Author: Ben Bourland

So the people asked him, saying, “What shall we do then?”
  He answered and said to them, “He who has two tunics, let him give to him who has none; and he who has food, let him do likewise.”
  Then 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 what is appointed for you.”
  Likewise the soldiers asked him, saying, “And what shall we do?”
 So he said to them, “Do not intimidate anyone or accuse falsely, and be content with your wages.” Luke 3:10-14 [NJKV]

These conversations with John the Baptist and the people who had come to hear what he had to say happened right after he got done telling them that they could not rest on being descendants of Abraham as a security from the wrath of God. Here we see multiple groups of people asking him for his wisdom in what they should do differently if they are going to turn their hearts back to God.

The primary response then they asked “What shall we do then?” was:

Be charitable to those in need.

I love how all of those who came, asking this question, did so as they were getting baptized into a recommitment to the Lord.

The Tax Collectors as this question and John’s response to them was:

Don’t rip people off by taking more from them for taxes than what the state requires.

Finally the soldiers (wow! soldiers were coming to be baptized!) asked and John said:

Don’t abuse your power by intimidating people or falsely accusing them. Be satisfied with your pay.

Application:

I think these are really good instructions for us today. We should all help those who are less fortunate than ourselves. If we are in any position where we collect money for any reason (sell something online, work at a store, a bank, etc) don’t charge or take more money than is necessary. If you are in a position of authority (a parent, boss, manager, coach, etc) don’t intimidate those underneath you or accuse them of something they didn’t do; something you don’t have the evidence to prove their guilt. Finally, be satisfied with what they Lord allows to fall into your hands regarding a wage. Be content with where the Lord has you. Each one of these things can be directly applied to my life.

And even now the ax is laid to the root of the trees. Therefore every tree which does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.”

Luke 3:9 [NKJV]

Today my reading took me into John the Baptist’s ministry and the taking-to-task he had for the Jewish people. Luke 3:7-9 was my passage and it just seemed so relevant to today. Remember, John’s role was to prepare the way for Jesus. All of his baptizing was essentially an acknowledgement of repentance and desire to be back into the fold of the Almighty God of Israel.

Matthew and Luke’s account of this experience was almost identical. In Matthew it says that John called the Sadducees and Pharisees “a brood of vipers” but in Luke it says that John called the ‘Multitudes’ a brood of vipers. The whole context of this was that the nation of Israel thought that God would be kind to them because they were the decedents of Abraham. What John was telling them was that as a nation they would have no individual protection; they would stand before God representing their own merits of acceptance. So, I think Luke’s position on multitudes is more appropriate.

Verse 9 (quoted above) then sums up the warning -> The tree is not yet cut down but the caution is clear. Every individual will be evaluated on the fruit of their repentance. Now, lets be careful about running to “works” being the focus here…remember that this was before Jesus died on the cross for their (our) sins and rose the 3rd day. John was preparing the way for the Lord Jesus and His ministry.

Application:

It is not my earthly association with a good church or keeping with good people that will save me. It is the fruit of my repentance, accepting Jesus’ righteousness and justification for my sin; and working out my Salvation in my sanctification that will give me (and those around me) the confidence that I am a child of the King and saved from the Wrath of God.

I did my quiet time this morning…it was short. My reading was Luke 3:1-6 which tells of John’s call in the wilderness by God to start to prepare the way for the Messiah.

…the word of God came to John the son of Zacharias in the wilderness. And he went into all the region around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the remission of sins.

Luke 3:2-3 [NKJV]

What jumped out at me was this “the word of God came to John in the wilderness”. The words used here are very similar to the words used in the Old Testament in the way the prophets got their message from God. So, it is probably meant to place John in the true prophetic succession.

What follows is a recollection of the prophesy from Isaiah ->

“The voice of one crying in the wilderness:
‘Prepare the way of the Lord;
Make His paths straight.
Every valley shall be filled
And every mountain and hill brought low;
The crooked places shall be made straight
And the rough ways smooth;
And all flesh shall see the salvation of God.’ ”

Luke 3:4-6 [NKJV]

What a huge job John the Baptist had – preparing the way by essentially greasing the skids of the ministry of Jesus! Amazing!

This morning I sat in the place I typically spend for my quiet times. Pondering on the ‘in between’ day that the Lord Jesus was in the tomb and seeing this as a day to just sit and dwell on what Jesus did for me in His death but also in anxious anticipation for the celebration of resurrection tomorrow.

I spent more time than I normally would praying before my time in God’s word; praying for the prayer requests from those that joined us for Parents Prayer and other areas where I know people are hurting.

My reading was Luke 2:41-52 which is the story of when Jesus was 12 years old, and He ditched His parents and hung out in the temple after the Feast of Passover.

