Monday, March 27, 2006
The Imprisonment
Luke 7:17-18. And this report concerning Him went out all over Judea, and in all the surrounding district. 18. And the disciples of John reported to him about all these things.
Luke gives an encapsulated view of John the Baptist in chapter 3:1-20. John’s gospel – good news – is that found in verses 16-17 John answered and said to them all, "As for me, I baptize you with water; but One is coming who is mightier than I, and I am not fit to untie the thong of His sandals; He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. 17. "And His winnowing fork is in His hand to thoroughly clear His threshing floor, and to gather the wheat into His barn; but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire." This “One” who is coming is going to clean house. Matthew is more graphic in his account of John’s good news recorded in 3:10-12 "And the axe is already laid at the root of the trees; every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.
11. "As for me, I baptize you with water for repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, and I am not fit to remove His sandals; He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. 12. "And His winnowing fork is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clear His threshing floor; and He will gather His wheat into the barn, but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire."
John’s preaching ministry was relatively short (1-1½ yrs.) in that it was disrupted by the fact that John despised unrepentant sin. He rightly viewed sin as an affront to God that must be reconciled. When Herod, the tetrarch of Galilee, had an affair with his sister-in-law, divorced his wife, and married this wife of his brother, it was entirely too much public sin for John to bear. John confronts Herod to seek that he repents of the atrocity and was incarcerated. Luke 3:18-20 So with many other exhortations also he preached the gospel to the people. 19. But when Herod the tetrarch was reproved by him on account of Herodias, his brother's wife, and on account of all the wicked things which Herod had done, 20. he added this also to them all, that he locked John up in prison.
Luke has shown the healing of the centurion’s servant (7:1-10) and then the events that transpired at Nain (7:11-17). Sequentially we start with verse 17: And this report concerning Him went out all over Judea, and in all the surrounding district. John is locked up in prison when his disciples report back to him what Jesus is doing. Prison is not the place for the one who made his home in the wilderness and fed upon locusts and wild honey but he cannot remedy his present situation. He is stuck, he cannot preach his gospel and it is tearing him apart. He is impatient for the kingdom and therefore needs to correspond to none other than Jesus.
Luke gives an encapsulated view of John the Baptist in chapter 3:1-20. John’s gospel – good news – is that found in verses 16-17 John answered and said to them all, "As for me, I baptize you with water; but One is coming who is mightier than I, and I am not fit to untie the thong of His sandals; He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. 17. "And His winnowing fork is in His hand to thoroughly clear His threshing floor, and to gather the wheat into His barn; but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire." This “One” who is coming is going to clean house. Matthew is more graphic in his account of John’s good news recorded in 3:10-12 "And the axe is already laid at the root of the trees; every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.
11. "As for me, I baptize you with water for repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, and I am not fit to remove His sandals; He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. 12. "And His winnowing fork is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clear His threshing floor; and He will gather His wheat into the barn, but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire."
John’s preaching ministry was relatively short (1-1½ yrs.) in that it was disrupted by the fact that John despised unrepentant sin. He rightly viewed sin as an affront to God that must be reconciled. When Herod, the tetrarch of Galilee, had an affair with his sister-in-law, divorced his wife, and married this wife of his brother, it was entirely too much public sin for John to bear. John confronts Herod to seek that he repents of the atrocity and was incarcerated. Luke 3:18-20 So with many other exhortations also he preached the gospel to the people. 19. But when Herod the tetrarch was reproved by him on account of Herodias, his brother's wife, and on account of all the wicked things which Herod had done, 20. he added this also to them all, that he locked John up in prison.
Luke has shown the healing of the centurion’s servant (7:1-10) and then the events that transpired at Nain (7:11-17). Sequentially we start with verse 17: And this report concerning Him went out all over Judea, and in all the surrounding district. John is locked up in prison when his disciples report back to him what Jesus is doing. Prison is not the place for the one who made his home in the wilderness and fed upon locusts and wild honey but he cannot remedy his present situation. He is stuck, he cannot preach his gospel and it is tearing him apart. He is impatient for the kingdom and therefore needs to correspond to none other than Jesus.
# posted by Castusfumus : 3:41 PM
