The True Jesus: His Mission

Last week, in the temptations of Jesus, we saw the defensive side of what it takes to be led by the Spirit, or walk with God.  The believer must resist and stand strong against temptations.  Today we will look at the offensive side, which focuses on what we need to do with all our heart, mind, and strength.  Let’s go to Luke chapter 4 verse 14.

He Was Led To Teach

Most of the time that Jesus taught was in northern Israel around the Sea of Galilee.  This was due to the fact that it was far enough away from the religious leaders in Jerusalem to furnish a relative amount of freedom.

One thing that sticks out in verse 14 is that Jesus came forth from the time of temptation in the “power of the Spirit.”  This is clearly an additional comment that brings up the connection between temptation and spiritual power.  To resist temptation is to embrace the power of listening to the Spirit.  The Holy Spirit does not become any more powerful, but our yielding to Him allows the power of His guidance to flow through us.  God wants us to be filled with the Spirit and to resist temptation so that we may be empowered by the Spirit.  Whether we do miracles as Jesus did is immaterial.  God gives His gifts in varying amounts and disperses them throughout the body.  So that, no one person has all His gifts.  However, we can all be a powerful witness of Jesus.

Jesus did teach and, though Luke doesn’t mention it at first, verse 23 shows that he was doing miracles as well.  Luke focuses more on the fact that Jesus was initially received by everyone except those in His hometown of Nazareth.  I will come back to this issue later, but recognize that even when God is operating for good, we can be envious of what He has done for others.

Now before we get into the nitty gritty of the rejection in this passage, we should recognize that Nazareth’s rejection of Jesus is only a small picture of the Jesus being rejected by Israel as a nation.  Thus, at the beginning of His ministry we see his hometown rejecting Him and thus all the other cities in the area being blessed by Him.  Similarly as Jesus is rejected by Israel as a nation, the gospel of Jesus goes out to the nations of the world and they are blessed instead.  This pattern follows Jesus to this day.  Do not be enamored when crowds and multitudes crowd to hear about and follow Jesus.  For in time as they are challenged by the Truth of Jesus many will fall away.  If the Truth of Jesus is taught it will eventually be resisted by the majority.

He Reveals His True Mission

When Jesus comes to Nazareth, the stories of what he has been doing have preceded Him.  Thus when he arrives he is given a seat of honor and asked to read the Scriptures at the Synagogue.  Jesus turns to a specific passage, Isaiah 61, and reads several verses.  Then He sits down and says, “Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”  I’m sure that went over like a ton of bricks, but let’s analyze this. 

Isaiah 61 is a prophecy that seems to be saying that God has anointed Isaiah to give Israel good news.  The good news is that God is going to help them rebuild the ruins of Israel.  Also, there is a promise that God will demonstrate His righteousness among the nations and Israel will be exalted.  As in any prophecy, the question is who, when, where….etc.  Jesus is saying that this passage was about what He was doing that very day.  He is saying that He is that anointed one who will help Israel rebuild the ruins and exalt the righteousness of God among the Gentiles.

Now notice what the anointing or power of the Holy Spirit is for in this passage.  Israel had become so spiritually damaged by sin that they were impoverished, brokenhearted, captive, blind, and oppressed.  Jesus had come to deliver them from these things.  We must recognize in this beautiful passage the ugliness of what sin does to a people.  In fact the teaching in our own country that people are basically good is an extremely evil one.  It tells us that we should basically follow our “good” inner inklings, which in the end lead us to a place of spiritual poverty. 

Jesus had come to give good news to the poor.  Now those who are materially poor are definitely in a position to be open to the gospel.  The rich don’t need God and aren’t interested.  But a poor person knows full well that they have great need.  Yet, being materially poor is no guarantee that a person will truly hear and take to heart the “Good News” that Jesus is giving us.  The gospel can only be received by those who are poor in spirit.  They have tried clamoring after the things of the world and found them to be elusive.  Some are opened by this to Jesus, but some refuse to be softened and broken in these times and only become harder.  Sometimes our problem is not that we are materially poor, but that we are not “poor” enough.  When we drop our pride, bitterness, anger, and the hunger for wealth, our spirit is able to receive the good news of the gospel.  If you are lacking in wealth and material possessions today, then go all the way and become poor in spirit.  God has great news for you in the person of Jesus.

