THE GOSPEL OF LUKE (CHAPTER 3): A Reflective Guide
Preparing the Way for the Saviour of the World
DR. NG KEE CHUAN The Gospel of Luke (Chapter 3): A Re ective Guide
The Gospel of Luke (Chapter 3):
A Re ective Guide
Preparing the Way for the Saviour of the World
By
Dr. Ng Kee Chuan
Preparing the Way for the Saviour of the World Page 1 The Gospel of Luke (Chapter 3): A Re ective Guide
The Gospel of Luke (Chapter 3): A Re ective Guide
Preparing the Way for the Saviour of the World
Written by: Ng Kee Chuan
First print: December 2020
Scripture references taken from Good News Bible.
Right to copy (yes, you read that right!): Feel free to reproduce, store in a retrieval system, or transmit in any form or by any means without prior permission of the publisher.
Published by:
Ng Kee Chuan
Please send feedback to author at this email: [email protected]
Pictures taken from Unsplash, Pixabay. Pexels and Google Image. Thanks to all the wonderfully creative and generous photographers who shared their works of art freely. Your pictures that adorn the pages in this booklet have made it so much more interesting and attractive.
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Edited by: Chow Kwai Yok, my faithful and beautiful companion of my best years of life here on earth.
To God be the Glory!
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Table Of Contents
Introduction 5
THE GOSPEL OF LUKE (CHAPTER 3) 8
1. John’s Baptism of Repentance (Luke 3:1-14) 8
2. Jesus’ Baptism With The Spirit and Fire (Luke 3:15-20) 21
3. Jesus’ Divinity and Humanity (Luke 3:21-38) 31
References 43
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Introduction
Studying the Bible is one of the greatest joys a Christian can experience. We learn so much about God and his heart when we take time to do so.
Taking time to study the Gospel of Luke is a really good introduction to the life and works of Jesus because Luke had taken great pains to write a detailed and orderly account for us to study. You will appreciate his precision in details and description.
Even though you might be teaching or studying the Gospel of Luke as a subject for SPM, nevertheless you can take time to slow down and smell the owers, as it were. This means you are not just studying the facts but also endeavoring to relate the divine text to your life and situations. Most of all, focus on getting to know Jesus personally and grow in your relationship with God as you study this gospel written by Luke and his sequel the Book of Acts.
This short guide is a tool to help you build that bridge between the ancient text and your context today. As you take time to study the text and re ect on what this little e-booklet seeks to guide you to meditate on, I pray that the Holy Spirit will speak straight into your heart.
Introduction Page 5 The Gospel of Luke (Chapter 3): A Re ective Guide
Here is a short description about the parts in each section that is set up to help you make this journey even more exciting:
Learning Objective : This statement helps you set up your expectations as you read this passage and study it. Success Criteria : After you have nished your study, check if you have achieved what you set out to do using the criteria stated in this part. Engage : This is like a little ice-breaker to set your mind on the topics in the passage. Explore : This section helps you dig into the text of the passage telling you what it says. Explain : This section helps you to draw out the meaning of the topics raised in the passage. Elaborate : This section helps you relate what you have learnt in the previous sections to your own life and situation. Evaluate : This section helps you nail down some actions that you can implement in your life immediately. Discussion Questions : These questions are quite personal and if you have time to sit down and share with others, it will be mutually edifying and you will consolidate your fellowship one with another.
Teachers can use this booklet to lead meaningful discussions as you teach the text in the Gospel of Luke. You can use this guide to help your students think more deeply and personally about what they are studying.
If you are a student, you can use this guide to help you go deeper in your study, not just memorising the facts. You can even incorporate this guide as part of your daily devotions as you anticipate God speaking to you personally and directly into your life.
Introduction Page 6 The Gospel of Luke (Chapter 3): A Re ective Guide
Most of all, let the voice of God be heard by both teachers and students as you engage in the most important book in the world - the Bible. This will be a lifelong practice that will be such a positive impact in your life and transform you into a faithful disciple of Jesus Christ.
Amen!
