"Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him."

Scripture for Sunday, November 27:  Luke 3:1-18    

Additional Scripture:  Isaiah 40

The opening chapters of Luke introduce us to the expectation surrounding the births of John the Baptist and Jesus.

Gabriel has appeared to old Zechariah, telling him and Elizabeth to expect the birth of a Holy Spirit-filled son. 

John’s role, Gabriel says, is to “turn the hearts of the parents to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous—to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.”  (Luke 1:17).

And so in Luke 3, John bursts on the scene, calling people to the wilderness and the water of the Jordan River.

The people come in droves.  All kinds of people.  Those who claim a place in God’s kingdom through the family tree; and those outside the family tree—Roman soldiers and tax collectors. 

And John tells them all to repent.

“You snakes!  Think you can claim a place in God's kingdom based on your descent from Abraham?  Think again.”

No tactful sermons here:  John’s words shoot straight and find their mark.  The people are cut to the heart. 

Three times in the passage John’s hearers ask, “What should we do?”

In response, John begins to teach them how to repent, to turn toward God's rule in ways that apply to their own lives. 

And just as the people begin to elevate John in their minds, “wondering in their hearts if [he] might possibly be the Messiah,” (3:15), John shoots straight again.

He points to Jesus.

“One who is more powerful than I will come, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie….  His winnowing fork is in his hand to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his barn, but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”

John gives the people both the means (repentance) and the motivation (expectation of judgment) to "prepare the way of the Lord."  

In helping people see their need for a Savior, John's preaching really is "good news." (v. 18).

Reflect

John’s call to repentance in this passage is specific.  As you read and consider Luke 3, ask the Holy Spirit to show you where he is calling you to a specific kind of repentance.

As you anticipate Christmas in a few weeks, what do you need less of in order to “prepare the way of the Lord” in your own life?  What potential fruit can you imagine God growing in your life and in the lives of those around you?

How might you ask for and receive help from God or others as you turn toward Christ in this area?