved.