The Word of God

 DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO JOHN

THE WORD OF GOD

Luke 3:1-3

3:1 In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar — when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, Herod tetrarch of Galilee, his brother Philip tetrarch of Iturea and Traconitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene— 2 during the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas the word of God came to John son of Zechariah in the desert. 3 He went into all the country around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.

NIV

We have already been sort of introduced to John before he was born, hearing that he was filled with the Spirit in his mother, Elizabeth’s womb when Mary, visited her while still carrying Jesus in her womb. This should give us some insight into who a person is before their birth. Of course, this is all through the moving of the Spirit, yet John knew he was in the presence of the Messiah, the deliverer of Israel. Now we are being introduced more fully to John as an adult ready to do what he was born to do. There is the question as to why Luke recorded in such detail the time in which John began his ministry. From what we gather, this is proof that Luke was personally acquainted with the times that he lived in, knowing who was in power both in the political and religious realms. We have no doubts about the authenticity of the gospels, making everything in the bible true, however, if anyone wants to claim these words are written hundreds of years later for some nefarious reason, this record of the names and times of their reins from first-hand knowledge and collaboration from a Jewish scholar, priest, and historian, Josephus, who lived at the same time as Luke did, who wrote valuable  works on the Jewish revolt from 66 to 70 and earlier Jewish history. So, we know all this is true and valuable for our lives today. Thus, we come to John, who is known as John the Baptist with full confidence he was a real person called to prepare the way for the Lord. Here is where we gain insight into the importance of what Luke records about John. The word of God came to him. This brings us to ponder on what did it mean when the word of God came to him. This could have only happened through the power of the Holy Spirit. From Matthew’s gospel, we are made aware of how John lived in the desert and his clothes and food, but the point is not how John lived, more importantly, he was open to hearing the voice of the Spirit, giving him direction and purpose for his life. He was told, first to preach a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. Being baptized in water was not unknown to the Jews for that was their practice for any pagan, or Gentile, who was converted to Judaism. But again, we get back to the word of God that came to John. This was not an isolated incident because it is not only possible, but a reality, the word of God can come to us today and has throughout various times in our lives. Surely, we have not been called to preach a baptism of repentance, but we have been given direction and purpose for our lives, and we have a choice in life. We can either listen to the voice within ourselves and live our lives according to our desires and purposes, or we can listen to the voice of God who dwells within us and follow his directives and purpose for us. John chose to listen to the word of God, and we have made that same choice so that we live by the word of God.