Question

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PREPARE THE WAY FOR THE LORD

Luke 3:1-20

Key Verse: 3:4

1. Read verses 1,2. How was the political and religious situation in the times of John? (1-2) What does it mean that the word of God came to John?
2. Read verses 3-6. How did John prepare the way for the Lord?  How did the ministry of John fulfill God’s prophecy? (Is 40:3-5) Describe the spiritual meaning of verses 5,6.
3. Read verses 7-9. What was John’s message for the crowd? How did the crowds respond to the message of repentance and judgment?
4. What do the fruits of repentance mean to each person? (8,11,13,14)
5. Read verses 15-17. How did John teach about Jesus to the crowds? What does it mean that Jesus would baptize us with the Holy Spirit and with fire? (16)
6. Read verses 18-20. Why was John imprisoned?  How can we prepare the way for the Lord Jesus?

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Attachment

• palk3aq-2010(prepare the way for the Lord).doc

Message

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PREPARE THE WAY FOR THE LORD

Luke 3:1-20

Key Verse:3:4 “As is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet: “ A voice of one calling in the desert, ‘Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him.”

  Last week we learned the importance of Bible study. The Bible, the Holy Scripture, is able to make us wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. (2 Tim 3:15). It is also useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.  During my college days, I was seeking for the true way of salvation. I read many books of great thinkers, philosophers and teachers. I went up to the mountain to find out the way of salvation through meditation like a Buddha monk. Despite such strenuous efforts, I was still in confusion and depression. In meantime, however, I was invited to Bible study. The Bible study opened my spiritual eyes to see God and to know the way of salvation through faith in Jesus Christ. The Bible makes us wise for our salvation. It is because the Bible is the word of God. Only God answers the way of salvation for fallen men because He is God. This is the reason why Ben West and Priscilla are eager to teach the Bible to other people. We are praying for weekly group Bible study on campus. Let us pray that God may bless our Bible study at Wash U. from this Thursday. Amen.

  From today we’ll study Luke’s gospel. The author Luke was a Greek, the gentile believer, while other gospel authors such as Matthew, Mark and John were Jews. So Luke approached Jesus with different perspective to investigate and to narrate the life and teaching of Jesus in orderly way and inductive method which leads to conclusion that Jesus is the Savior of the world.(Lk 1:3) Today’s passage starts with the appearance of John the Baptist, who came to prepare the way for the Lord Jesus by preaching a baptism of repentance. Through today’s passage let us learn about the meaning of preparing the way for the Lord through repentance and about John’s message of Jesus Christ.

First, the word of God came to John (1-2) Verses 1,2 inform us what kind of times when John the Baptist started his ministry. At that time, the world was ruled by the Roman emperor, Tiberius Caesar, who was the successor of Caesar Augustus.  Unlike his predecessor, Tiberius was rigid, taciturn, and obdurate that he had demanded unyielding submission from his colonial people.  At that time, Pontius Pilate was the governor of Judea who later sentenced Jesus to death.

During John’s day, Israel was divided into four parts and was ruled by three sons of King Herod the Great, such as Herod, Philip and Lysanias, who were not called kings, but “tetrarchs” rulers of one of four parts. Herod the tetrarch took Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife, who later demanded the execution of John the Baptist. The division of the kingdom was caused by the power struggle among corrupted, unjust leaders of each territory.

The root problem of Israel was the internal corruption of the religious leaders. There should be one high priest in Israel, but two, Annas and Caiaphas. The high priests should be spiritual leaders and shepherds for his people who lead them to God. They should be Bible teachers. But, Annas and Caiaphas loved money more than Bible study. They were none but religious politicians who loved money and power. In short, the initial stage of John the Baptist ministry was dark, gloomy and hopeless.  James Stewart describes the day of John the Baptist as the darkest age of Israel’s history spiritually, politically and economically.

  At this point, the word of God came to John (2). Who was John? John was the son of Zechariah and Elizabeth, who were both upright in the sight of God.(Lk 1:5) During Zechariah’s priestly duty, an angel of God appeared to Zechariah and foretold the birth of John saying, “He will be a joy and delight to you, and many will rejoice because of his birth… He is never to take wine or other fermented drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit even from birth. Many of the people of Israel will he bring back to the Lord their God. And he will go on before the Lord, in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous-to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.” (Lk 1:14-17)  John came to this world as a forerunner who prepares the way for the Lord Jesus.

  Matthew’s gospel 3:4 describes the lifestyle of John in detail. It says, “John’s clothes were made of camel’s hair, and he had a leather belt around his waist. His food was locusts and wild honey.” These days John’s clothes should be the most stylish and expensive costume, and his food wholesome and natural food. But at that time, John lived in such a pure and simple life in the desert.  The word of God did not come to the corrupted religious leaders or politicians, but the pure and holy man of God like John the Baptist. In modern terms, the word of God comes to those whose hearts are pure and holy. God speaks to those whose hearts are cleansed by Jesus’ blood and ready to listen to him. Jesus said, “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.” (Mt 5:8)

Second, a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins (3-14) What was God’s word which came to John? It was the message of repentance and of the kingdom of God. In Matthew 3:2 John says, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near.” Here to repent is to turn away from sin to God.  The kingdom of heaven refers to Jesus Christ. John the Baptist prepared the way for the Lord by preaching the baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sin which comes from Jesus Christ. Look at verse 3. “He went into all the country around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.”

