I’m continuing through the Gospel of Luke. In the last few posts, I’ve been comparing our ministry to that of John the Baptist. Right now we should be preparing for the second appearing of the Messiah.
The people were waiting expectantly and were all wondering in their hearts if John might possibly be the Christ.
Luke 3:15
It’s interesting that as John carried out God’s plan for his life, people began to question if he was the promised Messiah. They saw the testimony of lives that were changed by his ministry.
Throughout this section of Scripture, I’ve been repeating that we’re the “John the Baptist Generation”. What the crowd saw in John is what the world should see in us.
Should they think that we’re the Messiah? Absolutely not! But, they should see Christ in us. That’s what it was like in the early church.
The disciples were called Christians first at Antioch.
Acts 11:26
That’s where the name Christian came from. The ministry of those early believers was right in line with how the Lord lived and ministered. The crowd came to the conclusion that these people were Christ followers.
That should be the question of the modern church community. Can people see how we live, respond, and minister; then conclude that we’re trying to be like Jesus? In my opinion, there’s a big disconnect in our generation. It’s time to close the gap between how we live and the life of Christ.
It’s when the people around us see a higher standard of living, that they’ll want what we have. Then, we won’t have to preach at them. They will seek out our message.
That’s why the crowds of people flocked to hear John the Baptist in the desert. They wanted to understand a new level of spirituality.
John answered them all, “I baptize you with water. But one more powerful than I will come, the thongs of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire. 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.” And with many other words John exhorted the people and preached the good news to them.
Luke 3:16-18
John had quite a message. The problem he had, was that the Old Testament showed both sides of the Messiah. It showed His salvation, but it also talked about the Day of Judgment. John thought that both of these would occur at the same time when Messiah arrived.
We know now that when Christ appeared then, it was to save us from our sin. The judgment won’t take place until His second appearance.
But, John does clearly place the choice right before our eyes. We can choose to be immersed in the Holy Spirit. Or, we can be immersed in the fire of judgment. We can choose to be wheat or chaff.
Actually, Jesus taught that He would do this exact thing on the Day of Judgment. He told it in a parable found in Matthew 13:24-30.
With John, his message was good news and bad news. The good news is that Messiah is coming. The bad news is that judgment is also coming.
Our message is similar, but of greater importance. The bad news is that Messiah is coming to judge the world. But, the Good News is that Messiah has already come to save, restore, and protect you from the coming wrath.
Why do we find it so hard to bring this wonderful message to those around us? What are we afraid of?
John preached without fear. Luke 3:19-20, tells us that his message actually got him locked up in prison. Yet, that didn’t hinder him from proclaiming what he was given.
We need to walk in the same boldness as John the Baptist. We need to declare the goodness of Jesus Christ to our world.
Question: How are you called to proclaim the message of Christ?
© 2021 Nick Zaccardi
The Spirit and the Word 