Your fellow pilgrim,
Dr. Ng Kee Chuan
Introduction Page 7 The Gospel of Luke (Chapter 3): A Re ective Guide
THE GOSPEL OF LUKE (CHAPTER 3)
1. John’s Baptism of Repentance (Luke 3:1-14)
Luke 3:1–14 (GNB)
It was the fteenth year of the rule of the Emperor Tiberius; Pontius Pilate was governor of
Judea, Herod was ruler of Galilee, and his brother Philip was ruler of the territory of Iturea and
Trachonitis; Lysanias was ruler of Abilene, and Annas and Caiaphas were high priests. At that time the word of God came to John son of Zechariah in the desert. So John went throughout the whole territory of the River Jordan, preaching, “Turn away from your sins and be baptized, and
God will forgive your sins.” As it is written in the book of the prophet Isaiah:
“Someone is shouting in the desert:
‘Get the road ready for the Lord;
make a straight path for him to travel!
Every valley must be lled up,
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every hill and mountain levelled off.
The winding roads must be made straight,
and the rough paths made smooth.
The whole human race will see God’s salvation!’ ”
Crowds of people came out to John to be baptized by him. “You snakes!” he said to them. “Who told you that you could escape from the punishment God is about to send? Do those things that will show that you have turned from your sins. And don’t start saying among yourselves that
Abraham is your ancestor. I tell you that God can take these stones and make descendants for
Abraham! The axe is ready to cut down the trees at the roots; every tree that does not bear good fruit will be cut down and thrown in the re.”
The people asked him, “What are we to do, then?”
He answered, “Whoever has two shirts must give one to the man who has none, and whoever has food must share it.”
Some tax collectors came to be baptized, and they asked him, “Teacher, what are we to do?”
“Don’t collect more than is legal,” he told them.
Some soldiers also asked him, “What about us? What are we to do?”
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He said to them, “Don’t take money from anyone by force or accuse anyone falsely. Be content with your pay.”
Learning Objective
At the end of the interaction, I should be able to:
Evaluate the genuineness of my own repentance.
Success Criteria
At the end of the interaction, I am be able to:
Check for true repentance based on a change in my heart, mind, direction, action and behaviour. Attribute my conversion based on the fruits of my life in keeping with true repentance.
Engage
Who was the most ery preacher that you have ever heard? How did he or she make you feel? Why?
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Explore
Luke, as a historian, tends to give details in his writings that authenticates the date and setting of his records. He does this at the beginning of chapter three when he names at least seven historical gures to establish the date and setting of John the Baptist’s ministry. The political rules he names were Tiberius, Pilate, Herod, Philip and Lysanias indicates that the period was about A.D. 27-29 (Kent, 1998). Together they formed the dark and wicked political leaders of the Roman/Palestinain powers. Luke also names the spiritual leaders Annas and Caiaphas who were the degenerate Jewish priesthood of the day. Annas had been high priest from A.D. 6-15 and was succeeded by four sons in succession and eventually by his son-in-law Caiaphas. Nepotism was clearly practiced and Annas maintained power and control by keeping the high priest position within his family.
It is in this climate of evil and wicked rulers that John the Baptist bursts into the scene as a ery and fearless preacher.
Explain
John’s basic and essential message was aptly summarised in the following verse:
So John went throughout the whole territory of the River Jordan, preaching, “Turn away from your sins and be baptized, and God will forgive your sins.” (3:3)
The word used for “turn away from your sins” is “repentance”. This is a fundamental idea for Christians to grasp in their lives. John was the forerunner who prepared the way for the Saviour of the world and so he practiced the baptism of repentance. This does not mean that his baptism brought forgiveness of sins. Instead, John’s baptism followed a person’s genuine repentance and was an outward action of an inward reality in the heart.
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In this sense, John prepared the way for the actual salvation that comes through Jesus Christ. In this way, John as the herald or forerunner of the Saviour was removing obstacles of pride and pretense, attening the ways of human efforts to attain salvation and lling up the gap between sin and righteousness so that people can really receive the gift of salvation from Jesus alone.