John’s message of baptism of repentance was challenging to the people. It was because at that time the ceremonial baptisms were performed only for the gentiles who were converted to Judaism. But, John’s baptism was not a ceremonial baptism, but the baptism of repentance. (Ac 19:4)  Repentance is not just remorse or regret of what we have done wrong or what we failed to do. Repentance is confessing our sins and changing for new life. Repentance requires consistency. It is not just one-time regret. When the religious leaders came to John to be baptized, John harshly rebuked their hypocritical life saying, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? Produce fruit in keeping with repentance.” (7,8. Mt 3:7) 

John the Baptist also claimed the urgency of repentance saying, “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.” (9) Repentance is not the matter which we delay or postpone as we usually do. Repentance requires urgency because we don’t know when God’s judgment comes as if the tool of his judgment is already at the door. 

John’s message of repentance was straightforward. His message pierced the hearts of sinners who came to him one by one saying, “What should we do then?” (10) John answered the greedy saying, “The man with tow tunics should share with him who has none, and the one who has food should do the same.” (11). In modern terms, those who have several laptops should share with those who have none.  The tax collectors and soldiers also came to John saying, “What should we do?”  John answered them not to be greedy and abusive, but to be content with their pay.(12-14) John’s message of repentance requests the change of their practical life. Our repentance also should not be only lip service to God. Our repentance should produce fruit in keeping with repentance. As a tree takes a long process of bearing fruits, so our repentance is a process of turning from sin to God.

Repentance is not just our moral or ethical improvement. Repentance is the first step to know the way of salvation. In other words, repentance is to prepare our hearts for receiving Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior.  John the Baptist preached the baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sin. The forgiveness of sins comes from Jesus Christ. Sin is atoned only when it is forgiven. Suppose you hit someone accidently or deliberately, you are convicted. Your quilt will never go away unless the man you hit forgives you. We sinned against God. But, God condemned Jesus Christ on the cross in our place in order to forgive us. Christ paid the price for our sins which we had to pay. The precious blood of Jesus is the price of the penalty of our sins and God’s sure sign of forgiveness of our sin.

In the past, Peter, the top disciple of Jesus, suffered much from guilt and shame since he had disowned Jesus three times. Even these days betrayal and cheating is the most difficult offense for us to tolerate or to forgive. But, Jesus visited Peter first, forgave him and loved him. Later Peter preached the message of repentance for the forgiveness of sins to 3,000 people saying, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” (Ac 2:38)

Is there anyone here who suffers from hatred and bitterness toward your adversaries?  How about those who rebelled against God because of your ignorance and unbelief? Please repent and receive the forgiveness of sin through faith in Jesus Christ. 1 John 1:8,9 says, “If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” Amen.

Luke, the historian, saw John as a voice of one calling in the desert. He believed that John the Baptist came to fulfill the prophecy of Isaiah as the forerunner for the Messiah Jesus. Look at verses 4-6. “As is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet: “A voice of one calling in the desert, ‘Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him. Every valley shall be filled in, every mountain and hill made low. The crooked roads shall become straight, the rough way smooth. And all mankind will see God’s salvation.” In ancient days, before a king made a journey to a distant country, the roads he would travel were improved. All obstacles should be cleared. The news of the king’s coming should be proclaimed. God sent John the Baptist as a forerunner to prepare the way for the Lord Jesus, the Savior King.

Here valley refers to those who are depressed, sorrowful and down cast. When they accept Jesus as their king, Jesus will fill them with the love of God. Mountain and hills indicate proud, arrogant and high-minded people. When they accept Jesus as their king, they will be gentle and humble like Jesus.(Mt 11:29) The crooked roads and the rough way are ungrateful, harsh, cynical, and negative-minded people. Jesus will heal them until their life is full of joy, thanks, and hope. All mankind will see God’s salvation through Jesus Christ.

Third, John exalted Jesus (15-20). John the Baptist continues to introduce who Jesus Christ is. John said, “I baptize you with water. But one more powerful than I will come, the thongs of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire. His winnowing fork is in his hand to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his barn, but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.” (16) In this verse John said that Jesus would baptize us with the Holy Spirit and fire. The baptism of the Holy Spirit brings regeneration, new birth into a new creation.(Jn 3:3, Ac 19:6, Ro 8:14) The baptism of fire consumes all our sins. Jesus will baptize us with the Holy Spirit and with fire.

Here John the Baptist also describes Jesus as the Judge between the living and the dead. Jesus died for our sins and rose again from the dead. His resurrection is God’s sure sign of our salvation and promise for our own resurrection. Jesus promised to come again. When he comes again, he will judge the world and take his people back to his kingdom. This is the good news to those who accept Jesus as the Lord and Savior and the bad news to those who reject him.  John the Baptist had a strong faith in Jesus Christ and his bright future in the kingdom of heaven. So he preached the message of repentance, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near.” That is why he rebuked the corrupted Herod to repent of his sins of immorality. (19)

Today we learned that John the Baptist who prepared the way for the Lord by preaching a baptism of repentance. Repentance is necessary to prepare the way for the Lord Jesus. Repentance is confession of our sins and decision for new life. Our Lord Jesus eagerly wants to come into our hearts. Jesus said, “Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me.” (Rev 3:20) Let us open our hearts and accept Jesus as my Lord, Savior, and King. Let us pray that all mankind may see God’s salvation through faith in Jesus Christ. Amen.

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Attachment

• PREPARE THE WAY FOR THE LORD-message.doc