John the Baptist calls the people of Israel to return to God, and there’s signs of spiritual awakening.
Jesus is baptized and the voice of God the Father affirms Him and the Spirit of God appears in the form of a dove. One God in three persons.
Luke ends the chapter with the genealogy of Jesus via Mary’s family tree.
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Message Notes:
John the Baptist calls the people of Israel to return to God and there is a glimpse of a spiritual awakening as people came out to see the crazy prophet baptizing at the Jordan River.
It’s similar to what’s been happening in Asbury or other college campuses or in the movie Jesus Revolution, there was a genuine sense of repentance among many people.
Historian and scholar NT Wright says it this way in his book Luke for Everyone:
“Christian living is far more than simply repentance, but it is not less. All spiritual advance begins with a turning away from what is hindering our obedience.”
There’s this extraordinary moment when Jesus is baptized as an example for us all. He didn’t need to repent of any sin. Instead he was demonstrating humility for us all to follow plus it was this amazing moment as those there that day could hear the voice of God the Father affirming God the Son while God the Spirit shows up in the form of a dove.
Now I know this concept of one God in 3 persons is hard to understand.
The Sun is one entity expressed as a star, light, and heat.
H20 can take the form of water, ice, and steam. It is the same essence taking different forms.
Rick Warren says it this way:
“If God was SMALL enough for you to completely understand him, He wouldn’t be BIG enough for you to completely trust him.”
But think about it for a moment: it makes sense that God would be beyond description.
“The Bible clearly speaks of: God the Son, God the Father, and God the Holy Spirit. But emphasizes that there is only ONE God. If we were to use math, it would not be, 1+1+1=3. It would be 1x1x1=1. God is a triune God.”
One final illustration to help us comes from A Severe Mercy, by Sheldon Vanauken.
If you are an author or someone who likes to read, this may help. When an author writes a story, all of the characters have a piece of him or her. They make decisions informed by the author. Say an author writes himself or herself into the story. He or she exists outside of the book but also inside of the book.
God is writing a story, and we are in it. All of us have the image of God and the Spirit of God is actively pursuing us to restore us, forgive us, and heal us.
He wrote Himself into the story. That’s Jesus.
God is the author of creation. He wrote himself into the story as Jesus. His Spirit influences his characters (us).
Luke ends this section with a geneology. It’s different than the one in Matthew which has concerned or confused some over the years. More than likely it’s the family line of Mary as Luke more than likely interviewed her. In those days it would be highly unusual for a woman’s geneology to be shared in this patriarchal society, but Jesus was a highly unusual human being – born of a virgin, the Son of God.
What stood out to you today?
How can you apply it?