Without doubt, John refused to be known as the awaited Messiah or Saviour. He was very clear that his role was to prepare the way for the eventual Saviour of the world who was also about to break into the scene.
Elaborate
Repentance is a basic Christian attitude. It involves some very important changes that must happen:
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Firstly, a person must change his* mind about sin. The person must call sin his enemy and not his friend. This means the person will no longer turn to a particular sin as a relief to ful ll his needs or wants. This means he must consider himself dead to sin (Romans 6:11). This is a change of mind.
[* This is a generic reference to both sexes, male and female. For easy reading and ow I have opted to not use “his or her” which makes the sentence look clumsy and cluttered. Please forgive me, dear sisters, if this irks you.)
Secondly, repentance involves a change in direction. Before repenting, the direction in his life is towards a tendency to sin or a sinful lifestyle. He is not really troubled by sin. But after repenting of this sinful lifestyle, he has to make a 180 degree turn or a U-Turn away from sin. He must present himself to God (Romans 6:13) and walk in the direction towards God. Thus, the phrase “turn away from your sins” epitomises the ministry of John the Baptist. This is a change of direction.
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In the Christian experience, both the change of mind and direction cannot happen without a change of heart rst. The change of heart is primarily the miraculous and creative work of God. The Old Testament anticipated this coming work of God in this new age:
Jeremiah 31:31–34 (GNB)
The LORD says, “The time is coming when I will make a new covenant with the people of Israel and with the people of Judah. It will not be like the old covenant that I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand and led them out of Egypt. Although I was like a husband to them, they did not keep that covenant. The new covenant that I will make with the people of Israel will be this: I will put my law within them and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. None of them will have to teach his fellow-citizen to know the LORD, because all will know me, from the least to the greatest. I will forgive their sins and I will no longer remember their wrongs. I, the LORD, have spoken.”
Ezekiel 36:25–27 (GNB)
I will sprinkle clean water on you and make you clean from all your idols and everything else that has de led you. I will give you a new heart and a new mind. I will take away your stubborn heart of stone and give you an obedient heart. I will put my spirit in you and I will see to it that you follow my laws and keep all the commands I have given you.
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This change from a heart of stone to a heart of esh is part of the born again experience that Jesus talked about:
John 3:3 (GNB)
Jesus answered, “I am telling you the truth: no one can see the Kingdom of God without being born again.”
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John 3:5 (GNB)
“I am telling you the truth,” replied Jesus. “No one can enter the Kingdom of God without being born of water and the Spirit.”
A person undergoes a complete makeover and becomes a new being or creation:
2 Corinthians 5:17 (GNB)
Anyone who is joined to Christ is a new being; the old is gone, the new has come.
He has a reborn spirit that can connect and fellowship with God. This new spirit and new nature is now part of the intersection with the soul that together forms the interior person (heart) of the person. This is the work of God who initiates drawing a person unto himself:
John 6:44 (GNB)
No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him to me; and I will raise him to life on the last day.
John 6:65 (GNB)
And he added, “This is the very reason I told you that no one can come to me unless the Father makes it possible for him to do so.”
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Evaluate
The change of heart with the accompanying change of mind and direction must result in a change in action and behaviour. That’s why John the Baptist who sensed that some who came to be baptized by him were insincere, warned:
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“Who told you that you could escape from the punishment God is about to send? Do those things that will show that you have turned from your sins. And don’t start saying among yourselves that
Abraham is your ancestor.
John is not saying that you have to do good works to be saved. He is saying that if you have really repented, the fruits of your life will prove the genuineness of your repentance. Jesus said the same thing:
Matthew 7:16–21 (GNB)
You will know them by what they do. Thorn bushes do not bear grapes, and briars do not bear
gs. A healthy tree bears good fruit, but a poor tree bears bad fruit. A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a poor tree cannot bear good fruit. And any tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown in the re. So then, you will know the false prophets by what they do. “Not everyone who calls me ‘Lord, Lord’ will enter the Kingdom of heaven, but only those who do what my Father in heaven wants them to do.