Jesus came to heal broken hearts.  Now we use the picture of a broken heart to refer to being wounded by those we love.  Our hearts are not just wounded, however.  They also become dysfunctional.  We refuse to embrace some things that are good and desire other things that are bad.  Instead of a heart that is singularly fixed on God, ours becomes shattered into a thousand competing lusts and we are left without peace.  The greatest healing of all is to have our dysfunctional hearts touched by the Truth of Jesus.

Jesus also came to free the captives.  Though Israel was technically in their own land, they were under the tyranny of Rome.  However, Jesus didn’t come to free them from Rome.  Thus He did not see Rome as their captor or oppressor.  Their true captor and oppressor was the devil.  Through their sins he had bound them in bondage and kept their hearts captive to lusts.  They were unable to break free from the hold of sins on their heart and the penalty of their sins.

Jesus came to give sight to the blind.  They have not only become blind to their sin, but also to the Truth of God’s Word.  They were unable to receive the insights and comfort that God had given them through the prophets who had come before.  They couldn’t even see that they had become poor, captive and blind.  This is similar to the words of Jesus to the Church of Laodicea in Revelation 3, “You say, ‘I am rich, and have need of nothing.’  You do not know that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked.”  How we need to stop finding hope in everything but God’s Word.  If you are saying, “But I’ve tried God’s Word and it doesn’t help,” beware.  This is only proof that you have become blind to what it is truly saying.

If you compare what Jesus read in Luke to the Isaiah 61 passage you will see that he stops in mid-sentence.  Jesus had come to proclaim the year of God’s favor, but not the day of vengeance of our God.  That would come later.  In fact the “Day of the Lord” for this whole world looms on the horizon.  Recognize that when Jesus comes back he will finish this sentence.  But for them it was to be a time of God’s grace.  Jesus had come to offer sinners a way to freedom.

Rejected By His Own

Now in verses 23 through 30 we have the details of the rejection of Jesus.  Now it is the lot of Jesus to be quickly received only to be later rejected.  In one church service Jesus goes from the honored seat sharing the Holy Scriptures the whole lot of them trying to kill him.  We must guard against this tendency of our flesh in our own hearts.

Jesus was rejected because he laid bare what was in their hearts.  Jesus is not content to just be welcomed into your life.  His job and mission is to show you the true condition of your heart and soul.  Now, none of us are perfect and we get pretty testy when we think another impure person is trying to point out our sins, much less the hidden things deep in our hearts.  But in Jesus we have one who has never sinned and knows those hidden things.  This extreme vulnerability is a very scary place to be found.  However, at the cross God proved His heart towards you.  You can trust Him.  If he exposes your heart, it is not in order to hurt you or take advantage of you.  But, rather, it is so that he can heal you.

There is no one for Jesus to pat on the back in this picture.  All of them, all of us, need saving from sin.  Now the hearts of the people of Nazareth thought that they deserved some miracles.  Do here what you are doing in other places.  Jesus gives them the examples of Elijah and Elisha.  Both of these prophets did powerful miracles.  However, in two cases they did so not for Israelites, but for gentiles.  Why?  Jesus begins to poke and prod.  It was because of unbelief in Israel.  Thus Jesus did not do many miracles in Nazareth over the course of His 3 ½ year ministry because of the unbelief in the heart of the people there.  “Isn’t this Joseph’s son?”  They said to themselves.  This hardness walled them off from the miracles of Jesus, but it couldn’t wall them off from His grace.  Jesus comes and speaks the truth in love to His hometown.  If they could only hear and see and believe. 

