The Bible Binge: Before the Ax Strikes (Luke 3:1-22)

Surprise!

Nobody likes surprises. Or at least the bad ones. One of the stories my generation grew up with was the story of Paul Revere’s ride. While a lot of stuff about the story is legend, the main gist of the story is that Paul Revere alerts towns in New England of the arrival of the British troops. Revere and others like him were heralds that danger was coming. Revere had information ahead of time to save lives. We watch weather forecasts for the same reasons. The weather people on TV herald the arrival of the expected weather for the day and week. One legend we lived with in Ohio also related to weather… you see a robin in the early part of the year and spring is (supposedly) here. Heralds have a long history of announcing the arrival of kings with a trumpet fanfare. In fact, we have a leftover in our own American court system of the royal herald.. before the judge enters the bailiff announces the judges arrival to the court, telling those in the courtroom to rise.

Announcing the arrival of a king. The idea goes much further back than modern royalty. And that’s at the heart of our story today from the book of Luke. We’re continuing our Bible Binge. We began the book of Luke yesterday in our reading, and Luke will take us through the next couple of weeks.

As we engage our story today, this is a good place to remind ourselves that all of these stories occur in a book. And the book has a theme, a main purpose and focus, and every story in the book will reflect that main purpose and serve the main purpose and theme. So here’s a brief snapshot of the book of Luke from the Bible Project:

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What is Luke about?

Luke is one of the 4 biographies of Jesus

Luke is the first of two volumes (the book of Acts is vol. 2)

Luke is a medical doctor who traveled with St Paul, the missionary

Luke is written to Theophilus

Luke emphasizes historical facts

Luke is about the journey of Jesus from Bethlehem to the cross

Luke is about Jesus’ fulfillment of all of the Old Testament’s anticipation of the Messiah

Luke moves from the priest in the temple (Luke 1) to all of Jesus’ followers in the temple (Luke 24)

Luke wants Theophilus to be certain of what he has learned and believed about Jesus

Luke is the climactic advent of history in the Good News of Jesus’ mission come to seek and save the lost through the proclamation of the forgiveness of sins.

Getting to chapter 3

The first two chapters are about the birth of Jesus. And right away, Luke is reminding Theophilus that there was something special about Jesus. In fact, there’s nothing unique about the way Jesus was born. Angels show up talking about miracle births. Then Jesus is born and angels show up to shepherds singing about it. From the very beginning, God is entering the world on mission.

Then there is an 18 year gap. It jumps from 12-year-old Jesus to 30-year-old Jesus in chapter 3. We are not told about the in between years. There’s a lot of speculation. And there’s a lot of fanciful stuff out there. But the Bible has nothing to say about Jesus as a school kid, teenager, or young adult. None of the speculation is grounded in historical fact.

Luke is not interested in those details with Theophilus and his congregation. Chapter 3 is where the story of Jesus begins to take off… the Jesus that the original disciples lived with. And what we find is that Jesus’ arrival onto the public scene in Israel was just as spectacular as his birth had been 30 years before. Instead of angels announcing the arrival of Israel’s savior, we’re introduced to Jesus’ cousin John, who also had a spectacular beginning.

Who is John the Baptist?

We call Jesus’ cousin John, John the baptist, because he spent a lot of timing baptizing people. It was a main part of his ministry. So, what do we know about John?

John himself had been born a miracle baby. His mom and dad were very, very old.. too old to have kids, just like Abraham and Sarah hundreds of years before.

John is Jesus’ cousin

John is the last great prophet of the Old Testament

John is the herald of the Messiah

John’s ministry was in the wilderness and he baptized in the Jordan river.

God’s Word for the no names

As Luke is telling his story to Theophilus, he doesn’t just jump right in to Jesus’ teaching and preaching and healing. Jesus’ cousin is a big deal. And in order to better understand Jesus, one has to know how he arrived on the scene. And that’s where John the Baptist comes in. Before Jesus began preaching and teaching and healing and doing miracles, John the Baptist had his own preaching and teaching ministry in the wilderness. And it was big. Luke says “crowds came out to see John”. John is a rock star. He’s a celebrity. Everybody shows up to see what John is doing and to hear what he is saying.

This is totally unexpected. John isn’t the norm. In fact, here’s how the text starts that Karina read moments ago:

Luke 3:1–2 “In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, while Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, Herod was tetrarch of Galilee, his brother Philip tetrarch of the region of Iturea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene, during the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, God’s word came to John the son of Zechariah in the wilderness.”

That seems like a bunch of names we don’t need to know. And we don’t really. But we do need to see this. Those are names of politicians and rulers. Well-known. Everyone Luke is writing to would know these names. These are the people who are in the news every day… the biggest is Pontius Pilate. He will be big in Jesus’ story. And then there are two names that are the biggest names in the religious community. Annas and Caiaphas. Kind of like the pope. Everyone knew their names. They also dominated the headlines in the Jewish community.