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The fruits of repentance are like two sides of the coin. The rst side, which is the head of the coin, are fruits of character (Galatians 5:22-23). This is usually followed by the tail side of the coin which are fruits of action. That’s why John told the three groups of people that their repentance should show a change in mind about money so that they turn away from sinful practices through their actions and behaviour:
Private citizens will want to share practically their possessions and provisions with others who have need. Tax collectors are not to collect any more than is necessary. Soldiers are not to extort money from others by falsely accusing them but be content with their salary.
John also made it clear that your association with those who have faith will not save you. You cannot live by borrowed or inherited faith. The Jews cannot claim that they have salvation solely on their pedigree as Jews. In the same way, you cannot claim that you are saved because you are born into a Christian family and have Christians parents. Instead, you need to personally repent of your sins and own this faith in Christ as your personal Saviour and Lord.
Have you done so yet? Why do you say so? What are the fruits of repentance in your life?
Discussion Questions
1. When did you enter the kingdom of God by repenting of your sins and becoming born again? What happened that led you to make this decision? If you have never had such an experience, what does that speak to you about your present spiritual state? What do you think you should do? 2. What fruits in keeping with repentance did you observe in your life as a result of this miraculous conversion?
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2. Jesus’ Baptism With The Spirit and Fire (Luke 3:15-20)
Luke 3:15–20 (GNB)
People’s hopes began to rise, and they began to wonder whether John perhaps might be the
Messiah. So John said to all of them, “I baptize you with water, but someone is coming who is much greater than I am. I am not good enough even to untie his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and re. He has his winnowing shovel with him, to thresh out all the grain and gather the wheat into his barn; but he will burn the chaff in a re that never goes out.”
In many different ways John preached the Good News to the people and urged them to change their ways. But John reprimanded Herod, the governor, because he had married Herodias, his brother’s wife, and had done many other evil things. Then Herod did an even worse thing by putting John in prison.
Learning Objective
At the end of the interaction, I should be able to:
Evaluate Jesus’ baptism with the Spirit and re in a believer’s life. Emulate John’s humility.
Success Criteria
At the end of the interaction, I am be able to:
Check for the signs of baptism with the Spirit in my life. Check for the signs of baptism by re in my life. Imitate John’s way of staying humble by acknowledging Jesus’ preeminence in my life.
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Engage
Have you been baptized yet or have you ever witnessed one before? What was it like? Why do you think people get baptized?
Explore
It’s hard to be humble when a lot of people keep praising you and lifting you up high. John the Baptist must have felt that way when his popularity soared. There had not been a prophetic voice for 400 years in Israel and the people were excited when John’s voice and message was dripping with prophetic fervour. They even began to speculate that John might be the long-awaited Messiah.
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To John’s credit, he did not let all this adulation and praises get to his head. In fact, this was what he kept telling others regarding himself:
John 3:30 (GNB)
He must become more important while I become less important.”
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This was a mark of true humility. His mother, Elizabeth, must have told John many times about the time when he leaped in the womb when Mary who was pregnant with Jesus came to visit while he was only a six-month foetus in the womb. That story must have left a lasting impact on him and kept his feet rmly planted on the ground.
Explain
John knew exactly who he was and his role in the narrative of God. Thus he squashed all such speculations of him being the Messiah and made it explicitly clear he was not the one when he said:
“I baptize you with water, but someone is coming who is much greater than I am. I am not good enough even to untie his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and re.
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John was comparing his ministry of baptism with water with the ministry of baptism with the Holy Spirit and re with that of Jesus, the one who was coming and much greater than him. John the Baptist administered water baptism which is external. Jesus’ baptism with the Spirit and re is internal. Water-baptism can only wash the outside of a person or make a person ritually clean. That was as far as it could go. But the baptism with the Spirit and re cleansed the inside of a person and had a far greater impact on a person especially with regards to his conversion and subsequent life thereafter.
Elaborate
Baptism with the Spirit is the Spirit’s work of initiating us into the Body of Christ.