This crowd did not need miracles.  They needed faith in Jesus.  They become so made that they want to kill him that day.  They crowd around him and lead him out to a cliff to throw him off of it.  Now, in light of the temptations, Jesus could have jumped off to prove that he is the messiah.  But instead Luke says that he turned and walked right through the middle of them.  They are paralyzed by the Spirit of God and impotent before the Son of God.  This was their miracle.  The miracle of watching God do what He will over the top of all the power and pomp of mankind.

May God give us all the ability to humble ourselves before Him and receive the grace of His Son Jesus.

MIssion of Jesus Audio

Tempting the Lord Our God

Today we are going to be looking at The Temptation of Jesus.  Obviously there were temptations throughout all of the life of Jesus.  The night before the cross we see him wrestling with the temptation to avoid it.

Now when we look at this passage we will see that there are ways in which his temptations are like ours.  We see how the devil baits the temptation with things that appeal to our flesh.  We see his schemes and manipulation, and of course the end-game that he has in mind.  However, there are also ways in which the temptation of Jesus is not like ours.  We see a direct personal presence of the devil in this temptation.  Although we do deal with spiritual powers it is not in this way and on this level.  Also, Jesus was presented a situation of temptation (external).  But he never contemplated and fantasized over giving in to them (internally).  When we encounter temptations internally, we also have an aspect of our flesh that we must wrestle with.  Jesus perfectly rebuffed the devil both externally and internally.  We have not.

Led Into The Wilderness

In Luke 4:1-2 we see that the Spirit led Jesus into the wilderness.  Now picture the fact that John the Baptist had just publically declared that Jesus was the One who was to come, i.e. the messiah.  And, yet, the Spirit leads Jesus into the wilderness away from everyone for 40 days.  I’m sure this set up a lot of speculation among the people of Judea.  Yet, note that before Jesus begins his ministry, he goes through a time of testing.

Being “Led by the Spirit” is all through the Old Testament in concept.  But this particular phrase shows up in two other places.  In Romans 8:14 we are told, “As many as are led by the Spirit these are the sons of God.”  Also in Galatians 5:18, “If you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.”  Notice that being led by the Spirit is connected to Sonship and Freedom.  Jesus is the Only Begotten Son of the Father.  All the rest of us are adopted because of the grace of Jesus.  Also, He purchases us out from under slavery to walk in the freedom of sons.  The image of a servant in the house of God versus the freedom of being a son is brought into focus.

It says that he was tempted over the course of 40 days.  The devil sought any way in which he could disqualify the present contender for Messiah.  I’m sure the devil heard the strange things said of Jesus by the angel Gabriel.  Clearly he calls out all stops in order to personally take out Jesus. Now it is interesting that just as Moses led Israel into the Sinai to become servants under the law.  Jesus leads us to Calvary to become sons under the law of the Spirit (freedom in Christ).  This interesting parallel between Israel and Jesus is brought to fulfillment in Jesus.  Out of Egypt God calls Israel to do a work for Him.  But first he leads them into the wilderness where they are tempted and tried.  There are many reasons he did it this way.  But one in particular is because they were acting out the life of Jesus.  He too came out of Egypt in order to do the will of God, and yet spends time in the wilderness being tempted and tried.  The real difference being that where Israel failed in the flesh, Jesus was completely victorious.

The passage also tells us that Jesus was fasting in prayer.  Now the wilderness becomes a picture of a time of testing and trying of our faith in God.  In fact, early Christians referred to this world as “the wilderness” and saw heaven as the “promised land.”  Thus all of life is a testing and trying of our faith.  However, it is also a picture of intimacy with God.  When we enter into seasons of faith that are particularly dry and trying we will need to follow the example of the saints, and Jesus before us, who denied their flesh food in order to go to God in “seeking prayer.”  Jesus fasted to show where His true faith and hopes were; in God alone.  It is in the wilderness that God is bringing us to a place where He can reveal Himself to us in a powerful and intimate way.  The surroundings are not a picnic, but the relationship with God is worth it.  What are your hopes and faith leaning on?