Luke wants us to see this. God’s Word isn’t coming to the big names. God’s Word isn’t coming to the president or the governor. God’s Word isn’t coming to the pope of that day. God’s Word isn’t coming to the famous pastors of that day. God’s Word came to a nobody… a name that nobody knew: John, the son of Zechariah. And it’s not in a famous religious city. John isn’t in Jerusalem making a name for himself among the pastors and magisterium who could help further his ministry along. John is in the wilderness. God’s Word comes to the unexpected. And in fact, the pastors of that day were in for a rude awakening. We’ll get to that in a moment.

John’s message of Forgiveness

And when God’s Word comes… here’s the message:

Luke 3:3 “John went into all the vicinity of the Jordan, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins,”

John’s message isn’t how to be a better Christian. John’s message isn’t how to make sure that you stand out from the world. John’s message isn’t how to make sure you are taking great pains to obey the law. John’s message is simply this: allow yourself to be baptized with repentance and receive the forgiveness of sins.

That’s got to be one of the weirdest ways to herald the arrival of the One that Israel had been anticipating. But John is already beginning to challenge the expectations of the Jewish community. Luke picks up on this by quoting from Isaiah 40. He says John is that voice crying in the wilderness and everyone is coming to see the salvation of God in the Messiah. But these people are expecting liberation.

Remember that list? That list of politicians and rulers are the problem. The Jewish community wants them gone. Jews in that day did not run the show, the Romans did. And they expected their Messiah to be a political savior. And John’s message is “receive the forgiveness of sins in a baptism of repentance.”

Oh c’mon. Really? Yes, really. And that’s John’s message because that message is in fact, Jesus’ message. Jesus shows up and he’s not interested in political overthrow. He’s not interested in making sure that he has a seat at the political table. Jesus shows up with a message of baptism, repentance, and forgiveness of sins.

Jesus is baptized

And before this passage is over, there’s Jesus entering the waters of Baptism:

Luke 3:21–22 When all the people were baptized, Jesus also was baptized. As he was praying, heaven opened, and the Holy Spirit descended on him in a physical appearance like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well-pleased.”

Jesus doesn’t need forgiveness. But he enters the waters of baptism on behalf of sinners who do need forgiveness as if he himself were a sinner. Jesus’ coming is for the forgiveness of sinners. The main problem these crowds faced was not their Roman rulers. It was their sin. Jesus has come to provide them what they cannot provide for themselves: cleansing from sin.

Before the ax strikes

Not everybody is interested in hearing this message of forgiveness and John knows it. Throughout this passage there are numerous warnings for those who are not interested in hearing this message. We’re not going to go over all of it, but there is this really odd line in the middle of the entire story:

Luke 3:9 “The ax is already at the root of the trees. Therefore, every tree that doesn’t produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.”

The ax is already at the root of the trees. It’s fair to ask: what trees? Kind of an odd statement. John is quoting from the Old Testament, talking about the coming Messiah wielding an ax. But the meaning in this context is obvious. In the crowds showing up to see John in the wilderness and at the Jordan river are the very ones mentioned at the beginning. The religious leaders. The establishment. The popular pastors. And John is not only announcing the arrival of a King who is bringing forgiveness for sinners, he is bringing an ax for those who think they don’t need his forgiveness. He is going to cut down the religious establishment.

What’s amazing is that this challenge is not lost on the crowd. They immediately ask John, 3 different times, what do we do now? What happens after baptism? How are we supposed to live before the ax strikes? What hope is there for us? If there’s no hope in morality, how are we supposed to live?

And John answers the same way all three times: live for the good of your neighbor. Your neighbor is your business. Be fair to your neighbor. Always have his best interest in mind. You live for the good of the people around you and you are living out the repentance give to you in your baptism. And ironically, those submitting to baptism have already displayed the kind of faith that Jesus and John are looking for. There is no fear of the ax for those whose sins are forgiven.

That’s the story of the book of Luke. Jesus is going to be the main figure from here on out. John the baptist will move off to the side of the stage and Jesus will take center stage. And Jesus is here for sinners. And he’s here to take an ax to those who think their holiness is a better message than forgiveness.

You see, Christ’s coming is an ax for those who don’t need forgiveness. The salvation of God is bad news for those who think they have it all together, those who have a hot line to God. Those who are all about morality and clean living. The ax is for them. Salvation is for sinners. So, as you read Luke this week, see how Jesus relates to sinners. See how he relates to those who think they have it all together and think their behavior meets God’s standards. Before the ax strikes, rest your faith in the Jesus who has forgiven your sins.

Let’s Pray

The Table

The same language that John uses here about baptism is the same language that Jesus uses on the night he was betrayed. He told his followers to partake of his body and his blood FOR the forgiveness of your sins. Same language.

Benediction