1 Corinthians 12:13 (GNB)
In the same way, all of us, whether Jews or Gentiles, whether slaves or free, have been baptized into the one body by the same Spirit, and we have all been given the one Spirit to drink.
When we get baptized in water, we should also experience this deeper spiritual reality of being converted and joined into the body of Christ, the universal and eternal Church of Christ. We are making a de nite decision to leave our old life and allowing the Spirit to bring about regeneration or the new birth.
Titus 3:5 (GNB)
...he (Jesus) saved us. It was not because of any good deeds that we ourselves had done, but because of his own mercy that he saved us, through the Holy Spirit, who gives us new birth and new life by washing us.
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That is why we should never trivialise water baptism as merely a ritual. When we realise that we are sinful and that there is no way we can get right with God through any amount of good deeds, then we are ready to for God’s mercy. God will not punish us for our sins because of what Jesus has done for us on the Cross. Then, by God’s amazing grace, we receive God’s free gift of new birth and new life by being born again (John 3:3-6).
A few incredible things happen to us at that moment when we are baptized with the Spirit. Firstly, we are indwelt by the Holy Spirit:
John 14:16–17 (GNB)
I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, who will stay with you for ever. He is the Spirit who reveals the truth about God. The world cannot receive him, because it cannot see him or know him. But you know him, because he remains with you and is in you.
God’s Spirit comes and takes up residence in our born again spirit.
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Secondly, we are sealed by the Spirit for eternal security and inheritance.
Ephesians 1:13–14 (GNB)
And you also became God’s people when you heard the true message, the Good News that brought you salvation. You believed in Christ, and God put his stamp of ownership on you by giving you the Holy Spirit he had promised. The Spirit is the guarantee that we shall receive what
God has promised his people, and this assures us that God will give complete freedom to those who are his. Let us praise his glory!
God puts his seal of the Holy Spirit as his stamp of ownership on us. We are marked for life as belonging to Almighty God. The Holy Spirit is like a down payment to guarantee our inheritance because Jesus paid for us with a price so that we do not belong to ourselves but to God.
1 Corinthians 6:19–20 (GNB)
Don’t you know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and who was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourselves but to God; he bought you for a price. So use your bodies for God’s glory.
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Thirdly, we become adopted as God’s child and have an eternal inheritance:
Romans 8:16–17 (GNB)
God’s Spirit joins himself to our spirits to declare that we are God’s children. Since we are his children, we will possess the blessings he keeps for his people, and we will also possess with
Christ what God has kept for him; for if we share Christ’s suffering, we will also share his glory.
We are deeply enriched by the baptism with the Spirit as we cross over into the Kingdom of God and join the big family of God.
But that is only the beginning of the deep work of God. Jesus will also baptize you with re. Fire represents the Spirit’s ongoing work of re ning, purifying and cleansing in our lives. In ancient times, re ners would heat the metal until it melted to liquid form. The impurities would rise to the top as dross and the re ner would skim it off the surface. In the same way, Jesus will continue to baptize us with re all the days of our lives so that the sin deeply embedded in the core of our hearts will be melted down and skimmed off during this process of continual puri cation. Water only washes the surface, but re melts the center.
Evaluate
The important perspective that we should adopt as a result of this consideration is that salvation is not a single event but a process:
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If we have been born again, then we have been redeemed (bought with the price of Jesus' death for us) and justi ed (declared righteous before God). Thus, in the past we were delivered from the penalty of sin, which is condemned to hell.
Nevertheless, God’s work on us is not nished yet. Presently, he is purifying us through the process of sancti cation (being made righteous by being freed from sin in speci c areas of our lives). We are thus being delivered from the power of sin that used to enslave us.
Our ultimate hope is that of glori cation in the future. This will happen when we either die or when Jesus returns to take us home with him. We will enter into a new era of existence with God when we are resurrected or transformed for our eternal residence in the new earth and new heaven. In that place of new creation, we will be completely delivered from the presence of sin.
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Have you ever experienced this deep work of the baptism with the Spirit of Jesus (redemption and justi cation) that regenerated you? What happened?
Are you experiencing the continuous baptism by re that puri es you (sancti cation)?