Tempted By The Devil

In this passage we are told about 3 particular temptations. It appears that he was tempted more than this, but these become the ones that are important for us to know.  The first temptation is in verses 3-4.

The devil tempts Jesus to use his power to please his flesh.  “If you are the Son of God then command these stones to become bread.”  Jesus was definitely hungry and the devil hits him when his flesh is weakest.  “If” can imply doubt about His divinity.  However, it is at least an assertion that is intended to manipulate Jesus.  You can almost hear him say to us, “If you are a child of God you shouldn’t be going hungry.”  Now notice that it is irrelevant whether the devil doubts you are a child of God.  The function of the if is to kick you in the gut about doubts you may have.  We can’t turn rocks into bread.  We can however, be tempted to use our own power to please our flesh.  Do I lack trust in God when it looks like He is providing rocks in the desert?  Am I tempted to “overturn” the provision of God by trying to provide for myself?  Notice that all of this is wrapped up in religious language.  In the name of God we reject His provision and try to provide for ourselves.   Jesus points the devil back to God’s provision.  “Man shall not live by bread alone but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.”  Here we see the backhanded rebuke.  Satan fell through his own discontentment with God’s provision for him.  If we are content with what God provides we will find life.  But discontent leads to death.

The second temptation takes place up on a high mountain.  It appears that there is a vision happening as well because the devil shows Jesus all the kingdoms of the world.  The high mountain itself is a symbol of the proud governments of this world.  The devil offers Jesus the glory and power of this world, if Jesus will only bow down and worship him.  Here is a secret: most people in places of power in this world got there by serving the devil.  Now to be honest, the glory and power of this world is real, but for only a short season.  It is empty in the end and leads to a tragic place.  Revelation 20:10 tells us that the devil who deceives this world will be cast into the Lake of Fire forever.  So too will all those who worship him.  All the pomp, glory, and power of this world will not be able to deliver them in the end.  Why do pop artists love to flash occult symbols all the time in their clothing and videos?  They do so in order to show their worship and homage to the “god of this world” the devil.  In doing so, they sell their souls for the sake of glory and power.  Jesus reminds the devil of his own problem.  He has been seduced by his own logic.  He has come to worship only himself and desires all to join him in this great worship of himself.  He fell from grace because he chose worshipping himself over God.

The third temptation happens in Jerusalem on top of the Temple.  This would be some 45 to 50 feet in the air.  Satan tempts Jesus to force the hand of God by jumping off the temple. In fact we see the devil quoting Scripture here as a device to manipulate Jesus to do so.  The twisting of these Scriptures should be studied and recognized because he does this all the time through the cults and false teachings of the present day.  Sometimes the word “presume or presumption” is brought up in this situation.  Thus the sin would be doing our own sin because we think God will back us up.  This is happening here, but it also goes deeper than just presuming.  The use of Scripture involves trying to use God’s Word against Him, or to force Him to do something we want and on our time table.  Jesus reminds him not just that it would be tempting God to sin.  But, that the devil, in tempting Jesus, was literally tempting the Lord his God.  In fact, from the very moment it was found out that the devil was a sinner he continued to pursue a life that challenges God to judge him.  Many today almost dare the God of heaven to judge them because they have become so convinced of their own “rightness.”  Beware the spirit and attitude that challenges God.  “Lord, if I really am your child, then prove it by turning these rocks into bread.”  Here we cast off trust and use threats for God to prove himself.  The sad thing is that God will always prove Himself.  However, love must be free, not forced.  How can we say, “God if you really love me then it must be in the way I say.”  We may never say it, but like temptation number two we tell the Lord that if he will serve our glory hungry flesh then we will give him what he wants.  We need to not just see that these are the very words of the devil himself.  But to also recognize that they cast aside true faith and love and ask God to cheapen Himself and let us be God and He be the slave.  The sad thing is that God loves to serve mankind, however, as He chooses and in freedom.  God has moved heaven and earth in order to serve mankind.  He has lowered himself to the lowest place possible and made Himself fully vulnerable to man.  But He will not allow us to take His throne and command His love as our treacherous hearts dictate.  God forgive us, but this is the core of our fallen hearts.  Only by the power of the Spirit of God can such a spirit of wickedness be broken in any of our lives.  God help us!