A couple of important points. They made this trip from Nazareth to Jerusalem every year, so this time was not new; Jesus was familiar with this trip and stay in Jerusalem to celebrate Passover. It’s also interesting that this trip was with a bunch of familiar family and friends. Likely a very large group of 30 or more people and according to Maps it is a 2-3 day walk (closer to 3 days with all of the people traveling) or about 77 miles. Because it was such a large group of familiar people, it is not out of the scope of logic that Mary and Joseph would think that Jesus was with other family members or friends as they started their journey home. Additionally, they knew Jesus was the Messiah and probably assumed that He would be precisely where they would expect Him to be…with them.

It wasn’t until after a full day of traveling (likely that first evening as they setup their booths [tents]) for the night that they realized Jesus was not with them. They (not sure if it was the whole group or just Mary and Joseph) went back to Jerusalem to find Jesus (their 12 year old). Then, it was a full 3 days of looking through Jerusalem that they finally found Jesus sitting in the temple courts listening to the Jewish rabbis and asking questions of them.

I can just see Mary grabbing Him sternly and asking Him:

“Son, why have You done this to us? Look, Your father and I have sought You anxiously.”

Luke 2:48 [NKJV]

Mary felt disrespected by Jesus. The passage so beautifully shows Jesus’ immaturity. His heart was in the sinless right place but He wasn’t thinking about impact to His mom, dad, family, and friends. His heart was focused on His ministry. The story ends with them all making it back home to Nazareth and Jesus continuing to grow in His wisdom, stature, and favor in the sight of both God the Father and man.

Application:

All this time I have been intrigued with how, from birth, Jesus had never sinned. This is a great view of Jesus’ pure heart. His heart was pure in intent and He is GOD, but His choices were still susceptible to His physical/mental maturity and growth. This is a far cry from the condition of our hearts, inherited through the fall of Adam and Eve. Our fleshly/worldly hearts are deceitful.

The heart is deceitful above all things, and it is exceedingly perverse and corrupt and severely, mortally sick! Who can know it [perceive, understand, be acquainted with his own heart and mind]?

Jeremiah 17:9 [AMP]

The other thing that hit me when I was talking to Marianne about this was that Mary and Joseph had their own assumptions/expectations about where Jesus was…I am like this with God too! I expect Him to be somewhere relative to my needs but in actuality He is focused on His will and purposes. It is my job to stay in touch with where God is working through my time ‘following Him’ by being in His Word, listening for/obeying the voice of the Holy Spirit, and in communication with Him in prayer. Mary and Joseph would not have lost Jesus if they would have been in close contact with Jesus rather than just assuming He was where they expected Him to be.

It is Good Friday! A day we recognize as the day that Christ gave His sinless life in trade for our Salvation from the wrath of God: a wrath we so deserve.

Today my quiet time was Luke 2:36-40 which is Luke’s capture of the visit by Anna (the prophetess) to the dedication of Jesus at the temple in Jerusalem.

It is interesting the mention of Anna as prophetess as there were no prophets mentioned in the bible in hundreds of years preceding Jesus’ birth. She was a very old widow but never missed a worship service in the temple and in fact even had a chamber that slept in there in the temple.

She was very a very devout Jew. Many Jews never accepted Jesus but there were some who understood the scriptures and patiently waited for the Messiah, realized He had come, Jesus. Luke says that Anna came up to Mary, Joseph, Simeon, and Jesus at the moment of Jesus’ dedication and gave thanks to the Lord for Him. After this moment, Anna returned to her spot in the temple and proceeded to tell everyone she met about Jesus. All of the people were coming to the temple “looking forward to the redemption of Jerusalem”.

She did not go out from the temple enclosure but was worshiping night and day with fasting and prayer.

Luke 2:37b

Application:

As I continue to read through the narrative story of the birth of Jesus, I sometimes struggle to find ‘application’. However, what I do find is a recognition of God’s plan in His redemptive story for all of humanity and His guiding hand in every aspect of the preparation and coming of His Son. When I think about Anna – I think about my own initiative (or lack thereof) to tell everyone I come across of the Life, Love, and Gospel of Jesus. The devotion of this woman and dedication to telling all about Jesus, is humbling.

It has been a rough couple of weeks at work. I really love what I do but the environment and constraints I have to work under right now are super harsh. I feel blessed to have a job and I feel deeply for those who have been laid off all over my industry. My life at work is just one where every day I return home utterly sapped of energy.

Then Simeon blessed them, and said to Mary His mother, “Behold, this Child is destined for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign which will be spoken against (yes, a sword will pierce through your own soul also), that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.” Luke 2:34-35 [NKJV]

I was reading today about the time that came after the birth of Jesus where Joseph and Mary brought Him to the temple to be Presented to God. Verses 25 and 26 of this chapter introduce us to Simeon, a man who God singled out and revealed amazing things to him about Jesus.

“And behold, there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon, and this man was just and devout, waiting for the Consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Christ.”

