Luke 3:21-38

Luke 3:21-38

It was one of the rare occasions where all three Persons of the Godhead were manifested together. On such occasions, we are prudent to pay especially close attention. The Son is baptized, the Spirit descends in bodily form like a dove and the Father speaks.

The words of the Father, “Thou Art my beloved Son, in Thee I am well pleased,” are powerful not just in themselves but also in their placement chronologically. The Father does not offer these after the resurrection, or the cross; these are not given in response to a teaching or a miracle. In terms of the ministry, Jesus had not yet done anything.

While the doctrine of divine love may be in our heads it is often absent from our emotions or our gut-level reality. The world's system of merit-based love has so permeated our lives and experience that we project it onto God. We may not say it, but we feel, “God will love me if I do good and if I do it well.” Or “God loves those who accomplish great things for Him.” But as far as we know Jesus has yet to preach a sermon, teach a lesson, perform a miracle, or cast out a demon and yet the Father declares His affection and delight. What better way to begin a ministry, or for that matter a day, than to start with the realization that apart from any merit of accomplishment the Father is moved by great and tender emotion?

Most of the frustration of life is built on the frustration of failing to meet expectations; expectations that are set for us or are self-imposed, prospects of career performance, personal success, individual greatness, expected purity. Like a hamster on a wheel, we exert effort but we never achieve what we hope for and, therefore, we live with a sense of personal disappointment and perhaps divine rejection. Trapped by our own performance expectations we must stop, listen and make part of our very being the voice of God, “You are my precious and delightful child and I'm glad you're mine and, this, apart from anything you can or plan to do.”

"Lord, grant me the grace to live in Your love for me. AMEN"

Luke 3:1-20

 Luke 3:1-20

The great drama begins with a listing of powerful people and a reminder of how irrelevant the appearance of power can be. Luke, the careful historian, lists seven powerful people. This gives us a careful and an accurate historical point of reference. From the mighty Tiberius Caesar to local political rulers we see the might of Roman political power.  Luke also mentions two high priests Annas and Caiaphas. There were the two acting high priests.  Caiaphas was the official high priest, and the power behind the scenes was his father-in-law Annas who was the deposed former high priest. With all that power structure outlined Luke then gives us, in English, seven words “the word of God came to John”.

It is pretty easy to become confused about the source of power. It is a human condition. We should begin to paraphrase the old song “Blinded by the Light” to become “Blinded by the Might”.  The real power in this verse was not located in the seat of power. It was not in Rome or in a palace or in Jerusalem or even in the temple. The word came to a lonely figure on the fringe of society in an out-of-the-way place. In Luke 1:80 it says, “John grew strong in spirit”. There was the power.

Our temptation is to try to find a shortcut to power. We think that visible power is real power. That is not true. There is no other source, no shortcuts, and no options. The remarkable ministry of John (true of every great saint’s work) is that they were connected personally and directly to the Lord. Failure to connect to the Lord is a guarantee that we will be a failure and that we will fail in all we do.

"Lord, protect me from trying to find power in anything other than the power of living in Your will. AMEN".