Tempting the Lord Audio

Let the Spirit Descend

Today we are going to continue discovering the True Jesus as we look at His water baptism and the signs from God following it.  In Luke 3:21-22 we are given a very brief account of the baptism of Jesus.  Luke focuses on the signs that were given at the baptism.  However, in the other gospels we are able to pick up other important details of this event.

We Resist The Holy Spirit

In Matthew 3:14 we are told that when Jesus came to John in order to be baptized, John tried to prevent him.  Now it is obvious that the wicked will resist the Spirit of God and His leading.  And, we can see how even those who claim to know Him can resist where He is leading (i.e. Pharisees, and Sadducees).  Yet, here we see that even those who are closest to the Lord can let their own thoughts and flesh get in the way of where God is leading.  Yes, John means well.  And, yes, what He says is true.  Jesus doesn’t need to be baptized as a means of repentance.  And John is the one who needs baptized by Jesus.  However, his mistake is in his conclusion.  We often make the mistake of good intentions.  We use human reasoning that begins with biblical truths, but then we err in our conclusions.  If Jesus truly is the Messiah, and the one who is so intimately involved with God’s Spirit that He would baptize people in the Spirit, then we should listen to him and not vice versa.

Good intentions and biblical reasoning does not always choose best.  We see this with Peter as Jesus was approaching the cross.  Peter’s reasoning cannot accept that Jesus should be killed and so he tries to prevent Jesus from believing such a fate.  However, Jesus rebukes him and points out that he is concerned with selfish reasons and not concerned about what God wants.  The sooner we can discover that we simply need to follow Jesus rather than instructing Jesus the better we will be.  In fact immediately after telling Peter he was wrong, Jesus then told his disciples that if they wanted to follow Him they would have to pick up their own cross and follow him (i.e. not only am I going to die, but you need to also). 

John is falling into this same trap.  In fact it might even send the wrong message to have Jesus baptized.  Some may think he needs repentance.  Yet, the Father and Son had worked this out in eternity past.  Let’s look at the response to John Jesus gave in Matthew 3:15, “Permit it to be so now.  For thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.”    Jesus didn’t rebuke John, but he did correct him.  This was not a theological debate, it was the plan of God. Pause and think about that for a moment.  Don’t we often have theological debates with God when we don’t things are headed in the right direction?  But the issue is not really about theology, but rather what is God doing.  In fact our theology should have room for this: He is God and I am not.  Therefore He will do the planning and I will do the following.

Jesus used the term “fitting.”  The best illustration I can use of this is the difference between a schematic blue print and a painting of a cathedral.  God always has a blueprint that is exact and follows certain realities and Truth.  However, He is also an artist.  And, art is not so much about rules as it is about the character and imagination of the one doing it.  Jesus being baptized was not theologically necessary, but it was an artistic flourish that was “fitting” or perfect!  It was an act of beauty in which the Father determines to reveal the messiah in an act of humility.  It also is fitting for the one who would later say pick up your cross to lead his disciples.  So here Jesus walks the path that actually leads to himself and it begins with public humility and surrender to God’s way of salvation.  Jesus was less concerned with his reputation and more concerned with our need for him.