Discussion Questions
1. How can you follow the example of John in his attitude towards Jesus? 2. What are some ways that you experience the purifying work of God in your life?
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3. Jesus’ Divinity and Humanity (Luke 3:21-38)
Luke 3:21–38 (GNB)
After all the people had been baptized, Jesus also was baptized. While he was praying, heaven was opened, and the Holy Spirit came down upon him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven, “You are my own dear Son. I am pleased with you.”
When Jesus began his work, he was about 30 years old. He was the son, so people thought, of
Joseph, who was the son of Heli, the son of Matthat, the son of Levi, the son of Melchi, the son of Jannai, the son of Joseph, the son of Mattathias, the son of Amos, the son of Nahum, the son of Esli, the son of Naggai, the son of Maath, the son of Mattathias, the son of Semein, the son of
Josech, the son of Joda, the son of Joanan, the son of Rhesa, the son of Zerubbabel, the son of
Shealtiel, the son of Neri, the son of Melchi, the son of Addi, the son of Cosam, the son of
Elmadam, the son of Er, the son of Joshua, the son of Eliezer, the son of Jorim, the son of
Matthat, the son of Levi, the son of Simeon, the son of Judah, the son of Joseph, the son of
Jonam, the son of Eliakim, the son of Melea, the son of Menna, the son of Mattatha, the son of
Nathan, the son of David, the son of Jesse, the son of Obed, the son of Boaz, the son of Salmon, the son of Nahshon, the son of Amminadab, the son of Admin, the son of Arni, the son of Hezron, the son of Perez, the son of Judah, the son of Jacob, the son of Isaac, the son of Abraham, the son of Terah, the son of Nahor, the son of Serug, the son of Reu, the son of Peleg, the son of
Eber, the son of Shelah, the son of Cainan, the son of Arphaxad, the son of Shem, the son of
Noah, the son of Lamech, the son of Methuselah, the son of Enoch, the son of Jared, the son of
Mahalaleel, the son of Kenan, the son of Enosh, the son of Seth, the son of Adam, the son of
God.
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Learning Objective
At the end of the interaction, I should be able to:
Appreciate the mystery of the divinity and humanity Jesus’ Christ.
Success Criteria
At the end of the interaction, I am be able to:
Attribute to Jesus both his divinity and his humanity.
Come to terms the truth held in tension of Jesus’ divinity and humanity giving some biblical evidence of both.
Engage
How far back can you trace your ancestry? Where did they come from and what was the most common occupation or trade that they were involved in? How did that impact or in uence your immediate family now?
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Explore
Jesus is a mystery.
In this passage, we will see allusions to both his divinity and humanity. His divinity is the focus of his baptism by John the Baptist while his humanity is portrayed in his genealogy.
Luke described Jesus’ baptism in the most economy of words. It says that at the tail end of John baptizing people, Jesus also came forward to be baptized by John. Nothing else was said about John’s reaction but we know from Matthew’s account that John initially objected because he knew Jesus was far greater than him and indeed, he (John) needed to be baptized by Jesus (Matthew 3:13-15).
Matthew 3:13–15 (GNB)
At that time Jesus arrived from Galilee and came to John at the Jordan to be baptized by him.
But John tried to make him change his mind. “I ought to be baptized by you,” John said, “and yet you have come to me!”
But Jesus answered him, “Let it be so for now. For in this way we shall do all that God requires.”
So John agreed.
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We have learnt that John’s baptism was a baptism of repentance. Jesus was utterly righteous and therefore had no need to undergo such a baptism of repentance. Jesus said that his baptism should go on because it is ful lling what God requires which is his full identi cation to humanity. He had begun identifying with sinful humanity who needed to undergo the baptism of repentance.
But why did Luke leave out all these details?
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Explain
Luke probably left out all these details given by Matthew because he was more interested to focus on Jesus’ divinity and not on his humanity as he described the account of Jesus’ baptism. Luke just went straight to the point saying that just before Jesus was baptized, Jesus was praying and an incredible supernatural phenomenon suddenly happened - the heavens above them were split open and the Holy Spirit descended in a visible form as a dove.
