Matthew 3; Mark 1; Luke 3
Record your Impressions
I have had a number of thoughts that have preoccupied my mind since I read these chapters yesterday...
# The very first thing that came to my mind while reading was that when Christ came and was preaching, He was doing just that: Preaching.
He would go to one city and share the Gospel. While doing that He would take pity on a small number of people and heal them from some infirmity or cast out an unclean spirit and then the multitudes would flock to Him.
And He would leave and go to the next city.
His mission at that time was to establish His church (the very first thing He did after being tempted in the wilderness was gather His Apostles) and preach His gospel. Period. He healed the sick because He had compassion on them, but that was not why He came.
He came to heal their spirits, but they were far more interested once they learned He could heal their flesh.
# The second thing that I noticed was that His lineage is laid out differently in Luke 3 than it is in Matthew 1.
In Luke, Joseph, his "supposed" father is the son of Heli.
In Matthew, Joseph's father is called Jacob.
This isn't a testimony-shaking revelation. His earthly lineage means nothing (as I have called out in previous posts) but I do wonder why they are different. Perhaps one uses the Hebrew names and one uses the Gentile names? I am unsure, but I have a feel that some research would help clear that up!
# The third thing that I noticed was the words of John, crying in the wilderness before the Savior came to Him to be baptized.
The verse says "The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight."
I used to think that he (John) was crying in the wilderness, preparing the way of the Lord.
I now understand it as he (John) was crying in the wilderness telling the people to 'prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.'
This is not John preparing the way for the Lord, but rather John telling the people to prepare themselves to receive the Lord. He is telling the people who came to hear him preach in the wilderness that they must prepare to see God and make His pathways straight, meaning (in my interpretation) to remove those barriers in your life that would impede you from fully embracing the Lord.
Is he also preparing the way for the Lord by doing this? Yes, but that is not how the verse is written.
# The fourth thing that I noticed while reading this time was the different groups that get called out coming to John in the wilderness and asking him what they should do to bring forth good fruit and similarly the response that John gives to each of them. He does not have one blanket statement for each of the groups, but instead calls of the specific thing that they could do to better align themselves with the Savior and His gospel, which was clearly known before this time, but from which the people had strayed.
People - Give to the poor.
Publicans - Don't take more than you are owed.
Soldiers - Do not kill, do not falsely accuse, and be content with your wages.
If those are not words of wisdom that we all could live by, I am not sure what is!
# The last thing that really stuck out to me while reading this time was that John, again preaching in the wilderness, is specifically said to be preaching the 'baptism of repentance for the remission of sins;".
This would imply that there were others at the time who were preaching other baptisms or other reasons for baptism. I wonder what these other teachings were, and if they were similar to the preachings that we hear today from other groups that lack the full Gospel message.
I have had a number of thoughts that have preoccupied my mind since I read these chapters yesterday...
# The very first thing that came to my mind while reading was that when Christ came and was preaching, He was doing just that: Preaching.
He would go to one city and share the Gospel. While doing that He would take pity on a small number of people and heal them from some infirmity or cast out an unclean spirit and then the multitudes would flock to Him.
And He would leave and go to the next city.
His mission at that time was to establish His church (the very first thing He did after being tempted in the wilderness was gather His Apostles) and preach His gospel. Period. He healed the sick because He had compassion on them, but that was not why He came.
He came to heal their spirits, but they were far more interested once they learned He could heal their flesh.
# The second thing that I noticed was that His lineage is laid out differently in Luke 3 than it is in Matthew 1.
In Luke, Joseph, his "supposed" father is the son of Heli.
In Matthew, Joseph's father is called Jacob.
This isn't a testimony-shaking revelation. His earthly lineage means nothing (as I have called out in previous posts) but I do wonder why they are different. Perhaps one uses the Hebrew names and one uses the Gentile names? I am unsure, but I have a feel that some research would help clear that up!
# The third thing that I noticed was the words of John, crying in the wilderness before the Savior came to Him to be baptized.
The verse says "The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight."
I used to think that he (John) was crying in the wilderness, preparing the way of the Lord.
I now understand it as he (John) was crying in the wilderness telling the people to 'prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.'
This is not John preparing the way for the Lord, but rather John telling the people to prepare themselves to receive the Lord. He is telling the people who came to hear him preach in the wilderness that they must prepare to see God and make His pathways straight, meaning (in my interpretation) to remove those barriers in your life that would impede you from fully embracing the Lord.
Is he also preparing the way for the Lord by doing this? Yes, but that is not how the verse is written.
# The fourth thing that I noticed while reading this time was the different groups that get called out coming to John in the wilderness and asking him what they should do to bring forth good fruit and similarly the response that John gives to each of them. He does not have one blanket statement for each of the groups, but instead calls of the specific thing that they could do to better align themselves with the Savior and His gospel, which was clearly known before this time, but from which the people had strayed.
People - Give to the poor.
Publicans - Don't take more than you are owed.
Soldiers - Do not kill, do not falsely accuse, and be content with your wages.
If those are not words of wisdom that we all could live by, I am not sure what is!
# The last thing that really stuck out to me while reading this time was that John, again preaching in the wilderness, is specifically said to be preaching the 'baptism of repentance for the remission of sins;".
This would imply that there were others at the time who were preaching other baptisms or other reasons for baptism. I wonder what these other teachings were, and if they were similar to the preachings that we hear today from other groups that lack the full Gospel message.
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