Thus as it is fitting for Jesus to embrace the Father’s plan of revealing who He was during a water baptism, so it is fitting for us to submit to Jesus and the leading of the Holy Spirit in our life.  We have to be careful of an attitude and mentality that only does what is necessary or fits the blueprint that we think God should be following.  It is a signature trait of God’s that he doesn’t just do what is right.  He often blows on past what is right and does what is jaw-dropping, amazingly, beautiful, fitting, and perfect!

John didn’t understand the why, but he did understand the who, and so he relents.  If we too will relent and trust God, He will reveal the beautiful things that He is doing in our lives as well.

Confirmed With Heavenly Signs

Now let’s look at what John the Disciple had to say about this event.  In John 1:33-34, we are given a look behind the curtain from John the Baptist.  John says that initially he didn’t know who the Messiah was for sure.  But God had told him to go forth baptizing and when he saw the Spirit descend on a man and remain with him that would be the Anointed One.  So Jesus is not just the Messiah who would save Israel, but He is also the One on whom the Spirit rests.  John was actually baptizing for two reasons.  First, he baptized to prepare people for the messiah.  Second, he baptized so that God could reveal who the Messiah was. 

John testifies that he saw the Holy Spirit in the form of a dove come down and land upon Jesus.  But then he recognized that the Spirit stayed upon Jesus.  Just in case John would miss this, God confirms the sign by a voice from heaven.  “You are My beloved Son.  In You I am well pleased.”  These two heavenly signs were enough for John to declare that Jesus was the messiah.  They are powerful signs by themselves.  But remember John was told in advance what he would see.  John was convinced and gave himself to convincing his followers that Jesus was the messiah. 

Yet, notice how John refers to Jesus, “Behold the Lamb of God.”  John knew the Scriptures and recognized that Jesus didn’t just come to deliver Israel from the Romans.  Rather He came to deal with their greater enemy: sin.  He was the lamb that God provided as prophesied by Abraham on the mount with Isaac.  He was here to take away the sins of the world.

The Spirit Rests On Jesus

Let’s end by focusing on the Spirit remaining or resting upon Jesus.  Isaiah spoke of the Messiah in these terms in Isaiah 11:2 when he said that the Spirit of the Lord would rest upon Him.  Now we have several images operating here that symbolize something powerful.  So I will do my best to tie it all together.

First, notice the dove.  The dove is given as the symbol of the Holy Spirit coming down upon Jesus.  Later Jesus connects the dove with innocence or purity.  “Be wise as serpents and as innocent as doves.”  The dove is also connected with the Great Flood and Noah.  After God had poured out His judgment upon the earth, the dove was sent out to see if there was any life, any place it could rest itself.  This image of a pure innocent dove flapping all over the earth looking for any sign of life on which it may rest is anchored in this account for a reason.  It demonstrates the heart of God.  Even in judgment His heart and hope is to find those upon whom he can land, and rest, and with whom He can commune and have relationship.  Just as the devil goes to and fro throughout the earth like a lion seeking whom he may devour, so the Holy Spirit goes to and fro throughout the earth like a dove seeking on whom He may rest.  This helps us to understand Jesus and His role.  He is that lone olive branch that was finally found by the Holy Spirit.  And, because Jesus has been given the Spirit without measure, He in turn immerses those who believe in Him within that same Spirit.  We can become a resting place of the Spirit, not because we had life in and of ourselves, but because we have come to Jesus and received life through Him.  In fact, the Spirit is life.  Let the Spirit descend in your life.  As poetic as it may sound, you will find the Life that created the universe residing in your soul and leading you in ways that won’t always make sense, but they will end in beauty.

Spirit Descend Audio

The True Jesus: Our Preparation

During this Autumn we will be looking at the character and work of Jesus of Nazareth.  It is easy to let the stories become just that, stories with a sort of unreal sense to them.  However, we want to not just have a general sense of who Jesus is, but rather truly let God’s Word challenge us through the words and actions of this man we call the Christ, the Anointed One of God who would come to save mankind.  It may look to you today that he failed.  But that is how you feel about the statement.  We must let God’s Word challenge those suppositions and feelings that we have built up over time and see that God is calling us to Him in Trust, Faith, and Love.

