Luke 3:1-38
I'm taking this whole chapter at once because most of the second half of this chapter is a list of the genealogy of the Lord Jesus Christ. This genealogy is important but I'm not going to focus much on that in my notes here. Instead, I will focus on the ministry of John the Baptist in the first half of the chapter.
Just as Gabriel and Zacharias prophesied the baby John grew up to become a prophet of the Lord. He fulfilled the word in Isaiah of a man who came to prepare the way of the Lord. He was a voice crying in the wilderness.
What happened when John began to preach? Immediately the devil sent people to oppose this new work of God. John recognized the snakes and called them out.
Verse 7, "O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come?"
Anytime the Lord sends a man of God to proclaim his word there will be opposition from the forces and powers of the devil. The power of Satan will be manifest by insincere people who are his mouthpiece.
The prophet Jeremiah also suffered opposition from people like this. Even his own close relatives wanted to kill him. But God promised Jeremiah he would protect him and deliver him. (Jeremiah 15:20-21)
The Lord delivered Jeremiah from the attack of evil men but in the case of John the Baptist God allowed him to be put in prison and eventually he lost his life. This is the case for many in the New Testament. The majority of the apostles and disciples lost their lives as a result of preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ. We must be prepared for this.
The Lord Jesus came to be baptized by John the Baptist. He did this to fulfill all righteousness. He had no sin himself but he came to identify himself completely with sinful man. God the Father set his seal of approval upon his Son at this time and the Holy Spirit descended upon the Lord Jesus Christ. Here we can plainly see that God is three in one: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
God is three in one. Prophet, priest, and king. Israel, church, and the nations. Three days and all will be complete in the New Jerusalem.
