Day 4 - Luke 3

Like I said, today you're in for a treat!

Just so you know, I wanted to give two tidbits of info about the blog.  The first thing is that there will NOT be a post on Sundays.  I don't want to bombard your mind all week (especially since I'll enjoy the break, too) especially if you go to church on Sunday.

I also wanted to give all of you an idea of where we're going with this journey through the Bible.

We're starting with Luke and will continue through Acts (since Luke wrote both books). From there we will come back to any stories that Matthew and Mark tell but Luke doesn't. (Matthew and Luke use 90% of what is in the book of Mark, so there won't be too much to cover that's unique in those two books.) In that way, it won't take us that long to go through 3 of the 4 the gospels. 

From there we'll cover John and through the rest of the New Testament and then to the Old Testament. Whenever the New or Old Testament repeats itself (whether it be stories about Jesus in the NT or in the case of the 10 Commandments, genealogies in the OT), I will skip over them, unless there is a difference in the story that's worth noting.  Whenever I skip a section, you'll see that I won't ask you to read it, either!

Luke 3:1-23 skipping 24-37 but read verse 38 (find it here)

The coolest thing about Luke is his attention to detail. You may read over the first two verses today and say "Blah, blah, blah, so what?" The Bible may not be an historical document but here Luke is cognizant of his audience enough to know that describing who was in power at the time would give his claims an indisputable time-frame in history (in Roman and Jewish history, mind you), therefore making John the Baptist's (and Jesus') story more credible.

We know that John has been chilling out in the wilderness, giving God prime opportunities to communicate with him whenever need be.  When we was spoken to, John immediately went on a mission trip! He wanted to baptize everyone.

Baptism may have been a new name, but it was an old tradition.  Israelites already practiced ceremonial cleansing (whether it be hands, the whole body or clothes). Jesus mentions this "ceremonial cleansing" in Luke 11:38-39. Cleansing could be compared to putting makeup on before going out. You have to make sure you're presentable before you do a certain ritual. That's why Jesus said that the religious leaders were worried about the outward appearance more than about pleasing God.

John's spin on baptism made it a symbol. Luke said that baptism was "to show" people had repented and turned to God.  The act of being dipped, in itself, was powerless.  That doesn't mean that it's pointless, though.  It's a very powerful display of your faith! As Luke says, Elijah (an Old Testament prophet) had already foretold that someone would usher in Jesus' ministry and here, in Luke 3, he's doing it!

^{John was a trip! In verse 7 he calls out the people who were coming to get baptized. He calls them a "brood of snakes," which would be almost like someone calling you a S-O-B. The similarity is obvious. John's calling their parents snakes (which is not a compliment) and the brood is their children. It's the same. God had to have been in control because I wouldn't have gotten away with talking like that (as if I would).}

^{John tells the people to prove that they have turned to God. Who you know is irrelevant to God. You either know Him or not, no one else "gets you in."}

^{The way they prove it would be to produce "good fruit" (Jesus will talk about this later, too).  All different types of people basically wanted to know, "what should we do?  John says, be charitable, give, be humble, look out for the needy, be honest.}

^{John says that he baptizes with water but the Messiah would baptize with the "Holy Spirit" (essentially meaning that God cleanses our soul, takes control and we begin producing good fruit) and "fire" (which means that all impure things, in our life and in general, will be burned away, like refining gold). An interesting Scripture on the baptism of fire can be seen in 1 Corinthians 3. Pay special attention to verses 13-15.}

^{Jesus literally showed the importance of baptism by being baptized himself!  We'll go into more detail when we cover the other gospels, but Jesus showed his acceptance of God's way by being baptized.}

^{It's never too late to be baptized. Jesus was 30 and he immediately used the Spirit to start reaching people.}

^{Interesting side question: Who was God's first earthly son?  Yep, it was Adam! "What's the difference between Adam and Jesus," you may ask?  Well, in few words (which this is discussed later in the New Testament) Adam is God's created son but Jesus is His only begotten son.  Adam was created, Jesus was born (but already existed in heaven).  Your head hurting yet? Haha.}

^Questions:

^{1. Have you been baptized? Why (what made you do it) or why not?} 

^{2. Many people assume that baptism puts you in good standing with God. What is the real purpose of baptism?}

^{3. Jesus began preaching almost immediately after being baptized. Many people think that they aren't smart or wise enough to share their faith right after "turning to God" and getting baptized. This is simply not true. What are easy ways to share your faith without having a ton of Bible knowledge.}