The Apostle Paul spoke to this problem in 2 Corinthians 11:3-4 when he wrote, “But I fear, lest somehow, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, so your minds may be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. ⁴ For if he who comes preaches another Jesus whom we have not preached, or if you receive a different spirit which you” have not received, or a different gospel which you have not accepted—you may well put up with it!”  With all the conspiracy theories swirling around these days regarding this man Jesus, it is imperative that we return to the simplicity of what the Gospel tells us about Jesus and ourselves.  There are many who have a vested interest in co-opting the message of Christ for their own ends and have invested much time in effort in doing just that.  Some of them are “Christian” people, some of them are merely religious, and some of them are secular.  But all of them twist the person of Jesus and His message to their own purposes.

Mainly I will be using the Gospel of Luke as our path this Fall and we will skip over the birth narratives for now and revisit them later in December.  So let’ begin in Luke 3:3-4.

The Need For Repentance

The book of Malachi ends with a reference to the prophet Elijah coming before the messiah to turn the hearts of people back to each other.  So we are going to start with the ministry of John the Baptist.  Jesus himself said that John ministered in the power and the spirit of Elijah.  In verses 3-4 of Luke 3, John is pictured as a man out in the desert crying out for people to repent.  Now in the natural there were large crowds listening to John and many people responding, but the spiritual truth of the matter is that he was in a desert place and precious few had enough spiritual life within them to even hear him.  They were as dead as the desert sand in many cases.   Why would a ministry, which was telling people the Messiah was coming, fall on deaf ears?  It wasn’t just because they no longer believed the prophecy.  It was because John defined preparation as repentance.

Now the word “remission” in verse 3 is not just our sins going into a silent period only to break out later.  But, rather it points to the removing of our sins from us.  Apparently this was something that could not be done without us first repenting.  You see, our sins are so intricately linked with our fleshly desires that even when we like the message of the coming messiah, we are not really ready for Him.  First we need the desire to be set free from our sins and then we can receive the messiah into our lives.

There is a sort of inner coalition that happens between our hearts and our minds.  The heart desires certain sinful things and then the mind employs its powers to justify, and acquire those pleasures.  This stronghold of sin within our mind is challenged by the Word of the prophet.  John warned the people that Messiah was coming.  He was coming to clean house and rescue his faithful.  Most were not being faithful.  Thus our need for repentance is the need to change how the messiah sees us when he comes.  Is it possible for a change of mind and a change of heart to happen?  Typically when people see the hold that sin has on them and the destructive paths it has led them down, they are open for change.  John comes after a long silent period from God’s prophets.  People were at the end of themselves and looking for hope.  John comes to them saying, “Repent!  The Messiah is coming!”  This starts in the mind.  The mind is able to see the captivity of the heart and see the need to turn to something better.  The heart will not like it, but it is possible to turn from a path of destruction and walk a different way, even as our heart begs to go back.  However, there is a side of this that we must note.  Without the help of God’s Spirit we would neither hear the Message of Repentance nor see the Truth to its warning.  Thus we can repent but only with the Spirit’s help.

Lastly, John challenged those following him on what real repentance was.  In Luke 3:7-14, he lists out the ways in which we demonstrate true repentance.  He uses the picture of a fruit tree and says that if we are truly repentant inside (i.e. we are a Repentance Tree) then we will grow repentance fruit, which are actions that show repentance.  The first example of repentance “fruit” is for everyone in general: If you have extra share it with those who have none.  For tax collectors, collect only what you have been appointed to collect.  For soldiers, do not abuse your power and be content with your wages.  Is John preaching salvation by works?  No.  He is talking about the preparation of our heart to receive Jesus, i.e. repentance.  If repentance is real within us then it will be demonstrated in our actions.  If we really believe that Jesus is coming then our lives will begin to reflect that belief.  If we really see that our sins are separating us from God then we will truly begin to hate the hold they have on us and begin turning from them.  Yet, without Jesus actually coming into our lives and freeing us from our sins, even repentance would end in futility.  Even when we are saved by Jesus we will still need repentance as 1 John 1:9 reminds us.  If we are faithful to confess our sins then Jesus will be faithful to cleanse us from all our sins, internally and externally.

