good news?

[John] said therefore to the crowds that came out to be baptized by him, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bear fruits in keeping with repentance. And do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children for Abraham. Even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees. Every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.”

And the crowds asked him, “What then shall we do?” And he answered them, “Whoever has two tunics is to share with him who has none, and whoever has food is to do likewise.” Tax collectors also came to be baptized and said to him, “Teacher, what shall we do?” And he said to them, “Collect no more than you are authorized to do.” Soldiers also asked him, “And we, what shall we do?” And he said to them, “Do not extort money from anyone by threats or by false accusation, and be content with your wages.”

As the people were in expectation, and all were questioning in their hearts concerning John, whether he might be the Christ, John answered them all, saying, “I baptize you with water, but he who is mightier than I is coming, the strap of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fork is in his hand, to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.”

So with many other exhortations he preached good news to the people. (Luke 3:7-18, ESV)

John's message may not immediately seem like good news. 

• calling people vipers
• calling for repentance
• dismissing their heritage
• warning of God's wrath
• instructing lifestyle changes
• talking about judgement

Indeed in the verses following the passage above, Herod throws John in prison so he certainly didn't think John's message was good. So how can it be described as good news in v18? 

It is not good news in and of itself. It is good news because it is preparing the way and pointing to Jesus. Conviction of sin, repentance (and moral instruction) is only good news if Jesus is involved to bring forgiveness and transformation. Otherwise we are left with guilt and either own own efforts to improve or despair at our inability to improve. 

I sometimes describe sermons that "ripped my face off", by which I mean they were extremely convicting. Why would getting your face ripped off be a good thing. Well, it's not, in itself. I'm loving the face ripping conviction only because it makes the good news of the gospel so much sweeter. 

Till sin be bitter, Christ will not be sweet

The more bitterness we taste in sin, the more sweetness we shall taste in Christ

Thomas Watson

 

his answers

After three days they found him in the temple, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. And all who heard him were amazed at his understanding and his answers. (Luke 2:46-47, ESV)

Jesus wasn't just asking questions and listening, he was also giving answers! No wonder they were all amazed.

Abraham and infertility part 1

The story of Abraham came to mind often when we were struggling with infertility. While I knew it should be helpful, the encouragement wasn't immediately obvious. The life of Abraham and Sarah certainly shows that God can overcome infertility, which is great, but we weren't Abaraham and Sarah. God promised them a son, what if no such promise existed for us?

Through a gradual process, this story became a massive encouragement, with God showing us that this is about far more than Abraham having a son.

Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father's house to the land that I will show you. 2 And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” (Genesis 12:1-3, ESV)

God’s promise involves Abram having a child but the child is not the focus of the promise. The focus is much bigger; a great nation, a community of God’s people, blessed to be a blessing to all the families on the earth.

In the short term God was creating the nation of Israel who were to bless those around them. But the ultimate fulfillment of this promise is Jesus. One of Abram’s descendants will be God’s own Son, and that is the blessing for everyone on the earth.

This promise involves Abram’s offspring but it is primarily about God’s offspring. Like Abram, Jesus also left his Father’s house to go out into a foreign land. Jesus is the one that is now gathering a community around himself made up of every tribe, tongue and nation. He is the one that has the name above every other name but chooses to bless others, and in him everyone on earth can be blessed.

This story shows that God is able to overcome infertility and give someone a child. But it's about so much more than that. It shows that nothing, including infertility, is able to stop God’s plan of salvation.

Abraham’s story comforted us in our infertility. But the comfort is not necessarily drawn from the promise of God giving Abraham his own child, because I am not Abraham. The comfort comes from the promise of THE child. God has given us the greatest gift possible, the gift of his own son.

luke 1

Luke 1

John:

• (old) married, barren couple

Jesus:

• virgi

By an extraordinary purpose of God it was appointed that John should be born out of the common and ordinary course of nature.

scattered

And Saul approved of his execution.

And there arose on that day a great persecution against the church in Jerusalem, and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles. Devout men buried Stephen and made great lamentation over him. But Saul was ravaging the church, and entering house after house, he dragged off men and women and committed them to prison.

Now those who were scattered went about preaching the word. Philip went down to the city of Samaria and proclaimed to them the Christ. And the crowds with one accord paid attention to what was being said by Philip when they heard him and saw the signs that he did. For unclean spirits, crying out with a loud voice, came out of many who had them, and many who were paralyzed or lame were healed. So there was much joy in that city. (Acts 8:1-8, ESV)

Saul approves of Stephen's murder, was part of the great persecution that rose against the church, ravaging it, breaking down doors, dragging people off and locking them up. He set out to nip this message in the bud. But if you're setting yourself up against God then there's only going to be one winner. Instead of killing the church off, these events caused it to spread.

The people who were scattered went about preaching the word - that's not just for the professionals. We are all called to announce the gospel message.

Would the early (Jewish) Christians have taken the message to Samaria if it was left to them. Would they offer this good news to their enemies? As usual, what man (Saul) intended for evil, God intended for good.