Luke 2:25-26 [NKJV]

On the face of this it seems like such an amazing revelation and at the same time I can only imagine how anxious Simeon’s life must have been waiting for this moment. Luke does not tell us how old Simeon was so it could be that he had been waiting for this moment for quite some time.

My passage at the beginning of this post is what Simeon says to Mary and Joseph as he is holding the baby Jesus in his arms. I mean, look at how much the Holy Spirit told Simeon in this passage! Jesus would bring the rise and fall of many in Israel, He would be a sign and be spoken against. He tells Mary that she will be pierced through the heart with grief noting the crucifixion of her Son. Finally Simeon talks about how the hearts of many people will be revealed. These final words of Simeon point to the revelatory function of Jesus’ work. People declare themselves by their attitude to him. We cannot ultimately be neutral. When people see Christ suffer‚ their reaction shows on which side they stand.

Continuing in reading through the birth of Jesus in Luke reminds me of a Podcast done by our own Pastor Graydon Cress on the Life and Ministry of Jesus: The Birth of Christ. If you don’t listen to his podcasts that come out every Monday…you should. In this specific podcast linked above, Pastor Graydon gives some super cool background and some other historical data that gives you sort of a “Wow” moment in regard to God’s perfect plan to bring the Redeemer into the world. The part at the very end about The Tower of the Flock is soooo cool!

And in that vicinity there were shepherds living [out under the open sky] in the field, watching [in shifts] over their flock by night.
   And behold, an angel of the Lord stood by them, and the glory of the Lord flashed and shone all about them, and they were terribly frightened.
   But the angel said to them, Do not be afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of a great joy which will come to all the people.
     For to you is born this day in the town of David a Savior, Who is Christ (the Messiah) the Lord!
   And this will be a sign for you [by which you will recognize Him]: you will find [after searching] a Baby wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger.
   Then suddenly there appeared with the angel an army of the troops of heaven (a heavenly knighthood), praising God and saying,
   Glory to God in the highest [heaven], and on earth peace among men with whom He is well pleased [men of goodwill, of His favor].
   When the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said one to another, Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing (saying) that has come to pass, which the Lord has made known to us. Luke 2:8-15 [AMP]

The first thing that stood out to me in this passage was that the angel “stood by them” and at the same time the “Glory of the Lord flashed and shone all about them”. I can only imagine how scary this must have been for them. In my mind I can hear the angel calming them down and asking them not to be afraid; in this soothing angelic voice which must have been calming but still eclipsed by the bright light all around them. At this point they had to have some pretty strong confidence that this was a messenger of the Lord to send them this message in this particular way. And then to top it all off, the whole host of angels appears through what probably seemed like a spiritual veil to praise God with their voices.

These shepherds, after finding the baby Jesus just as the angel had told them, must have carried this story their entire lives and passed the recollection of the experience down to their children. My mind always goes to the unanswered questions like – “who of the shepherds stayed back with the sheep”? 🙂

My Quiet Times have been spotty and I do not like this. I get to reading God’s Word almost every day but I don’t spend the time needed to truly consume it. This morning however, I made time to sit down and not only read the passage (Luke 2:1-7) but also do a little study on the timing of the Birth of Jesus.

IN THOSE days it occurred that a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that the whole Roman empire should be registered.
   This was the first enrollment, and it was made when Quirinius was governor of Syria.
   And all the people were going to be registered, each to his own city or town.
   And Joseph also went up from Galilee from the town of Nazareth to Judea, to the town of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and family of David,
   To be enrolled with Mary, his espoused (married) wife, who was about to become a mother.
   And while they were there, the time came for her delivery,
   And she gave birth to her Son, her Firstborn; and she wrapped Him in swaddling clothes and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room or place for them in the inn. Luke 2:1-7 [AMP]

I try not to put all of the verses I have read through in a post like this but it is hard to point to what I learned without it. The Bottom-Line-Up-Front (BLUF) is that God works through all kinds of circumstances and people to effect His purposes. As I read and do my quiet times, I highlight every passage I read…I also underline the words/phrases that I think flow together to form the message and then I will read through again, looking at those underlines, to see what the context is IN (The authors point), AROUND (What was happening), and OUTSIDE (History) the passage to make sure I am taking it in appropriately. You can see how my bible is marked up here in Luke below

So, as I read through and looked at a commentary to help me understand the history of the this actual time period in relation to the Roman empire (Roman governors were very well educated and took great notes). What really made an impact on me was the specific circumstances that led to and surrounded the birth of Jesus our Savior. Because Bethlehem was surrounded by fields for grazing sheep from visiting shepherds for the census, there were more shepherds than normal. The humble situation that Jesus was born into (manger) was brought about by the lack of vacancies in Bethlehem. The orchestration of the aspects of God’s work is amazing…so that everything fits into place with His intention and fulfilment of scriptural prophesy. I again, am so thankful for God’s word so that we can learn all of these things as we seek His character and intention in our lives.