The Need For The Holy Spirit

In verse 16 John tells them that his water baptism is lesser than the baptism Jesus will bring: a baptism of the Holy Spirit.  John’s ministry had impressed the people and they felt that he must be the messiah.  This verse speaks to the greater work of Christ.  He not only helps us repent and clean our lives, but he also places the Spirit of God within us in order to empower us in it.  Thus our preparation is in order to receive the Spirit of God from Jesus.  John’s water baptism was a symbol of the cleansing of repentance.  But it also was a symbol of what Jesus was coming to do.  He would immerse them in the Spirit of God.  This was something that even John the Baptist himself would have needed.  He definitely was moved upon by the Spirit, but immersion within the Spirit was an unthinkable thought, till now.

Now God’s Word tells us that those who believe on Jesus are given the right to be called the Sons of God and that the Spirit of God takes up residence within them so that they might cry out to God as His children.  Like the temple in the Old Testament, the Holy Spirit would move into them and make a totally different atmosphere in the place.  Yet, as we open ourselves to the leading of the Holy Spirit, the Bible speaks of a further need of being filled with the Spirit.  This is a continual process of us surrendering and the Spirit filling.  We are to keep being filled with the Spirit.  Don’t be content to just believe Jesus can deal with your sins.  Move on to surrendering to the Holy Spirit’s direction through the Word and counsel, that He might fill your life with power to be a witness of His loving salvation.

 John had said that the Messiah would baptize in the Holy Spirit and Fire.  Now some refer to this as a feeling of fire within our heart when we are baptized.  However, the context rather points to a choice we have.  God Himself is a consuming fire.  If we are not repentant that fire is a fire of judgment.  If we are repentant then it is a fire of cleansing.  So this is more a warning of judgment than anything else.

The Need For Perseverance

Lastly, I would point us to Luke 3:20.  Here we see that John’s message of repentance was not received well by those who had great earthly power.  Jesus promised his disciples in John 16:33 that they would experience tribulation in this world.  He clearly expected this to continue throughout the Church Age.  Because we live in the West, it is easy for us to believe that persecution is rare or that it is a sign that we don’t have enough faith.  John the Baptist clearly didn’t expect to die in prison.  The Messiah was coming!  Yet, we see him later in prison asking his disciples to double check with Jesus and see if he truly was the Messiah (i.e. was I wrong?). 

No one likes to be told their actions are sinful.  Thus if we are going to be faithful to Jesus and warn the world to repent because the Messiah is coming, then we had better expect some flak coming back at us.  Herod the Tetrarch had basically seduced his half-brother’s wife, and divorced his own wife so that he could marry her.  He eventually has John beheaded for daring to call him to repentance.  How tragic for Herod and how hard for John this was.  Yet John was soon comforted and Herod continued down to destruction.  We also need perseverance if we are the one who needs to repent.  Our heart and mind will revolt against such treasonous ideas.  If we are not truly in need of help then the “Good News” of Jesus ceases to be good news.  Somewhere somehow, no matter where you live, if you tell people that they actually NEED Jesus because of a sin problem you will face negative responses.

Perseverance or patience is actually the choice to remain under the heavy load that we want to drop.  Perseverance doesn’t demand anything of God.  It only says, “I won’t quit, even if it crushes me.”  Perhaps John felt like he was being crushed.  But He went on to His reward.  If we demand anything of God before obedience then we will eventually throw in the towel and quit.  And in our minds will be the words, He asks too much, He abandoned me, He doesn’t care.  Which, of course, we know these things are not true.

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