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Passage: Luke 3
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Chapter Summary
v1-6 - Luke springs forward about 18 years from where we left off yesterday. Cousins John & Jesus are now both adults, and as is Luke's style, he offers plenty of historical details to set the stage. Luke introduces John the Baptist's ministry by quoting Isaiah 40.
v7-14 - John doesn't pull any punches, calling the crowds coming out to hear him a 'brood of vipers (v7),' and that God will cut down all those that are not producing good fruit. John realizes the calling of a preacher is not to simply make his audience feel good about themselves, but to bring them to true repentance and conversion. John describes what a converted life looks like in very practical terms in v11-14.
v15-18 - At this point in time, Israel had made looking for the Messiah a national sport. Dozens had tried to make the claim in the previous century that they were the promised savior (including several named 'Jesus'), and although some were able to piece together a following, obviously none of them had panned out. So it's only natural the crowds heard John's message of repentance and concluded he was the one they'd been waiting for (v15). But in v16-17, John eloquently points them away from himself and towards the one he was preparing the way for.
v19-20 - Ultimately, the 'cancel-culture' of the day caught up with John when the local despot didn't like having the finger pointed at him and threw John in prison.
v21-38 - Jesus' baptism is one of the clearest pictures of the Trinity in the Bible. Matthew's genealogy both begins and ends with interesting descriptions: Jesus was thought to be Joseph's son, and ultimately Adam is referred to as the "son of God (v38)." By putting Jesus' genealogy after His baptism and making the references he does, Luke is saying that there's a new Son of God whose come to save the sons of Adam.
Old Testament Reference -
Isaiah 40 - We looked at this passage in our evening service a couple of weeks ago as we learned about what it means to call God the creator. Luke is just one of the New Testament writers who quote this passage (in this chapter to refer to John). See how many more references you can spot in it.
Discuss:
Use the comment box below to discuss one or more of these questions.
How do you think John the Baptist would describe conversion?
What was the 'good news' that John proclaimed (v18)?
Put John's preaching into your own words. What does it mean to 'produce fruit in keeping with repentance (v8)?;
Follow the AAA Prayer Pattern:
ACKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS: Creator God who could raise sons from stones (v8), but yet patiently works out generation after generation of His children.
ALIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Pray that God will equip you to produce fruit in keeping with your repentance (v8).
ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED:
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