The Tuesday after the Festival of the Epiphany of our Lord
Posted on January 7, 2025 by under
Scripture: St. Luke 3:1-9 (NKJV)
3:1 Now in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate being governor of Judea, Herod being tetrarch of Galilee, his brother Philip tetrarch of Iturea and the region of Trachonitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene, 2 while Annas and Caiaphas were high priests, the word of God came to John the son of Zacharias in the wilderness. 3 And he went into all the region around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the remission of sins, 4 as it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet, saying:
“The voice of one crying in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord; Make His paths straight.
5 Every valley shall be filled and every mountain and hill brought low; The crooked places shall be made straight and the rough ways smooth;
6 And all flesh shall see the salvation of God.’”
7 Then he said to the multitudes that came out to be baptized by him, “Brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? 8 Therefore bear fruits worthy of repentance, and do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I say to you that God is able to raise up children to Abraham from these stones. 9 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.”
Devotion
The Word of God came to St. John the Baptist in the wilderness. In the region all around the Jordan St. John preached a baptism of repentance for the remission of sins. What great news! The Word that the Lord God sends to His people is one of repentance for the remission of their sins. St. John the Baptist was sent to prepare the way of the Lord. One prepares the way for the One who is without sin, the One who alone is holy, by leading mankind into repentance. The preaching of the Law of the Lord God leads mankind to see our sin, and look for a Savior when we come to realize that there is no way we can save ourselves.
The Lord sends His forerunner to prepare our hearts to receive the Redeemer of the world. For having heard the Law and our inability to keep it, we are ready to receive the Savior. We no longer look to our own works and merits, but we look for the forgiveness won through the works and merits of the Christ. Repentance leads to the remission of sins because it seeks the only source of forgiveness, the Lord Jesus, the Christ. The Word of God preached by St. John prepared the way of the Lord for the Jews. For us it is His means of grace, given by His ministers, that prepares our hearts to receive the forgiveness given through them.
Collect: O God, Who by the leading of a star didst manifest Thine Only-begotten Son to the Gentiles: Mercifully grant, that we, who know Thee now by faith, may after this life have the fruition of Thy glorious Godhead; through the same Jesus Christ, Thy Son, our Lord, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, ever One God, world without end. Amen.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