The dove is the most apt imagery for the Holy Spirit because like the dove, the Spirit is gentle, meek, innocent and sensitive. Even though Jesus is also “gentle and humble in spirit” (Matthew 11:29), he can show divine anger against religious hypocrites like the Pharisees and the scribes and he will return to earth as a warrior to judge the earth (Revelation 19:11-16).
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But the Spirit is gentle and produces in us the fruit of gentleness when we allow him to (Galatians 5:22). Jesus further encouraged us to be like the Spirit when he called us to be “innocent as doves” (Matthew 10:16).
The sensitivity of the dovelike Spirit is also alluded to when Paul commanded us not to grief the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 4:30) or quench the Spirit (1 Thessalonians 5:19). We grief the Holy Spirit when we do what the Spirit tells us not to do. We quench the Holy spirit when we don’t do what the Spirit directs us to do. Both are equally bad and sinful. We should always be submissive and obedient to the Spirit’s leading in our lives.
The Holy Spirit alighting on Jesus was accompanied by the audible and af rming voice of the Father from heaven that had been split wide open:
“You are my own dear Son. I am pleased with you.”
These two sentences were taken from the Old Testament. It’s meaning can be derived when we read the context from which it was taken.
The rst sentence was plucked out from Psalm 2:
Psalm 2:7–12 (GNB)
“I will announce,” says the king, “what the LORD has declared.
He said to me: ‘You are my son;
today I have become your father.
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Ask, and I will give you all the nations;
the whole earth will be yours.
You will break them with an iron rod;
you will shatter them in pieces like a clay pot.’ ”
Now listen to this warning, you kings;
learn this lesson, you rulers of the world:
Serve the LORD with fear;
tremble and bow down to him;
or else his anger will be quickly aroused,
and you will suddenly die.
Happy are all who go to him for protection.
The context clearly highlights that Jesus is the unique Son of God who has great power, authority and kingship. The nations and the whole earth is under his divine rule and all, including earthly kings, should tremble and bow down before him. Happy are all who give Jesus due honor as the unique divine King.
The second sentence was plucked out from Isaiah 42:
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Isaiah 42:1–4 (GNB)
The LORD says,
“Here is my servant, whom I strengthen—
the one I have chosen, with whom I am pleased.
I have lled him with my Spirit,
and he will bring justice to every nation.
He will not shout or raise his voice
or make loud speeches in the streets.
He will not break off a bent reed
or put out a ickering lamp.
He will bring lasting justice to all.
He will not lose hope or courage;
he will establish justice on the earth.
Distant lands eagerly wait for his teaching.”
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The context of this sentence balances the erceness of Jesus’ divine rule with his great compassion, mercy and gentleness. Jesus’ willingness to be incarnated as a human being and his future willingness to undergo the suffering on the cross that is anticipated in this phrase, draws the Father’s pleasure and approval.
The Holy Trinity of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit commemorated and celebrated the beginning of the of cial and public ministry of the Son of God. These proved that all three persons of the Trinity are equally concerned for the deliverance of our souls from condemnation. Thus, the well-known and well-loved verse is appropriate to recall:
John 3:16–17 (GNB)
For God loved the world so much that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not die but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to be its judge, but to be its saviour.
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God is for us. No matter how badly we have failed him, no matter how far short we fall of his glorious standard, no matter how unworthy we may feel, no matter how insigni cant and unimportant we may think we are, God loves us so much that they celebrated the beginning of Jesus’ ministry after 30 years of silence when the divine Son of God remained hidden through his infancy, childhood , adolescence and manhood. The triune God clearly understood the great task of saving mankind from their sins at this inauguration of the Son of God as the Saviour of the world during the baptism of Jesus.
Elaborate
As abruptly as the account of Jesus’ baptism started, so did it transit abruptly into the genealogy of Jesus with an explicit declaration that Jesus’ began his work or public ministry at that point when he was 30 years old and linked that to his genealogy through his earthly father who adopted him. But the genealogy was prefaced with this rather strange sentence, “He was the son, so people thought, of Joseph, who was the son of Heli…” Why did Luke include this phrase “so people thought.” We get his drift when we compare Jesus’ genealogy as given by Matthew when he began his gospel. It will not take too long for us to detect that there are differences in these two listings of the genealogy of Jesus.
This difference is explained by realising that Matthew does give Jesus’ genealogy through Joseph but Luke actually gives the genealogy of Jesus through his mother, Mary. That is why that phrase “so people thought” was included in the beginning of the listing in Luke. Luke was telling us in a subtle way that this was not the genealogy through Joseph (as most people would think) but through Mary. Mary’s father, Heli, most likely did not have sons and so in accordance with biblical tradition, would have legally adopted Joseph as his son and heir when Joseph married Mary. Thus, Matthew gives us Joseph's ancestry by birth while Luke gives us Joseph’s ancestry by adoption.
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Source: https://lincolnparkubf.org/blog/2016/12/5/the-genealogy-of-jesus
But the most striking fact and central point of this genealogy is that it terminates in God!
...the son of Enosh, the son of Seth, the son of Adam, the son of God.
This certainly alludes to all humans from Adam are also the offspring of God! Adam, the rst man, is referred to the son of God, but Jesus, as part of the human family, is the eternal Son of God. Thus, this highlights for us Jesus identi cation to humanity. Luke used Jesus' genealogy through Mary right to Adam to refer to Jesus’ identi cation to the whole human race.
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Thus, Luke, in connecting Jesus’ baptism, that highlights Jesus’ divinity, with Jesus’ genealogy, that highlights Jesus’ humanity, tells us that Jesus is indeed a mystery. Go gure!
Evaluate
Ken Hughes composes this enigmatic and chiastic verse:
Christ the Son of God
Became a son of Adam
That we sons of Adam
Might becomes sons of God
The mystery of Christ intersects with the mystery of our salvation and adoption as children of God. Re ect on this and marvel at the love of our Triune God!
Discussion Questions
1. Are you comfortable with the mysteries in the Bible? Why or why not? How can our faith thrive in such divine mysteries?
2. Which appeals to you more: Jesus’ divinity or Jesus’ humanity? Why?
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References
Barton, Bruce; Comfort, Philip; Osborne, Grant; Taylor, Linda K. & Veerman, Dave (2001). Life application New Testament commentary. Wheaton, Illinois: Tyndale House Publishers.
Coleman, Lyman (1998). Serendipity Bible for groups: For personal and small group study. Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House.
Hughes, Kent, R. (1998). Luke volume one: That you may the truth. Wheaton, Illinois: Crossway Books.
Richards, Lawrence O. (1998). The teacher’s commentary. Wheaton, Illinois:: Victor Books.
Strauss, Mark (2008). Luke & John: Life that lasts forever. USA: Barbour Publishing.
John the Baptist was a strange and curious character. With his rough and tough looks, his ery messages and unusual lifestyle and eating habits, one will either like him or hate him! Whether you liked him or hated him, one cannot but help tell that this was a really humble man who had a very clear and de nite calling in his life - to prepare the way for the Saviour of the World. The lines never blurred for him between his role as the herald and the role of Jesus, the Saviour of the World. Their lives intersected even as Jesus, coming of age at 30, quietly launched his public ministry by being baptised by John. These were the beginning years of what would be a truly momentous life that impacts the world for all ages.
References Page 43 The Gospel of Luke (Chapter 3): A Re ective Guide
John the Baptist was a strange and curious character. With his rough and tough looks, his ery messages and unusual lifestyle and eating habits, one will either like him or hate him! Whether you liked him or hated him, one cannot but help tell that this was a really humble man who had a very clear and de nite calling in his life - to prepare the way for the Saviour of the World. The lines never blurred for him between his role as the herald and the role of Jesus, the Saviour of the World. Their lives intersected even as Jesus, coming of age at 30, quietly launched his public ministry by being baptised by John. These were the beginning years of what would be a truly momentous life that impacts the world for all ages.